From: heb_roots_chr@mail.geocities.com
Sent: Wednesday, November 12, 1997 11:44 PM
To: Hebraic Heritage Newsgroup
Subject: Understanding Jewish Prayer - Part 8
From: JUICE Administration <juice@virtual.co.il>
To: siddur@virtual.co.il
Subject: JUICE Siddur 8
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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: 8/12
Lecturer: Barbara Sutnick and Rabbi Reuven Sutnick
THE EIGHTEEN BENEDICTIONS: PART II
Where to find it:
Before we continue working our way through the blessings of
the Amidah, I want to summarize some of the conclusions we have
drawn thus far. First, the Amidah occupies a unique position in
every official prayer service. Therefore, it must be seen as THE
definitive event in Jewish Prayer. (In the Talmud, it is referred
to simply as "Prayer.") More than any other compilation, the
Amidah contains the spiritual, textual and technical clues to our
unique mode of worship. Secondly, the Amida is divided into three
parts. The first and third, "blessings of praise" and "thanks"
respectively, appear unchanged in all versions of the Amida. The
middle section, "blessings of petition," is deleted from the
Shabbat and holiday Amida. Thirdly, the Rabbis, the masters of
Jewish prayer texts, loved lists! Listing is an unmistakable
characteristic of Jewish prayer technique. Fourth, a decidedly
lengthy process of preparation is mandated in the liturgy as
preparation for the Amida prayer experience. *SIDDUR SEARCH* The
weekday Amida is found in each of the three daily services. It is
easiest to find in Mincha, the afternoon service, where it
comprises almost the entirety of the service. *EUREKA!*
Although appearances are deceiving (i.e. the overall length of
the entire morning prayer service) the truth is, in its most
refined state (the Amida), Jewish prayer is very, very brief. If
you read through each of the Amida blessings and its accompanying
little paragraph you will notice that it makes a major theological
statement in very few words. Now, probably out there on the NET
there are plenty of people who feel that this brevity point is
overstated. Yet if we do a little comparing of entries in our
siddur we will see that the Amida could have been much, much
longer. Take, for example "T'filla l'Sh'lom HaMedinah", the modern
day prayer for the State of Israel. It is recited in Israel and in
some diaspora synagogues towards the end of the Torah Reading
Service on Shabbat and holidays. It is filled with biblical
allusions, specifically to messianic redemption through the line
of King David. Compare the 14th blessing of the Amida, the
traditional prayer for "Rebuilding Jerusalem" with this 20th
century prayer for peace in the modern State. Both deal with the
same topic, the Third Jewish Commonwealth. The classical prayer
for the reestablishment of a sovereign Israel consists of 19 words;
the modern prayer for the welfare of the state logs in at a
whopping 138 words!! (Imagine if each of the blessings of the
Amida were lengthened by 119 words!) Perhaps today's Israeli
bureaucracy requires more verbosity than the 19 words allotted to
the simple monarchy that the Rabbis had in mind. My reasoning is
nevertheless simple: We see that the ideal of brevity was much
harder to retain among later day liturgists. The utter brevity of
each paragraph of the Amida argues that in ancient times this ideal
was not only central -- it was honored! Again -- the underlying
technique of prayer advanced in the Amidah is characteristically
brief.
Now to the Amida itself. Following the opening three
blessings of praise which we examined last week, we have twelve
(really thirteen!) blessings of petition for the needs of the
individual and the community. The are named for their themes,
which are reflected in the opening of each blessing, and in their
formulaic "signature" ("Blessed are You...") at the end of each.
They are as follows:
4 -- "Understanding"
5 -- "Repentance"
6 -- "Forgiveness"
7 -- "Redemption"
8 -- "Health and Healing"
9 -- "Year of Prosperity"
10 -- "Ingathering of Exiles"
11 -- "Restoration of Justice"
12 -- "Against Heretics"
13 -- "The Righteous"
14 -- "Rebuilding Jerusalem"
15 -- "Davidic Reign"
16 -- "Acceptance of Prayer"
Beginning with "Understanding", we have the first instance in
the Amida where we ask for something for ourselves:
YOU graciously endow man with knowledge and teach insight to
a frail mortal. Endow us graciously from Yourself with
wisdom, insight and knowledge. Blessed are You...gracious
Giver of knowledge.
The commentators (see Maklenborg, Iyun Tefilla) note that this
blessing begins with praise and then goes on to petition for
knowledge. In this sense, it is transitional from the opening
blessings which are purely praise. Another signal of transition
can be found in the direct address, "YOU." In virtually every
Amidah, be it that of the Daily Service or the shortened Amidah of
Shabbat and holidays, the first of the middle petition blessings
(On Shabbat and holidays the middle section is replaced with
blessings that refer specifically to the day at hand) begins with
"YOU." We should also note that the phrase "wisdom, insight and
knowledge" appears to derive from Jeremiah 3:15; see also Psalms
94:10, where God is referred to as "He that teaches man knowledge."
