Zokef Kfufim
זוקף כפופים
A person has bones that are still sleeping even after he wakes up.
Rav Simcha Bunim of Pshischa zt”l was asked why he was so late for Shacharis. He answered, “A person has bones that are still sleeping even after he wakes up.”
“All my bones are saying, H-Shem, who is like you?”
Shacharis, Tehillim 35:10.
A person must wait until all his bones wake up before he prays.
Rabbi Bunim wanted his bones themselves to connect with H-shem in tefilla, and for that they needed to be awake.
The Sfas Emes teaches that “waking up is making connections”.
Lets ask ourselves how we can wake up our bones in the morning?...
Tefilla is called the “avodas haLev” the service of the heart.
How do we include our body in our tefillos?
How do we can align ourselves more with H-shem by including our body?
Turn your attention inside
and sense your heart…
and your bones. Listen to them.
What are they saying?
Are they singing?
Are they praising?
Can you pray with your whole body?
Is there a better way to wake up our body (besides coffee;)?
Nishmas
“All my bones are saying
“H-shem, who is like you?”
All the limbs that you have given us
And the ruach and the neshama that you have blown into our noses
And the tongue which you have put in our mouth
Will than, bless, praise, glorify, sing, exalt, adore and make holy
And CROWN your name
Our King, forever
Every mouth will thank you
Every tongue will praise you
Every eye will look to You
Every knee will bend to You
Every straight spine will bow down to you
Every heart will be in awe of You
All the intestines and kidneys will sing Your name.
Rav Kook - Your Soul is Always Praying
Rav Kook teaches that although you may not always be conscious of it, your soul is always praying.
“The continual prayer of the soul is always striving to come out and reveal itself from its concealed place – to spread out into all the powers of the life of the spirit and into the power of the life of the whole physical body.”
Our soul’s continual tefilla wants to make its presence felt and have its voice heard, both in the neshama and guf. Attention to our body, its movements (ie stretching, lubricating our bones etc.) may help us feel and hear our neshama’s continual presence.
- Adapted from Torah Yoga by Diane Bloomfield
Inspired by Tiferet Movement Class by Bracha Meshchaninov. She teaches about the importance and integration of movement in our lives as Jewish women https://www.tiferetmovement.com