Breathing Life into Prayer
00:00 - Intro (Announcement)
You're listening to Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe from TORCH, the Torah Outreach Resource Center of Houston. This is the Prayer Podcast.
00:08 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Hi, welcome back everybody to the Prayer Podcast. Today we're going to do what I think is going to be the final introduction to our prayer series Next week hopefully we'll be able to get right into the morning prayers. We're going to start with Modeh Ani and hopefully work through it. We may or may not need another one or two introductions, but hopefully not. We've been trying to cover all of the different angles of prayer in these introductions.
00:38
So imagine that you have two ambitious people who open up a store. Each one opens up their own store. Let's say it's a carpet store. Each one has rugs and they're trying to sell these. Each one has a rug store and they buy with the same amount of investment. They buy the same rugs and two different sides of the city. One guy comes there every morning. He goes through his rugs. He sees all the rugs, learns all of their names, goes to the front door, locks the door and goes home. The second guy goes to his rug store, goes through all of his material, goes through all of his inventory, shows them off to people, opens the doors, puts them out on display, put signs up for sale, 50% off, closing tomorrow. You know they do all of these things. Their stores are always closing 50% off forever, never again, will never be open again, right? So imagine what is the difference between these two shops. One is hustling and bustling. People are coming in and people are negotiating and people are trying Look at this and look at that and this shade and this fabric and this color and this material, and the other one is closed.
02:02
We all know that one is a living shop and one is a dead shop. One has life. The great elder of Kelm was known as the Saba from Kelm, the altar from Kelm. He would say that this is prayer. There are people who pray say the same exact words, but for one it's dead and for one it's alive. For those who pray, and it's just dead, it's only words, it's words. We're saying words, but that's it. It's not a life. But then what does it mean to be a living prayer? That there's understanding, there's feeling, there's growth, there's connection through the words. It's not just saying words, it's bringing us to a whole new level of our connection with Hashem. Same words, different connection, different existence. You can say in any marriage you can say I love you. To some it's just words, to some there's affection behind it, there's something, a great, deep connection, a meaning behind it.
03:23
The form of prayer, the structure of prayer could not be created by man we know that the man of the great assembly established prayer but for prayers to be so lofty, to reach the heavens for all generations, that's something that only the members, the men of the Great Assembly, the 120 elders, the scholars and, among them, prophets, with divine assistance, were able to construct. Now, the exact words, the exact words that they chose, have secrets embedded in them. And the same words and say just tell us that each of the words of our prayers are touching different notes in the heaven, specific words that we use. These same words were said a thousand years ago, two thousand years ago. These same words were said by scholars, by simpletons, by women, by children, by older, by younger, everything. And they have life to anybody who involves themselves in those words. We say in the second verse of Shema and these words that I speak to you today, I share onochi mitzavah ha'ayom, that I command you today, that these commandments that I command you today, what today? Today is year five thousand seven hundred and eighty four. This was given thirty three hundred years ago. What, today, these words that I command you today say just tell us that our obligation is to make it as real as it was given today In the Shema. It's a reminder make it real. The words of Torah shouldn't be something which is arcane, something which is archaic, something which is ancient, but rather make it living, make it something real as if it was given today.
05:52
We all know how excited we are the first day we have a brand new car, the first day we move into our new home, the first day we have this new outfit. But how long does that excitement last? How long does that excitement last? A day, maybe A half hour? I have to share with you a story.
06:18
A dear friend of mine called me. He says to me Rabbi, I got the car, you got to come see it. I said, okay, I'm going to come to your house. We meet every week. I'm going to come to your house, we'll learn like we do every week. He says no, no, no, no, no, no, don't come to my house, come see it on the road. You have to see this.