Again, the prayer is short and refers specifically to an ATTRIBUTE
of God.
IF FACT, THE LISTING OF ATTRIBUTES OF GOD, WITH MINIMAL
ANNOTATION, CHARACTERIZES THE AMIDA. Why is this so? What makes
this such an important component in the TECHNIQUE of Jewish Prayer?
What exactly do we accomplish with the mention of each particular
attribute?
To answer these questions, I want you to join me in examining
Psalm 44. The Book of Psalms is an important source document for
the Siddur, while not itself a book of prayers! But -- the
implicit psychology of many of the psalms can tell us much about
prayer technique. I will paraphrase Psalm 44 in outline form:
A -- O God, our fathers have told us ... how You
drove out the nations (from Israel)
B -- I (Israel) trust in You...
C -- Arise and redeem us (i.e. please do that redemption
thing again as we know You can!)
God is the Defender of Israel, a recognition we have from our
fathers and which we maintain, despite the confusion of our current
state of affairs. The mention of this attribute constitutes the
religio-historical basis for our current request. How is it that
we can ask God to fight our battles for us? It is because He
revealed himself to our ancestors to be just that kind of God! We
ourselves haven't seen it, the psalmist declares -- but we believe
it, just as our forebears taught us. THEREFORE, arise and redeem
us, because we have learned that we can depend on You for this.
The mention of an attribute in the Amida serves the same
function. We need understanding if we are to serve God, if we are
to distinguish between the Sabbath and the work days, if we are to
perform any of the tasks that are based on wisdom and
understanding. Why, we could not even utter prayers without our
mental capacities intact. But, in a cyclical fashion, we are
dependent on God for this very understanding. The same thing that
we NEED from God (understanding) we use to SERVE God. Furthermore,
God has historically graced man with knowledge. Thus mentioning
the attribute both praises God as the source of human wisdom and
acknowledges our dependence. Here, in short, is the logical
argument:
A. God graciously gives wisdom to man
B. We rightfully ask for wisdom from the source
C. We recite the blessing, again mentioning the
attribute as if the request had already been granted
If you have any doubt that Jewish Prayer is based on anything other
than its own system of internal, revealed logic, take a look at
blessing 6, "Forgiveness":
Forgive us, our Father, for we have erred; pardon us, our
King, for we have willfully sinned; BECAUSE You are the good
and forgiving God, Blessed ... the gracious One Who pardons
abundantly.
Make no mistake about it, the little Hebrew word "ki" -- BECAUSE --
should be capitalized, bold, circled, underlined and highlighted in
your siddur! It represents true theological persuasion, but of a
very unique sort. We ask God to forgive us, NOT because we are
worthy. Au contraire: we have sinned, we have premeditated
criminal intent -- and we admit it daily in synagogue! We ask God
for forgiveness BECAUSE God is historically by ATTRIBUTE good and
forgiving: we recite the blessing on forgiveness as if our request
had already been granted.
To summarize briefly, the attribute serves a unique, logical
function in the technique of Jewish Prayer. It establishes that
the basis for making our petitions is not because of human merit,
but because of the magnanimous powers of God -- the paradigmatic
"Gevurot" ("Power" - blessing #2) of the opening blessings of the
Amidah. Ultimately, in our dependence on the attribute, we
downplay human merit. (This works in both directions: we can sin
but be forgiven; alternatively we can be worthy, but dwell in the
historical period BEFORE redemption.) Our right to pray (petition)
comes from the fact that God created us with these needs, this
dependency on Him. Our confidence that our prayers will be
answered resides in the theology implied by the attribute
mentioned.
Time for some humor. Leibel the beggar sat alone on a bench
outside the synagogue. Everybody knows if you want to collect a
few dollars at "shul" (synagogue) on a weekday when everybody is in
a hurry, you have to get up early. But alas and alack -- Leibel
the beggar was slow to the mark that day. With nothing to show for
his efforts, he turned his eyes towards heaven and prayed: "Lord of
the World, I need $50." The rabbi of the synagogue overheard
Leibel's prayer and drew a $20 bill from his wallet, placing it on
the bench beside the beggar. After the rabbi went on his way,
Leibel looked up to heaven and said: "Thank you Lord. I appreciate
the help, but I think you should watch that rabbi. He may have
just stolen my thirty bucks!" Moral of the story: according to
Leibel's impressive knowledge of theology, the Rabbi should have
come up with the rest of that money!! Please e-mail your
explanations as to why!
Now, how does the average pray-er go about asking for his $50?
