Why do you pray?
Excerpts on Why We Pray | What is the Purpose of Prayer?
Yeshayahu Leibowitz
Prayer is a mitzvah, an act required by halakha. We pray because we are supposed to pray. By praying we fulfill our obligations. "Prayer", he argues, "has no unique ... status in a Judaic way of life. ... For him, worship is in no way utilitarian. Indeed, "worship of God must be totally devoid of instrumental considerations" --- prayers are not functional. Moreover, "Leibowitz rejected any ethical explanation for the significance of the mitzvot."
And prayer is not about you. It has nothing to do with your own particular circumstances - psychological or spiritual. Rich or poor, happy or sad, we all are obliged to the same prayer set. "Human needs ... spiritual, ethical or otherwise, are irrelevant to the prayer moment". He points out that "The same shemoneh esreh ... are recited by the bridegroom before his wedding ceremony, by the widower returning from the funeral of his wife, and the father who has just buried his only son. Recitation of the identical set of psalms is the daily duty of the person enjoying the beauties and bounty of this world, and the one whose world has collapsed." The prescribed prayers are recited by those who truly need them, and the same set is required of those who do not.
Rabbi Roland Gittlesohn
... "Prayer is my constant effort to reinforce my relationship with the Soul of the universe, thereby to emphasize and realize my spiritual potential. Prayer is a reminder of who I am, of what I can become, and of my proper relationship to the rest of the universe, both physical and spiritual. Prayer is an inventory of the spiritual resources which nature has invested in me and a survey of how I can exploit these resources to the fullest. Prayer is a recapitulation of the spiritual laws of the universe and an encouragement to conform to those laws in my conduct." Prayer in this view of course has no effect at all on the Universe itself, since the universe acts as it does regardless of whether or not we pray. Prayer acts only on us. He uses the analogy of himself surrounded by books full of wisdom. The books "did not jump off the shelf and open themselves to the right place and help me...They were there as a spiritual resource for me to activate and energize if I so choose. Similarly, God is a Spiritual Power in the Universe and in myself ... prayer is my way to activate and utilize a Power which otherwise remains dormant."
Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel
...in prayer, as in poetry, we turn to the words, not as signs of things but to see things in the light of the words...The words are to get us to see things differently... "It is through our reading and feeling the words of the prayers, through the imaginative projection of our consciousness into the meaning of the words, and through empathy for the ideas with which the words are pregnant, that this type of prayer comes to pass.... "Not the words we utter, the service of the lips, but the way in which the devotion of the heart corresponds to what the words contain, the consciousness of speaking under His eyes, is the pith of prayer."
Heschel also set forth a metaphysical effect of prayer as well, though it wasn't centered on petitionary prayer. He wrote, "For to worship is to expand the presence of God in the World. God is transcendent, but our worship" --- a term somewhat broader than just prayer --- "makes him immanent. This is implied in the idea that God is in need of man. His being immanent depends on us.
Aryeh Kaplan and and Rebbe Nachman of Breslov
Aryeh Kaplan presents prayers as "Conversing with God". Such a purpose comes from outside the area of keva, or fixed prayer that is so important in some of the other approaches. While praying in one's own words appears to be form of prayer in the Bible, fixed prayer eventually became the norm for Judaism. The Jewish thinker who gave the most emphasis to spontaneous prayer in his teachings was surely Rabbi Nachman of Bratislav. He believed that conversing with God directly in one's own language was the most powerful means for attaining a personal relationship with God.
Harold Kushner
Harold Kushner, argues that prayer, in effect, congregates people. He writes that "In ... regularly scheduled services ... I have come to believe that the congregating is more important that the words we speak. Something miraculous happens when people come together seeking the presence of God. The miracle is that we so often find it. Somehow the whole becomes more than the sum of its parts. A spirit is created in our midst which none of us brought there he observes. This is a phenomenon pretty similar to what is called an "emergent property". He continues, "In fact, each of us came there looking for it because we did not have it when we were alone. But in our coming together, we create the mood and the moment in which God is present."
