Subject: Understanding Jewish Prayer - Part V
From: JUICE Administration <juice@virtual.co.il>
To: siddur@virtual.co.il
Subject: JUICE Siddur 5
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World Zionist Organization
Student and Academics Department
Jewish University in CyberspacE
juice@wzo.org.il birnbaum@wzo.org.il
http://www.wzo.org.il
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Course: THE PRAYER BOOK: A WINDOW ON JEWISH THEOLOGY
Lecture: 4/12
Lecturer: Barbara Sutnick and Rabbi Reuven Sutnick
Important announcement: We will not be sending out lectures in our JUICE
courses next week, during Sukkot. Hag Sameach!
"The Problem With Prayer Is We Are Still Not Praying"
More years ago than I would like to admit, someone suggested to
me that if you want to understand Jewish prayer, you had to read
Heschel. He was referring to Abraham Joshua Heschel, author of
"God in Search of Man", "Man's Quest for God" -- known
affectionately as the "hide-and-seek" books of Judaism. Now, there
is good news and bad news. On the down side, in spite of having
made an honest effort to locate the exact quotation I have
in mind, I couldn't find it; but on the positive side, as I
progress through the years, my memory for matters of long ago has
gotten better. In other words, I am quoting now without the book
in front of me. If Heschel said it or quoted one of the Chassidic
masters, good for him and it is my honor to quote in his name -- if
I am fabricating this whole business, what I am about to tell you
still has the ring of truth:
"The problem with prayer ....
... is that we are still not praying!"
(If any students can help me out with a source, please be in
touch!)
If we examine this "haiku" of prayer philosophy, we will see
something remarkable. It is possible, both practically and within
the Rabbinic concept, to be involved in prayer and still not be
praying. For instance, you can be present in the synagogue; yet
while everybody else seems to be praying, your mind wanders. It is
also possible to recite words without the proper intention.
Alternatively, one can be so concerned with the behaviorism of
religious Judaism -- the where-to-be's, what-to-do's and
when-to-do-it's of observant life -- that one loses the sense of
awe and spiritual purpose in prayer. It is even possible to be
present in the synagogue, to be reciting the appropriate prayers
with the correct intention (KaVaNah) at the correct times, and
STILL not be praying! Because, believe it or not, there is prayer
which is not intended to be prayer; this is PRAYER WHICH IS
PREPARATION FOR PRAYER. In fact, if you examine the entire siddur,
I place before you with confidence that the majority of prayer
ritual prepares the pray-er for very significant moments, which we
build to and which pass very quickly. The experience of authentic
prayer implies heights to which we sometimes rise; but at the
same time constitute a level at which we cannot remain for long.
The "problem" of prayer is the challenge to be ready spiritually at
the moment we stand to pray.
To read Heschel on prayer is to read a poetic meditation. But
-- we are SCHOLARS! So putting aside poetry, let us take a look at
some of the hard evidence we have in the siddur and in rabbinic
sources which support some of what I have stated above. Let us
examine the Morning Service for Weekdays. It contains three main
divisions:
1. Preliminary Service or P'sukei d'Zimra
2. Sh'ma and its Blessings (subject of Lecture 6)
3. Silent Prayer or Amida or Eighteen Blessings(Lectures 7-8)
There are, to be sure, other readings which by default have become
part of the contemporary morning service, like the Morning
Blessings or Birkot Hashachar (these are actually personal prayers
to be recited by individuals at daybreak at home, and were not
originally part of the public ritual). However, the division of
the service I have suggested should be generally acceptable.
Furthermore, each section is characterized by opening and closing
blessings, which are a definitive indication that sets off sections
of the service.
Now -- most siddurim designate the first identifiable
section, the P'sukei d'Zimra as the Preliminary Service. While not
a direct translation of the Hebrew (the literal meaning is "Verses
of Songs"), it is a fairly accurate description of the role of this
section. However, the term "preliminary" forces two critical
questions: (1) if the section is simply "preliminary", TO WHAT is
it preliminary? And (2) doesn't "preliminary" usually indicate
lesser importance than what follows? After all, the "preliminary"
bout at Madison Square Garden is the one people don't pay to
see; the "preliminary" act at the big rock concert is the one they
test the sound system on! If so, what does this indicate about the
status and purpose of this section as prayer?