This leads to the question which is probably perplexing you all:
Within the set format of the Amidah, where is there room for the
individual to insert his/her own personal requests? In the 8th
blessing, "Health and Healing" we recite:
Heal us, God -- then we will be healed; save us -- then
we will be saved, for You are our Praise. Bring complete
recovery for all our ailments ** BECAUSE You are God, King,
the faithful and compassionate Healer. Blessed ... Who heals
the sick of His people Israel.
Again, you have the elements of the attribute and the internal
logic, which we now recognize as TECHNICAL aspects of Jewish
Prayer. The ** indicates where the individual can insert a prayer
for someone who is ill, mentioning the person specifically by name.
Later, in the 16th blessing, "Acceptance of Prayer" we read:
Merciful Father, hear our voice ... BECAUSE God Who hears
prayers and supplications is You. From before Yourself, our
King, turn us not away empty-handed. Be gracious with us,
answer us, and hear our prayers ** BECAUSE You hear the
prayer of each mouth of Your people Israel with compassion.
Blessed ... Who hears prayer.
I don't know why we have a double "BECAUSE" here, but I do know
that there are two special insertions that the pray-er is
encouraged to add at the **'s: one is a prayer for forgiveness for
a particular sin, and the other is for livelihood. Here one asks
for sustenance earned honorably, without having to depend on the
largesse of others.
Note: in both this prayer and in the one for health, we see the
possibility for personal petition and personal expression within
fixed prayer. I find it instructive that three specific areas are
defined for personal petitions. This, even though the 16th
blessing, is more of an all-purpose petition based on the attribute
"Who hears prayer" (i.e. a place in which any personal request
should fit). These three areas are health, forgiveness for a sin
and livelihood. I remember that some years ago the late
Lubavitcher Rebbe encouraged his Chassidim to view Friday night
Kiddush as a propitious time to have in mind one's sustenance. He
encouraged his followers to ask and ask freely. The truth is if
you read the 18 (19) blessings of the Amidah, you will find all the
truly important practical considerations one might list. Our
dependency on God for these things, following the logic I have
attempted to set out, establishes our right to ask for His generous
and concerned help. At the same time, our ability and propensity
to frame concrete, significant requests in our prayers
significantly concretizes our dependence on God. If that sounded
like circular logic to you, that is because it is!
I had asked last week if anyone could identify the 19th blessing,
the one that was added after the "18 Benedictions" of the Amidah
were canonized. The answer is "Against the Heretics," or Birkat
HaMinim, the 12th blessing. In this blessing we recite:
And for the slanderers, let there be no hope; and may all the
heretics perish in an instant; and may all the enemies of Your
people be cut down speedily. May you speedily uproot smash
and cast down the wanton sinners -- destroy them, lower them,
humble them, speedily in our days. Blessed are You...Who
breaks enemies and humbles wanton sinners.
This blessing was instituted by Rabban Gamliel d'Yavneh, who lived
following the destruction of the Second Temple. Both from the
harsh language of the liturgical text and our knowledge of the
historical period, we can sense that the days' heretics (Sadducees,
Karaites, Essenes and early Christians) were a serious threat to
Judaism in trauma. The Temple had been destroyed, which left the
people vulnerable. Part of the response of the rabbis of Yavneh
(whose task it was to adapt Judaism to the absence of the Temple)
was to shift the focus of Jewish ritual to prayer and the
synagogue. This blessing, then, is a powerful indication of their
sense of the efficacy of prayer. Prayer could be used to fight
back! The language of uprooting and destruction may be traced to
Isaiah 14:5. It is interesting to note that R. Y.Tz. Maklenborg,
in Iyun Tefilla, goes out of his way in his commentary to prove
that each verb somehow intends that the SIN should be removed,
rather than the SINNER. This is in keeping with the verse in
Psalms 104:35: "Sinners shall be consumed out of the earth, and the
wicked shall be no more". The Talmudic reading of this verse is
that "sinners" should be understood as "sins" -- that is, once sin
is gone, there will be no more sinners. Other commentators (see R.
Issachar Jacobson, N'tiv Binah) find the proliferation of words of
destruction to indicate the seriousness of the threat and the
literalism of the sentiment.
We can also view the blessing "Against the Heretics" as a
unique event in the development of the Amidah, since it was a late
amendment to the Prayer. We established early on that the
formulation of the "18 Benedictions" was traceable to a period
considerably earlier than Yavneh. Had there been no other threat
in the intervening years that was equally worrisome to Jews as that
of the heretical sects? What about the ensuing years that bring us
to this day? Since there have of course been other very serious
threats, why did this not prompt another blessing? Furthermore, we
are no longer plagued by the threat of the early Christians,
Karaites, Essenes and Sadducees -- Yet the blessing remains! Do
you think it reflects a basic need, in one sense or another? In
effect, was "eighteen" always really meant to be "nineteen" in
Jewish prayer?
Meanwhile, next time we will focus on the Passover Haggada.
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