How to Pray?
Jun 14th, 2009 by Rabbi Simcha Weinberg in Prayer, Spiritual Growth
I need help understanding Moshe’s prayer at the end of Beha’alotecha: “Moshe cried out to God, saying, “Please, God, heal her now!” Rashi offers two explanations for this concise prayer: 1) Moshe did not want Israel to criticize him for spending too long in prayer while his sister suffered. 2) Moshe did not want Israel to complain that he spent more time praying for his sister than he did praying for them.
I took a poll this past Shabbat, asking people; “If, God forbid, someone close to you was seriously ill, would you pray concisely, as in, “Please God, heal her!” or, would you pray a more elaborate prayer?
I asked 25 people. Only one immediately understood that I was asking about Moshe’s prayer for Miriam. 20 people answered that if they thought about it, which they probably would not, they would pray concisely. 5 argued that a longer prayer is more effective.
Why is Rashi so bothered by Moshe’s prayer?
How could he be criticized for a long prayer while his sister was suffering if he was praying for her healing? Can we infer that we should not pray a long prayer for someone who is ill? Halacha reminds us to not pray a long prayer at someone’s bedside as it may make him or her nervous that he or she is in more danger than he or she previously thought, but there is no mention in Halacha of praying for too much time while someone is suffering.
Miriam was not suffering as much as she was ashamed. Is that the key to understand why Moshe could not pray at length? Did Moshe’s prayer work at least to shorten the time of her suffering?
How could Israel possibly complain that Moshe had not prayed quite elaborate prayers for them?
If Moshe was so concerned, how could he pray 515 prayers to be allowed into Israel? Would Israel not complain that he did not pray 515 times for them to be allowed to enter Israel after the sin of the spies?
When we ask someone to pray for us, would we prefer a concise or lengthy prayer?
Author Info:
Learn & discover the Divine prophecies with Rabbi Simcha Weinberg from the holy Torah, Jewish Law, Mysticism, Kabbalah and Jewish Prophecies. The Foundation Stone is the ultimate resource for Jews, Judaism, Jewish Education, Jewish Spirituality & the holy Torah.
I took a poll this past Shabbat, asking people; “If, God forbid, someone close to you was seriously ill, would you pray concisely, as in, “Please God, heal her!” or, would you pray a more elaborate prayer?
I asked 25 people. Only one immediately understood that I was asking about Moshe’s prayer for Miriam. 20 people answered that if they thought about it, which they probably would not, they would pray concisely. 5 argued that a longer prayer is more effective.
Why is Rashi so bothered by Moshe’s prayer?
How could he be criticized for a long prayer while his sister was suffering if he was praying for her healing? Can we infer that we should not pray a long prayer for someone who is ill? Halacha reminds us to not pray a long prayer at someone’s bedside as it may make him or her nervous that he or she is in more danger than he or she previously thought, but there is no mention in Halacha of praying for too much time while someone is suffering.
Miriam was not suffering as much as she was ashamed. Is that the key to understand why Moshe could not pray at length? Did Moshe’s prayer work at least to shorten the time of her suffering?
How could Israel possibly complain that Moshe had not prayed quite elaborate prayers for them?
If Moshe was so concerned, how could he pray 515 prayers to be allowed into Israel? Would Israel not complain that he did not pray 515 times for them to be allowed to enter Israel after the sin of the spies?
When we ask someone to pray for us, would we prefer a concise or lengthy prayer?
Author Info:
Learn & discover the Divine prophecies with Rabbi Simcha Weinberg from the holy Torah, Jewish Law, Mysticism, Kabbalah and Jewish Prophecies. The Foundation Stone is the ultimate resource for Jews, Judaism, Jewish Education, Jewish Spirituality & the holy Torah.
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I think I understand why he prayed concisely – at least publicly. The longer he prayed, the more attention he would bring to his sister’s condition – and the more ashamed she would become. So, in explanation 1, could Rashi be saying that Israel would criticize Moshe for bringing more shame to Miriam? Regarding explanation 2, could Israel be suffering equally because of Miriam’s sin or Moshe’s decision? Do they need equal prayer and healing because of what was going on at the time? Were they suffering because of Moshe’s separation from Zipporah? Or were they suffering because of Miriam’s illness or sin? Were they discouraged because Moshe’s own sister was speaking badly about him? They needed to trust Moshe implicitly. It makes sense to me that Rashi would be bothered. I would think Moshe would argue with Hashem – argue Miriam’s merits, or Klal Yisrael’s need for Miriam, or, perhaps, argue that he had already forgiven her. It’s normal for a family member to daven more extensively for a sick relative. I don’t think this verse would indicate that we should not daven long for a sick person.
Of course, I’m sure we all remember the gmara in B’rachot 34a that anecdotedly mentions the davenning in Rabi Eliezer’s beit medrash -Once a student was ba’al t’filah (the leader of the davenning)was taking a long time and the students complained to R’ Eliezer that the leader was taking too long.His rejoinder was”is he taking longer than Moshe Rabbeinu, who spent 40 days praying on Ahm Yisroel’s behalf (after the Golden Calf)” Again, a student was ba’al t’filah (the leader of the davenning)was done after a very short while and the students complained to R’ Eliezer that the leader was taking too little time.His rejoinder was”is he briefer than Moshe Rabbeinu,who tersely davenned “E-l na, refa na lah” (on Miryam’s behalf).