The Mishnah in Berachot 5:1 states:
"One stands to PRAY only in a reverent state of mind. The
pious ones of old waited one hour (in the synagogue) before
PRAYING in order to incline their hearts towards God."
To understand just how relevant this passage is to the
preliminaries of prayer, we must first appreciate the realia it
reflects. First, "PRAYER" in the Talmud is a technical phrase
designating the "Eighteen Blessings" of the Amidah. My
capitalization here indicates the technical meaning of specifically
"standing to pray the Eighteen Blessings." Therefore, our Mishnah
deals with preparatory activity leading up to the all-important
Amidah. Next, the "pious ones of old" can be dated. The redaction
of the Mishnah was completed towards the end of the second century
CE. If we consider that Rabbi Judah HaNasi edited the Mishnah from
existing manuscripts and traditions, many of them from centuries
earlier; and when we consider that the words of the text refer to
"pious ones" of an earlier period; we can conclude that our Mishnah
describes ritual in the ancient synagogue of the 2nd Temple period.
These exemplary "pious ones" arrived in synagogue an hour before
the time appointed for the recitation of the Amidah. They used
this time to achieve the proper mental state for "PRAYING".
But what exactly did they do? The Talmud recalls their
ritual:
Rabbi Simlai expounded: A MAN should always order (i.e. recite
systematically) his praise of God, and AFTER THAT he should
PRAY.
(Berachot 32a)
(N.B. Please note that the Talmud used masculine language, which
reflects its time. This should not stop us from thinking flexibly,
and including both genders in our understanding!)
While not yet specific, we nevertheless see again that "PRAYING"
the Amidah comes after a period of prayer-like preparation, here
identified as "praise." What might these "praises" be which now
are incumbent upon an individual "MAN" to recite, as opposed to
being the custom of a group cited for their piety? The Talmud in
Shabbat 118b tells us specifically:
Rabbi Yossi said: May my portion be among those who conclude
Hallel (literally "psalms of praise) each day. And [could
this possibly be] so?!? Behold the Master said, 'He who reads
the Hallel each day blasphemes!'
When he (Rabbi Yossi) spoke, he was referring to P'SUKEI D'ZIMRA.
What is the problem in the text with Rabbi Yossi's statement? It
is that Hallel is a special series of psalms of praise that are
recited only on certain designated holidays. As the text
indicates, to recite Hallel everyday is "blasphemous." The text
then goes on to satisfactorily explain away the problem: Rabbi
Yossi was not referring to THAT HALLEL. He meant P'SUKEI D'ZIMRA
-- a different combination of psalms of praise.
[For advanced students: Rashi explains that there are two
Psalms which appear in P'sukei D'zimra, Psalms 148 and 150, the
recitation of which constitutes "concluding Hallel". The Talmud
identifies these as P'sukei D'zimra, that is the "Preliminary
Service" which prepares us to recite the Amidah.] Thus, Rabbi
Yossi was figuratively describing his desire to cast his lot with
the pious of old, those who conclude the Hallel daily -- that is,
those who prepare themselves daily to recite the Amidah in a
reverent state. Interestingly, the characteristic R. Yossi admires
in these individuals is not their ability to recite the Amidah
correctly; it is their willingness to prepare themselves
thoroughly. If nothing else, he accords the preparation to pray a
very high value in the quest for piety.
Finally, one last point -- we note that the Talmud is not
completely comfortable with all this singing and praising. As
Rashi points out (adloc.) if one reads Hallel daily, he demeans it
by turning into an ordinary song.
We have so far established the antiquity of P'sukei D'zimra,
its earliest function as preparation to recite the Amidah in a
reverent state and the Talmud's own formulation of Heschel's
hypothesis: "The problem with prayer .... is that we are still not
praying." For the rabbis of the Talmud, preparing correctly to
pray is no less difficult a task than uttering the Amidah in a
reverent mental/spiritual framework. To offer one's praise daily
in advance of "PRAYER" is to walk a tightrope between being
spiritually unprepared and reducing the sublime biblical text to
song. P'sukei D'zimra, the Preliminary Service, therefore
addresses the challenge of prayer -- to be spiritually ready at the
moment the community stands to recite the Amidah. Following the
lead of the "pious ones of old", the Rabbis defined an acceptable
selection of verses to get us "praying"!
