The Knowledge behind: The Art of Jewish Prayer

So far we have looked at “Standing in HaShems Presence” and asking that; “…my mouth be opened to tell (of) Your Praise.” And we have looked at the Shield of Abraham (Avraham) – the ‘Avot’. And we have looked at the Resurrection of the Dead. We have read the words, heard the words, and discussed the words. But have he learned? Have we assimilated the words? Have the words entered into our essence and become part of us? There is a difference between ‘DAAT’ and ‘BINAH’, and that is what we seek – to combine knowledge and wisdom! So let us continue.

We are still learning from the wonderful book “The Art of Jewish Prayer” by Yitzchok Kirzner with Lisa Aiken, and this week we ‘look at’ Chapter 6 which is concerned with The Holy G-d… “You are holy, and Your Name is holy, and holy ones praise You every day, forever. Blessed are You, G-d, the holy G-d”. And even before we look at the text, I want you to think for a period: “What does ‘HOLY’ mean?” Send a little time ruminating on what that word means – to you in particular. How do you understand that word? Perhaps you need to consider the Hebrew word. Does that make a difference to your data and binah? Kadosh.

There is a Midrash that tells us that this prayer’s concluding blessing was first uttered by the angels when Jacob had his first prophetic vision. He had come to the place on which the temple was later to be built, and he saw a ladder with angels ascending and descending on it. At the top of the ladder he saw the Gates of compassion open. This vision inspired him to sanctify G-d’s Name, at which time the angels declared, “Blessed are You, G-d, the holy G-d.”

You will, of course, find additional comments and information in the book beginning on page 83, through page 87. Let me just leave you with one idea; the word ‘holy’ (kadosh) carries with it the concept of separate, separateness, set aside, different…




Now is it not interesting that this blessing is followed by one that asks for knowledge and understanding? Now, especially at this time of the Hebrew calendar when we begin anew reading B’reshit, it is so important that we assimilate this concept of the Creation with a prayer for knowledge and understanding! Think of Adam and Chava eating from the tree of knowledge and even though that brought the expulsion it gave man the capacity to turn his knowledge into wisdom. Granted that has not all been for the good but that is the price we pay. Without knowledge man would not have ‘split the atom’ (IS there a relationship between: Adam and atom?) to generate power for electricity and other forms of ‘good’ – but it take great wisdom to keep that power from destructive uses.

“YOU graciously give man discerning knowledge, and teach people understanding. Graciously grant us from Yourself discerning knowledge, understanding and intellect. Blessed are You, G-d, who graciously grants discerning knowledge.”
Another understanding expresses it this way-
“YOU generously grand man perception and teach mankind understanding. Generously grant us, from You, perception, understanding and wisdom. Blessed are You, HaShem, Generous Granter of knowledge.”

But there is something else that is bothering me and perhaps you can help me to understand this. We are taught that in Gan Eden that, as the midrash says; “…if you eat from the tree of knowledge… you will surely die.” Here is the problem as I see it: Adam and Chava were the first persons to live. What would be their concept of death? They had never seen death. They have never lost a parent (or a child- yet!). If someone – even HaShem – were to tell you something that is beyond your experience, what would it mean to you? So, if HaShem tell you (Adam) that; “if you do this, you will die”, does it have any meaning to you? Has G-d already granted Adam and Chava data and binah? Where does it tell us that?

Let’s stop to ponder where this Torah is leading us vis-à-vis our learning of the Silent Amidah….

What are you Learning?

Nu? What are you learning?

This is taken from an essay, by Rabbi Daniel Bouskila, found in a recent edition of
The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles

Nine years ago while attending the United Jewish Communities’ General Assembly [GA] in Chicago, I had the privilege and pleasure of hearing Pulitzer Prize-winning author Herman Wouk (now residing in the Palm Springs area, jp) known for bestsellers like “The Cain Mutiny” and “The Winds of War” address the opening plenary. What many do not know is that Wouk is a yeshiva-trained Orthodox Jew who studies Talmud daily.

In his address to the GA, Wouk described the way people who haven’t seen one another for a long time typically greet each other, “How’s the family, how’s your health, how’s your business?” – these are some of the typical greetings, Wouk told us.

“Let me tell you about the world that I come from,” Wouk said. “I come from the yeshiva world, where people bond though the study of Torah texts, and friendships are shaped based on learning together. Therefore, if one bumps into an old friend or rabbi from yeshiva and they haven’t seen each other for many years; the greeting we typically exchange is ‘What are you learning?’”

….

Maimonides teaches: “Moses established a system for the Jewish people, that they should read from the Torah in public on Shabbat, plus every Monday and Thursday morning, so that they should never go for three days without hearing words of Torah” (Mishneh Torah, Laws of Prayer, 12:1).






Talmud Torah Lishmah: Study of Torah for Its own Sake…
or: “Nu! Lomir lernen a shtikl Torah."


There is a story that I recently learned about a great Polish rabbi from Gur. He saw many of his colleagues and family members perish in the Shoah. He survived that horrible page in 20th Century (CE) history and made his way to Eretz Israel where he continued his life as a scholar. He did learn that of all of his family, only one nephew had survived the fiery furnaces of Nazi Germany. Even so it was many years later before this nephew, now a rabbi himself, was able to journey to Israel to meet his famous uncle and Talmud Scholar.

As his nephew approached the door of his uncle, he took a few moments reflecting on this event and finally knocked on the door. His uncle opened the door and they stood there looking at each other for several long moments and finally this scholarly elderly man said to his only living relative, “It has been so long… you have suffered much and now you have traveled far. You must go at once to the Beit Midrash and learn. Go! There is much to study. Go, and do not waste time. Go and learn, my beloved nephew; go.”


You are interpreters; you are poets; you are mad. Only gradually will you learn to know it, only gradually, because your lifetime is to be a preparation for interpreting. Every lifetime well spent is a life of study – wherever that study may be applied: in the streets, in the household, in the law courts, in the laboratory, in the labor unions, in the prisons, in the parliaments, in the marketplace, in the house of prayer, in the solitude of oneself. But all of this is dangerous.
…from the Second Jewish Catalog


Go.
Learn.