Interestingly enough, the immediate next piece in the gmara- ‘Said Rabi Ya’acov said Rav Chisda-whosoever davens on behalf of another doesn’t even have to mention their name as we saw that Moshe Rabbeinu didn’t mention Miryam’s name.
The MahaRSh”A on this entire piece explains Moshe Rabbeinu’s davenning was commensurate with the severity of the crime (the entire nation vs. the individual).He also indicates that even without mentioning Miryam’s name, the prayer was effective, as G-d divines who is being prayed for.
As far as the question posed at the end of R’Simcha’s missive above “When we ask someone to pray for us, would we prefer a concise or lengthy prayer?”-I would suggest vis-a-vis the gmara -it doesn’t matter as long as it’s an effective prayer.
“Y’shu’at HaShem c’heref ‘ayin – G-d’s salvation is as the blink of an eye” =We cannot know and it would be arrogant to suggest that G-d’s response is in correlation to the length of our davenning. (As an aside, I’d like to clarify,that’s in regard to supplications. If we’re talking Hallel v’Hoda’ah – in praise of HaShem- col hamarbeh harei zeh m’shubakh= keep it coming)
The gmara above teaches us that Moshe Rabbeinu is the exemplar of prayer,and that one size doesn’t fit all, but Moshe Rabbeinu’s prayers give us parameters=>What do I do NOW.
R’Simcha brings down that Rashi offers two explanations for this concise prayer,[: 1) Moshe did not want Israel to criticize him for spending too long in prayer while his sister suffered. 2) Moshe did not want Israel to complain that he spent more time praying for his sister than he did praying for them.]and asks why is Rashi bothered by Moshe’s prayer?
Actually, I believe that Rashi’s focus on Moshe’s brevity highlights that Moshe was trying to prevent further lashon hara post-facto of Miryam’s lashon hara.(i.e.look how long Moshe’s davenning for Miryam and see the preference he shows for family over the rest of Israel)
Lashon hara is especially dangerous as it has the ability to snowball and spiral beyond out-of-control.
I am not yet as learned as you, but I would to bring up, that I feel that the meaning and the intensity of one’s connection to g-d in his life and at the time of prayer has a major impact, as well as how much and what emotion is driving it the prayer. I would think that AhHavat Chinam (unconditional love) would be better then Greed as a extreme example.
So for Moshe to turn to g-d that briefly, could it be that his telling g-d “come on heal her, pleasse”? like a child would say to a parent? maybe not everything needs to be so elaborated, as g-d knows all and he is our creator. again, and this is just my feeling basing this, wouldn’t g-d be happier if WE felt close to HIM like family rather then a friend that asked for something nicely when he needs? I am sure that his love for us is far greater then ANY mothers love for her child.
This tefillah always exemplifies Moshe Rabbeinu’s total simplicity to me. The greatest Navi of all time – who grew up a prince in the epitome of “world culture” in that age – knows no sophistication at all when his elder sister falls ill. He cries out like a baby, “Daddy! Please! Please heal her!” Might the lack of any continuation in terms of words indicate that at that point Moshe simply broke down into uncontrollable tears and cried? That’s how I feel reading the episode.
Matthew: Yasher Kochacha! Your words echo a lesson Rav Shmuel Brazil, Rosh Yeshiva and Baal Tefillah at Yeshiva Shor Yoshuv in Far Rockaway, NY teaches. He teaches that one’s tefillah should be akin to a small child (say less than 7 years old) calling to his/her father, “Tahtee! Tahtee!” (“Daddy! Daddy!” in Yiddish). I connect this lesson to something Rav Nachman of Breslov taught: One should pray to G-d for everything. *EVERYTHING* And so when I am pressed and waiting for a train or looking for a hard to find parking spot in NYC I often will daven in these words, “Tahtee, please, I need a train.” “Tahtee, please, I need a spot.”
I would like to highlight something about this tefillah of Moshe Rabbeinu. Rav Eliyahu Azikri, the mystic who lived in Tzfat and composed Yedid Nefesh lifted the tefillah wholesale and placed it into his immortal zemer Yedid Nefesh. In the zemer, it becomes our own individual tefillah and instead of “her” referencing Miriam, “her” refers to our Neshamah. The incredible Rav Azikri embeds the phrase and programs into the zemer a tefillah!! The result is everyone who sings the zemer ends up praying to G-d to heal their soul!!! I mean, how subtle can you get!?! Amazing.
Knowing this, when my own soul is bleeding or my heart is bleeding for someone dear to me I will often recite the phrase, “E-l na, r’fah nah lo” or similar. This corresponds to a teaching that we daven tehillim or Chana’s prayer and other prayers of our greatest saintly personalities, because it reminds HaShem of them and their sweet, endearing words. This helps tilt the scales for us, for when we remind HaShem of these amazing moments in time, it stirs Him to be merciful with us in their merit as well as our own and/or the one(s) for whom we are praying.