My Open Prayer for One of Hashem's Missing Children

BS"D

Dedicated to Jesse Galganov (Chaim Yosef ben Aliza) with a prayer from the heart...

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Hashem, Ribono Shel Olam...  Your children cry to you from konphot ha'aretz, the corners of the earth, and we're united in agony and bated breath, praying to you from the depths of our heart.

Please Hashem, let our tefillos not come before you too late; we pray that this not be a prayer in vain...

Please save and protect Chaim Yosef ben Aliza from all danger, harm, distress and misfortune.  Please be by his side, his faith and strength, no matter where he is.  Just as you protected Sarah Imeinu in the decadent palaces of Paroh and Avimelech, please bring forth her grandchild, Your child, Hashem, from this disaster untouched.

Please instill Chizuk and Emunah within Chaim Yosef, his family, and all the brave people who are searching for him.  Hashem, everything we may try, and every step of our search, is futile without Your blessing and intervention.  When Hagar had practically given up on her child Yishmael, who was in mortal danger in his illness and thirst, you heeded the lad's call, and opened Hagar's eyes to what was always present before her:  Your life-sustaining waters, the cure and salvation.  "Vayifkach Elokim et-aineyha vateireh b'eir mayim... - Then G-d opened her eyes and she perceived a well of water..." {Bereishis 21:19}.  Please G-d, may You make such a miracle for us; open our eyes to Your kindness and salvation!  Show us the way, and sustain our beloved Jewish brother, even if he is walking in the "valley of the shadow..."

Please protect and save Chaim Yosef ben Aliza.  He, like every Jewish child, was named with a degree of nevua (prophecy), as we are taught...  Chaim Yosef ben Aliza:  Chaim, Hashem, for the beautiful path of life You have set before him, in all its practically infinite possibility and opportunity.  Please do not take this away, and sustain and strengthen him to traverse the path of life that You've laid before him, in all its chapters, its highlights and rough-spots...  Yosef, Hashem, as You released Yosef haTzadik from the prison.  Please Hashem, redeem him from whatever confinement he may be in!   "Baruch Atah Hashem... matir asurim - Blessed are You, Hashem... Who releases the bound."  Ben Aliza, Hashem, for we plead with You that he comes forth from this in light and life, and that he become the son of our joy, the heart of our joyful laughter and cries of gratitude to you!

In times of danger, Hashem, the Satan always accuses...  Please, may Your Divine Rachmanus override any other force.  Forgive, please, and cleanse us of any of  aveiros or shortcomings that might incline You to decree dark or bitterness for Your people.  Please help us to acknowledge where we must grow and improve, guide us to do so, for we can only do it with Your assistance, to grow ourselves, and make ourselves worthy of Your salvation.

Although we are as nothing before You Hashem, please, bring us over the threshold, the final hill, to Redemption.  Hashem, the suffering and pain is becoming far too great...  How much more can we survive?  Please, bring us into the Ultimate Geulah!  Reunite us with all our loved ones, and draw us close, Your children, to You.

May the cries, tears, prayers, efforts make their mark before Your Heavenly Throne.  "Avinu Malkeinu, kabeil b'rachamim uv'ratzon es tefilaseinu - Our Father, Our King, accept- with compassion and favor- our prayer."

"So may it be His will, and let us say Amein."

Jesse (Chaim Yosef) Galganov, with his mother Alisa (Aliza) Clamen[/caption]

Yom HaZikaron LaShoah - A Personal Tefillah

BH

Hashem, when the pain and suffering raged, the horror that we cannot fully comprehend today engulfed all of Your Children, it seemed like You turned away from us, disowned us.  We felt like we lost our Father, and His guidance and love.  Although our hope for a change may have dwindled, we never completely lost our faith in You.  But still, so many of us felt estranged.

That is why, Hashem, I pour out my heart to You today.  You have blessed me greatly– I am so fortunate that I am able to recognize Your Hand in every day of my life.  That is why I now speak to You openly, like a child to their parent– I’m so grateful I can be close to you, and serve You openly and freely.

Hashem, Tatte, we really don’t know why you allowed the Holocaust to happen.  Why you gave your Children such a challenging nisayon.  Perhaps, Hashem, You wanted us to strengthen our bond and commitment to You, and to one another?  That has been a reason in the past for Your testing us…  Perhaps you sent us the Satan, in Nazi soldier garb and guise, to bring us to lift ourselves up, and become stronger…  But we truly aren’t sure.  Only You, Hashem, know the answer, and we can only have trust that it was all for the best, for everything You cause to happen is wise, and part of the Master Plan.

So please, Hashem, since we don’t know, since we may be lost, please, shine a little light, and strengthen and guide us, to always follow in the ways of Your precious Torah, and Your most sincere ratzon.  Please grant us binah, understanding, to realize without pain, that it’s not for us to fully comprehend Your will.  Please give us the understanding and strength, to just trust, and to persevere and grow, even in the darkest of times.

Hashem, during the Holocaust, our ancestors went through monstrosities that we can’t really begin to imagine.  Maybe we shouldn’t try to envision it…  Normal lives, and safety and security stripped; homes ravaged, and belongings stolen, and given to Gentile strangers; families torn apart, love ones murdered before their eyes; bodies, minds, and hearts brutalized…  It was attempted to eliminate our existence, crush our dreams, snuff out our future, take away our soul, Torah, and faith…  Hashem, please, never again!!!  It’s been so hard Hashem, we’ve gone through so much…  Please hear our tefillos and cries, see our efforts, and let it be no more.  Please, bring us Geulah (Redemption)– call us Home, and wrap us in Your arms.  Hashem, we only want You!

We beg You, never again, but also we plead with You… So that we never forget.  Hashem, of course it is known to You, for You witness and record, and repay in kind, every action of every creation, that we are suffering from another tragedy:  Numerous people in this world, are twisting the truth of the Holocaust, cutting out significant parts of the real story, or even denying it altogether!  How is this possible?  Can people be so ignorant, or cruel and insensitive, to disgrace the memory of all the perished, and their souls, in this manner?  It is even an insult to the living, and offense to their children, a blemish upon their legacy.  Please Hashem, help us to teach our children properly about the Shoah (Holocaust), even as horrific as it was.  Help us to transmit the story, in truth and completeness, to each and every one, each according to age and understanding and maturity.  Help us, and strengthen us, to combat this evil of distortion and denial.  Never again… but never forget.

Please, may it be Your will, that all of our mitzvos, and all of the sparks we kindle, elevate the neshamas of all those You called home during the Shoah.  You promised our forefathers, Hashem, that we will never be totally extinguished.  You promised us a future, one filled with light… Yet, we can be lights today, matches igniting sparks of all souls, fusing past, present, and future.  “Neir Hashem Nishmas Adam – The soul of man is the Candle of Hashem.”  (Mishlei/Proverbs 20:27)

Thank You Hashem for brining us to this day, and for our blessings.  Thank you for all of Your lessons.  And thank You, for all the good, light, and meaning– both obvious and hidden.

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Please Hashem…  may we be worthy of Moshiach.  We’re weary, but ready.  We’re ready for the light, we’re ready to be reunited with our loved ones at Your great feat of Techiyas Hamaisim (Resurrection of the Dead), we’re ready to all join together to serve You freely, and come close to You.  We’re ready to live in a world enveloped in peace, no longer suffering and war-torn.  We’re ready to settle in Yerushalayim–  once glorious, once stolen from our hands, once barred from us… But ready to shine again!

Moshiach now!