TEFILA: Blessing vs Magic

Rabbi Isaac Abarbanel (1437-1508. Tomorrow BH we will have a special column about him) explained that the concept of berakha (=blessing) must be understood from three different viewpoints. 
1. First and most importantly is the berakha that HaShem bestows upon us. His free blessings to us. Everything we have (most of it we take for granted!) is part of the berakha coming from HaShem.  The first example of this berakha is the blessing of procreation. When HaShem, after creating the first forms of life, established the mechanism of procreation so life perpetuates itself. “God blessed them saying: Be fertile and multiply….” (Bereshit  1:22 ).  The creation of life and life’s ability to reproduce itself is part of HaShem’s blessings.  The first type of berakha is ALL what HaShem gives or does for us.   
2. The second type of berakha is from us to HaShem. When a person recognizes, acknowledges and expresses that all what he or she has, comes directly or indirectly from Him. One of the best and most beautiful examples of this type of berakha is the Tefila of King David, which in due of its magnificence we recite everyday while standing (I Chronic. 29:10-13: “Vaybarekh David” . In this superb blessing David blesses HaShem, not by giving something to Him but by acknowledging that He is the Supreme Giver and the Master of the whole universe.   
3. Then there is a third form of blessing, a blessing from man to man. One of the best example of this type of berakha is birkat kohanim, the priestly blessing we read in last weeks’ parasha. The Kohanim bless the people of Israel. But they don’t bestow anything unto us directly, as if they would have some type of superpowers or magic abilities.  The Kohanim invoke the berakha of HaShem: may HaShem bless you and protect you. This type of berakha, when we wish someone to be blessed, never goes directly from man-to-man, but thru HaShem. By invoking His blessings. Not mine. 
(To be continued….)



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TEFILA: Understanding The Blessing Asher Yasar

…אֲשֶׁר יָצַר אֶת הָאָדָם בְּחָכְמָה, וּבָרָא בוֹ נְקָבִים נְקָבִים, חֲלוּלִים חֲלוּלִים. גָּלוּי וְיָדֽוּעַ לִפְנֵי כִסֵּא כְבוֹדֶֽךָ, שֶׁאִם יִסָּתֵם אֶחָד מֵהֶם, אוֹ אִם יִפָּתֵֽחַ אֶחָד מֵהֶם, אִי אֶפְשַׁר לְהִתְקַיֵּם אֲפִילוּ שָׁעָה אַחַת. בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה ,רוֹפֵא כָל בָּשָׂר וּמַפְלִיא לַעֲשׂוֹת
In Masekhet Berakhot, (60 b) the Rabbis mentioned the blessings to be said every morning when we wake up (birkot hashaḥar). One of them is asher yaṣar. This berakha praises God’s wisdom in the creation of our body and its functions, particularly the digestive system. It refers to the sophisticated processes by which our bodies absorb the nutrients from the food we eat and drink, identifying the good and discarding the waste. Following the words of Yiob (19:26,  “from my body I will see God”) the Rabbis considered our bodily functions as a perpetual testimony of God’s wisdom. 
  
God designed a self-sufficient and autonomous body–with organs and numberless orifices and valves–which heals itself without our voluntary intervention. 
  
This berakha also hints that most of us only realize the full extent of God’s wisdom in the fashioning of our body when our bodies, God forbid, stop working properly.  It indicates that if any element of its sophisticated mechanisms would not work properly–an organ will open up, a body vessel will clog up, or a valve will not unlock–we will not be able to survive.  This berakha opens our eyes and hearts to the wonders of our body, inviting us to recognize the wisdom (and compassion) of its Creator.  
After we leave the bathroom, we wash our hands and recite this blessing of gratitude to the Creator of the awesome human body.
  
