Prayer shouldn’t be a shopping list

After explaining that the ultimate intent of tefillah (prayer) is to cause the Almighty’s divine light to shine upon the earth and thereby repair it in through the establishment of His Kingship (see this post), Nefesh haChayim (Gate II, Ch. 11) goes on to explain what prayer ought not to be:

Though the Talmud (Sandhedrin 8A) teaches that an individual may insert their own words into their prayer concerning their personal needs and troubles, within the blessing related to that particular matter, even in doing so, one’s ultimate intent should not be to address one’s own trouble [rather to increase the glory of the Almighty by removing this evil], and this is not the proper path for those who are upright in their hearts.

Porcelain Gods

In Yesterday’s post I shared from Nefesh haChayim the reason our bodies produce physical waste, that is, that most foods have a component that nourishes the spirit, and elements that do not. The body absorbs that which nourishes and excretes the rest. As a result, the generation that ate manna in the desert did not “go to the bathroom” since the manna from heaven was all nourishing.

Nefesh haChayim goes on to explain the connection between this concept and the worship of the idol known as Baal Peor. According to our traditional sources, Baal Peor was worship by performing one’s bathroom functions onto the idol. What is the reason for this bizarre (and disgusting) practice? How could this be a form of worship?

According to the above, however, the answer is understandable. The physical waste of the body represents everything that is completely of this physical world with no spiritual connection, no connection to the soul. Those who worshipped Baal Peor engaged in the most extreme form of hedonism, indulging the body only, with no limitations of the soul, no connection to God, no obeisance to a Higher Power. That is why those who worshipped Baal Peor (the daughters of Midyan) engaged in immoral sexuality and seduced the Israelites to do the same. They worshipped only the physical, with no spiritual component. So their form of worship involved the act revolving around that substance that has no spiritual component — excrement.

Bathrooms in the Desert?

Nefesh haChayim, by Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin זצ”ל, the principle disciple of the Vilna Gaon זצ”ל, states as follows:

Food for the body, if it is not good, and not acceptable to the body, does not sustain the body, but rather becomes waste and filth and excrement inside the body, and also weakens and tires the entire body, for because of this bad food, the energy of the spirit does not spread through the body properly, and sometimes the body becomes ill as a result. So too the actions that are not good or desirable, God forbid, become like the waste and filth of the spiritual worlds, strengthening the impure forces and kelipoth (‘coverings,’ like darkness shrouding spiritual light and goodness) — may the Merciful One save us from this.

Footnote 27 of the edition published by Rabbi Yissachar Dov Rubin ז”ל (the footnotes were written by him) adds:

Everything a man eats contains sustenance from above… Once the body is sustained by the life-giving elements of the food, the remainder which contains no sustenance at all is purged from the body. Therefore, the Generation of the Desert, who ate the manna, did not excrete any waste, for the manna could be completely metabolized with no leftover waste. But other foods, after the life-giving part is separated out to sustain the man, the waste is excreted devoid of any sustenance.

Hannah’s Song, rendered into rhyming English

The following is my best attempt to preserve the poetic nature of Hannah’s Song in I Samuel 2, by rendering it into English in rhyme, incorporating classic commentaries to elucidate its meaning.

I’m no Shakespeare, but I enjoyed the challenge of this undertaking, and I feel it makes this rendering more interesting and enjoyable to read than a direct translation. The original text is in I Samuel, Ch. 2, v. 1-10:

(1) I feel happy in my heart,

HaShem offered me a new start,

Now I may lift my head high,

HaShem is the reason why.

Penina spoke meanly to me,

For I had no children, you see,

But now I am very happy,

From Penina Hashem saved me,

For I can now open my mouth,

My son I can now speak about,

I am happy that I have a son,

I give thanks to the Holy One.

(2) There is none holy as You, Hashem,

There is no other that is like Him,

Like our God there is no other,

Forming a child inside a mother.

(3) Do not speak so arrogantly,

Penina, my rival, who was mean to me,

Do not allow the wrong kind of words

From your mouth to come out and be heard,

For what’s in your heart HaShem does know,

He counts all your deeds and the places you go.

(4) The bow of the mighty HaShem will break,

Giving strength to the stumbling and weak ones who ache.

Those who are hungry, HaShem will sate,

While for the full-bellied, hunger is their fate.

(5) Those who were once full of bread,

Will have to work to eat instead,

While those who worked to feed their hunger,

Will have so much food they’ll work no longer.

The one who had no children will give birth to seven sons,

While she with many children will mourn every one.

(6) HaShem takes life and HaShem gives it,

Raising up or lowering into the pit.

