Click image to go to her site - Hebrew only. Rabbanit Ahuva Arad, a well-known speaker in Eretz Yisrael, published a beautiful siddur for women in nusach edot hamizrach (AKA Sefardi):
Tefillah L'Hashem V'Hakol Mitgashem.
At 976 pages, it contains all of Sefer Tehillim too, plus many tefillot & segulot & advice for all kinds of situations.
(UPDATE: For those in Eretz Yisrael, this siddur can be found in the Ohr Hachaim bookstore chain. If they don't have it in stock at your local Ohr Hachaim bookstore, you can probably ask them to order it.)
The section entitled Seder Hitbodedut intrigued me.
How can you put personal prayer (which by nature, is unique to each person & changes each time) on paper?
And didn't Rav Shalom Arush already give us a seder of thirds?
(Meaning: ⅓ thanking Hashem, ⅓ self-scrutiny & confession, ⅓ requesting stuff from Hashem.)
Turning to that section, I discovered that it literally is a seder (an organization or list) of pre-hitbodedut prep and guidance for the hitbodedut itself.
First of all, it starts off with the benefits of hitbodedut (personal prayer in your own words):
A Jew who engages in hitbodedut and judges himself (or herself!) in This World (via cheshbon hanefesh and confessing one's sins) will not be judged in the Next World (because he or she already underwent a self-scrutiny & found oneself guilty of whatever, so there is no need for the Heavenly Court to do so).
Then there is a prayer to say before hitbodedut.
And finally, this is the seder:
Tefillah L'Hashem V'Hakol Mitgashem.
At 976 pages, it contains all of Sefer Tehillim too, plus many tefillot & segulot & advice for all kinds of situations.
(UPDATE: For those in Eretz Yisrael, this siddur can be found in the Ohr Hachaim bookstore chain. If they don't have it in stock at your local Ohr Hachaim bookstore, you can probably ask them to order it.)
The section entitled Seder Hitbodedut intrigued me.
How can you put personal prayer (which by nature, is unique to each person & changes each time) on paper?
And didn't Rav Shalom Arush already give us a seder of thirds?
(Meaning: ⅓ thanking Hashem, ⅓ self-scrutiny & confession, ⅓ requesting stuff from Hashem.)
Turning to that section, I discovered that it literally is a seder (an organization or list) of pre-hitbodedut prep and guidance for the hitbodedut itself.
First of all, it starts off with the benefits of hitbodedut (personal prayer in your own words):
- It's more powerful & effective than fasts or crushing your attachment to physicality by rolling in snow.
- A Jew who engages in hitbodedut brings the Geula (Final Redemption) closer.
- Hitbodedut nullifies decrees hanging ominously over Am Yisrael.
- The act of one Jew engaging in hitbodedut rouses other Jewish souls to do teshuvah (because we are all interconnected as if one person with many facets).
A Jew who engages in hitbodedut and judges himself (or herself!) in This World (via cheshbon hanefesh and confessing one's sins) will not be judged in the Next World (because he or she already underwent a self-scrutiny & found oneself guilty of whatever, so there is no need for the Heavenly Court to do so).
Then there is a prayer to say before hitbodedut.
And finally, this is the seder:
Seder Hitbodedut
Praise & Gratitude to Hashem
Praying for Am Yisrael
Confession
Finding Your Good Points
Sha'at Ratzon — A Time of Favor
(It may take time for a prayer to be granted. It may be fulfilled differently than you expect. But sincere prayer is never turned away.)
- Thank Hashem for every day that He renews the initial Creation (i.e., we continue to enjoy the Sun, Moon, and stars, etc.)
- Thank Hashem for any health you enjoy.
- Thank Hashem for any livelihood you receive.
- Thank Hashem for family.
- Thank Hashem for friends.
- Thank Hashem for having taken us out of Mitzrayim (Egypt — and having escaped the 49th level of tumah/spiritual impurity)
- Thank Hashem for every Shabbat.
- Thank Hashem for the chagim (Jewish holidays).
- Thank Hashem for the Holy Torah.
Praying for Am Yisrael
- Daven (Pray) for Hashem to build the Beit HaMikdash.
- Daven for Mashiach to come with rachamim (compassion & mercy).
- Daven for the refuah of all sick people, both generally & by name.
- Daven over the troubles Am Yisrael experiences.
- Daven over the Galut (Exile).
- Daven about anything else you can think of.
Confession
- Confess your wrong-doings before Hashem.
- Request from Hashem mechilah & slichah (total forgiveness)
- Regret your past.
- Take upon yourself to, bli neder, be better in the future.
- Judge yourself from yesterday until now.
Finding Your Good Points
- Give yourself credit for any efforts you make in the right direction (even if you didn't succeed).
- Give yourself credit for all the times you overcame your yetzer hara: the times you overcame your anger, refrained from speaking lashon, and so on.
Sha'at Ratzon — A Time of Favor
- Request from Hashem all that is in your heart, both your spiritual desires & your material desires.
- Believe that Hashem hears you.
- Believe that no prayer is ever turned away empty-handed.
(It may take time for a prayer to be granted. It may be fulfilled differently than you expect. But sincere prayer is never turned away.)
I found the above helpful because sometimes, we feel stuck regarding what to say to Hashem.
Sometimes, we need help in articulating exactly what to thank Hashem for or what to confess.
Sometimes we don't have time, and the above, though structured, is flexible enough to be completed in 15 minutes. (Or it can be stretched out to 2 hours or even more.)
Or you might forget that cheshbon hanefesh (self-accounting) isn't just your negatives, but your positives too (as noted above).
Here's a downloadable PDF of the Seder Hitbodedut (specially formatted to fit on 1 page at a glance or to print out):
Sometimes, we need help in articulating exactly what to thank Hashem for or what to confess.
Sometimes we don't have time, and the above, though structured, is flexible enough to be completed in 15 minutes. (Or it can be stretched out to 2 hours or even more.)
Or you might forget that cheshbon hanefesh (self-accounting) isn't just your negatives, but your positives too (as noted above).
Here's a downloadable PDF of the Seder Hitbodedut (specially formatted to fit on 1 page at a glance or to print out):
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