“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.”
I drew Emes and Emunah from this writing, and feel quite moved when realizing the respect of Maimonides for HKBH” when reading his quotes “May He be exalted!” It is as though Maimonides is bowing in front of HaShem HaMelech.
If I were to believe that my prayers are only for the greater recognition of G-d's presence, without the hope that He will listen to what I am asking and declaring, then it would scarcely be worthwhile to recite them. This is because I already do recognize and accept His being. A few years ago when I became inspired to pray daily, it was as if this mitzvah had more purpose that simply another way of acknowledging that we live under His jurisdiction. This above explanation by the RAMBAN unfortunately makes it seem that our hopes have less chance in their being fulfilled--already I have wondered if my particular wishes might be granted to even a very small degree.
I like your title of this article because it reminds me of the First Tehilim; as it says I Perek א , “Praiseworthy is the person who did not walk in the councel of the wicked, and did not stand in the place of the sinful, nor sat in the session of the scorners,”
(Perek ב) “rather his desire is in The Torah of HASHEM, and in His Torah * he mediates day and night.”
“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.”
Yes, because by presenting our Pleadings in front of HKBH”, we show our spiritual nerves, and also are not turning our backs toward HaShem, nor “walking with Him BH” by ‘chance’, as the Parashah in Devarim quotes, “and if you walk with Me by chance,” (and lists horrific consequences)!
This comment for prayer being more than merely the acknowledgement of G-d's presence, leaves me without some better understanding of what else it does. My prayers are not for myself but are only for others. I don't wish to take something without sharing it, because that would give me an unfair advantage over those who don't pray at all, yet we read in the Torah about many prayers (unlike Abraham's for the Sodomites), which are said for only personal reasons. Indeed, some of these are on a contractual basis!
“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.”—
“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.”
I drew Emes and Emunah from this writing, and feel quite moved when realizing the respect of Maimonides for HKBH” when reading his quotes “May He be exalted!” It is as though Maimonides is bowing in front of HaShem HaMelech.
I am literally excited when your essay appears! This one is exactly why
Thank you, so nice to hear!
If I were to believe that my prayers are only for the greater recognition of G-d's presence, without the hope that He will listen to what I am asking and declaring, then it would scarcely be worthwhile to recite them. This is because I already do recognize and accept His being. A few years ago when I became inspired to pray daily, it was as if this mitzvah had more purpose that simply another way of acknowledging that we live under His jurisdiction. This above explanation by the RAMBAN unfortunately makes it seem that our hopes have less chance in their being fulfilled--already I have wondered if my particular wishes might be granted to even a very small degree.
I like your title of this article because it reminds me of the First Tehilim; as it says I Perek א , “Praiseworthy is the person who did not walk in the councel of the wicked, and did not stand in the place of the sinful, nor sat in the session of the scorners,”
(Perek ב) “rather his desire is in The Torah of HASHEM, and in His Torah * he mediates day and night.”
Nice, I wish I had thought of that!
“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.”
Yes, because by presenting our Pleadings in front of HKBH”, we show our spiritual nerves, and also are not turning our backs toward HaShem, nor “walking with Him BH” by ‘chance’, as the Parashah in Devarim quotes, “and if you walk with Me by chance,” (and lists horrific consequences)!
This comment for prayer being more than merely the acknowledgement of G-d's presence, leaves me without some better understanding of what else it does. My prayers are not for myself but are only for others. I don't wish to take something without sharing it, because that would give me an unfair advantage over those who don't pray at all, yet we read in the Torah about many prayers (unlike Abraham's for the Sodomites), which are said for only personal reasons. Indeed, some of these are on a contractual basis!
“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.”—
This reminds me of the Tehilim of Wednesday…