jewscout
Religious Zionist
World of the Sages: God teaching by example
In nurturing our relationship with God, prayer is one of the paths we consider. Regular heartfelt prayer, however, is by no means an easy endeavor. Though prayer carries opportunities for cultivating a rapport with the Divine, it is fraught with challenges.
Perhaps with the aim of encouraging one who embarks upon the journey of communing with God, the sages assume that God himself prays, seeking only a proof text to substantiate this idea: "From where do we know that the Holy One, blessed be He, prays?" (B. Berachot 7a).
The sages respond by citing a verse from the Prophets: "I will bring them to My holy mountain and make them joyful in the house of My prayer" (Isaiah 56:7). Though the compound of the last two words - "beit tefillati" - can be translated as "My house of prayer", the Talmud renders it as "the house of My prayer." "My prayer" says God, suggesting that God too prays.
Unsatisfied with the mere notion that God prays, the sages' inquisitive tendency leads to a further question: "What does He pray?" A stirring answer is offered to this inquiry: "May it be My will, that My mercy conquers My anger and that My mercy overcomes My sterner attributes and that I behave towards My children with the attribute of mercy and for their sake I go beyond the dictate of the law." This prayer is baffling: To whom is God praying? There is no one to override God, why does He not do as He desires? Perhaps most troubling is that this passage hints at dualism - the doctrine that holds that reality consists, or is the outcome, of two ultimate principles.
full article here:
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1123121932912&p=1111893688921
In nurturing our relationship with God, prayer is one of the paths we consider. Regular heartfelt prayer, however, is by no means an easy endeavor. Though prayer carries opportunities for cultivating a rapport with the Divine, it is fraught with challenges.
Perhaps with the aim of encouraging one who embarks upon the journey of communing with God, the sages assume that God himself prays, seeking only a proof text to substantiate this idea: "From where do we know that the Holy One, blessed be He, prays?" (B. Berachot 7a).
The sages respond by citing a verse from the Prophets: "I will bring them to My holy mountain and make them joyful in the house of My prayer" (Isaiah 56:7). Though the compound of the last two words - "beit tefillati" - can be translated as "My house of prayer", the Talmud renders it as "the house of My prayer." "My prayer" says God, suggesting that God too prays.
Unsatisfied with the mere notion that God prays, the sages' inquisitive tendency leads to a further question: "What does He pray?" A stirring answer is offered to this inquiry: "May it be My will, that My mercy conquers My anger and that My mercy overcomes My sterner attributes and that I behave towards My children with the attribute of mercy and for their sake I go beyond the dictate of the law." This prayer is baffling: To whom is God praying? There is no one to override God, why does He not do as He desires? Perhaps most troubling is that this passage hints at dualism - the doctrine that holds that reality consists, or is the outcome, of two ultimate principles.
full article here:
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1123121932912&p=1111893688921