Tefillat HaShelah — The Shelah’s Prayer for One’s Children

You are the Lord our God

before You created the world,

and You are our God

from the time You created the world;

from eternity to eternity, You are God.

You created Your world in order that Your divinity be made known

through Your holy Torah,

as our sages of blessed memory taught:

"In the beginning" — for the sake of Torah and for the sake of Israel,

for they are Your people and Your inheritance,

whom You chose from among all the nations,

to whom You gave Your holy Torah,

and whom You drew close to Your great Name.

For the sustaining of the world

and the sustaining of the Torah,

You gave us, O Lord our God, two commandments:

You wrote in Your Torah: "Be fruitful and multiply,"

and You wrote in Your Torah: "Teach them to your children" —

and the intent behind both is one and the same,

for not in vain did You create the world, but for it to be inhabited;

and for Your glory You created, formed, and made it,

so that we, our offspring,

and the offspring of all Your people the house of Israel,

might know Your Name and study Your Torah.

And so I come before You, O Lord, King of kings of kings,

and I cast down my supplication;

my eyes look to You

until You show me grace and hear my prayer,

to grant me sons and daughters,

and that they too may be fruitful and multiply —

they and their children and their children's children —

until the end of all generations,

to this end: that they and I and all of us together

may engage in Your holy Torah —

to learn and to teach, to observe and to do and to fulfill

all the words of the study of Your Torah with love;

that You illuminate our eyes in Your Torah

and bind our hearts to Your commandments,

to love and to revere Your Name.

Our Father, merciful Father,

grant us all long and blessed lives.

Who is like You, Father of mercies,

who remembers His creatures for life with compassion?

Remember us for eternal life,

as our father Abraham prayed:

"Would that he might live before You" —

which our sages of blessed memory interpreted to mean: "in Your fear."

For this reason I have come to implore and beseech You

that my offspring and the offspring of my offspring forever be worthy seed;

that there be found in me, in my offspring, and in the offspring of my offspring forever

no blemish or stain,

but only peace and truth and goodness and uprightness

in the eyes of God and in the eyes of man;

and that they be masters of Torah —

masters of Scripture, masters of Mishnah, masters of Talmud,

masters of mystical wisdom, masters of commandment,

masters of acts of loving-kindness,

masters of elevated character traits —

and that they serve You with love and inward awe,

not an outward show of reverence.

Grant to each and every one of their bodies

all that they need, with dignity;

grant them health and honor and strength;

grant them stature, beauty, grace, and loving-kindness;

and let there be love, brotherhood, and peace among them;

grant them worthy partners in life,

from the seed of Torah scholars, from the seed of the righteous;

and let their partners likewise be as I have prayed for them,

for one remembrance rises for both alike.

You, O Lord, know all hidden things,

and before You the depths of my heart are revealed,

for in all of this my intention is solely

for the sake of Your great and holy Name

and for the sake of Your holy Torah.

Therefore answer me, O Lord, answer me,

for the sake of the holy forefathers —

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob;

and through their merit, save the children,

that the branches might be like their roots;

and for the sake of David Your servant,

the fourth pillar of the divine chariot,

who sang by Your holy spirit.

A Song of Ascents:

Blessed is every one who fears the Lord,

who walks in His ways.

When you eat the labor of your hands,

you will be happy, and it will go well for you.

Your wife will be like a fruitful vine

in the inner chambers of your house;

your children like olive shoots

around your table.

Behold, thus shall be blessed the man who fears the Lord.

May the Lord bless you from Zion,

and may you see the good of Jerusalem

all the days of your life;

and may you see children born to your children —

peace upon Israel.

Please, O Lord who hears prayer,

fulfill in us the verse:

"And as for Me, this is My covenant with them, says the Lord —

My spirit that is upon you

and My words that I have placed in your mouth

shall not depart from your mouth,

nor from the mouth of your offspring, nor from the mouth of your offspring's offspring,

says the Lord, from now and forever."

May the words of my mouth

and the meditation of my heart be acceptable before You,

O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Please, my God,

grant me the merit to fulfill what You have commanded us:

"Teach them to your children, to speak of them."

And may this scripture be fulfilled in me:

"And My words that I have placed in your mouth

shall not depart from your mouth,

nor from the mouth of your offspring, nor from the mouth of your offspring's offspring,

says the Lord, from now and forever."

And may my sons be teachers of sound legal rulings

in Israel, for the sake of Heaven;

and may they not turn right or left

from the straight path,

and from falsehood may they keep their distance.

And let no flaw be found in them,

nor any bad trait,

from the youngest to the greatest.

And may my sons be among those of whom it is written:

"Who may dwell in Your tent? Who may abide on Your holy mountain? —

One who walks in wholeness and does what is right,

who speaks truth in his heart;

who does not slander with his tongue,

who has done no harm to his fellow,

nor lifted reproach against one near to him."

May it be Your will before You

that I give birth to sons and daughters,

and that not one of my sons die in my lifetime,

nor any of my daughters in my lifetime.

I will take wives for my sons,

and may their wives not die before their time.

And may I merit to marry off my daughters to worthy and righteous men,

and may their husbands not die before their time.

And may my own partner not be taken before her time.

And may it be Your will, O Lord,

that You appoint for each of my sons his destined partner,

and for each of my daughters her destined partner

who is meant for each one of them alone;

and may no other precede them through mercy,

nor may they be displaced by others.

And may my sons and daughters give birth under a good sign and in a good hour.

And may all causes — whether divine and providential,

whether of the ordering of nature, or of human choice —

act for their benefit and their merit,

in children, in life, and in ample sustenance.

And may they never lack food and provision for their household.

And save them from mishaps and evil occurrences.

And may they not sin — neither intentionally nor inadvertently,

neither under compulsion nor willingly.

And may they guard the holy covenant

from all impurity and forbidden relations.

And at the proper time may they fulfill the commandment of being fruitful and multiplying.

And cause to dwell between husband and wife

love and brotherhood and peace and friendship,

and likewise among their family and kin.

And may I merit to provide for them in their youth with dignity,

without shame or humiliation.

And may their Torah be their trusted occupation, pursued with dignity.

And may they not need to depend upon others.

And may I merit to see their joy.

And may there be among them no barren man, no barren woman, and no bereaved mother.

And may they find favor and good understanding

in the eyes of God and man.

And may I not leave them in the hands of others, God forbid.

And may they listen to the voice of their father and mother and their teachers;

and may a younger sibling listen to the elder and honor him.

And may it be good and pleasant for siblings to dwell together in great love.

And may my daughters be beautiful and graceful,

possessed of wisdom and piety —

modest, righteous, and devout,

adorned with good character traits;

and "all the glory of the king's daughter is within" —

may they be whole, without blemish.

And bless the work of my hands,

so that I may merit to provide them generous gifts of betrothal and dowry,

as is fitting for those of their generation.

And from them may there come forth good fruit

and righteous sons who merit and bring merit

to all Israel. Amen, may this be Your will.

May the words of my mouth

and the meditation of my heart be acceptable before You,

O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.