(7) HaShem makes people poor or rich,

HaShem lowers and HaShem lifts.

(8) HaShem in whom we trust,

Raises the poor from the dust,

From heaps of trash He will raise them up,

To seat them with the rich to sup,

A seat of honor shall be theirs,

With them His Glory He will share,

For the pillars of the earth belong to HaShem,

And man’s dwelling place He lays upon them.

(9) The feet of the pious HaShem will guard,

By no entrapment shall they be marred.

But the wicked in darkness will meet their end,

For a man succeeds not by the strength of his hand.

(10) HaShem will break His foes,

Even if to the heavens they rose,

From heaven upon them He blows,

Casting them down below.

HaShem will bring about justice for all,

He will give His King the strength to stand tall,

Hashem will give strength to the king He has appointed,

Increasing the kingdom of the one He has anointed.

Bible Study: Jeremiah 3

Once again I offer a new, narrative presentation of the 3rd chapter of the book of Jeremiah, incorporating classic commentaries into the text. The color coding is as follows: 

Rashi

Targum

Radak

Metzudah

My own words (for clarity)

Please enjoy, comment and share. And without further ado:

Jeremiah continued speaking in the name of HaShem. (1) “I could say you are no longer worthy of me, for if a man sends away his wife, and she goes from him and becomes the wife of another man, will the first husband return to her again? Behold, the land would surely be corrupted by such an act! And you have been unfaithful with many lovers! Nevertheless, return to Me! (2) Lift up your eyes upon the high places and see! Where have you not lied down? Upon the ways you have sat, ready for your lovers, like an Arab in the wilderness, and you have corrupted the land with your unfaithfulness and your evil. (3) The early rains have been held back, and the latter rains did not occur, yet you have had the brazenness of an unfaithful woman, you have refused to be ashamed. (4) If only from this moment you would repent of your wickedness and call to Me, ‘My Father, You are the Teacher of my youth!’ (5) Would your Lord bear against you forever that which you sinned toward Him? Would He hold onto it for eternity? He would not hold onto it! Behold, you have declared, ‘We will not come to You again,’ and that evil you will perform, paying no mind to repentance, and you will succeed in rebelling absolutely.”

(6) In the days of King Josiah, HaShem commanded Jeremiah to bring back the Ten Tribes of Israel. A portion of them returned in the 18th year of Josiah (Rashi, v. 12). HaShem said to Jeremiah, “Did you see what the wayward Ten Tribes of Israel did? They would go up on every high mountain, and under every fresh tree and act unfaithfully to Me there, serving idols. (7) And I said through My prophets Amos and Hoshea son of Be’eri and others, after she (Israel) had done all this, ‘Return to Me!’ but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw that Israel was exiled, but Judah did not learn their lesson. (8) And I saw that Judah saw everything that happened because wayward Israel was unfaithful, that I sent Israel away, and I gave to Israel her document of divorce, but treacherous Judah, Israel’s sister, did not fear that I would send her away also, and did not consider repentance, rather, Judah went and acted unfaithfully also. (9) Because her unfaithfulness was light in her eyes, the land became corrupt; in her unfaithfulness she served stone and wood. (10) And even with all this, having seen the downfall and punishment of Israel, her treacherous sister Judah did not return to Me with all her heart, rather falsely.” The generation of Josiah showed themselves to be righteous while they were actually wicked. They made images of idols on the insides of their doorways, half on one side and half on the other, so that when those seeking to eliminate idolatry would inspect the homes, the door would be open and the images were not recognizable.

(11) HaShem said to Jeremiah, “Wayward Israel has exonerated herself of judgment, for she did not have from whom to learn, as opposed to treacherous Judah. (12) Go and call out these words to the north, to the places where Israel was exiled, to Assyria, and say, ‘Return O Wayward Israel! I will not send my wrath against you, because I am abundant in kindness. I will not hold your sins against you forever. (See v. 6 above.) (13) But know your sin, for you rebelled against HaShem your God, and you were unfaithful to HaShem, spreading your legs for strangers under every fresh tree, and you did not listen to My voice. (14) Return, O rebellious sons! For I have been your master, and you have therefore been called by My name, and for you to remain among the nations takes away from My honor. Therefore, I will take you out of exile, even though you remain one in a city of gentiles, or two among an entire gentile nation, and I will bring you to Zion. (15) I will give you leaders who perform My will, and they will lead you with knowledge and wisdom. (16) And it will be, when you multiply and increase in the land in those days, they will no longer say, ‘The Ark of the Covenant of HaShem,’ nor will it even be a thought, nor will they remember it, nor will they consider it, nor will that be done with it which was done in Shiloh, when the Ark was brought out to war against the Philistines in the days of Eili the High Priest, for whole congregation will be holy, and I will dwell in the congregation as though it is the Ark. (17) At that time they will call Jerusalem the Throne of HaShem, and all the nations will gather to it for the sake of HaShem’s name, to Jerusalem, and they will not go anymore after the thoughts of their wicked heart. (18) In those days, the House of Judah will walk with the House of Israel, and they will come together from the land of the north to the land that I have given as an inheritance to their forefathers, becoming one kingdom.

