Exile

Exile Prayers — Does God Hear Them?

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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

Step out of My Comfort Zone? Who Me?

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Where will you be when the war to end all wars is upon us? Will you be doing the same thing and expecting different results? Where are you now?

People confess to me that they want their world back—the one that they grew up in. I tell them that is not possible. We have stepped into another reality and this reality is not going to be strawberry shortcake and mom’s apple pie! Is it just possible that time has sped up and the world is wobbling off course to a final disastrous end? Still, I believe there is time to make a difference!

Even now is that time and those who sit on the sidelines or straddle the fence for a bit longer will be swept away in the coming chaos. But there are those who have already stepped over the line that has been clearly drawn in the sand by the events of that fateful morning of October 7. Where do you stand my friend?

So I ask if you will support Israel in our time of trouble? Many are praying, many are making YouTube videos, or sending out newsletters to raise money and stating their decision to stand with Israel. Will you come and help even for a few weeks to bring in the harvest on farms where the owners are fighting the war? Are you a trained soldier? Can you support the soldiers in providing badly needed supplies? Their is no limit to what people can do to join this fight!

To not make a decision is to make a decision. To ride along believing that life will go back to what we were comfortable with even 10 or 20 years ago is to bury our heads in the sand. It means taking the Blue Pill and staying asleep for a little while longer.

The stark reality is that a monstrous movement is marching through the world and those who do not rise to fight it will be carried away in it’s wake. People are afraid. People join the multitudes in hate marches because they think they can hide that way, join the wrong side? Is that safety? To not buck the tide when it is going down a sink hole is to go on down with it. What? Are we going to give up our ideals to save a little bit of a life we once knew? Are we going to hide our eyes when genocide has been threatened to the People of the Book in a tiny country called the Holy Land? Do we really think it doesn’t matter in the end game of all games?

People tell me there are still safe spots in America. Hmmm…whom do they think they are kidding? In Europe and America Jews have been counseled to wear ball caps to cover their kippahs, tuck in their tzitzit, remove mezuzahs, Hanukias and Stars of David and Israeli flags that they might have on display. And who are these Jews who think that America or England, which may have been their home for many years is certainly safer than Israel? They are wrong.

We in Israel know that the God of Israel has a destiny for the Jewish people. Yes there will be losses—there already have been losses—of lives and personal wealth, people living near the borders have been evacuated for weeks now and may not be able to return to their homes for months yet, but Israel is the homeland of the sons of Jacob. And Israel will play a big part on the final earthly stage—no matter the cost. Will you be on the stage or will you be watching from a distance while the bombs fall? Will you save your own life at the cost of your brothers and sisters? Really?

It is urgent that you find a way to come to Israel. You may need to find an online job. Come for a few days or weeks even. Cook for the soldiers or volunteer to serve them coffee. Sacrifice for the good of all! You may need to sell a house or two, but by all means come; for the destiny of the world is being played out at this very moment!

As illustrated by Moses in the day after the golden calf was ground to powder, so the call is true for us today:

Exo 32:26 “Then Moses stood in the entrance of the camp, and said, ‘Whoever is on the LORD’s side–come to me!’ And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him.”

Later Joshua in his last speech challenged Israel:

Jos 24:15 “And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

So today, the lands of those who are governed by nations that are not worshipers of the true God, are not the lands destined for the perpetuity of the sons of Jacob. We are called to return and stand with the rest of the House of Israel. By standing together we will accomplish more than we have ever dreamed. But even if many do not come to stand by us in the land with Israel, we still will win this war for Israel! And sadly, to those who prefer the comfort and the riches of the lands that have provided a home in the exile, to those who close their ears to the cries of their greater family in Israel, all I can say is, God help them for at these moments the conditions of pre-Nazi Germany are present in every part of the globe.

Israel invites you to come home. There is a promise of a future here and nowhere else!

Shalom v’Bracha

Ariella