Waking Up

I have spent the last several years deep in the mountains of Judea, in the place that King David wrote most of the Book of Psalms. I come daily to these mountains seeking an encounter, trying to find the inspiration that David experienced when he wrote the Psalms. Alone with my guitar, I sing and pray his words... day after day. My love for this majestic place eventually swept me and my family to the edge of Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel, to establish the Arugot Farm. The journey to the Judean mountains was more than a physical journey; it was an internal quest and prayer was the candle lighting my path. My world was often filled with confusion, doubts and cynicism. It was in moments of praise, exaltation, gratitude and worship that I experienced clarity, faith and strength. This book is the collection of the insights, treasures and tactics I discovered as I walked the ancient path of the prophets of Israel. The melodies that emerged in those spiritual encounters became the songs of my album. I discovered that the morning prayers, based on the Psalms of King David and ordered by the prophets of Israel, are an ancient spiritual technology that will realign you with the Ultimate Good and bring you into a state of mind that empowers the good in you, giving you the mental focus, positive emotional state and spiritual charge to launch you into a day of true Avodat Hashem, service of God. “Stand on the roads and see, and ask of the paths of old, which is the good way, and go on it, and find rest for your soul” – Jeremiah 6:16 The first lesson I learned is that everything begins in the morning. As the well-known phrase goes, “If you win the morning, you win the day.” If you change your days, you will change your life. I am thrilled that this book has been translated into so many languages (Chinese, Spanish, German, Dutch, Afrikaans and Hebrew). It is a sign of the growing appreciation for ancient Judean wisdom passed down from the prophets of Israel, and of a thirst for a deeper meaning to life and a connection to the source of life itself. When viewed through a historical and Biblical perspective, the era in which we now live bears witness to the first rays of sunrise of a new day, a new era. Our destiny is finally within reach, as the Jewish People have returned to the Land of its Fathers, to the Promised Land. The time has come to open our hearts and souls and to teach the world how to pray as the prophets and sages of Israel have taught for millennia. May our efforts take us one step closer on the journey to the ultimate vision for Jerusalem, “For My house will be called a House of Prayer for all nations.” (Isaiah 56:7) With this grand vision in mind, my greatest hope is that my book will inspire others to discover the joy, blessing and pleasure of waking up and walking the ancient, inner path of the prophets of Israel. “Taste and see for the Lord is good.” – Psalm 34:9 This book was written for those who, like me, are hungry not only to learn about prayer but also to taste experientially the goodness of God. May this path be a blessing for all who walk upon it.