Yitro- Three Stages of Prayer

The Zohar is a mystical commentary on the Torah written in the Middle Ages. It states that the story of Exodus indicates that redemption happens in three stages: silence, crying out, and words. The Israelites were so caught up in their suffering that at first, they don’t even cry out to God; they are silent. It is only after Moses slays the Egyptian and flees that they cry out. But this a wordless cry. The text says that they sighed and cried out, a-nah and za’ak. Words only came to them after their deliverance from Egypt as we have in this week’s parsha where they tell Moses that they will do all Hashem commanded them, and Moses took their words back to God.

These three stages of redemption coincide with the three stages of prayer. At first we are silent, not praying at all. Many people don’t pray because of unbelief or unaware of their needs, or so caught up in their sin that they don’t care. But then something happens that disrupts their lives and they cry out in wordless anguish. They don’t know what to say; they are only raw emotion. It is only later that they can put their anguish to words; to pray. They move from za’ak to tefillah, prayer.

Some traditions of skeptical of liturgy, but it does have value. Our siddur gives us the words when we don’t have them. It helps us articulate our wordless groans. Liturgy also teaches us what is important; what we should focus on. And it teaches us who we really are; that we are children of God. Our concerns should reflect and be in concert with His concerns. Tefillah doesn’t mean “prayer”, it literally means “to judge oneself”. Prayer is an act of self-discovery and growing self-awareness. This is why one of the first prayers of the Amidah is a request for God to give us insight and wisdom.
Our Sages constructed the siddur to accomplish this goal. It consists of praise, thanksgiving, and petition, but the overall focus is prayer for redemption. We begin every morning before leaving the bed with Modeh Ani, a prayer of gratitude that Hashem has restored us to wakefulness. We then proceed to praise Him for past salvations (like the Exodus), for sustaining us daily, but it then moves to focus on the future redemption. One of our final prayers is the Alaynu which prays that all of humanity will come to recognize Hashem and His Messiah.

We pray for our individual needs but it is always framed within this overall context. We learn that our concerns are merely a part of an overall arc of the world’s need for redemption. And we discover who we really are; priests interceding on behalf of the world. We are indeed a mamlechet cohanim, and kingdom of priests called to pray for God to bring redemption.

Prayer does not end there, however. It is also connected to sacrifice. The reason that we pray three times a day is to coincide with the activities going on in the Temple. Prayer is rooted in the idea that we do not belong to ourselves but to Hashem. As we discover who we really are and what is important, we also must give all that we are back to God!

We ask God three times a day in the Amidah to restore the fires of the altar; this is not only a request for the Temple to be restored, but also an expression of Israel’s self-sacrifice and devotion to Hashem. Every morning in the siddur we recite the Akedah; the Binding of Isaac. This, too, is an expression of sacrifice, as Abraham and his son were willing to do what they were commanded. Prayer is also called Service of the Heart. This expresses the giving of our whole heart to God. We are fulfilling the Shema in giving our whole heart, soul, and all our might. The Rabbis say that this last, me-o-de-cha, means our monetary means. I have never liked this interpretation. I like better to say it means with all our “very-ness”. We are to give our heart, soul, and every fiber of our being to Hashem.

Prayer is not just for humanity but for all of Creation. Rav Sha’ul, the Apostle Paul, says that all of creation groans awaiting redemption. This is za’ak, a wordless groaning. We, as priests of all Creation give words to this groaning. Israel fulfills our priestly calling in praying for humanity and the whole world.

Jewish prayer is focused on praying for the redemption of the world. The Church is joined to us in this mission. May we, Jew and Christian, take our place in the chorus of praise and petition. May we pray that indeed all people would come to know the God of Israel and His Messiah. May we serve as priests, interceding not only for others, but for all of Creation, that can only groan. May we discover who we really are and then offer all of our “very-ness” to Hashem.

Shabbat Shalom.