(19) “I had thought, ‘How can I place you, My daughter, My congregation and My nation, among sons, among other nations, among idol worshippers?’ Therefore I set aside a better portion for you, giving you a desirable land, a portion that is the envy of the host of nations, and I said, ‘Call me Father, and do not turn away from Me.’ (20) However, you did not do as I wished, rather like a woman who betrays her beloved because he is unable to provide her needs, so you betrayed Me, O House of Israel, though I provide you with every good thing. (21) Over the rise, in the near future, the sound of the begging cries of the Children of Israel can be heard, for they have perverted their ways, they have forgotten HaShem their God. (22) Return O rebellious sons! I will forgive your rebellion!’”

Yirmiyahu then instructed the people to confess to HaShem and say, “Behold, we have come to You, for you are HaShem our God! (23) Indeed, for naught we hoped for salvation from false gods that we worshipped upon hills and in multitudes upon mountains! Indeed, by HaShem our God is the salvation of Israel! (24) Because of our shame, that we worshipped false gods, the toil of our fathers has been consumed from our youth, their sheep and their cattle, their sons and their daughters. (25) We will lie down in shame because of our sins, and our degradation will cover us, for we and our fathers have sinned to HaShem our God from our youth until this day, and we did not listen to the voice of HaShem our God.”

Bible Study: Jeremiah Chapter 2

[NOTE: I have included the verse numbers here and color coded the commentaries so that any words based on a particular commentary appear in a specific color. The first time a particular commentary is used, the name of that commentary will appear in parentheses. Subsequent appearances will be indicated by color only. I have used in some cases the Hebrew phonetic spelling for names such as “HaShem” for God, “Yirmiyahu” for Jeremiah, “Kohanim” for priests, etc.]

(1) Hashem spoke to Yirmiyahu, saying, (2) “Go and prophesy before the people in (Targum) Jerusalem, saying, ‘Hashem said, ‘Return to Me, for I desire to have mercy upon you! (Rashi) I remember the kindness of your youth, the goodness of times past, and the love we shared when I brought you under a bride’s canopy, when you followed after my messengers, Moshe and Aharon. You went out of a land that was settled to go into the wilderness, a land not sown, with no provisions for the journey, because you had faith in Me. (3) Israel is Hashem’s sanctified portion, as terumah is the sanctified portion of the earth’s produce, like the wheat harvest before the omer offering is brought. Just as these are forbidden to be consumed, and those who consume them incur guilt upon themselves, so too, all that devour Israel shall be held guilty; evil shall come upon them.