Rabbi Harold Schulweis
In a similar vein, Rabbi Harold Schulweis argues, "In prayer you pray to move God. But the way you move God is through moving the divine in yourself...the purpose of prayer is to activate the godly in and between ourselves. To put it more bluntly, we cannot pray for anything that doesn't call on us to do something whether it's in terms of our attitude, our will, our energy or our intelligence. You can't pray for health however earnestly by expecting God to say 'yes' or 'no'. To pray for health means that you take seriously the means and meaning of health. You can't properly pray to God for health with a cigarette in your mouth ...You cannot pray for peace and do nothing about it. You cannot pray that God should love the Jewish people without expressing your love for the Jewish people."
Reconstructionist
Such a goal, in a more limited form, does not require a supernatural God at all. Rabbis Rebecca Alpert and Jacob Staub, writing from a Reconstructionist stance, argue that prayer can function as "Acknowledgement of Need". They write, "Most of us are raised to think that we have control of our lives, and that therefore we are responsible for what happens to us--good and bad. In truth, we have far less control that we think, and it is good to acknowledge our vulnerability. Prayer allows us to admit that we need help when we are frightened, overwhelmed, or desperate. Removing our defenses can move us to the honest self-awareness we require to get past our personal obstacles.
Elie Wiesel
Elie Wiesel urges the "doubter" in God's beneficence to pray anyway, thus "forcing God to resemble His attributes. . . . Prayer then becomes a form of protest and defiance. One calls Him loving because He is something else sometimes. Because He permitted bloodshed, one extols His justice."
Yeshayahu Leibowitz
Prayer is a mitzvah, an act required by halakha. We pray because we are supposed to pray. By praying we fulfill our obligations. "Prayer", he argues, "has no unique ... status in a Judaic way of life. ... For him, worship is in no way utilitarian. Indeed, "worship of God must be totally devoid of instrumental considerations" --- prayers are not functional. Moreover, "Leibowitz rejected any ethical explanation for the significance of the mitzvot."
And prayer is not about you. It has nothing to do with your own particular circumstances - psychological or spiritual. Rich or poor, happy or sad, we all are obliged to the same prayer set. "Human needs ... spiritual, ethical or otherwise, are irrelevant to the prayer moment". He points out that "The same shemoneh esreh ... are recited by the bridegroom before his wedding ceremony, by the widower returning from the funeral of his wife, and the father who has just buried his only son. Recitation of the identical set of psalms is the daily duty of the person enjoying the beauties and bounty of this world, and the one whose world has collapsed." The prescribed prayers are recited by those who truly need them, and the same set is required of those who do not.
Rabbi Roland Gittlesohn
... "Prayer is my constant effort to reinforce my relationship with the Soul of the universe, thereby to emphasize and realize my spiritual potential. Prayer is a reminder of who I am, of what I can become, and of my proper relationship to the rest of the universe, both physical and spiritual. Prayer is an inventory of the spiritual resources which nature has invested in me and a survey of how I can exploit these resources to the fullest. Prayer is a recapitulation of the spiritual laws of the universe and an encouragement to conform to those laws in my conduct." Prayer in this view of course has no effect at all on the Universe itself, since the universe acts as it does regardless of whether or not we pray. Prayer acts only on us. He uses the analogy of himself surrounded by books full of wisdom. The books "did not jump off the shelf and open themselves to the right place and help me...They were there as a spiritual resource for me to activate and energize if I so choose. Similarly, God is a Spiritual Power in the Universe and in myself ... prayer is my way to activate and utilize a Power which otherwise remains dormant."
Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel
...in prayer, as in poetry, we turn to the words, not as signs of things but to see things in the light of the words...The words are to get us to see things differently... "It is through our reading and feeling the words of the prayers, through the imaginative projection of our consciousness into the meaning of the words, and through empathy for the ideas with which the words are pregnant, that this type of prayer comes to pass.... "Not the words we utter, the service of the lips, but the way in which the devotion of the heart corresponds to what the words contain, the consciousness of speaking under His eyes, is the pith of prayer."
Heschel also set forth a metaphysical effect of prayer as well, though it wasn't centered on petitionary prayer. He wrote, "For to worship is to expand the presence of God in the World. God is transcendent, but our worship" --- a term somewhat broader than just prayer --- "makes him immanent. This is implied in the idea that God is in need of man. His being immanent depends on us.