06:40
So he wanted to meet at Starbucks. We met at Starbucks at the corner over there by Westheimer. He wanted it to be seen, his fancy new car. And he comes in and he's wearing his fedora, he's wearing a nice coat. I'm like this is a guy who's wearing jeans and t-shirt since the day I met him. What's this whole? What's this? Purim is near, but I mean, come on, like what's going on. Well, what's this whole? Get up, what's this whole? See, he says it has to match the car. After the match the car, he, you know, he and the entire time we're, you know, drinking coffee and just schmoozing. He's looking at his car glistening, and he's like Just look how beautiful it is, just look how beautiful.
07:30
We go inside the car and he's showing me how the lights and the detail of the stitching and everything in this $180,000 Mercedes Benz that he picked up from the showroom in Frankfurt and he drove it on the Autobahn and then they boxed it up, wrapped it up with a beautiful bow and shipped it to the United States. And he was the only one of three people in Texas who had this exact model. Very special. But let me tell you what happened. We went into the car. He says let me, let me give you, tell me, give you a drive. Only I want you to feel what, what this is like. Get into the car. And, of course he revs up the engine and it's like, wow, it's really special. We get to the light and the car right next to us Was like some Jaguar or some other car. And he looks and he says, hey, maybe I should have gotten that car.
08:27
And I said that that is a classic example of how excited we are With materialism. It's fleeting, it takes a second and it's gone. It's gone. I understand that if you want to maximize your holiness, it needs to always be something fresh. It needs to be renewed, it needs to be unique. There's always something new to see and understand in prayer. Always something new. There's something new.
09:01
Our say does say that it's compared to breast milk. We're a baby. Every time it suckles, it wants, it needs milk. There's always milk for it and Not only that, it's new milk, it's not the same milk as yesterday. It's new, it's fresh. Say just tell us who the war of Huyim v'kayomim. Our prayers need to be alive. They need to be alive. It needs to be something which is not printed For prayer, but rather something which is alive, that the words pop out, that the words are living. We know that if you blow on a coal, fire comes out of it. The more you blow, the larger the flame. The same thing is with our prayers. It's a coal. It's piping hot. Our job is to blow on those coals and to invigorate them, to bring the fire to life.
10:08
We say Bechol Yom Avarchekha every day. I will praise you. He doesn't say Avarchekha, I will praise you. It says it in a plural and we will praise you that there should be an abundance of goodness, not only one blessing, multiple blessings, it should be multiple blessings, constantly adding same words, but different passion. Every day you say the same prayers again the same words, same words, different passion, different connection, different feeling, different meaning. Why Ask anybody? So? Are you today like you were yesterday? Was your day today like it was yesterday? Do you feel today like you felt yesterday? Every day is unique, every day special. Every day is different. So, too, our words that we talk to the Almighty with are also different every day, because we are different. If we're different, the emotion that we convey in our prayer is also different. That's why it's Avarchekha. It's not going to be the same blessing as it was yesterday. It's going to be different. We're going to be a different person.
11:28
We say after the Shema, every morning, we say Udvarav Chayim v'kayyomim, ne'emoniv v'nachmodim la'ad. His words are living and enduring, faithful and delightful, forever. Our sages tell us. Not only that, it says Ula, ulme, ulamim, and forever and ever. For all eternity, our sages tell us. The words of our prayer are living words. They're always delightful, not like materialism, not like that new Mercedes that a minute later you're looking at it like, oh, maybe I should have gotten that car, maybe I should have gotten that. But rather it's living and it's forever and ever that even if you're an adult, even if you're a child, it still represents your emotions.
12:20
Prayer is not just I'm here to say a few words or I'm here to sing the tunes that I sang as a child because it makes me feel good. It's to renew. It says it's a very important fundamental principle. It says that what is the service of the heart? That's prayer. Service of the heart is prayer. What do you mean? Prayer is just words. No, it's not just words. It's the connection to those words, it's the meaning behind those words. That's the hard work of prayer. Prayer is putting a connection into the words, that it not just be words alone. I'm not just reading from a book and saying blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. It's words that I am devoting my connection and my heart, my feelings, my hopes and my challenges are channeled through those words.