(4) “Hear the word of the Hashem, O House of Jacob, and all the families of the House of Israel. (5) What did your fathers find wrong with Me, that they have gone far from Me, and have gone after vanity, and become insignificant? (6) Neither did they consider, when seeking objects of worship (Radak): ‘Where is Hashem that brought us up from the land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought and of the shadow of death, through a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt?’ Rather, they pursued foreign gods. (7) I brought you to the Land of Israel, that was planted like a forest, to eat its fruit and its bounty, but you came and defiled My land, and you made My heritage an abomination. (8) The Kohanim did not say, ‘Where is Hashem?’ and those who hold fast to the Torah, the Sanhedrin, did not know me, and the shepherds, the kings, rebelled against me, and the prophets prophesied in the name of Baal, and they followed after that which could not profit. (9) Therefore, before I bring evil upon you, I will continue to reprove you, through my prophets, and I shall reprove your children’s children, even though I have already reproved you for many days. (10) Pass over to the islands of the Kittites and see, send to Kedar and pay attention, observe their ways well; see if this has ever happened. (11) Has a nation forsaken its gods, though their gods are false? Yet My nation has forsaken its Glory for gods that can avail them not. (12) O heavens, be bewildered at this! Storm and be as though you are ruined, over the Holy Temple that will ultimately be ruined. (13) For my people have committed two evils! Had they merely forsaken Me for another like Me, that would be only one evil. However, they forsook Me, the source of the waters of life, and as a second evil, they have followed after false gods, like digging for themselves broken, fissured wells to hold stagnant water, wells that cannot contain their water, as it leaks through the cracks, and splashes over and against the walls, causing them to collapse. (14) Is Israel a slave or the child of a maidservant? Why have they become the spoils of others? (15) Kings threaten the nation of Israel; like roaring lions, they have raised their voices. They have desolated the Land of Israel; they have burnt their cities, rendering them uninhabited. (16) The people of Noph and Tachpanches, the Egyptians, shall also crush your skull. (17) Shall not your guilt and iniquity, having abandoned HaShem your God, while He tried teaching you to go upon the good and upright path, cause this evil and retribution to come upon you? (18) And now, why would you abandon Me and rely upon Egypt, to drink the waters of the Nile in which the Egyptians drowned your children? And why would you rebel against Me so that you will be exiled to Assyria, to drink the waters of the Euphrates River, across which Assyria is found? (19) Your evil shall bring suffering upon you, and your waywardness shall bring rebuke upon you, and know and see that evil and bitter is your forsaking Hashem your God, and that the fear of me was not in your heart. (20) For I have always broken the yoke of the nations from upon you, I have cut off your bonds, and you said, ‘I will not transgress Your words,’ yet upon every high hill and underneath every fresh tree you lay like a prostitute, serving other gods. (21) I planted you as a sorek, a choice vine. Just as sorek equals 606, I gave you 606 commandments in addition to the seven Noahide laws. You are children of upright and righteous fathers, completely pure seed, so how did you turn into unwanted, wild vines? (22) Even if you attempt to clean yourself with soda ash and use much soap, yet like a stain that cannot be cleansed is your iniquity, the iniquity of the Golden Calf, before Me, for that iniquity stands forever, and all retribution that befalls Israel includes some of the iniquity of the Golden Calf. (23) How can you say, ‘I have not been defiled, I did not go after the bealim’? See your way in the valley, know what you did, how you sinned in the matter of Baal Peor, and you continue in the same way, like a swift, young she-camel that continues in the wayward behavior of her youth. (24) A wild she-donkey, accustomed to the wilderness, runs in whatever direction she desires (Radak); who can retrieve her from her intended destination? All those who seek her shall become exhausted for naught; she shall be found and caught in the month of her sleep. So too you, Israel, shall be caught in the month of Av, that has been prepared for you since the time of the spies, when your forefathers established it as a time for crying with their baseless tears. (25) My prophets say, ‘Hold yourself back from serving idolatry, so that your foot not walk barefoot into exile, and hold back your throat from dying of thirst!’ Yet you say regarding the words of the prophets, ‘I have despaired of your words, no! For I have loved foreign gods, and I shall go after them.’ (26) Like the shame of a person thought trustworthy when he is discovered to be a thief, so shall Israel be ashamed, they, their kings, their officers and their priests and their prophets. (27) They say to the wooden image, ‘You are my father,’ and to that made of stone, ‘You gave birth to me,’ for they have turned to Me their back and not their face, but in the time that evil comes upon them they will reject their idolatry and confess before Me and say, ‘Arise, have mercy upon us and save us!’ (28) And where are your gods that you made for yourself? Let them arise, and see if they can save you in the time evil befalls you, for your gods have become as numerous as your cities, O Judah; in each city a different deity is worshipped!

(29) “Why do you contend to Me, saying, ‘We have not sinned!’ You have all rebelled against me, even the righteous among you! (30) In vain I struck your sons, for they did not accept reproof; your sword consumed your prophets, Zechariah and Isaiah, whom you killed, like a destroying lion.”

(31) Jeremiah held up the container of manna that had been preserved since the generation of the Exodus and declared, “You of this generation! See here what the word of Hashem can bring about! When I brought down from heaven this miraculous bread every single day, did your forefathers experience a barren wilderness, a land of darkness? Why has my people said, ‘We are distanced from you; we shall not come to you again’? (32) Will a maiden forget her jewelry or a bride her ornaments? But My people has forgotten Me for days innumerable. (33) O how you adorn yourself to seek love when you greet your adulterous lovers! Indeed, you have pursued even the worst of all ways to learn and behave. (34) Even on your skirt is found the innocent lifeblood of the destitute. You did not find them stealthily tunneling into someone’s home to rob them, in which case they forfeit their life by endangering others, when you killed them. Rather, it was because they rebuked you concerning these matters. (35) Yet you said in your heart, ‘Indeed, I am innocent, even His anger is turned back from me.’ Behold, I shall come with you to judgment for saying, ‘I have not sinned.’ (36) How very lowly you will become, straying from your path, abandoning Me and depending upon Egypt for help!” Here Yirmiyahu refers to the future, to the days of the kings Yehoyakim and Tzidkiyahu. “You will also be embarrassed that you depended upon Egypt, just as you were embarrassed that you depended upon Assyria in the days of King Achaz. He depended on Assyria, but they besieged him rather than strengthen him. (37) You will also go out from this place with the shame of your sins upon your head, for HaShem is disgusted that you rely upon others (Metzudah), and you will not succeed because of them.”