Aryeh Kaplan and and Rebbe Nachman of Breslov
Aryeh Kaplan presents prayers as "Conversing with God". Such a purpose comes from outside the area of keva, or fixed prayer that is so important in some of the other approaches. While praying in one's own words appears to be form of prayer in the Bible, fixed prayer eventually became the norm for Judaism. The Jewish thinker who gave the most emphasis to spontaneous prayer in his teachings was surely Rabbi Nachman of Bratislav. He believed that conversing with God directly in one's own language was the most powerful means for attaining a personal relationship with God.
Harold Kushner
Harold Kushner, argues that prayer, in effect, congregates people. He writes that "In ... regularly scheduled services ... I have come to believe that the congregating is more important that the words we speak. Something miraculous happens when people come together seeking the presence of God. The miracle is that we so often find it. Somehow the whole becomes more than the sum of its parts. A spirit is created in our midst which none of us brought there he observes. This is a phenomenon pretty similar to what is called an "emergent property". He continues, "In fact, each of us came there looking for it because we did not have it when we were alone. But in our coming together, we create the mood and the moment in which God is present."
Rabbi Harold Schulweis
In a similar vein, Rabbi Harold Schulweis argues, "In prayer you pray to move God. But the way you move God is through moving the divine in yourself...the purpose of prayer is to activate the godly in and between ourselves. To put it more bluntly, we cannot pray for anything that doesn't call on us to do something whether it's in terms of our attitude, our will, our energy or our intelligence. You can't pray for health however earnestly by expecting God to say 'yes' or 'no'. To pray for health means that you take seriously the means and meaning of health. You can't properly pray to God for health with a cigarette in your mouth ...You cannot pray for peace and do nothing about it. You cannot pray that God should love the Jewish people without expressing your love for the Jewish people."
Reconstructionist
Such a goal, in a more limited form, does not require a supernatural God at all. Rabbis Rebecca Alpert and Jacob Staub, writing from a Reconstructionist stance, argue that prayer can function as "Acknowledgement of Need". They write, "Most of us are raised to think that we have control of our lives, and that therefore we are responsible for what happens to us--good and bad. In truth, we have far less control that we think, and it is good to acknowledge our vulnerability. Prayer allows us to admit that we need help when we are frightened, overwhelmed, or desperate. Removing our defenses can move us to the honest self-awareness we require to get past our personal obstacles.
Elie Wiesel
Elie Wiesel urges the "doubter" in God's beneficence to pray anyway, thus "forcing God to resemble His attributes. . . . Prayer then becomes a form of protest and defiance. One calls Him loving because He is something else sometimes. Because He permitted bloodshed, one extols His justice."
הגה: וכשהבן מתפלל ומקדש ברבים פודה אביו ואמו מן הגיהנם
And when the son prays and sanctifies in public, he redeems his father and mother from Gehenom.
Machzor Vitry
A tale of Rabbi Akiva: he was walking in a cemetery by the side of the road and encounter in there a naked man, black as coal, carrying a large burden of wood on his head. He seemed to be alive and was running under the load like a horse. Rabbi Akiva ordered him to stop. “How come you are doing such hard work? If you are a servant and your master is doing this to you then I'll redeem you from him. If you're poor then I'll give you money.” “Please, sir,” that man replied, “do not prevent me, because my superiors who will be angry.” “Who are you? Rabbi Akiva asked, “and what have you done?” The man said, “the man whom you're addressing is a dead man. Every day they send me out to chop wood and they use it to burn me up.” Rabbi Akiva said to him: “My son, what was your work in the world from which you came?” “I was a tax collector and a leader of the people, I showed favor to the rich and killed the poor, and more, I transgressed many serious trangressions.” He said to him: “Have you heard nothing from your superiors about how you may relieve your condition?” “Please, sir, do not detain me, for you will irritate my tormentors. For such a man as I, there can be no relief. Though I did hear them said something – but no, it is impossible. They said that if this poor man had a son, and his son were to stand before the congregation and recite the prayer ‘Bless the Lord who is to be blessed’ and the congregation were to answer ‘amen’, and his son were also to say the kaddish and they answer ‘May God's great name be blessed’, they would release him from his punishment. But this man does not know if he had a son. He left his wife pregnant and he did not know whether the child was a boy, and even if she gave birth to a boy, who would teach the boy Torah? For this man does not have a friend in the world.” Immediately