Customer Reviews

The Gentle Weapon: Prayers for Everyday and Not-so-Everyday Moments: Timeless Wisdom from Rebbe Nachman of Breslov

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How compact these prayers are but how powerful! How direct, unflowery yet stirring! Proudly from the Jewish heritage but highly accessable to a diverse audience. Each prayer is categorized for a different need or purpose or issue to deal with, such as;"Learning to Wait","In God's Will", or "Anger" The brief but effective introduction really sets the tone for this collection. As Rebbe Nachman is quoted in the introduction, "Life makes warriors of us all. To emerge victors, we must arm ourselves with the most potent of weapons. That weapon is prayer." Gentle yes, but powerful beyond belief.

Though I was raised in a Prostestant church, until quite recently, I had no belief in a God or a Higher Power. When I finally came to this belief, I came empty-handed, with nothing but the Lord's Prayer and the Serenity Prayer to pray. I searched for a non-denominational prayer book and finally found this wonderful little book. I use it daily, as a meditation book, and I use it as a source for particular prayers, as needed. This is truly an excellent gift to people like me, those just coming to faith and learning to pray.

Although this book is based upon prayers of a great Rabbi from 200 years ago, Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, the sentiments expressed are univeral and are highly appropriate for all religions. When you are reflective and feel the need for a personal prayer, this book may well have one that fits your needs at that moment. I have been going through a very emotional period in my life as I prepare for possible major surgery as an organ donor. I found a perfect prayer for my mood, one that expresss my hopes that my children will be guided by my demonstrated values and behavior. There are many other wonderfully reflective prayers and I recommend this book for people of all faiths who are seeking a closer connection with God.

This little collection is a selection of prayers from one of the great teachers of Hasidut Rebbe Nachman of Breslov. Rebbe Nachman said " When you pray, hold nothing back from God. Pour out your heart with honest openness as if you were speaking to your very best friend. "
The element of non- fixed prayer of what is called hiboddedut of being alone with God for part of each day was practiced and perfected by Rebbe Nahman.
Each of the prayers is a kind of meditation which can help the person think about their own situation and relation to God. And this when the Hebrew word ( tefilah) has in it the meaning of self- reflection and examination in moving closer to God.
I believe that these prayers can inspire and help in many different situations .There are prayers on ' loss' and on' arrogance' and on 'living to the fullest ' and on ' joy' and on ' healing ' and on ' crying and sighing' and on ' true nourishment' and on ' giving' and on much much more.
A wonderful little book to take with one everywhere, and from time to time dip in, for inspiration and spiritual strengthening.

A well-written book of prayers, especially one meant to be carried on one's person, is worth its weight in gold. Unfortunately, all too many of them are about as inspirational as a dime store greeting card. Either that or they're so sectarian as to be of limited use generally.

It was with some lack of expectation, therefore, that I purchased a copy of THE GENTLE WEAPON. Much to my surprise it was the one book of prayers that succeeded at being intelligent, inspiring, and -- while unabashedly theistic -- theologically sophisticated.

I found only one prayer to be questionable: "...everything that happens to me... is an expression of Your everlasting love, and Your concern for my ultimate good." I prefer Reb Noson's prayer: "You send hidden messages to each person, in every situation, to bring him or her closer to Your service, in accordance with the place, the time, and the individual." So when I read "an expression of" I substitute: "embraced by."

I highly recommend this book for anyone looking for meaningful and compelling language for personal prayer.

These are a collection of beautiful prayers in English. I would look forward to a Hebrew with transliteration version in the future.

I'm a Christian and I really appreciated this lovely book of wonderful Jewish prayers. In fact, I've shared some of them with others when they just hit me right in the gut.

Anyone who wants to learn to pray might consider this book. I love it!

Rebbe Nachman in The Gentle Weapon (1999) offers prayers which are quite powerful, going directly to the heart of the matter. The prayers are arranged in the following categories: Actions, Words, Feelings, Thoughts, and Will -- this makes for easy look-up of prayers for particular needs. Also, one may just as well merely open the book to any page and browse the prayers, as they are all really easily useful for multiple purposes. This is indeed a treasure of universal prayers and one that you could graciously pass on to friends and relatives, regardless of their faith.

The prologue explains the use of this book very well and I've found it works best when used in that way. This book is a sort of stimulus for prayer and once the words begin flowing its easy to put the book down and continue my conversation with my higher power. But for the times when you just can't find the words to say or are just too exhausted to articulate your feelings this is an awesome compilation of prayers!!

In time of trouble, in time of unsertainty, and any time you want to connect to Higher Power - open this book, and find help. This book is my constant companion.