Standing, Walking, Praying

Two aspects of prayer, as seen in Parashat Vayeira and Parashat Chayei Sarah

In Parashat Vayeira, Abraham introduces the concept of Shacharit (i.e., the morning service) with the word amad - “He stood.” In Parashat Chayei Sarah, Isaac introduces the concept of Mincha (i.e., the afternoon service) with the word vayeitzei - “He went out.” What do these distinct terms tell us about the nature of prayer?

After Abraham is informed that Sarah will give birth to a son, he is told that God plans to destroy Sodom and its environs because of the wicked behavior of its inhabitants. Horrified by what seems to be divine injustice, Abraham cries out, “Will You even destroy the righteous together with the wicked?!... It is far from You to do something like this, killing the righteous with the wicked and making the righteous and the wicked equivalent; it is far from You - Should the Judge of all the world not act justly?!” (Bereshit 18:23, 25) Following this initial exclamation, Abraham proceeds to beg Hashem to spare the cities if a certain number of innocents can be found therein - first fifty, then forty five, then forty, thirty, twenty, and, finally, ten. Once God has acceded to his request, and agrees to spare the entire area if ten righteous individuals can be found, Abraham is content that justice has been served, and ends his prayer.

Unfortunately, Sodom did not contain even the minimum ten righteous people, and the city was utterly destroyed. We can only imagine what was going through Abraham’s mind as he surveyed the destruction visible from his home: “Abraham woke up in the morning, going to the place in which he had stood before Hashem. He looked toward Sodom and Gemorrah, and upon the entire land of the plain, and he saw that behold! The smoke of the land rose like the smoke of a furnace.” (Bereshit 19:27-28)

Abraham’s hope that God would change His mind and spare the cities below went, quite literally, up in smoke. Admittedly, God accepted Abraham’s prayer in that He agreed not to destroy the cities if there were ten righteous people living there. Nevertheless, Abraham’s larger goal, to preserve Sodom and its environs, was totally unfulfilled. Ultimately, Abraham’s greatest prayer, one of the most profound and uplifting episodes of his life and one of the most powerful moments in the religious history of mankind, was apparently a failure.

And yet, while describing Abraham’s discovery that his prayer had failed, the Torah notes the seemingly minor detail that Abraham watched Sodom’s destruction while standing in the same place he had prayed the previous day: “…going to the place in which he had stood before Hashem.” Why does it matter that Abraham stood in the same place the following day?

This detail relates to a crucial element in the philosophy of prayer. Prayer is formulated as requests we make of God, but the fulfillment of these requests is not the apotheosis of prayer. Prayer, in fact, is designed to help us acknowledge our dependence upon Hashem, and to recognize, to the best of our ability, His unfathomable greatness.

Maimonides, in his Guide of the Perplexed, expressed this viewpoint:

The first class [of mitzvot] comprises the commandments that are fundamental opinions... With respect to inculcating opinions that are correct and that are useful for belief in the Law, one should not say, what is their utility? As we have explained...

The commandment given to us to call upon Him, may He be exalted, in every calamity... likewise belongs to this class. For it is an action through which the correct opinion is firmly established that He, may He be exalted, apprehends our situations and that it depends upon Him to improve them, if we obey, and to make them ruinious, if we disobey; we should not believe that such things are fortuitous and happen by chance... For this reason we have been commanded to invoke Him, may He be exalted, and to turn rapidly toward Him and call out to Him in every misfortune. (Guide of the Perplexed III: 35-36, translated by Shlomo Pines)

Maimonides thus states that they primary purpose of prayer is to inculcate the belief that God listens to us, rather than to receive an affirmative answer to our prayers. The question of whether or not He will do that which we ask is secondary to the larger goal of strengthening our faith in His care and concern for us. Through prayer, we recognize that our fate lies exclusively in the hands of God; by means of prayer, “fundamental opinions” are made tangible and real.

Abraham was certainly dismayed when he saw the ruins of Sodom, but his recognition that prayer is primarily related to faith, rather than utility, enabled him to pray again. For this reason, he went to the exact same spot the following morning. Even though Hashem had answered him in the negative, Avraham recognized that his prayer was not a failure; on the contrary, his return to the same spot the next day demonstrates his realization that prayer means inculcating faith, regardless of whether our requests are granted. If prayer is only valid when we appreciate the results, a negative answer will put an end to our desire to pray. However, if prayer is about faith, rather than results, it will be performed with absolute regularity.

Is it any wonder, then, that this verse - “Abraham woke up in the morning, going to the place in which he had stood before Hashem” - is the source for both the idea of Shacharit (Berachot 26b) and Makom Kavua - having a set place in which to pray (Berachot 6b)? Prayer is related to the recognition of God’s concern, and this recognition must take place every day, with a sense of constancy and unshakable faith. Abraham failed in his immediate goal, but the even greater goal of inculcating unflagging emunah created a paradigm for prayer from which we learn to this day.

In contrast, Isaac’s prayer is introduced with the verb, vayeitzei - he went out. Whereas the “standing” of Abraham demonstrates perfect faith and trust, and the passive acceptance of the Divine decree, the “walking” of Isaac represents the need for constant striving, and the refusal to be satisfied with anything less than perfection. Indeed, the Gemara (Berachot 26b) notes that the word used in describing Isaac’s prayer - sicha - is parallel to the term used in Tehillim 102:

A prayer of the poor man when he swoons, and when he pours out his prayer [sicho] before Hashem. Hashem, hear my prayer, let my supplication come before You. Do not hide Your face from me on the day of my affliction; turn Your ear towards me, answer me quickly on the day I call!

Isaac’s prayer is not an affirmation of faith, but a plea for an immediate and affirmative answer. (See Kli Yakar on Bereshit 24:63, where this is explained in the context of Isaac’s prayer.) Rather than humbly accepting God’s decree, prayer is here described almost as a demand for rectifying the world’s inconsistencies. This prayer is far removed from the passive acknowledgment of God’s justice; rather, it implies movement forward, and a type of confrontation.

Thus, prayer must be valued primarily as the opportunity to stand before God like Abraham, regardless of whether He answers our prayers in the affirmative. Nevertheless, prayer without any acknowledgment of our needs, without a plea for God’s involvement in our affairs, is fundamentally lacking, as well.

This may be underscored by noting the distinct themes of Shacharit and Mincha. Shacharit, created by Abraham, includes within it the Shema and its blessings - that is, an affirmation of belief. Indeed, the blessing immediately following the conclusion of the Shema begins with the phrase, emet v’yatziv - “True and certain.” The sun is rising in the sky, and the light of day is beckoning. Thus, Shacharit symbolizes our absolute trust in Hashem.

Mincha, created by Isaac, includes no Shema-like affirmation of faith. It contains no blessings apart from the Amidah. It occurs when the sun is about to set - when the darkness is fast approaching. At this time, we must not rely on passive faith, but instead must beg for God’s ongoing help and assistance. Indeed, our Sages tell us that Mincha is an especially appropriate time for prayers to be answered, as it was for Elijah at Mount Carmel when he successfully pleaded for God to demonstrate His presence. (Berachot 6b)

May we learn to emulate our forefathers in successfully approaching God through prayer, and may we succeed in using prayer both as an affirmation of faith, and as a plea for Him to fix the world in its entirety, thereby bringing the final redemption.

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