Rabbi Akiva took upon himself the task of discovering whether this man had fathered a son, so that he might teach the son Torah, and install him at the head of the congregation to lead prayers. “What is your name?” he asked. “Akiva,” the man answered. “And what is the name of your wife?” Shoshniva.” “And the name of your town?” “Lodkyia.” Rabbi Akiva was deeply troubled by all this and went to make his inquiries. When he came to that town, he asked about the man he had met, and the townspeople replied: “May his bones be ground to dust!” He asked about the man's wife, and he was told: “May her memory be erased around the world!” He asked about the man's son and he was told: “He is an arel – even they did not bother to circumcise him!” Rabbi Akiva promptly took him, circumcised him and sat him down [to teach him]. But the boy refused to receive Torah. Rabbi Akiva fasted for 40 days. Then a heavenly voice was heard to say: “For these you mortify yourself?” “But Lord of the universe,” Rabbi Akiva replied, “it is for You that I am preparing him!” Suddenly the Holy One Blessed Be opened the boy's heart. Rabbi Akiva taught him Torah and the reading of the Shema, the 18 blessings, and the benediction after meals. He presented the boy to the congregation and the boy recited the prayer ‘Bless the Lord who to be blessed’ and they answered ‘May the great name be blessed’. And he said the kaddish, and they answered "May God's great name be blessed'. And after that he taught him mishnah and Talmud, laws and aggadot, until he got very wise, and he is Rabbi Nachum HaPakuli, - and how many sages came from him!) At that very minute the man was released from his punishment. The man immediately came to Rabbi Akiva in a dream, and said: “May it be the will of the Lord that your soul find delight in the Garden of Eden, for you would have saved me from the sentence of Gehenna. When you made my son enter the house of gathering/synagogue, and he said the kaddish, my terrible sentence was ripped up. And when you made him enter the house of study, all my judgments were cancelled. And when he became wise and was called 'my teacher' my seat was put in Gan Eden with the righteous and pious ones, and they crowned me with many crowns. And all this was through your merit”. Rabbi Akiva opened his discourse with: “Your name, oh Lord, endures forever, and the memory of You through the generations!” (Ps. 135:13) For this reason it became customary in the evening prayers on the night after Shabbat are led by a man who does not have a father or a mother, so that he say can say Kaddish and say “Bless the Lord who is to be blessed.”
A tale of Rabbi Akiva: he was walking in a cemetery by the side of the road and encounter in there a naked man, black as coal, carrying a large burden of wood on his head. He seemed to be alive and was running under the load like a horse. Rabbi Akiva ordered him to stop. “How come you are doing such hard work? If you are a servant and your master is doing this to you then I'll redeem you from him. If you're poor then I'll give you money.” “Please, sir,” that man replied, “do not prevent me, because my superiors who will be angry.” “Who are you? Rabbi Akiva asked, “and what have you done?” The man said, “the man whom you're addressing is a dead man. Every day they send me out to chop wood and they use it to burn me up.” Rabbi Akiva said to him: “My son, what was your work in the world from which you came?” “I was a tax collector and a leader of the people, I showed favor to the rich and killed the poor, and more, I transgressed many serious trangressions.” He said to him: “Have you heard nothing from your superiors about how you may relieve your condition?” “Please, sir, do not detain me, for you will irritate my tormentors. For such a man as I, there can be no relief. Though I did hear them said something – but no, it is impossible. They said that if this poor man had a son, and his son were to stand before the congregation and recite the prayer ‘Bless the Lord who is to be blessed’ and the congregation were to answer ‘amen’, and his son were also to say the kaddish and they answer ‘May God's great name be blessed’, they would release him from his punishment. But this man does not know if he had a son. He left his wife pregnant and he did not know whether the child was a boy, and even if she gave birth to a boy, who would teach the boy Torah? For this man does not have a friend in the world.” Immediately Rabbi Akiva took upon himself the task of discovering whether this man had fathered a son, so that he might teach the son Torah, and install him at the head of the congregation to lead prayers. “What is your name?” he asked. “Akiva,” the man answered. “And what is the name of your wife?” Shoshniva.” “And the name of your town?” “Lodkyia.” Rabbi Akiva was deeply troubled by all this and went to make his inquiries. When he came to that town, he asked about the man he had met, and the townspeople replied: “May his bones be ground to dust!” He asked about the man's wife, and he was told: “May her memory be erased around the world!” He asked about the man's son and he was told: “He is an arel – even they did not bother