“Blessed are You, Hashem our God, King of the universe, Who formed man with wisdom and created within him many orifices and organs. It is revealed and known before Your Throne of Glory that if one of them ruptures, or one of them clogs up, it would be impossible to survive even for a short moment. Blessed are You, Hashem, Who heals all bodies and acts wondrously.”
  

READ HERE Dr Daniel Gordis “When Balance becomes Betryal” 



TEFILA: Netilat Yadayim

                  בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה’ אֱלֹ-ינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, אֲשֶר קִדְּשָֽׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו, וְצִוָּֽנוּ עַל נְטִילַת יָדָֽיִם.
One of the first things we do in the morning is washing our hands in preparation for our prayers. This ritual washing of the hands is called: netilat yadayim. 
Literally, netilat yadayim means “elevating, raising or lifting our hands”.  We use that expression because at the conclusion ofnetilat yadayim the hands are elevated.  Other rabbis (Abuderham) explained that the Hebrew word netila should be understood in the sense of ‘receiving’. i.e., receiving the waters that are poured into our hands. 
The rabbis are divided as to what the main reason for the ritual washing of the hands in the morning is. 
√ The first Biblical source for the washing of the hands is found in Exodus 30:19-20. The Kohanim (=Priests) would wash their hands (and feet) before performing the holy service.  The Rishba says that we imitate the Kohen, preparing ourselves to dedicate our day to serve God, by washing our hands every morning. 
√ According to the Rosh the main reason for netilat yadayim in the morning is basic hygiene. Our hands might have touched unclean parts of our bodies during sleep and therefore, before the morning prayer, we should clean our hands. 
√ The Shulḥan ‘arukh mentions also the reason of impurity (ruaḥra’a). In the words of Rabbi Melamed, when we sleep we lost part of our divine image, which we recover upon waking up.  But the state of impurity remains in the hands until we wash them ritually. This is why the Shulḥan ‘arukh (4:2) indicates that we have to wash our hands, alternating three times, as a purification ritual. 
√ Maimonides mentions the washing of the hands as a prerequisite for every prayer. (MT, Tefila 4:2). Thus, according to Maimonides we should wash our hands not only for the morning prayer (shaḥarit) but for the afternoon and night prayers as well.    Thus,  Psalms 26:6  says: “I will wash my hands in cleanliness,and [then I] will go around Your altar, O Lord”.


“When I was young, I used to admire intelligent people; as I grow older, I admire kind people.”
                                                                              Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907-1972)



TEFILA: Mode Ani Lefanekha

                       מוֹדֶה אֲנִי לְפָנֶֽיךָ, מֶֽלֶךְ חַי וְקַיָּם, שֶׁהֶחֱזַֽרְתָּ בִּי נִשְׁמָתִי בְּחֶמְלָה, רַבָּה אֱמוּנָתֶֽךָ.
Virtually all Siddurim (Jewish prayer books) that we have today begin with the prayer Mode (or Moda) Ani Lefanekha…  “I thank You, Oh living and everlasting King, for You have returned to me my soul with [Your] compassion. Great is Your faithfulness”. 
This is a short prayer of gratitude that is said when one wakes up in the morning. It is one of the best known prayers, although ironically, it was not mentioned in the Talmud or Shulchan Arukh.   The first time this prayer appears is in 1599 in the book Seder haYom, written by the Mequbbal Rabbi Moshe ben Makhir from Tzefat (16th Century). 
The content of this beautiful prayer alludes to the idea (or motif)  that  the soul–the sensorial elements of it– is stored by God and it is returned to us when we wake up in the morning.  This idea is based on the Pasuq from the Psalms (31:5) beyadekha -afqid ruchi… “In your hands, oh God, I entrust my soul”. With this prayer we express our gratitude to God for giving us back our spirit of life.  “Mode Ani” paraphrases the belief formulated in “Elo-hay, Neshama…”, which is the original prayer mentioned in the Talmud: when a new day begin and our inert bodies (pegarim metim) recover their vitality, we are virtually born again and for that new opportunity we thank the Almighty. Thus, our first thought and the first word that we utter everyday, is one of gratitude for being alive. 
Mode Ani was formulated to be said before we wash our hands (netilat yadayim) and this is why the name of God does not appear explicitly in it. God is referred to as the “living and eternal King”.  


