A young hostage, locked in a tunnel in Gaza did not know or remember the daily prayers required for all good Jews. He started talking directly to God as to a friend. He soon felt he was surrounded by light and warmth even in the darkness. When he was rescued, what happened? He was brought into the company of religious Jews and “shown the way.” But was this really “the way” when he had  already felt the presence of the Eternal personally? I wonder if he will still feel the warm arms of the Eternal about him?

Did the repetition of pre-written, daily prayers save Jews during the Holocaust?
Did the increase in numbers of attendance at synagogues, where prayers are the main subject actually bring an end to the ongoing October 7 war?

Perhaps the more one feels the persecution of Antisemites, the more he or she prays! But what are these prayers anyway?  Do memorizing the frequently repeated prayers actually bring Heaven to the rescue? Maybe, maybe not. What seems to happen is that praying together unites Jews to a common cause, but is the strength merely the strength of the community or is it God-given strength and blessing? And where did this all start? I call these Exile prayers.

What is prayer? Do we think that a cleverly and beautifully written prayer will somehow impress the Eternal when all He wants is the expression of the humble and contrite heart? Go ahead! Read someone else’s poems to me to impress me. Will this win my heart?

Psa 51: “17 My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.”

Isa 66: “2 For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.”

But what about memorized prayers? Do we have examples in the Bible of those who read memorized prayers and were actually heard? I don’t find any!

What  did the forefathers and the prophets say to God when they prayed? Didn’t they simply ask God for wisdom or to help them? Where in the Bible is there an example of the poetic memorized prayers that are used in today’s religions? There aren’t any. What did Moses say to YHVH when he was afraid to return to Egypt?

When Moses was told to go and speak to Pharaoh, he complained that he was a man of slow speech. He pleaded to get out of the mission. Exo. 4:10

When Elijah felt he was the only one left in the land who didn’t worship the Baals, what did he say? “Even I only am left…” 1 Kings 19:10.

I don’t find anywhere a prayer where someone in the Bible quoted the prayers of another person.

Is prayer about real communication with the Creator or is it about flattering God to get what we want? Are we somehow doing our duty when we repeat the nicely-worded prayers thrice daily? Does it even matter?  Was anyone ever chosen by God who relied on the communication of someone else?

In rereading what I have said it appears that  I condemn all the communal prayers. Let me say, to the contrary,  I believe that the Almighty hears the individual cry behind these prayers. He feels the need of the heart that drives people together. But should not our individual prayers be more about the expression of our own needs and thoughts rather than the thoughts of others? And if we prayed more in this way, would not our public gatherings see more of the blessing of Heaven?

I am not saying that it is wrong to use Psalms and other Bible verses to frame our worship and Shabbat meals. These verses set a framework around the special family time of coming together to enjoy that special time of welcoming of the Shabbat. We read the 23rd Psalm, Exodus 31, Exodus 20 and parts of Isaiah 56. It is even better if you understand the Hebrew so that the words mean something to you. Yet, how much beyond this do we need to go? When does private prayer lose it’s significance? Is God really impressed by our knowledge of how to read a prayer in a foreign tongue? Or would he rather hear us a loving parent hears their children speak to them?

Does the the victim mentality of many Jews perhaps come from not knowing the Almighty on a personal level? Why were we destined to Exile for 2000 years? When we got caught up in following paganism we were not listening on an individual level to the Eternal, so He sent us out of our land. Did we ever learn otherwise than to follow someone else’s ways and teachings? Can we learn to be thinkers rather than mere reflectors of what our great leaders have said?”

Do we know God only vicariously through the words of sages and others or is God a God that is available to all of us? Is he merely there when we are under the authority of wise men and sages? Will He indeed hear the prayer of the contrite and humble heart? Do we have that kind of Emunah (faith) and Bitachon (trust) that clings to the Eternal in the darkness, not willing to let go until we find the blessing.

Jacob clung to the one who fought with him just before dawn when he realized it was a divine being, He said: “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” Can we have that kind of Hutzpah with Hashem?

Pray until the light shines. It will happen!

Yours…

Ariella