Tefillah al Parnasah — The Prayer for Livelihood
This prayer for livelihood and sustenance comes from Sha'arei Dim'ah ('Gates of Tears'), a traditional collection of personal supplications. It asks God to provide for the worshiper and their household — and, meaningfully, for all of the Jewish people — through divine blessing rather than dependence on others. It is traditionally recited by those facing financial hardship or seeking God's blessing in their work and livelihood. Whatever your background or tradition, you are welcome to bring your own needs and hopes to these words.
May it be Your will, Adonai our God and God of our forefathers,
that my food and my livelihood, and the food and livelihood of my household,
together with the food and livelihood of all Your people the House of Israel,
be secured and confirmed and set right by Your hand,
and do not make me dependent on the gifts of flesh and blood, nor on their loans,
but only on Your hand — full, open, holy, and abundant.
May my work and all my affairs be for blessing and not for poverty,
for life and not for death,
and grant me the merit that the name of Heaven never be profaned through me.
May I be among those who benefit and pour goodness upon every person always,
and fill my hands from Your blessings and satisfy us from Your goodness,
as You did for those who went out from Egypt,
for You, Adonai, have blessed and go on blessing forever.
The eyes of all look to You in hope,
and You give them their food in its season,
You open Your hand
and satisfy every living thing with favor.
Cast your burden upon Adonai and He will sustain you;
He will never let the righteous be moved.
And you, holy and pure souls,
plead before Adonai for me and on my behalf —
may He lift my horn and raise my fortune,
so that I may serve Him with a whole heart all the days of the world. Amen.
Yehi ratzon milfanecha, Adonai Eloheinu v'Elohei avoteinu,
sheyihyu mazonai u'farnasati u'mazonot u'farnasat b'nei veiti
im mazonot u'farnasat kol am'cha beit Yisrael,
michtarim u'me'ametim u'metzadakim b'yadecha,
v'al tatzricheini liydei matnat basar v'dam v'lo liydei halva'atam,
ki im l'yadcha hamle'ah hap'tuchah, hak'doshah v'harechavah.
Vetehei melachti v'chol asakai livrachah v'lo le'aniyut,
lechayim v'lo lamavet,
vetzakcheini shelo yitchalel shem shamayim al yadi.
Ve'ehyeh min hamo'ilim u'mashpi'im tov l'chol adam tamid,
utmale yadi mibirchoteha v'sab'einu mituvecha,
k'mo she'asita l'yotz'ei Mitzrayim,
ki atah Adonai beracht u'mevarech le'olam.
Einei chol elecha yesaberu,
v'atah noten lahem et ochlam b'ito,
pote'ach et yadecha,
umasbi'a l'chol chai ratzon.
Hashlech al Adonai yehavcha v'hu yechalkelecha,
lo yiten le'olam mot latzadik.
V'aten neshamot hak'doshoth v'hatehorot,
ha'atiyu el Adonai b'adi uv'gllali,
yarim karni v'yagbiha mazali,
lemaan uchal l'ovdo bilvav shalem kol yemei olam. Amen.
Common Questions
Parnasah (פרנסה) means livelihood or sustenance — the means by which a person supports themselves and their family. Jewish tradition has always viewed the quest for an honest living as a spiritual matter, not merely a practical one. The Talmud teaches that finding one's sustenance is as difficult as the splitting of the Red Sea, and many Jewish legal and ethical sources emphasize that providing for one's household is among a person's most sacred obligations.
Sha'arei Dim'ah, meaning 'Gates of Tears,' is a traditional collection of personal prayers and supplications in Hebrew. Collections of this kind, sometimes called techinnot or bakkashot, were compiled to give worshipers words for moments of deep personal need — grief, illness, poverty, and longing — that the formal liturgy does not always address directly. The tradition of such personal supplication runs throughout Jewish history and is considered a valid and valued form of prayer.
This phrase reflects a deeply held Jewish value: that dependence on other human beings, however well-meaning, can diminish a person's dignity and freedom. The prayer expresses the hope that one's needs will be met directly through divine blessing rather than through charity or loans from others. This is not a rejection of human generosity, but an aspiration for self-sufficiency grounded in trust in God — a theme found throughout Jewish ethical literature.
The prayer incorporates several verses from the Hebrew Bible. 'The eyes of all look to You, and You give them their food in its season; You open Your hand and satisfy every living thing with favor' comes from Psalm 145:15–16, a psalm recited three times daily in Jewish liturgy. 'Cast your burden upon Adonai and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be moved' is from Psalm 55:23. The weaving of biblical verses into personal prayer is a classic feature of Jewish supplication.
The closing lines ask the 'holy and pure souls' to intercede before God on the worshiper's behalf. In Jewish tradition, this refers to the souls of the righteous departed — tzaddikim — whose merit and prayers are understood in certain traditions to have continuing power before God. This concept of invoking the merits or intercession of the righteous is found particularly in Kabbalistic and Sephardic prayer practice.
Yes, with an open heart. The prayer's core — trusting God for sustenance, asking to be freed from dependence on others, hoping that one's work will be a blessing — speaks to universal human experience. Non-Jewish readers will notice that the prayer includes the phrase 'all Your people the House of Israel,' which reflects its Jewish communal character; a non-Jewish reader may hold that phrase with respect rather than reciting it as their own. The aspiration behind the prayer — that God's open, full, and holy hand provide for all who need — belongs to no single community alone.