to circumcise him!” Rabbi Akiva promptly took him, circumcised him and sat him down [to teach him]. But the boy refused to receive Torah. Rabbi Akiva fasted for 40 days. Then a heavenly voice was heard to say: “For these you mortify yourself?” “But Lord of the universe,” Rabbi Akiva replied, “it is for You that I am preparing him!” Suddenly the Holy One Blessed Be opened the boy's heart. Rabbi Akiva taught him Torah and the reading of the Shema, the 18 blessings, and the benediction after meals. He presented the boy to the congregation and the boy recited the prayer ‘Bless the Lord who to be blessed’ and they answered ‘May the great name be blessed’. And he said the kaddish, and they answered "May God's great name be blessed'. And after that he taught him mishnah and Talmud, laws and aggadot, until he got very wise, and he is Rabbi Nachum HaPakuli, - and how many sages came from him!) At that very minute the man was released from his punishment. The man immediately came to Rabbi Akiva in a dream, and said: “May it be the will of the Lord that your soul find delight in the Garden of Eden, for you would have saved me from the sentence of Gehenna. When you made my son enter the house of gathering/synagogue, and he said the kaddish, my terrible sentence was ripped up. And when you made him enter the house of study, all my judgments were cancelled. And when he became wise and was called 'my teacher' my seat was put in Gan Eden with the righteous and pious ones, and they crowned me with many crowns. And all this was through your merit”. Rabbi Akiva opened his discourse with: “Your name, oh Lord, endures forever, and the memory of You through the generations!” (Ps. 135:13) For this reason it became customary in the evening prayers on the night after Shabbat are led by a man who does not have a father or a mother, so that he say can say Kaddish and say “Bless the Lord who is to be blessed.”
How does prayer alter our fate?
... וכשאתם מתפללים דעו לפני מי אתם עומדים ובשביל כך תזכו לחיי העולם הבא
...and when you pray, know before Who you stand ; and on that account will you be worthy of the life of the world to come."
Do we pray for us or for God?
Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, Davening: A Guide to Meaningful Jewish Prayer
“The awareness that we stand in the presence of the Living God is one of the most important realizations we can install in our operative consciousness. God is always present. The question is, how present are we? We want to stand in that Presence without opacity. Our work is to penetrate, in meditation and in action, to the very heart of being nokhach penei ha-Shem (Lamentations 2:19), of being truly present before God.”
“The awareness that we stand in the presence of the Living God is one of the most important realizations we can install in our operative consciousness. God is always present. The question is, how present are we? We want to stand in that Presence without opacity. Our work is to penetrate, in meditation and in action, to the very heart of being nokhach penei ha-Shem (Lamentations 2:19), of being truly present before God.”
Abraham Joshua Heschel, Man's Quest for God
“Great is the power of prayer. For to worship is to expand the presence of God in the world. God is transcendent, but our worship makes Him immanent.”
“Great is the power of prayer. For to worship is to expand the presence of God in the world. God is transcendent, but our worship makes Him immanent.”
Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, Davening: A Guide to Meaningful Jewish Prayer
“Many who live their lives as Jews, even many who pray every day, live on a wrapped and refrigerated version of prayer. We go to synagogue dutifully enough. We rise when we should rise, sit when we should sit. We read and sing along with the cantor and answer ‘Amen’ in all the right places. We may even rattle through the prayers with ease. We sacrifice vitality for shelf-life, and the neshomoh, the Jewish soul, can taste the difference."
“Many who live their lives as Jews, even many who pray every day, live on a wrapped and refrigerated version of prayer. We go to synagogue dutifully enough. We rise when we should rise, sit when we should sit. We read and sing along with the cantor and answer ‘Amen’ in all the right places. We may even rattle through the prayers with ease. We sacrifice vitality for shelf-life, and the neshomoh, the Jewish soul, can taste the difference."
A Chasidic Tale
There once was a king who loved music; he directed musicians to play for him every morning.
The musicians performed to obey, but also because they loved and respected the king, they valued the chance to be in his presence. Every morning they played for the king with enthusiasm and delight. For many years, things went well. The musicians enjoyed playing, the king enjoyed listening. The musicians eventually passed away, their sons sought to take their place; but they had not mastered the art, nor kept the instruments in proper condition. They no longer loved the king so much. They blindly followed their fathers' custom of arriving each morning to perform, but the harsh sounds were so offensive to king he stopped listening.
