Thursday, June 3, 2021

Ten Minutes of Talmud #165: Does God Hear Prayer? -- Rabbi Amy Scheinerman

     R. Simlai taught: One should always first praise the Holy Blessed One, and then pray. Whence do we learn this? From Moses, as it is written, And I pleaded with Adonai at that time (Deuteronomy 3:23) and, Adonai, God, You who let Your servant see the first works of Your greatness and Your mighty hand, You whose powerful deeds no god in heaven or on earth can equal! (Deuteronomy 3:24) And it is written after this, Please let me cross over and see the good land [on the other side of the Jordan, that good hill country, and the Lebanon](Deuteronomy 3:25).

    R. Elazar said, “Prayer is greater than good deeds inasmuch as there was no one whose good deeds were greater than Moses our Rabbi and nonetheless, his request was granted through prayer, as it is said, Speak no more to Me (Deuteronomy 3:26). Juxtaposed to that is, Go up to the summit of the mountain (Deuteronomy 3:27).”

    R. Elazar said, “Fasting is greater than tzedakah. What is the reason? This [fasting, is accomplished] with one’s body and this [tzedakah, is done] with one’s money.”

    R. Elazar said, “Prayer is greater than sacrifices, as it is said, What need have I of all sacrifices, [says Adonai. I am full of the burnt-offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts; I do not desire the blood of bulls and sheep and goats] (Isaiah 1:11). And it is written, When you lift your hands [I will hide My eyes from you, and even if you pray at length, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood] (Isaiah 1:15).” R. Yochanan said, “Any priest who killed a person may not lift his hands [to perform the priestly benediction], as it is said, your hands are full of blood.” 

    R. Elazar said, “Since the day the Temple was destroyed, the gates of prayer have been locked, as it is said, Though I plead and call out, [God] shuts out my prayer (Lamentations 3:8). Although the gates of prayer were locked, the gates of tears were not locked, as it is said, Hear my prayer, Adonai, and give ear to my pleading, do not disregard my tears (Psalms 39:13). (BT Berakhot 32a,b)


INTRODUCTION

How does one gain God’s attention and secure God’s help and mercy? The Sages taught that we maintain a relationship with God through prayer since the Temple was destroyed and offering sacrifices is no longer possible. They were deeply invested in prayer as the primary means to serve God and to appeal for God’s mercy. Yet, as R. Elazar teaches, prayer is not the only avenue to  connect with the Divine. For one who seeks concrete response to prayer in the form of safety, fortune, or healing, the goal of engagement is clear. For those whose conception is God is more abstract, the goal of prayer may be very different and other avenues of connection are perhaps equally (or even more) desirable.


COMMENTARY

Taking Moses, the quintessential prophet and rabbi, as the model, R. Simlai teaches that the proper order for approaching God is: first, praise God; next, petition God. This order is reflected in the Amidah. R. Simlai deduces this order from verses in Deuteronomy ch. 3 that narrate Moses’s conversation with God. In preparing to petition God, Moses first pays tribute to God’s greatness (v. 24), and only afterward implores God to permit him to enter the Land of Israel (v. 25).


Gemara expands the conversation with a series of four teachings attributed to R. Elazar, perhaps in part because the first cites the next two verses in the same chapter of Deuteronomy to support the contention that God prefers prayer—or possibly that prayer is more effective in garnering a response from God?—than good deeds. R. Simlai did not compare prayer to good deeds (or anything else); he only addressed the proper order of the elements of prayer. R. Elazar notes that in v. 26, God silences Moses, and in v. 27, instructs him to ascend the mountain. In context, God rejects Moses’s plea to enter the Land and sends him to the summit of Pisgah where he can see it  even though he will never enter it. Moses’s ascent is not a “good deed,” even if undertaken in obedience to God, but R. Elazar’s interpretation invites us to ask: how do prayer and good deeds compare in the religious economy of action?


R. Elazar’s second teaching is that sacrificing one’s physical self is greater than sacrificing one’s monetary (or material) assets. This is yet another comparison worthy of consideration and discussion. R. Elazar’s third teaching is that prayer is superior to sacrifices offered on the Temple altar. For the Rabbis,  since the Destruction of 70 C.E. prayer has replaced sacrifice, but the claim that it is superior—at a time when the Rabbis were praying for the restitution of the sacrificial cult—is perhaps surprising and, like R. Elazar’s previous statements, worthy of consideration.


R. Elazar’s fourth teaching differs from the first three. It addresses an unarticulated fear: What if God isn’t listening to our prayers? Or worse yet, what if God shuts them out, as a verse in Lamentations suggests? R. Elazar summons consolation from Psalm 139:13 to reassure us that when our prayers truly matter, God will listen.


QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER AND DISCUSS

  1. How we think about the nature of God has everything to do with what we believe prayer is about. Rabbi Morris Adler said, “Our prayers are answered not when we are given what we ask, but when we are challenged to be what we can be.” What does it mean to you for your prayers to “be answered”?
  2. Which do you believe is a superior sacrifice: foregoing something personally desirable (such as food) or contributing to the welfare of another? Why?
  3. If your conception of God is not of a Being who can respond concretely to your request, how can prayer enhance your spiritual life, connect you with divinity, and inspire you?

1 comment:

  1. My name is Ahmed from Egypt and I want to be a Jewish.. I am an ex-muslim now .

    ReplyDelete