Tefillah LiMechirat Dirah — The Prayer for Selling an Apartment
This brief, practical prayer asks God to send a buyer for one's home, so that the proceeds may be used to pursue Torah study, mitzvot, and divine service with a whole heart. It is attributed to the Gaon Rabbi Dushnitser. The prayer's closing rubric recommends donating to charity for young children's Torah education and asking schoolchildren to recite it on one's behalf — a beautiful expression of communal prayer. Whatever your background, you are warmly invited to bring your own needs and intentions to these words.
May it be the will of our Father in heaven
that a buyer be found for our apartment (on the street of… owned by…),
and that through this we may fulfill our desire
to engage in Torah and mitzvot free from all distraction,
and to do Your will with a whole heart.
(And let him give tzedakah for the young children of Torah education,
and ask that they recite the text of the above prayer.)
Yehi ratzon milifnei Avinu sheba-shamayim,
sheyimmatze lanu koneh le-diratenu (bi-rechov… be-vaʿalut…),
ve-nuchal be-zeh lemalei cheftzenu
laʿasok ba-Torah u-ve-mitzvot beli chol ha-tirdot,
vela-ʿasot retzoncha be-lev shalem.
(Ve-yiten li-tzedakah le-tinokot shel beit rabban,
vi-vakesh she-yomru nosach ha-tefillah ha-nuzkar.)
Common Questions
The prayer is attributed to the great rabbi and Torah scholar known as the Maharahag Rabbi Dushnitser. Beyond this attribution, detailed biographical information is not easily documented here, so we present the prayer as it has been transmitted. Prayers of this practical, personal nature — addressing real-life financial and logistical needs — have a deep place in Jewish tradition, reflecting the belief that no area of life is outside the scope of divine involvement.
The prayer frames the sale not merely as a financial transaction but as a means to a spiritual end — freeing the petitioner from distraction and worry so they can serve God wholeheartedly. This reflects a core Jewish value: that material stability and spiritual life are intertwined, and that one may legitimately ask God to help arrange one's worldly affairs in the service of a higher purpose.
The closing rubric instructs the person praying to donate tzedakah — charitable giving — specifically to support young children's Torah education (tinokot shel beit rabban, literally 'the young children of the house of their teacher'). It also encourages asking these children to recite the prayer. In Jewish tradition, the prayers of innocent children are considered especially pure and powerful, and tzedakah is widely understood to open the gates of divine blessing.
The prayer is composed as a template to be personalized. The petitioner fills in the specific address of the property being sold and the name of the owner, making the prayer concrete and directed. This practice of inserting specific names and details into standardized prayer texts is common in Jewish liturgy, ensuring that the prayer is not merely abstract but addresses a real and particular situation before God.
Yes, absolutely. While this prayer emerges from the Jewish tradition and its language reflects Jewish values — Torah, mitzvot, doing God's will — its core petition is universal: asking God to help arrange one's home and livelihood so that life can be lived with purpose and peace. Non-Jewish readers are welcome to recite it as written, or to hold its spirit in their hearts and address it to God in whatever way feels authentic to them. The prayer's invitation to live 'with a whole heart' speaks to anyone seeking to align their practical life with their deepest values.
Jewish tradition enthusiastically affirms that it is. The Talmud and subsequent legal literature are filled with prayers and blessings covering every dimension of daily life — food, health, travel, commerce, and home. The premise is that God is present in every moment and every need, and that turning to God in practical matters is an act of faith, not an imposition. This prayer exemplifies that ethos: a real estate transaction becomes an occasion for spiritual intention and gratitude.