As you must have noticed, I have spent a lot of time trying to
persuade you that there are prayer-like rituals in Jewish liturgy
which are qualitatively different than "prayer." To probe this
idea more precisely, it is necessary to return in a more
sophisticated way to the task of defining prayer. In Lecture 1, we
made use of English and Hebrew dictionaries to arrive at a
relatively useful definition of the term "prayer." At this point,
I would like to hone in on what "prayer" -- as a traditional Jewish
concept -- consists of. To do this, we must refer to the "Eighteen
Blessings" which are called "PRAYER" par excellence in the Talmud.
(We will study this PRAYER in Lectures 7 and 8, so for now you will
have to trust me!) From the "mother of all prayers" (not a
talmudic phrase!) comes our real definition fixed of prayer. The
"Eighteen Blessings" have several features: first, they include
several categories of blessings. Some blessings give praise,
others give thanks and others ask for things. Secondly, these
blessings are COMPOSED, and the Talmud places before us the
history of their composition. They were, in fact, the
compositions of gifted spiritual individuals which were then
canonized into Jewish ritual. There is no pretense of Biblical
origin. It must be emphasized that composition was NOT the same
process as linking together excerpts from the Bible.
Now, if we look at P'sukei D'zimra, the "Preliminary Service",
we see something that stands in sharp relief. The text of the
service, aside from the opening and closing blessing, consists of
Biblical verses linked together, but unaltered in their form. We
find quotes from Chronicles, Psalms, entire psalms, the Hallel
mentioned above, the Song at the Sea, and the conclusion of Psalms.
Nowhere do we find the equivalent of the activity of the Men of the
Great Assembly who created the "Eighteen Blessings." In other
words -- they have no in "other words." There is virtually no
creative, liturgical composition in the entire "Preliminary
Service", except for their opening and closing blessings.
Before I discuss why I find this so significant, let's take a
look at the blessings. The opening and closing blessings, "BaRuCH
SheAMaR" and "YiSHtaBaCH" respectively, serve a function that is as
much formalistic as it is spiritual. The siddur is a
highly-structured document. From section to discernible section,
there are liturgical elements which serve to delineate. One such
element is the Kaddish; another is the blessing.
"Baruch SheAmar" and "Yishtabach" set off P'sukei D'Zimra from the
section called "Sh'ma and its Blessings". They are in fact one
long blessing.
But do they constitute prayer in its pure sense? Is the fact
that something is a blessing enough to qualify it as prayer? The
Shulchan Aruch, Orach Hayim 51:1 tells us:
One says "Baruch SheAmar" before P'sukei D'Zimra and
"Yishtabach" after them.
In a very interesting comment on this law, the Mishnah Berurah
notes:
This "praise" (SHeVaCH) was enacted by the Men of the Great
Assembly according to a note which fell from heaven; they
found it and it had written on it 87 words...that is to
suggest, the beginning of "prayer" is the blessing of 87
words. (The length of Baruch SheAmar is, as you may have
guessed, 87 words!)
For this reason, "Baruch SheAmar" is recited exactly as written,
without adding or subtracting to the number of words. While you
may not love the idea of liturgical texts tumbling from heaven,
scribbled on the back of a napkin from the local diner, the
terminology is instructive. The Mishnah Berurah uses two
contrasting terms for liturgy: "praise" (SHeVaCH) and "prayer"
(TeFiLah) are not the same. What strikes me as significant is that
"praise" above (Berachot 32a) referred to P'sukei D'zimra, which
is a preliminary to prayer, but not identical with prayer. Here it
refers to the blessing of P'sukei D'zimra, "Baruch SheAmar".
"Baruch SheAmar" may be "praise", but is it necessarily "prayer"?
The truth of the matter is "praise" serves a very different
function than prayer. Whether to supply the Almighty with the
flattery we might imagine He needs, like some Middle Eastern tyrant
of days gone by (or these days, too); or to engender in ourselves
the proper sense of awe we require to pray sincerely, "praise"
comes before "prayer". As Abudraham writes in his legalistic
commentary to the siddur,
And after this they ordained the recitation of chapters at the
conclusion of Psalms, and they are the "advocates" of prayer
(p. 62).