√ Click here to listen to “Mode Ani”, the song. By Beny Elbaz. 
  
√ Read The aftermath of Hurricane Sandy by Charlie Harary



TEFILA (Jewish prayer): Introduction.

Praying is an innate tendency of any human being who believes in God.  Since God is all-powerful, merciful and compassionate,  man would naturally make contact with Him.  Man has needs and often faces difficulties that cannot be solved by his own efforts. Sickness, accidents or other tragedies bring us to call God. When man is betrayed, or alone or feel hopeless he seeks God for comfort and hope.
Our forefathers have prayed to HaShem numberless times asking for His help or intervention: Abraham prayed to God to spare the lives of the inhabitants of Sodoma and Gomorra. Yitzchaq and his wife Ribqa prayed to HaShem to have a child. Ya’aqob prayed to haShem to save him from the murderous hands of Esav.    Moshe prayed to haShem asking Him to forgive the great sin of the people of Israel (the golden calf). Aharon, Yehoshua’, Shemuel, King David and king Salomon, just to mention a few, prayed constantly to God. 
One of the most famous Biblical prayers, very esteemed by our Rabbis, was the prayer of a woman: Chana, the mother of the prophet Shemuel. Chana was barren and she begged God wholeheartedly to have a son (I Samuel, 1:12) and finally God blessed her with a son.  An extraordinary thing happened then: Chana prayed to God again. This time, with no additional requests, she prayed to praise Him. To acknowledge His power. To assert that He is the One who can turn a poor man rich or a rich man poor. He is the one that gives life or takes life away. Chana prayed to God out of happiness and relief, and to say thank you for her son. 
Prayer is one of the most essential principles of Judaism. Like our forefathers we pray with numberless requests, but we also pray to praise and acknowledge God, and to thank Him for all His blessings to us, as individuals and as part of His chosen Nation.  
(Adapted from Penine Halakha, Tefila, Alef and Bet)

Ninety percent of Americans have a spiritual interlude with God every day, according to a study released by Brandeis University.  See HERE



Praying ‘ exclusively’ to God

23rd day of Av, 5770

God is the only one whom we may serve, praise, and whom we may pray to. Praying to anything or anyone other than God is absolutely forbidden.

We can’t pray to an angel, and not even to ask from an angel to carry our prayer to God.

Three times a day, every day, we express our belief that: “Ki Atta Shomea’ Tefillat Kol Pe…” “YOU listen to everyone’s prayer… “. YOU, directly, without any intermediaries.

While other religions might consider ‘a grave’ (keber) as a sacred place of worship, our Rabbis warned against praying in a cemetery, next to a grave — except for saying Kaddish and Hashkaba — lest one be carried out by an impulse to address a loved one or a deceased Rabbi in his prayers, instead of praying directly to God Almighty. This is why one should avoid praying next to a grave, like other religions do.
Even in me’arat hamakhpela, in Chebron, where the Synagogues are close to the graves of our ancestors, one is warned not to address our prayers, God forbid, to our ancestors but only the God of our ancestors.

Part of being Jewish is the strong belief that haShem is ‘directly’ responsible for our fate. He forbade us to use intermediaries of any sort and commanded us to address and worship Him alone (Va’abadtem Et Hashem Elokekhem… ). Addressing another entity-intermediary –regardless of how important this intermediary might be–would be a great offense to His name.