There once was a king who loved music; he directed musicians to play for him every morning.
The musicians performed to obey, but also because they loved and respected the king, they valued the chance to be in his presence. Every morning they played for the king with enthusiasm and delight. For many years, things went well. The musicians enjoyed playing, the king enjoyed listening. The musicians eventually passed away, their sons sought to take their place; but they had not mastered the art, nor kept the instruments in proper condition. They no longer loved the king so much. They blindly followed their fathers' custom of arriving each morning to perform, but the harsh sounds were so offensive to king he stopped listening.
Are our rituals and traditions enhanced or weakened over time?
“The primary purpose of prayer is not to make requests. The primary purpose is to praise, to sing, to chant. Because the essence of prayer is a song, and man cannot live without a song. Prayer may not save us. But prayer may make us worthy of being saved.”
— Abraham Joshua Heschel
— Abraham Joshua Heschel
Can prayer really alter our fate?
מפני מה זה ירד וזה לא ירד זה ניצל וזה לא ניצל זה התפלל ונענה וזה התפלל ולא נענה מפני מה זה נענה וזה לא נענה זה התפלל תפלה שלימה נענה וזה לא התפלל תפלה שלימה לא נענה
For what reason did this one recover and come down from his bed, while that one did not recover and come down from his bed; and why was this one saved from death, while that one was not saved? The difference between them is that this one prayed and was answered, while that one prayed, but was not answered. And for what reason was this one answered and that one not answered? This one prayed a prayer with his whole heart and consequently was answered, while that one did not pray a prayer with his whole heart and therefore was not answered.
The Koren Ani Tefilla Weekday Siddur, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks
Philosophers speculate about Gd. Scientists argue about Gd. Theologians theorize about Gd. We as Jews do something simpler and ultimately more profound. We talk to Gd. We bring Him our thanks and our hope, our fears and our dreams. That conversation is what we call prayer, and Jews have engaged in it ever since the days of Abraham.... Every time we pray we become part of the long dialogue between earth and heaven that has lasted now for almost four thousand years. Prayer was our ancestors' source of strength, and when we learn to pray it becomes ours also (p. xiii)....
Prayer matters. It changes the world because it changes us. It brings the Divine Presence into our lives and gives us strength we didn't know we had. It is to the soul (the mind, the self, our inner life) what exercise is to the body. Like exercise, it is important that we do it daily at set times, and like exercise, it makes us healthier (though in a different way) and more highly charged with positive energy. Prayer aligns us with the creative energies that run through the universe, the energies we call life and love, the supreme gifts of Gd (p. xv).
Philosophers speculate about Gd. Scientists argue about Gd. Theologians theorize about Gd. We as Jews do something simpler and ultimately more profound. We talk to Gd. We bring Him our thanks and our hope, our fears and our dreams. That conversation is what we call prayer, and Jews have engaged in it ever since the days of Abraham.... Every time we pray we become part of the long dialogue between earth and heaven that has lasted now for almost four thousand years. Prayer was our ancestors' source of strength, and when we learn to pray it becomes ours also (p. xiii)....
Prayer matters. It changes the world because it changes us. It brings the Divine Presence into our lives and gives us strength we didn't know we had. It is to the soul (the mind, the self, our inner life) what exercise is to the body. Like exercise, it is important that we do it daily at set times, and like exercise, it makes us healthier (though in a different way) and more highly charged with positive energy. Prayer aligns us with the creative energies that run through the universe, the energies we call life and love, the supreme gifts of Gd (p. xv).
"The Spirit of Jewish Prayer," Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel (1953)
... prayer has the power to generate insight; it often endows us with an understanding not attainable by speculation. Some of our deepest insights, decisions and attitudes are born in moments of prayer. Often where reflection fails, prayer succeeds. What thinking is to philosophy, prayer is to religion. And prayer can go beyond speculation. The truth of holiness is not a truth of speculation - it is the truth of worship (p. 161).
There is a specific difficulty of Jewish prayer. There are laws: how to pray, when to pray, what to pray. There are fixed times, fixed ways, fixed texts. On the other hand, prayer is worship of the heart, the outpouring of the soul, a matter of kavannah [spiritual intention]. Thus, Jewish prayer is guided by two opposite principles: order and outburst, regularity and spontaneity, uniformity and individuality, law and freedom (p. 164).
