If My Siddur Could Talk, What Would I Hear It Say?
It was the night before my chasunah. I can still feel the mixture of fear and excitement that I was experiencing. When a small box was delivered to my house with a card, I tenderly opened it up, and there inside I found a beautiful leather siddur engraved with my new name. I held it. I looked at it. I smelled it. I opened it – and I knew I would treasure it forever.
It is now sixteen years later. The siddur is torn, the binding is separated from the cover. The thumb grips are tattered. And some pages are torn in half. I can’t use this siddur anymore. I realized my davening was compromised as I searched for the missing pages or concentrated on making sure that no loose pages fell to the floor. This siddur has been through a lot with me. I can’t part from it. I won’t give it to be buried as sheimos. Instead, I will put it away, high up on a shelf where it is safe, in a place that can’t be reached.
But I wonder – if my siddur could talk, what would it say? If we took a trip together down memory lane, what would its memories be? I suppose it would go back sixteen years ago to the day of my wedding. I was eager with anticipation. A whole new life beckoned to me, a life I was about to embark upon. It was hard to visualize my future as I held tightly to my siddur, and I davened. I davened that life with my new husband should be as glorious as I was imagining it to be. I davened that we should be zoche to a bayis ne’eman where there would be berachah in abundance.
A Journey Down Memory Lane
And so began our journey together. Through ups and downs, my siddur was with me. When I was full of gratitude for a healthy baby, I thanked Hashem from my siddur. I took my siddur and asked Hashem to guide us when I was feeling apprehensive about my husband leaving yeshivah. When I felt tired and overworked, my siddur reminded me that I could ask Hashem for physical strength.
As I watched my two young children play together, I grabbed my siddur and exploded with praise to Hashem for these gifts. And when I gave birth to a set of healthy twins, my siddur helped me remember that it was all due to Hashem’s kindness.
It was my siddur that I cried into when my sister was diagnosed. And I continued to cry into it when my mother was diagnosed. It was my siddur that I turned to as we anxiously awaited results. And it was my siddur that carried me through the difficult days of shivah for my father. As the roller coaster ride got bumpier and bumpier, I held tightly to my siddur.
It was with pride that I davened on the day my oldest started learning Mishnayos and later Gemara. And it was with pride that I davened as each one of my children continued to reach milestones.
It was my siddur that was there for me as I sat in the hospital room watching my sister die. And it was that siddur that I cried into, joy mingling with pain, as my newborn daughter was named after my sister.
I held on tightly to my siddur as I begged Hashem to give my mother a refuah sheleimah. I cried into my siddur as I heard the doctor’s hopeless report. And I continued to cry into it as I sat shivah for her.
I grabbed my siddur as my bar-mitzvah bochurim made me proud. And I continued holding onto it as we navigated the road of mesivtas.
My siddur gave me strength when I felt sad and alone. It reminded me of all the blessings Hashem has showered upon me. My siddur watched me grow from a young innocent girl whose world was full of excitement and expectation into a mature woman.
My tears of pain have ripped the pages. And my tears of gratitude have torn the binding. I kiss my siddur and put it high up on a shelf, safely out of reach.
A New Journey
Today I got a new siddur. It isn’t leather, and my name is not engraved upon it. It’s not wrapped up, and it didn’t come with a card. But I hold it filled with hope and anticipation. The future continues to beckon to me. I know there will be ups. I know there will be downs. But I know that my siddur can always help me find expression for both the good times and the sad times.
We are about to embark on a journey together. If my siddur could talk, I wonder what it will say.
