The following prayer was composed by Rabbi Mordechai.

Our God and God of our fathers!

My God Who is my savior and my strong rock

my Protector and my Shield

my Salvation¹ and my Assurance,

footnotes: ¹ Lit. the horn of my salvation. He fights against my enemies as an ox who gores with its horn as it attacks.

during my times of trial and pain.

I wake up early to pray unto You,

O Great King,

and unto You, Adonoy

I cry in the morning.

In the morning remember to have mercy

in the merit of Abraham’s kindness,

the first patriarch of “the strong ones,”

the one whom You chose

and who trusted in You,

the first of all believers.

Remember his covenant with You

and deliver me from my sins.

Adonoy, listen this morning to my voice,

to my prayer of the morning.

In the morning You spoke with him²

footnotes: ² Abraham.

and tested him in order to reward him

and You made a covenant with him

to serve as a protector for him.

You loved him and wanted him

and accepted him like the incense

that was brought each morning.

When the morning star shone,

when You wished to show

his great rightousness,

You tested him a tenth time

and said to him: Take your son,

and do not hesitate,

to one of the mountains

and bring him there as a burnt offering

just as the sheep that

you bring as a sacrifice in the morning.

In the morning he singularized Your Name

and harkened to Your voice

and manifested his love

while rejoicing whole-heartedly

to fulfill Your command.

His love made him transcend normalcy

by rising with joy.

And Abraham rose early in the morning.

In the morning both readied their hearts

to do Your will, O awesome One.

The son took the wood

and the father took the knife

to slaughter without intending to redeem him.

They were summoned

and went with whole hearts

and saw Your Divine honor

on the third day in the morning.

In the morning he girded himself

as a warrior girds his loins.

He first bound his son

then took a knife to slaughter him,

without thinking of him as a human being

and said: “Today I will bring my offering

and sprinkle the blood of my sacrifice.”

It will not remain until the morning.

In the morning Your mercy was aroused

on the only son

and that mercy shone upon him.

An angel of Adonoy called to him

and said not to harm the lad

because in Isaac

will Your seed be perpetuated,

[and the merit of this event] will be remembered for all generations,

it will remain as a safe-keeping for you

until the morning.³

footnotes: ³ Until the redemption which is analogous to morning.

In the morning

his⁴ propriety and righteousness

footnotes: ⁴ Isaac’s.

will benefit the people who pray to You

and his ashes will always be seen before You

to cleanse them from their sins.

Grant them their lives which is their request,

because it is You Whom they desire.

In the evening they come to You in prayer

and also in the morning.

Harken to their voices in the morning

and atone their iniquities.

Consider the order of their prayers

like the order of the sacrifices.

They come with the merits

of the righteousness of their ancestors.

And also bring to Him

their contributions of prayer every morning.

In the morning turn to us and have mercy

and let Your mercy be aroused upon us.

Cast to the depths of the sea

all our sins

and let them not be remembered.

Lord, our Rock, pass our sins from before You

and let them not remain before You

until the morning.

Almighty! King!

Who sits on the throne of mercy,

governs with kindness

forgives the iniquities of His people.

He removes their sins one by one,

increasing forgiveness to sinners,

and pardon to transgressors.

Acting righteously

with all who are of flesh and spirit;

not according to their wickedness

does He repay them.

Almighty!

You instructed us to recite

the thirteen Divine attributes;

remember unto us this day

the covenant of thirteen Divine attributes,

as You made them known

to the humble Moses of old,

as it is written,

“And Adonoy descended in the cloud,

and stood with him there,

and proclaimed the Name, Adonoy.

Congregation and Chazzan:

And Adonoy passed before him [Moses];

and proclaimed:

Adonoy, Adonoy,

Almighty, Merciful, Gracious,

Slow to Anger,

and Abundant in Kindness, and Truth.

Keeper of kindness

for thousands of generations,

Endurer of iniquity, and transgression,

and sin;

and Acquitter of those who repent.”

“And pardon our iniquity and our sin,

and take us for Your inheritance.”

Pardon us our Father, for we have sinned,

forgive us our King, for we have transgressed.

“For You, my Master,

are good and forgiving,

and abounding in kindness

to all who call upon You.”

The Ark is opened.

Do not enter into judgment with us

for no living soul will be justified before You.¹

footnotes: ¹ Psalms 143:2.

And He judges the inhabited world

with justice;

and the peoples with righteousness.²

footnotes: ² Psalms 9:9.

Righteousness and justice

are the foundations of Your throne,

kindness and truth go before Your Presence.³

footnotes: ³ Psalms 89:15.

From before You

let our judgment come forth;

let Your eyes behold [my] uprightness.⁴

footnotes: ⁴ Psalms 17:2.

And bring forth as the light

our righteousness,

and our judgment as the noonday.⁵

footnotes: ⁵ Psalms 37:6.

For Your judgments

they stand [ready] this day,

for they are all Your servants.⁶

footnotes: ⁶ Psalms 119:91.

For Adonoy is our judge,

Adonoy is our law-giver;

Adonoy is our king, He will deliver us.⁷

footnotes: ⁷ Isaiah 33:22.

Arise Judge of the earth,

repay the arrogant their just reward.⁸

footnotes: ⁸ Psalms 94:2.

It would be sacrilege to ascribe to You

such an act—

to kill the righteous with the wicked,

and let the righteous fare as the wicked;

it would be sacrilege to ascribe to You—

[that] the Judge of all the earth

does not act justly.⁹

footnotes: ⁹ Genesis 18:25.

The Ark is closed.