13:18
Every single prayer is different, just like every day is different. Our moods change, our life changes, our circumstances change and prayer is eternally configured to reflect those changes. Yet our prayers reach the loftiest of heavens. It says brum olam moshavachah. It's a continuation of that same prayer that we mentioned earlier, that we say after the Shema, before the Amidaah, every morning. It says at the summit of the universe is your dwelling. At the summit, the highest place of the world is where God's dwelling is. And it says that what Our prayers reach, God's throne. That means that our prayers that we recite here casually on a Tuesday morning, asking God, you know where those prayers go To the highest place of existence, where only the Almighty is. That's how powerful our prayers are. If we only understood, we would change our relationship to prayer. If we understood how powerful, how piercing those words are, everything changes. We suddenly realize we have unbelievable power, we have unbelievable ability. With our words, with our connection, it's more than just words. With our heart, with our feeling, we go through every, every barrier.
15:04
Now I want to tell you we named this class pray with a pitchfork. Why? Because our sages tell us from Isaac. It says by yet our Yitzchak la shem and he beseeched the Almighty, the word Atar with iron, tough Iron, tough race. Our say just tells what is that? It's also a pitchfork. It says that our sages taught our sages taught us what prayer is.
15:37
You pray with a pitchfork. What does that mean? Just like a pitchfork flips the hay, flips the straw, the leaves, so to prayer of the righteous flips God's trades from anger to mercy. God didn't want to give it to. You Pray prayers like a pitchfork. You can flip it to mercy. God doesn't want to. You can flip it to. God does want to. You use that power of our sages. Or sages tell us we are holding a pitchfork when we're praying, we are holding a pitchfork. We're able to flip God's will, so to speak.
16:20
Now we don't know what's good for us Per se. We don't always know what's best for us. A shem does. So what are we asking for? What are we asking for?
16:30
So it's interesting that we use a plural term whenever we pray, everything is we. We don't pray for ourselves. Only we pray for we, how she vein knew of inalus. Are we to return us, forgive us, heal us, bless us with livelihood, bring judgment, bring, bring Justice for us. Restore justice. Why, what do we do? Because what we're saying is we're changing the world. We're gonna take this pitchfork and we're gonna flip the sick To healing. We're gonna flip the sin to repentance. We're gonna flip the those who are unwise help them become wise, give them wisdom. We're gonna flip. We're gonna use our pitchfork in prayer To flip it over, to change it all. We are each holding a pitchfork in our hand.
17:42
So why is our prayer dry? Why is our prayer ordinary? Say just tell us that the Almighty has tremendous mercy on us. See, we think that prayer is how we solve our problems. I have a problem. I need to solve my problem. I need to solve my problem. Let me pray for a solution. Wrong. You have a problem Because God wants you to talk to him. That's why you have a problem. God is using that problem as an opportunity to tug at you. Wake up, wake up. I'm right here, hello, talk to me. The problem doesn't need a solution. The problem needs a connection. The problem is placed there for connection.
18:49
One of the great, one of my favorite songs is titled Little Kite. It's written by AB Rottenberg. What a great man. Fabulous, fabulous song. It talks about this individual.
19:02
One afternoon there's a nice, beautiful breeze, he takes out his kite and a spool with clear plastic line and he puts up his kite and it's soaring in the heavens and he's having this conversation with his kite. He's saying, kite, do you see distant oceans? Do you see the mountains? What do you see? But most of all, tell me, is dear God in heaven and does he know of me? And like this, he's having this conversation with his kite and the kite is soaring so high you can hardly see it, it's just a speck in the sky. And then suddenly someone walks by and says to him what are you doing? He says what do you mean? I'm flying a kite. He says there's no kite up there, there's nothing there. What are you talking about? He says what do you mean? I feel the kite pulling the strings in my arm. I know he's there. Of course he's there because I feel the tension in the string. He's tugging at pulling the string in my hand. He says now I get it. I don't see God, but he's tugging and pulling the strings in my hand. This individual didn't see the kite and says there's no kite. I don't see it Guess what.
