In this blog, we like to treat readers to a behind-the-scenes look at the books they love. To mark the publication of Rabbi Yechiel Spero’s newest work, Touched by a Prayer 2, we offer, instead, a look at what Rabbi Spero’s bestselling Touched by a Prayer did for a reader – just one of the many tens of thousands who have been touched by Rabbi Spero’s books. This is a real email message; some details have been changed to preserve the writer’s anonymity.
Dear Rabbi Spero:
There are times I think I can’t take any more and I read these books that are supposed to inspire me and yet I always end up feeling worse than I did in the beginning. It has been a really hard road… left alone with G-d, not really understanding Him so much either. Please believe me, it has been very hard.
Your book, “Touched by a Prayer” was one book, however, that was able to penetrate me. I was able to gain trust and faith and kavannah from it. I would read a chapter and a story and then I could daven. The people in the stories came alive to me and they gave me hope to go on.
… I took to heart every word and, though my life continues to be neverendingly challenging, I am able to have a stronger faith and daven and talk to Hashem in a different more meaningful way… I know that without Him I would never have made it all these years alone, but I have had my moments of questioning and pain that I thought I would not get through, and when I read this book, which I will re-read and keep handy, I know that I will gain once again and get through those hard times.
Thank you for your sensitivity and your gift of touching another person’s heart.”
In the face of such a sincere tribute, there’s little to add. Rabbi Spero has, indeed, touched our hearts and minds with his bestselling Touched by a Story series. Touched by a Prayer brought a new dimension to his work, and to our lives, by combining fascinating essays on the daily prayers with stories illustrating the prayer’s major themes. In Touched by a Prayer 2 Rabbi Spero continues elevating our prayers to a new, higher level – touching our hearts, our lives, and our tefillos.
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