Well of Living Insight: Comments on the Siddur
one must return to the world, to participate in the reintegration of the souls in their embodiment, to worship in such a manner that one creates a habitation for the divine in the terrestrial realm (asiyyat dirah lo yitbarakh ba-taḥtonim).
Elliot R. Wolfson • Open Secret: Postmessianic Messianism and the Mystical Revision of Menaḥem Mendel Schneerson
We return and then we return again. We have to keep returning because we change, and the world around us changes. In a universe without stasis, we cannot be caught standing still. The majestic endeavor of discovering human purpose beckons each and every day. And every day, we are invited to respond to that call. Hineni. I am here and fully present.
Erica Brown • Return: Daily Inspiration for the Days of Awe
The liturgy, however, makes a very different claim, namely that prayer, righteousness, and Teshuvah will not change what happens to us; rather, they will change us. We will understand what happens differently.
Alan Lew • This Is Real and You Are Completely Unprepared: The Days of Awe as a Journey of Transformation
even a person fluent in Hebrew may not always understand the simple meaning of the psalms (a large percentage of the prayer book) and can experience the mystery and complexity of the prayer sounds themselves.