It makes sense, then, that the blessings of P'sukei D'Zimra share
the same character as the section they set off -- they advocate for
effective prayer.
I think it should be fairly well-established by now that the
Rabbis judiciously chose their terms to describe the "Preliminary
Service" -- "Verses of Song" or "praise" or "advocates" -- as
something other than "prayer". Another significant indicator that
P'sukei D'Zimra is not "prayer" can be seen in the fact that
biblical verses are brought together and quoted verbatim. How so?
There seems to be an attempt to avoid spontaneous or interpretive
contribution. Let us consider the following fascinating quotes:
R. Eliezer says: He who makes his "PRAYER" fixed, his prayer
lacks sincerity. (Berachot 28a)
What does "fixed" mean? Rabba and Rav Yosef both said: This
refers to one who cannot innovate at least one word [in his
recitation of "PRAYER," particularly the petitions.
(Berachot 29b)
Now, [as for] these three ["praises" of God], were it not for
the fact that Moses wrote them in the Torah and the Men of the
Great Assembly canonized them in the "PRAYER", we could not
say them.
(Megillah 25a)
In the first text R. Eliezer warns us of the danger of rote
recital. If one does not open one's heart in prayer, if that
prayer is like a burden to be carried from place to place, one has
prayed without sincerity. In the discussion that follows, the two
later authorities tell us exactly what R. Eliezer had in mind.
When a person lays out his petitions before God, he must include
something different each day. How can my prayer be sincere if
I ask for the same things today that I asked for yesterday?"
Sincere prayer involves a sincere and motile presentation of one's
needs. However, what we see here is the ideal that "PRAYER"
involves innovation. Even when the concluding words of a blessing
are fixed, as they were from the time of the Great Assembly on,
there is still room for the individual to state his/her own needs.
So what does that tell us about a section of the service which
quotes verses verbatim and asks for nothing? The P'sukei D'Zimra,
in its Rabbinic concept, was not the time for innovation. It was
the time for pure praise.
In the quote from Talmud Megillah we see something remarkable.
The rabbis were actually uncomfortable with the idea of praising
God! In the first section (Avot) at the beginning of the "Eighteen
Blessings", we praise God as "the great, mighty and awesome God."
Astoundingly, the Talmud tells us that were it not for Moses and
the Men of the Great Assembly giving us, as it were, permission to
use these accolades, we could not do so. Furthermore, we saw above
the Talmud's objection to those who read Hallel each day: "They
show contempt and blaspheme".
(Shabbat 118a)
What is the problem?
Let me illustrate their difficulty with a personal example.
Many years ago I in one of my graduate school classes, the teacher
was a woman of notable vanity. She arrived one morning in a
particularly nice dress and rather well coiffed. One of the
students made the mistake of offering a compliment: "You look very
nice today." The teacher's response: "ONLY TODAY?!? All the more
so in the case of the Lord. If we praise the Infinite with three
accolades -- "great, mighty and awesome" -- what about all the
others? Isn't God also merciful, the Righteous Judge, the One who
sustains all, Resurrector of the dead, etc., etc., etc., etc. In
other words, the limitations of language indicate a limitation of
concept. This in turn could indicate a limitation of gratitude! It
is no wonder that the Rabbis were suspect of one who uttered
"praises" too easily. To do so is to "show contempt", even to
blaspheme!
P'sukei D'zimra is a compendium of quotations selected from
throughout the Bible. In a way, the verses allow us to order our
"praise" of God indirectly -- less presumptuously -- avoiding the
dangers the Rabbis saw in any incomplete listing. The verses are
a non-prayer type of praying which orient us towards the "Eighteen
Blessings", the service in which we lay out our petitions. As a
"Preliminary Service", they help us to "warm- up." They allow us
to reach the proper mental/spiritual state, so that when we stand
to "PRAY" we will do so with sincerity. In the best of
circumstances, they help us overcome the "problem of prayer" so
that our "PRAYER" really will be "PRAYING".
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