The prayer of the Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh
תפילת האור החיים
Rabbi Chaim ibn Attar, the Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh (yahrzeit 15 Tammuz), wrote many prayers — his student the Chida says so. Only one of them reached us, preserved and printed by the Chida himself.
The Ohr HaChaim asked that it be said at the Musaf service of Yom Kippur, when the chazzan says ״ויעבור״ for the first time, while the Thirteen Attributes are read seven times. Because it is the prayer of a man whose holiness moved whole communities, many say it whenever they can.
When it is said
Musaf of Yom Kippur, when the chazzan says ״ויעבור״ for the first time, during the seven readings of the Thirteen Attributes.
Beyond that it has no fixed time: people say it on any day — for a request, for someone's recovery, or for the redemption its words describe.
The prayer in Hebrew
יְהִי רָצוֹן מִלְּפָנֶיךָ אָבִינוּ מַלְכֵּנוּ, אֱלֹקֵינוּ, יְדִידוּת אוֹר נַפְשֵׁנוּ, רוּחֵנוּ וְנִשְׁמָתֵנוּ, לְמַעַן בְּרִיתְךָ אֲשֶׁר כָּרַתָּ לִשְׁלֹשׁ עֶשְׂרֵה מִדּוֹת שֶׁאֵינָן חוֹזְרוֹת רֵיקָן לְעוֹלָם מִלְּפָנֶיךָ, זְכֹר אַהֲבָתֵנוּ וְחִבָּתֵנוּ וְהָשֵׁב שְׁכִינָתְךָ לְבֵית קָדְשֵׁנוּ וְתַחֲזֹר לְהִשְׁתַּעֲשֵׁעַ בָּנוּ כִּימֵי קֶדֶם, כִּי קָשָׁה פְּרֵדָתְךָ מִמֶּנּוּ כִּפְרִידַת נַפְשֵׁנוּ מִגּוּפֵינוּ, הָמוּ מֵעֵינוּ, וְכָלְתָה נַפְשֵׁנוּ אֶל גְּאֻלַּת שְׁכִינָתְךָ וְאֶל מְעוֹן קָדְשֶׁיךָ, וְלִרְצוֹנְךָ ה' נִכְסַפְנוּ, הִנְנוּ מִתְחַנְּנִים וּבוֹכִים לְפָנֶיךָ, ה' אָב הָרַחֲמָן, עַל גָּלוּת הַשְּׁכִינָה, הוֹשִׁיעָה ה' שְׁכִינָתְךָ, וְדַבֵּק נַפְשֵׁנוּ בְּאַהֲבָתְךָ הַנְּעִימָה וְהָעֲרֵבָה עַל נַפְשֵׁנוּ, וְיֵעוֹל מַלְכֵּנוּ בְּהֵיכָלֵהּ.
Reading aid in English
May it be Your will, Hashem, our God — beloved light of our soul, our spirit and our neshamah — for the sake of the covenant You established for the Thirteen Attributes, which never return empty before You: remember our love and our closeness to You, return Your Shechinah to the house of our holiness, and return to delight in us as in the days of old. For parting from You is as hard as the parting of the soul from the body; tears stream from our eyes, and our soul longs for the redemption of Your Shechinah and for the dwelling place of Your holiness. To Your will, Hashem, we yearn — here we plead and weep before You. Hashem, Father full of mercy, on the exile of the Shechinah: save Your Shechinah, bind our soul to Your love, which is sweet and pleasant to our soul, and may our King enter His palace.
The voweled Hebrew is what is said. This English is a plain reading aid, not an authorized translation.
Why people say it
- It is one of very few prayers of the Ohr HaChaim that reached us at all — the others did not survive.
- Its words ask for two things only: that the Shechinah return to the house of holiness, and that our soul be bound to God's love — the same longing that runs through his commentary on the Torah.
The text was checked against the page published by tfilah.org, which also offers a printable sheet. The prayer itself is an 18th-century text and is in the public domain. See the tfilah.org page ↗