Untitled Document

THE PRAYER BOOK: A WINDOW ON JEWISH THEOLOGY
Instructors: Barbara and Reuven Sutnick

Lesson 5/12 "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:

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:

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 (ad loc.) 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 of fixed
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 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".

QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER THOUGHT

1. Let me throw down the gauntlet. After all this, do you still think
that P'sukei D'zimra is in fact really prayer? If so, let me hear from
you!

2. For advanced students: There is a commandment in the Torah , which
states:
If a bird's nest chance to be before thee ... thou shalt not
take the mother bird together with the young ... send the
mother away...(Deut. 22:6, ff.)
The Talmud disparages one who utters the prayer: "His mercies extend to
the bird's nest." Why?

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