How grateful I am to God that there is a duty to worship, a law to remind my distraught mind that it is time to think of God, time to disregard my ego for at least a moment! It is such happiness to belong to an order of the divine wilL I am not always in a mood to pray. I do not always have the vision and the strength to say a word in the presence of God. But when I am weak, it is the law that gives me strength; when my vision is dim, it is duty that gives me insight (p. 167).
... prayer has the power to generate insight; it often endows us with an understanding not attainable by speculation. Some of our deepest insights, decisions and attitudes are born in moments of prayer. Often where reflection fails, prayer succeeds. What thinking is to philosophy, prayer is to religion. And prayer can go beyond speculation. The truth of holiness is not a truth of speculation - it is the truth of worship (p. 161).
There is a specific difficulty of Jewish prayer. There are laws: how to pray, when to pray, what to pray. There are fixed times, fixed ways, fixed texts. On the other hand, prayer is worship of the heart, the outpouring of the soul, a matter of kavannah [spiritual intention]. Thus, Jewish prayer is guided by two opposite principles: order and outburst, regularity and spontaneity, uniformity and individuality, law and freedom (p. 164).
How grateful I am to God that there is a duty to worship, a law to remind my distraught mind that it is time to think of God, time to disregard my ego for at least a moment! It is such happiness to belong to an order of the divine wilL I am not always in a mood to pray. I do not always have the vision and the strength to say a word in the presence of God. But when I am weak, it is the law that gives me strength; when my vision is dim, it is duty that gives me insight (p. 167).
"Introduction: Entering the Siddur," Rabbi Edward Feld, Siddur Lev Shalem
... Opening the prayerbook, I enter into the common life and experience of the Jewish people. The words I come across here constitute the community by tying us to a common past and creating a shared present. These words are the lineaments of the Jewish people, a vocabulary giving voice to the Jewish soul.
... To enter into this ancient vocabulary is not always easy. Immersed in our own lives, filled with our personal concerns, we may find it difficult to connect to these words, which seem to come from an ancient world so different from our own -- one whose language and metaphors are puzzling or alien. As we pray, we may resist and argue with the words that confront us; we may feel the liturgy irrelevant, distant.
... Praying these words that are not ours expands us, transforms us, allows us to see the world in new ways. We may have begun praying with our own self-concern but we can conclude the moment of prayer with a greater sense of fullness for feeling connected -- connected to a community, connected to a world, connected to the Divine, thankful for our existence, and committed to acting responsibly. In this sense, formal prayer is not simply an expression of the self. Our prayers may leave us with an enhanced sense of self -- different for having prayed -- connected now to a larger whole.
... Opening the prayerbook, I enter into the common life and experience of the Jewish people. The words I come across here constitute the community by tying us to a common past and creating a shared present. These words are the lineaments of the Jewish people, a vocabulary giving voice to the Jewish soul.
... To enter into this ancient vocabulary is not always easy. Immersed in our own lives, filled with our personal concerns, we may find it difficult to connect to these words, which seem to come from an ancient world so different from our own -- one whose language and metaphors are puzzling or alien. As we pray, we may resist and argue with the words that confront us; we may feel the liturgy irrelevant, distant.
... Praying these words that are not ours expands us, transforms us, allows us to see the world in new ways. We may have begun praying with our own self-concern but we can conclude the moment of prayer with a greater sense of fullness for feeling connected -- connected to a community, connected to a world, connected to the Divine, thankful for our existence, and committed to acting responsibly. In this sense, formal prayer is not simply an expression of the self. Our prayers may leave us with an enhanced sense of self -- different for having prayed -- connected now to a larger whole.
"Praying," Mary Oliver
It doesn’t have to be
the blue iris, it could be
weeds in a vacant lot, or a few
small stones; just
pay attention, then patch
a few words together and don’t try
to make them elaborate, this isn’t
a contest but the doorway
into thanks, and a silence in which
another voice may speak.
It doesn’t have to be
the blue iris, it could be
weeds in a vacant lot, or a few
small stones; just
pay attention, then patch
a few words together and don’t try
to make them elaborate, this isn’t
a contest but the doorway
into thanks, and a silence in which
another voice may speak.
