Tefillah le-Metzi’at Dirah — The Prayer for Finding a Home
This prayer asks God to help the one praying find a good, suitable home — one with clean air, natural light, and protection from harm. It is attributed to the late Rabbi Moshe Tzuriel Mutzafi, a revered Sephardic rabbi and kabbalist. It weaves together personal petition with verses from the Torah, Psalms, and Numbers, invoking God's protection over the home and all who dwell within it. Whether you are searching for a home, beginning a new chapter, or simply seeking shelter and peace, this prayer opens a door for anyone who wishes to pray.
A prayer for finding a home (by the late Rabbi Mutzafi, may his memory be a blessing)
May it be Your will, Adonai my God and God of my fathers,
that You bring me a good, beautiful, and fitting home,
swiftly and soon, to dwell within it —
I and all my household.
May the air within it be fresh and pure,
may there be no cold dampness or moisture,
may the sun enter it at its rising and at its setting,
and may it be suited to us, to our health, and to every good thing.
Hasten and prepare the apartment, its rooms, and all its spaces,
from all harmful forces and from the evil eye,
and from every kind of damage and loss,
by the power of Your holy Name that goes forth from the verse:
"When the Ark set out, Moses would say: Arise, Adonai, and let Your enemies be scattered,
and let those who hate You flee before You.
And when it came to rest, he would say: Return, Adonai, to the myriads and thousands of Israel".
"Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered, let those who hate Him flee before Him".
And may there be fulfilled in us the scripture that is written:
"No evil shall befall you, and no plague shall come near your tent".
"How goodly are your tents, O Jacob, your dwelling places, O Israel".
Amen, so may it be Your will.
Tefillah le-metzi'at dirah (me-haRaG haRav Mutzafi zatza"l)
Yehi ratzon milfanecha, Adonai Elohai ve-Elohei avotai,
shettamtzi li dirah tovah ve-na'ah u-meta'imah,
im-meheirah be-karov lagur vah,
ani u-vnei veiti.
Veyihyeh vah avir tzach ve-zach,
ve-lo yihyeh vah keririut ve-retivut,
veyikanes vah shemesh bi-zrichitah u-vi-shki'atah,
ve-tihyeh meta'imah lanu u-li-vri'uteinu u-le-chol davar tov.
Ve-timaheri ve-tachshiri ha-dirah veha-chadarim ve-chol ha-mekomot shelah,
min ha-mazzikin u-me-ayin ha-ra,
u-mi-chol minei nezek ve-hefseyd
be-choach shimcha ha-kadosh ha-yotzeh mi-pasuk:
"Vayehi bi-nso'a ha-aron vayomer Moshe: Kumah Adonai veyafutzu oyvecha,
veyanusu mesanecha milfanecha.
Uve-nuchoh yomar: Shuvah Adonai rivevot alfei Yisra'el".
"Yakum Elohim yafutzu oyvav veyanusu mesanav milfanav".
Veyitkayem banu mikra she-katuv:
"Lo te'uneh elecha ra'ah ve-nega lo yikrav be-ohalecha".
"Mah tovu ohalecha Ya'akov mishkenotecha Yisra'el".
Amen, ken yehi ratzon.
Common Questions
Natural light and fresh air are not merely aesthetic preferences in this prayer — they carry a sense of divine blessing and health. The request reflects a traditional Jewish understanding that a good home is one that is physically wholesome, not only spiritually protected. By naming specific times of day, the prayer expresses a wish that God's light touch the home from morning to evening, a continuous presence of warmth and vitality.
The verses from Numbers 10:35–36 — 'When the Ark set out, Moses would say: Arise, Adonai, and let Your enemies be scattered…' — are among the most ancient protective formulas in Jewish liturgy. In the Torah, these words were spoken to clear and sanctify the path before the Israelites. By invoking them here, the prayer calls upon that same divine power to clear the new home of any harmful spiritual forces, treating the act of moving into a home as a kind of sacred journey.
The Hebrew terms mazzikin (harmful spirits) and ayin ha-ra (the evil eye) reflect traditional Jewish folk belief in invisible forces that can bring harm to a household. These concepts appear across rabbinic literature and kabbalistic tradition. The prayer does not dwell on fear but swiftly calls on the power of God's holy name to neutralize any such influences, framing protection as a natural extension of divine providence over the home.
This famous verse, spoken by the prophet Bilaam in Numbers 24:5, is one of the most beloved expressions of blessing over Jewish dwelling places. It is traditionally recited at the opening of morning prayers. By closing the prayer with these words, the text connects the personal search for a home to a larger vision: that every Jewish home, however modest, carries the beauty and dignity of Israel's sacred history. It turns a practical petition into a moment of communal and spiritual identity.
Yes — anyone who is searching for a home and wishes to pray may use this prayer sincerely. The prayer includes the phrase 'God of my fathers,' which in its original context refers to the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and it closes with a verse blessing the dwellings of Jacob and Israel. A non-Jewish reader may choose to recite these phrases as they stand, honoring the prayer's Jewish roots, or to hold them as a window into a tradition not their own. What matters most is the sincerity of the heart reaching toward God.
The prayer is intended to be said during the period of searching for a home — before the move, when the need is active and the outcome uncertain. There is no fixed liturgical time attached to it; it belongs to the category of personal petition (bakashah) that can be offered at any moment of genuine need. Some may say it daily during a housing search, while others recite it once with focused intention.