Bible Study: Jeremiah Chapter 1, based on classic commentaries

I have rendered Jeremiah Chapter 1 into a flowing English narrative incorporating selections of classic commentaries, primarily Rashi, also drawing from Targum and Radak. I would love for this to be a springboard for discussion.

Jeremiah, Chapter 1

Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, a Kohen (priest) from Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, was descended from Rahab the harlot. Despite his humble lineage, he was more righteous than those in his generation who were of prestigious lineage, and therefore was chosen by God to rebuke his generation. Jeremiah began prophesying in the 13th year of King Josiah son of Amon, when the Divine Presence (Shechinah) began to dwell upon him. He prophesied throughout the rest of Josiah’s reign, and throughout the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, and the reign of Zedekiah son of Josiah, until the 11th year of Zedekiah, in the 5th month, when Jerusalem was exiled.

God said to Jeremiah: “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. I had already revealed to Adam, from the beginning of time, who the prophets of each generation would be for all time, including you. Before you emerged from the womb, I prepared you for this purpose. I already told Moses, ‘I will raise up a prophet for them… like you’ (Deuteronomy 18:18). This prophecy refers to you, Jeremiah. You are a prophet like Moses, for just as Moses rebuked Israel, so shall you rebuke Israel. Just as Moses prophesied for forty years, so shall you prophesy for forty years. I have made you a prophet who will prophesy to Israel, a nation that behaves as though it is the same as the other nations of the world, not fulfilling the unique mission that I have commanded them. You will also prophesy regarding the calamities that will befall the nations of the world because of their wickedness.”

Jeremiah said to God: “But Lord, behold, I am unable to rebuke the people, for I am yet a lad. Moses rebuked the people close to his death. By that time, Israel already regarded Moses highly because of all the miracles he had performed for their benefit throughout many years. He took them out of Egypt and split the sea for them. He brought down the manna and swarms of quail for them to eat. He gave them the Torah and drew water from the rock. Therefore he could also rebuke them and they would listen. But you ask me to rebuke them at the very beginning of my career!”

God said to Jeremiah: “Do not say, ‘I am a lad,’ for you shall go to the nations of the world if I send you to them, and you shall speak to the people of Israel the words I tell you. Do not fear them, for I am with you, to save you.”

God sent His prophetic words and arranged them in Jeremiah’s mouth. God said to Jeremiah: “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. See, I have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms to uproot and to smash and to annihilate and to destroy, for as you prophesy regarding them, so shall befall them. But as for Israel, you are appointed to build and to plant, if they listen and repent.”

God spoke to Jeremiah, saying, “What do you see, Jeremiah?”

Jeremiah said, “I see an almond branch, representing a king who is quick to do evil, as the almond tree is quicker to blossom than other trees.” 

God said to Jeremiah, “You have seen well. Just as this almond blossoms more quickly than other trees, so am I quick to carry out my word. It takes twenty-one days for the almond to ripen, just as there shall be twenty-one days from the 17th of Tamuz, when the walls of Jerusalem will be breached, until the 9th of Av, when the Temple will be destroyed.”

God spoke to Jeremiah again, saying, “What do you see?”

Jeremiah said, “I see a boiling pot, bubbling up on the north side.”

God said to Jeremiah, “From Babylonia, which is in the north, shall the evil come forth upon all the inhabitants of the land. For behold, I am calling to all the families of the kingdoms of the north, and each man shall set his seat at the opening of the gates of Jerusalem, and upon all its walls around, and upon all the cities of Judah. And I shall pronounce judgment upon Judah and Jerusalem for all their evil, for abandoning me and burning incense to other gods, and bowing to the works of their hands. And you, Jeremiah, brace yourself, and rise up, and speak to them all that I shall command you. Do not fear them, lest I break you before them. Behold, today I have made you strong as a fortified city and as a pillar of iron and as copper walls to pronounce retribution against all the inhabitants of the land: the kings of Judah, its officers, its priests and the common people. They will judge you and strive against you to suppress your prophetic words, but they will not succeed against you, for I am with you, to save you.”