Raayonot al HaTefilla, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik
Prayer is a vital need for the religious individual. He cannot stop the thoughts and emotions, deliberations and troubles which surge through the depths of his soul, his hopes and aspirations, his despair and bitterness - in short: the great wealth that is concealed in his religious consciousness. It is impossible to halt the liturgical outpouring [of these feelings]. Prayer is essential. Fresh, vibrant religious feeling cannot exist without it. In other words, prayer is justified by virtue of the fact that it is impossible to exist without it (p. 244).
Prayer is a vital need for the religious individual. He cannot stop the thoughts and emotions, deliberations and troubles which surge through the depths of his soul, his hopes and aspirations, his despair and bitterness - in short: the great wealth that is concealed in his religious consciousness. It is impossible to halt the liturgical outpouring [of these feelings]. Prayer is essential. Fresh, vibrant religious feeling cannot exist without it. In other words, prayer is justified by virtue of the fact that it is impossible to exist without it (p. 244).
"Pray," IKAR (Jewish community in Los Angeles), ikar-la.org
Each week, we come together to celebrate Shabbat in prayer. Our kavannah – our intention – is to nurture and inspire, to challenge and to agitate. We know and believe that really good, heartfelt davening can change who we are and how we see the world. It can illuminate the darkest corners of the soul, it can stretch open the narrowest passages of the heart. It can make you cry and it can make you dance. It can awaken you to a deep sense of purpose, give expression to your loneliness, your grief, your yearning and your gratitude. It can connect you to God, it can connect you to community. It can connect you to yourself.
And, most importantly, it can surprise you.
Each week, we come together to celebrate Shabbat in prayer. Our kavannah – our intention – is to nurture and inspire, to challenge and to agitate. We know and believe that really good, heartfelt davening can change who we are and how we see the world. It can illuminate the darkest corners of the soul, it can stretch open the narrowest passages of the heart. It can make you cry and it can make you dance. It can awaken you to a deep sense of purpose, give expression to your loneliness, your grief, your yearning and your gratitude. It can connect you to God, it can connect you to community. It can connect you to yourself.
And, most importantly, it can surprise you.
Heschel - Prayer as a beam of light - p. 11 Lev Shalem Siddur
"Prayer is no panacea, no substitute for action. It is, rather, like a beam thrown from a flashlight before us into the darkness. It is in this light that we who grope, stumble, and climb, discover where we stand, what surrounds us, and the course which we should choose." - Abraham Joshua Heschel
"Prayer is no panacea, no substitute for action. It is, rather, like a beam thrown from a flashlight before us into the darkness. It is in this light that we who grope, stumble, and climb, discover where we stand, what surrounds us, and the course which we should choose." - Abraham Joshua Heschel
Yehuda HaLevi
Prayer is for one's soul what nourishment is for one's body. The blessing of one's prayer lasts until the time of the next prayer, just as the strength derived from one meal lasts until another... During the time of prayer, one cleanses the soul of all that has passed over it and prepares it for the future.
Prayer is for one's soul what nourishment is for one's body. The blessing of one's prayer lasts until the time of the next prayer, just as the strength derived from one meal lasts until another... During the time of prayer, one cleanses the soul of all that has passed over it and prepares it for the future.
Reuven Hammer - The Effect of Prayer
Prayer is a way of sensitizing ourselves to the wonder of life, of expressing gratitude, and of praising and acknowledging the reality of God. One need not believe that God will interfere with the ongoing process of nature to feel that prayer is worthwhile. We may have different understanding of what God is. No definition we have is sufficient or answers all doubts and questions. To be aware that God exists - that there is more in the universe than physical matter, that a moral order is inherent in creation, that humans are responsible for their conduct and can help to bring about the perfection, or at least the improvement, of the world and of life - that is sufficient reason for prayer.
Prayer is a way of sensitizing ourselves to the wonder of life, of expressing gratitude, and of praising and acknowledging the reality of God. One need not believe that God will interfere with the ongoing process of nature to feel that prayer is worthwhile. We may have different understanding of what God is. No definition we have is sufficient or answers all doubts and questions. To be aware that God exists - that there is more in the universe than physical matter, that a moral order is inherent in creation, that humans are responsible for their conduct and can help to bring about the perfection, or at least the improvement, of the world and of life - that is sufficient reason for prayer.