20:17
We may not see Hashem, but we feel him tugging and pulling the strings in our hands Every single day. We're faced with a challenge. You know why God gives us that challenge? So that we connect with him. Through it, we utilize the opportunities that come our way to connect with the Almighty. That's why Hashem gave it to us. Hashem gives it to us so that we can put an image, put a picture. We see that, hashem. We see that Moshe asks Hashem who's going to be my successor?
20:58
You have to point to a successor so that the Jewish people can have a leader. Now let me ask you a question Does God need examples? What does Moshe say? They need to have a leader. You know why? Because if they don't have a leader and he starts giving him, he's giving them. Now he's giving God a parable, because they're going to be like sheep without a shepherd. They're going to be like oh, one second. You know why you say parables. So if someone has difficulty understanding something, so this makes it attainable for them. One second. Moshe is talking to God and he's giving God a parable. What is God's heart of hearing? Does God have a difficulty understanding. No, because what he's expressing is what God is allowing him to do is make your request real, bring it to life for you.
21:51
Hashem says I'm going to stay silent so that Moshe can make his request, so that the whole prayer that he's asking for becomes real. We see Abraham. The same idea. Abraham says you know, if there are 50 righteous in Sedom, you're going to destroy the righteous with the wicked. And then what should Hashem say? No, there isn't even 10. No, no, no. Hashem says well, let's look, there aren't 50, so maybe 40. Maybe 30. He's going through this whole negotiation. Shouldn't God say listen, due to time restraints? Right, we're not going to do this whole negotiation here and we're just going to say let me just tell you, right now there aren't even 10 righteous and let's move on. I'm destroying the city. No, no, no, no.
22:37
Why does God allow Abraham to do this whole negotiation? So that it becomes a real prayer, that Abraham is able to feel that closeness with Hashem when we have challenges. That's our feeling of closeness with Hashem, that it's not just an incident, it's a way in which we get worked up about it. Ah, ah, you're feeling a closeness. That's what Hashem wants from us. That is the goal that each and every one of us, we're able to talk to God. We're able to make it real.
23:21
We say Da'alif, name me at-taumit, know before whom you are praying, before whom you are standing. We're talking to God directly. God is there up in the highest of heavens, saying your prayers, pierce through every barrier and come all the way to the highest of the heavens. It's very powerful. The more we're able to disclose the challenges, the fears, the worries, the worries, the concerns, all of those things, the more we're able to make it into something which is real in front of us. That is the real connection of prayer, and it takes hard work. It's not just something, it's avodashiba lev, it's deep work in our heart to plan our prayers, to strategize our prayers, to negotiate with our prayers.
24:23
Pray with a pitchfork. Pray with a pitchfork, because what you can do with your prayer is you can turn all challenges into blessing, where every single situation is not a difficult situation that stymies you or limits you or you feel paralyzed from it. I don't know what to do. On the contrary, use it as an opportunity, flip it over. That's the power of prayer. We learned this from our ancestors. We learned it from Abraham, isaac and Jacob, from Sarah, rebecca, rachel and Leah. They were barren, our matriarchs were barren. They didn't have it says about Sarah. She didn't have the tools to have children. They didn't have it. It wasn't with the sound of the cards Sound of the cards. But you know what you do You're able to take it like a pitchfork and flip it over.
25:21
That's our hope that in our upcoming classes about prayer, we take it to the next level, where our prayers are not just words, they're not ink on a paper but rather they're living words which reach the highest of the heavens. My dear friends, my blessing to each and every one of us is that our prayers and our class moving forward be to bring our prayers to life, our words not just be simple words. That our words be precious words, that we strategize of how we're going to turn our challenges into blessings. My dear friends, have a magnificent week. Hashem should accept all of our prayers.