Maimonides formulated this rule as the 5th of the 13 principles of our faith: “… it is only proper to pray to God. One may not pray to anyone or anything else”



TEFILA and HUMBLENESS

16th of Av, 5770

I’ve got a few new books in Israel. One of them is BET ELOKIM written by Rabbi Moshe ben Yosef Miterany (Salonica 1505- Jerusalem 1585)

In section # 1 he talks about Tefila and the first thing he teaches us is about the attitude of humbleness that we have to show when praying to God Almighty. We cannot ‘demand’ from God to fulfill our needs or requests. We must realize that God Almighty does not owe us anything. Humbly, we approach Him, asking Him and begging Him to hear our prayers knowing that we don’t necessarily deserve His attention or response… We should see ourselves like a poor person asking for charity, requesting a ‘favor’ not a ‘payback’.

All the Mitzvot we do are not ‘favors’ for God for which we should expect God’s attention. On the contrary: a Jew ‘owes’ God the privilege of having being chosen by Him and every Mitzva we do, it’s ultimately for our own benefit: to refine our character and to feed our soul with the nutrients necessary for the world to come. God Almighty is like a father that loves his son and if he demands from his son, for instance, to study, is having his son’s interest in mind, not his own!

Similarly, every Mitzva we do by the command of God it was given by Him for our benefit.

This attitude of humbleness and acknowledgment to HaShem is a prerequisite for a sincere prayer.

Read more about rabbi Moshe Miterani, the MABIT: http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=294&letter=T#1241



The desired effect of praying


23rd of Tamuz, 5770


When we pray with Kavana, focusing our mind exclusively on God, our Tefila leaves a long lasting effect in our personalities, enough to impact our deeds, thoughts and values. When we mentally strive to maintain God at the center we regain consciousness of our place on the periphery of reality.

Still, we try to change and improve what we can change and improve, but at one point we learn to ‘accept’ (not ‘give up’, but accept. Notice the difference!) that some things are beyond our reach and beyond our power to modify. ‘Emuna’ faith is usually understood in the sense of ‘hope’, but to me the proper understanding of Emuna is ‘acceptance’.

This state of the mind, acceptance, is also known as ‘anava’ humbleness. It consists on recognizing the existence of a higher power which control what we don’t. When we reach this state, many small things that use to make us angry becomes less important… we try to make the best of it, of what we can’t change, and we let go easier …

If prayers don’t bring my mind to a higher level of ‘Emuna’ and ‘humbleness’, then probably I have not prayed with enough Kavana. I might just have articulated some Hebrew ‘sounds’….



Prayers from Yerushalaim

19th of Tamuz, 5770

BARUCH HASHEM I’m now in Erets Israel for the next three weeks. I’m staying in a small apartment in Yeshivat haKotel, a two minutes walk- literately- from the Western Wall. It is also thirty seconds away from Beth-El Synagogue, where I go to pray.
Beth-El synagogue is one of the ancient Synagogues in the Old City and one of the most special in the world. When you pray there you really feel transported to a different planet. In that Synagogue the lachash (silent Amida) lasts at least 40 minutes. Which gives you the unique opportunity -and forces you- to take very seriously every word of the Amida.
Stopping to think for a few seconds when you say ATA (‘You’), for example, being conscious that you are addressing God in the second person and feeling that you’re really in front of God Almighty, is probably one of the most important goals of our spiritual journey. Every word of the Amida guides you to follow a path that leads to His presence. And when you think about Him, the focus shifts from asking things from God to a mental effort to get closer to Him, as you would do to be closer to someone you deeply love.
You’ve to concentrate and focus in every word without letting any other thoughts -even thoughts about your basic needs- invade your mind. At those precious minutes you’re trying to find in your soul the right way to think about God.
It is indeed a very challenging exercise of concentration but extremely rewarding. I tell you why, BH tomorrow.
Note: It is really difficult to find an accessible Wi-Fi in the vicinity . So, BH I’m not sure at what time of the day you will get the HOTD for the following 3 weeks…..



The 19th Berakha

READ: http://online.wsj.com/article/global_view.html .

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Watch a modern young hero of Israel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABjE_7uwA0I