New Books Liven Prayers

By COLlive reporter

Once, during the month of Elul, the Rebbe asked a boy whether he has ever seen a king in the field.

The boy said that he had not, to which the Rebbe replied, “every time you make a blessing and say ‘Baruch Ata Hashem…’ you are seeing a king in the field.”

This and other inspirational stories, anecdotes and sayings on verses in the daily, Shabbos, holiday and High Holiday prayers appear in a new two-volume publication.

Pninei Ohr, recently published in hard-cover, is the work of the Minnesota-based Rabbi Nachman Wilhelm, Dean of the virtual rabbinical ordination institute OnlineSmicha.com.

Similar to the weekly halacha class he presents on COLlive.com, the books offer short quips that aim to breathe life into the words of the siddur with ‘vertlach’ compiled from a wide variety of sources.

Rabbi Wilhelm said the book was inspired by two frequent requests his late father would often make – “say a vort” and “let’s hear a derher.”

“Chazal tell us that Tefillah is something that needs constant reinforcement. This is something you will certainly get from this new sefer,” he explained.

“Unfortunately, human nature is such that the repetition of the prayers day after day tends to reduce what should be a profound daily experience to an absent minded recitation.”

Published by the Shoresh printing house, the 2 volumes are being sold at a discounted price in honor of Hei Teves at seforimsets.com