My friends, based on studies by sociologist-novelist-priest, Father Andrew Greeley, Americans are seeking a more intimate contact with God through personal prayer. According to Father Greeley, 78% of all Americans pray at least once a week, 57% pray daily, and of the 13% of Americans who identify themselves as atheists or agnostics, nearly 20% of them pray daily. It seems clear that - whether we talk to God privately in our homes, at work or in the car, or we talk to God in the communal setting of the synagogue, church or mosque - our need for God and prayer is growing.
One of our greatest modern theologians, the late Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel said, “To pray is to bring God back into the world…to expand His presence.” While we have concentrated on satiating our mental, physical and emotional needs with material acquisitions, money, power, sex, physical fitness regimens, television and video games, we have woefully neglected our spiritual appetites. Part of Father Greeley's research reveals a renewed interest and an explosion in religious retreats and the refocus on talking TO God instead of just talking ABOUT God.
An interesting dynamic exists, a tension that exists in our society: namely, that in a rootless, materialistic, self-indulging America, there is also a deep and abiding hunger for a personal experiencing of God. There appears to be a void in our spiritual lives. This feeling of spiritual dissatisfaction is, of course, not limited to the Jewish community. I hear it most poignantly from those who are candidates for conversion. So often I hear that one of the main motivations for investigating Judaism is the individual's recognition of a spiritual void or emptiness. They come seeking answers. Not so much facts about Judaism - the intellectual side - but rather spiritual responses to their searching souls. Their quest, quite honestly, is no different than yours or mine.
We teach our children, or expect our religious institutions to teach our children WHAT PRAYER IS. All too often we focus on the parts of the service, how to read the Hebrew, and which prayers are said when. While we teach them WHAT TO PRAY, do we teach them HOW TO PRAY and the power of prayer? We stress the need for organized, choreographed services that are filled with rituals and decorum. We come to houses of worship to celebrate our own life cycle events, and those of our relatives and friends. But do we come on a regular basis for ourselves, for our own spiritual needs???
Now please don't misunderstand, all these things are important to one degree or another, but they are NOT the totality itself. The set structure of the service, the integration of beautiful music and the rituals are all essential elements in helping to create the setting for a prayerful experience - but they do not, nor can they ever fully constitute that experience.
The story is told that a rabbinic student once confided in his teacher, Abraham Joshua Heschel. The student said: “Sometimes, when it comes to prayer, the spirit just doesn't move me.” Heschel lovingly put his hand on his student's shoulder and gently whispered: “My son, did it ever occur to you to try and move the Spirit?”
A prayerful experience is not something that happens TO you. It occurs BECAUSE of you. Prayer is a dialogue with God, ourselves and each other. It is a spiritual reflection of our sacred relationship and partnership with the Divine. Jewish tradition asks the familiar modern theological question: Where is God? And the answer is profound in its simplicity: Wherever you let God in!
For our ancestors, the need for God and prayer were “givens.” For them, God was “near to all, to all who called upon Him in truth.” The Bible is replete with examples of this. Abraham argued with God over the fate of Sodom BECAUSE God was a reality in his life. Moses was successful as a leader BECAUSE he sought Divine counsel. Job was able to accuse God BECAUSE God existed. While they disagreed with God or didn't understand the Divine plan, while they argued, pleaded and cajoled God, they NEVER, EVER doubted God's presence. Through it all, though they may have felt that God turned His back to them, they could not turn their backs to God.
Abraham, Moses, Job and others did not have an infantile view of God, nor of their intimate relationship with God. In their changing world, God remained a constant; an anchor; a secure and calm refuge in a sea of whimsically changing tides. Our spiritual needs are not so very different from those of our ancestors. Time and again I hear the human cry to see and feel God's presence in our lives.
So what prevents this from happening? Why do we experience such a spiritual numbness? Steven Katz, a professor of Jewish studies at Cornell University suggests that most American Jews seem particularly ill at ease with the idea of talking directly to God. He says that “the Jewish community is the most agnostic in the world…” That over the last 200 years, we Jews have pulled away from our own “traditional moorings, substituting a suspicious agnosticism that is manifest in a failure to pray.”
Our lives have become very complicated, our agendas cluttered. We come into the synagogue worried about the business deal that is still pending, the bills that are unpaid, or the argument we just had with our spouse or child. In short, we allow these realities of daily living to become obstacles that cloud the mind and blockade the heart. If we are to truly encounter the Divine, we must work to free ourselves. We must allow ourselves the luxury, if you please, to clear our minds - thereby removing the roadblocks to the heart and soul.
The Rebbe of Tsanz was once asked by a Hasid: “What does the Rabbi do before praying? I pray, was the reply, that I may be able to pray properly.” This vital element of preparation in order to pray is often missing in our lives. So often we walk into the sanctuary and EXPECT, even demand to be moved by some element of the service. In short, we expect “the spirit to move us.” But in all truth and candor, do we ever think and pray in terms of “moving the Spirit?”
Our lifestyles have fed the human trait of impatience. We demand instant answers to our questions. We become dissatisfied with the response: I can't change it or fix it for you but I'm here to support you and help you struggle. It doesn't seem to matter whether the response comes from our family, our friends or God. We often come with prayers of requests, wanting God to fill our shopping carts with the items on our individual lists. We become disappointed, disheartened and disillusioned when the response to our request is “NO.”
Unlike our ancestors, we often use prayer only as a way of transmitting requests to God. While this is certainly an aspect of Jewish prayer, it is not the only one. Prayer is also an opportunity to express gratitude for the many blessings and miracles that we encounter every day. Prayer sensitizes us and motivates us to find the sacred which is so deeply embedded in the mundane.
There is a wonderful reading that expresses our need for God and prayer, and the recognition of the sacred relationship between the individual and God.
I asked God for strength, that I might achieve;
I was made weak, that I might learn humbly to obey.
I asked for health, that I might do greater things;
I was given infirmity, that I might do better things.
I asked for riches, that I might be happy;
I was given poverty, that I might be wise.
I asked for power, that I might have the praise of others;
I was given weakness, that I might feel the need of God.
I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life;
I was given life, that I might enjoy all things.
I got nothing that I asked for - But everything I had hoped for.
Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered;
I am among all people, the most richly blessed.
I pray that each of us recognizes how blessed we truly are. May we come to realize that our prayers are answered NOT when we are given what we ask, but when we are challenged to be what we can be. May we continue to seek God, as God continues to seek us. And in doing so, may we be cognizant of those moments when our hands touch God's. Kein y'he ratzon - as it is God's will to embrace us, so may we embrace God. AMEN!
Home