After the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 A.D., prayer
was established in part to replace the sacrifical service. The following
passages from the Talmud attest to this transition :
Words in the Guise of Offerings
Rabbi Isaac said, 'We have no prophet or priest or sacrifices or Temple
or altar which can make atonement for us: from the day whereupon the
Temple was laid waste, nought was left to us but prayer. Therefore,
O God, hearken and forgive.'
Midrash Psalms, V, 4.
They retorted, 'But we are poor and have not
the wherewithal to bring sacrifices (in the sense that sacrifices
had ceased with the destruction of the Temple). God replied, 'I desire
words, as it says, Take with you words, and return unto the Lord.
(Deuteronomy 1:1) They then said to God, 'We know no Torah.' 'Then
weep and pray unto Me and I will accept (your remorse)' was the Divine
assurance.
Midrash Rabba, Exodus (Tetzaveh) XXXVIII.4
Many years passed before the wise men of the Talmud agreed on the
three compulsory daily religious offices: shaharit in the morning, minha
in the afternoon, and arvit in the evening. The following passages give
us some sense of the controversy which broke out concerning the institution
of these services.
How many times a day ought a man to pray?
So taught our teachers: One should not pray more than thrice daily,
for the three patriarchs instituted the three statuory prayers:
Abraham, the morning service (Genesis XIX, 27) , Isaac, the afternoon
service (Ib. XXIV, 63) and Jacob, the evening service (Ib. XXVIII,
11). Daniel, too, prayed thrice daily on his knees (Daniel VI, 10).
But Daniel did not specify the hours. David, however, did so, when
he said, 'evening, morning and noonday.' (Psalms, LV, 17) Therefore,
men should not pray more often than thrice daily. Rabbi Johanan
said, 'would that man were capable of praying continuously all day
long!' Antonius asked Rabbi Judah the saint, 'What about praying
at every hour?' Judah said, 'It is forbidden.' He said, 'Why should
it be forbidden?' Judah replied, 'So as not to treat the Almighty
with frivolity.' Antonius was dissatisfied. What did Judah do? Early
next morning he went to Antonius and said to him, 'Hail, O Lord,'
After an hour he went in again, and hailed Antonius as imperator.
After a third hour he said, 'Peace, O King!' Antonius said, 'Why
do you mock at Majesty?' Judah replied, 'Let your ears hear what
your mouth uttered. If you, a king of flesh and blood, say this
when greeted hourly, what shall be said of one who mocks the supreme
King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He? Should one importune
Him at every hour?'
Tanhuma Miketz, 98a-b.
The rule is that worshippers should face Jerusalem during
prayer. The custom is that prayers not be unduly prolonged.
"And he cried unto the Lord...." From this you
learn that the righteous have no difficulty in complaining. By the
way, you also learn that the prayer of the righteous is short. It
happened once in the presence of Rabbi Eliezer that a disciple went
up to read the service and made his prayers short. The other disciples
remarked to Rabbi Eliezer. 'You know how so and so made his prayers
short. And they used to say about him, 'This one is a scholar who
makes short prayers.' But Rabbi Eliezer said to them, 'He did not
make it shorter than Moses did, as it is said: Heal her now, O God,
I beseech Thee.' (Numbers 12:13) Again it happened once that a disciple
in the presence of Rabbi Eliezer went up to read the service and made
his prayers long. The other disciples remarked to Rabbi Eliezer, 'You
notice that so and so made his prayers long.' But Rabbi Eliezer said
to them: 'He did not make them longer than Moses did, as it is said,
So I fell down before the Lord for forty days, etc.' (Deuteronomy
9:25) For Rabbi Eliezer used to say, 'There is a time to be brief
in prayer and a time to be lengthy.'
Tractate Yayassa, Mekita de Rabbi
Ishmael
The intention that inspires prayer, or kavvanah,
is largely what determines its validity. This is particularly true for
the pious Hassidim. Concentration, meditation, and sincerity are all
part of this concept which involves 'orienting one's heart towards God.':
One must only stand up to
say the Tefillah in a serious frame of mind. The pious men of old
were in the habit of waiting an hour before saying their prayer to
be sure that their hearts were directed towards our Father in Heaven.
Babylonian Talmud, Berakoth 5, 1
Our rabbis teach that a man on horseback
must get off his horse to say his prayer and have a travelling companion
hold the reins while he dismounts to pray. If he is alone, he can pray
where he is. Rabbi says, 'In either case he may sit where he is and
pray, because (otherwise) he will be worrying (at the delay of his journey).'
Raba, or according to others, Rabbi Joshua ben Levi, says, 'The Halachah
follows Rabbi.'
Babylonian Talmud Berakoth 30a
In later legends, it is the heart's intention that counts more than
ritual rigor. |