A Prayer for Matot-Masei

Parashat Matot-Masei · Numbers 30:2–36:13 · Jeremiah 2:4–28; 3:4
Tuesday, 7 July 2026 · 22 Tammuz 5786

Avinu Malkeinu, our Father and our King —
You who called to Israel, “Return, and call Me your Father,
the Guide of your youth” —
we come before You on this holy Shabbat,
in the deepening days of the Three Weeks,
and we answer: You are our Father still.

You taught us through Moses that when a person makes a vow,
he must not break his word, but do all that he has spoken.
Yet You, Adonai, have never broken a word You have spoken;
every promise You made to Israel stands unshaken,
and Your faithfulness does not fracture, though the peace of nations does.

Your prophet Jeremiah grieved that Your people had forsaken You,
the fountain of living waters,
and hewn for themselves cracked cisterns that hold no water.
Forgive us, Adonai, for the broken cisterns of our own making;
draw us back to the wellspring that never runs dry,
and pour out Your Ruach HaKodesh upon Israel and upon all flesh.

You who numbered every stage of Israel’s journey through the wilderness,
who marked each encampment and led her by cloud and by fire —
be near now to Your people Israel in this hour of trembling.
Where ceasefires fracture and fear returns with the sound of alarms,
comfort the grieving, strengthen the weary, and heal the wounded;
bring the captive and the displaced safely home,
guard the Land, her cities and her borders,
and grant the peace of Jerusalem that no treaty of man can secure.

You appointed cities of refuge for the one who fled,
and by the death of the high priest You set the captive free.
So we lift our eyes to Yeshua, our great High Priest —
our refuge, our sanctuary, and our release —
whose own life laid down opens the way home for all who run to Him.

Hasten the day, Adonai, when the journey ends, and the exile is healed,
when Israel beholds the One she has long awaited,
and every eye sees Yeshua our Messiah revealed in glory.
Then these weeks of mourning will give way to comfort,
and Your people will dwell secure in the Land You promised.

*B’Shem Yeshua*