Top No 1 Amil baba in Islamabad Famous Amil baba in Pakistan Amil baba Contac...
Unit 1 slideshow final
1. BS’D
A Journey through
Jewish Prayer
Unit 1: The Virtue of
Prayer
Semester One
Eight Grade
Based on the MorashaSyllabus.com Curriculum
2. Introduction
In this unit we shall explore the exalted status of
prayer in the Jewish worldview. The point here is
simply to establish clearly just how significant
prayer is. As we progress through the slides we
will begin to understand why.
3. Part A. The Craft of Our Fathers
• Informal, individual
prayer was established
by the Avot (the
Patriarchs) prior to the
Temple period.
• The Avot are our
forefathers – Avraham,
Yitzchak and Yaakov.
Maarat Hamachpela
In Chevron, Israel
Burial place of Avraham & Sarah,
Yitzchak & Rivkah, Yaakov & Leah
4. Source #1
Talmud Bavli Berachot 26b
• The Avot introduced three prayers:
• (This source continues on the next slide.)
6. • Later in Jewish history, the
practice of the Avot
(forefathers) stood the Jewish
people in good stead.
• Being chased by the Mitzrim
(Egyptians) after the mass
exodus from Mitzrayim
(Egypt), trapped between the
advancing army on one side
and the vast sea on the other,
the Jewish people prayed to
Hashem.
7. Source #2
Shemot, Perek 14, Passuk 10
• Before the sea split, the Jewish people prayed:
• Rashi comments on the word "- "ויצעקו
8. Source #3
“Rabbi Kadoozy”
• Visit
http://www.chaba
d.org/240369.
• Watch the video
there, in which
Rabbi Kadoozy
answers a
question about
prayer and Jono
asks G-d to write
his term paper.
9. Part B. The Mitzvah to Pray
• Aside from
being the “craft
of our
forefathers,”
prayer is also a
mitzvah.
• For the Jewish
people, it is a
11. Source #2
Rambam, Hilchot Tefillah (the Laws of Prayer) 1:1
• The connection of prayer to Avodah is derived
in the Talmud as the service (Avodah) of the
heart:
12. • The essence of the mitzvah to pray, called
“service of the heart,” is daily and has three
elements to it:
13. Source #3
Rambam, Hilchot Tefillah (the Laws of Prayer) 1:2
Prayer is comprised of praise, request, and
thanks to G-d:
14. • There is an additional mitzvah: to pray at a
time of need. Every person (Jew and non-Jew
alike) is required to believe in Hashem. Praying
at a time of need demonstrates that we
believe in Hashem.
• The actual source for this is on the following
slide.
15. Source #4: Rabbi Moshe Feinstein
Igrot Moshe, Orach Chaim Vol. II, Ch. 24
Prayer demonstrates a basic belief in Hashem:
“The essence of belief in Hashem is that only He
can ultimately guarantee our livelihood or cure
our diseases. And when a person does not trust
in Hashem and does not pray to Him, it is as if
he is denying belief in Hashem for the sake of
belief in something else.”
16. Since Jews and non-Jews
alike are required to pray
to Hashem in a time of
need, the Bait Hamikdash
(the Holy Temple in
Jerusalem), was called by
the prophet Yeshayahu “a
house of prayer for all the
nations” (see source on
17. Source #5
Yeshayahu Perek 56, Passuk 7
The Bait Hamikdash (the Holy Temple in
Jerusalem) was, and will be again, a house of
prayer for everyone:
19. Source #1
Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers) 1:2
• “Divine Service” is one of the three principal
goals of Creation:
“Shimon the Righteous was one of the last survivors of
the Great Assembly. He used to say, 'The world rests on
three things: On Torah, on Avodah (Divine service; serving
Hashem) and on acts of kindness.’”
20. • The importance of prayer is derived from its
direct relationship to Avodah (Divine service in
the Bait Hamikdash, the Holy Temple in
Jersualem). After the destruction of the Bait
Hamikdash, prayer replaced Avodah as a
primary means of building a relationship with
God on both a personal and national level.
• This idea is hinted to in the next source.
21. Source #2
Hoshea, Perek 14, Passuk 3
• No longer with a Bait Hamikdash (Holy
Temple), our prayers replace the sacrifices:
“So we will render for calves [i.e., sacrifices]
the offering of our lips [i.e., prayer].”
• In other words: We will offer the words of our
lips instead of calves.
22. Source #3: Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan
The Handbook of Jewish Thought, Vol. II
“Just as a sacrifice unites the spiritual and
material by making a lowly animal the object of
serving God, so does prayer unite the spiritual
and material by making the request of our
material needs a service of God. It is for this
reason that, when it is impossible to bring
sacrifices, prayer can be offered in their stead,
as the prophet exclaimed, “We will offer the
words of our lips instead of calves” (Hoshea
14:3)”
