Berakhot 110

Today's shiur is dedicated by Marvin Szymkowicz in honour of the Bat Mitzvah of his daughter, Rebecca Cecelia Szymkowicz, which is celebrated tomorrow. Mazzal Tov!

1:
This mishnah is problematic for the modern mind. While I have no doubt that the sages who learned and taught it and the sage who is mentioned it it by name had no problems with the thesis set out in it, and that they accepted it unhesitatingly, my own heart tells me that the modern Conservative Jew does not require here so much an explanation as an interpretation – a way of approaching the mishnah that would make it less daunting to the modern intellect. For what is problematic for us about this mishnah is the fact that it says, in effect, that the way that a prayer is offered determines its effectiveness (assuming that the ultimate effectiveness of a prayer is its acceptance and fulfillment, and ignoring for a moment the obvious fact that "no" is also an answer).

2:
We have become too accustomed to seeing prayer as a text, a ritual that must be declaimed. Most of us, even those that are regular and diligent in their worship, very seldom make prayer an outpouring from the heart – whether that outpouring derives from the exhilaration of wonder or the pleading of an anxious or heavy heart. In Berakhot 089 we studied a statement of Rabbi Eli'ezer: It is not a proper recitation [of the Amidah] if one makes the recitation a mechanical task. In my explanation of that text I wrote: For the sages whose views we have just quoted, the recitation of the Amidah must be a very personal task – an act of loving devotion into which the individual worshipper pours an element of creativity and personal communion. Such a recitation is not possible if the worshipper is not in the right frame of mind or is not blessed with the necessary powers of fruitful invention. Even great sages were concerned that they may not have the necessary gifts. And if great sages in the Talmudic era found the requirement daunting, how much more so we!

3:
When our prayer is more than just "saying the words" it will inevitably involve the heart – and our sages tell us that that is what God demands: Raĥmana libba ba'é. About a month ago my eldest daughter gave birth to her first child, and she and her husband are now beginning to learn what it means to be the parent of a newborn – including some sleepless nights! But one month after the birth there was a Pidyon ha-Ben [Redemption of the Firstborn]. At the end of the ceremony my daughter offered a prayer in which she and her husband gave thanks for the blessing of parenthood and prayed that they might have the wisdom and understanding to raise their son properly. Then she asked God to grant their infant son "a good life, health, happiness and contentment, a good heart and a love of Torah and a fear of heaven and of sin" and her prayer was offered through tears – tears of joy and the sudden apprehension of the awesome responsibility of being the parent of this small child being held in its father's arms. Her tears affected everyone present and made that prayer anything but "a mechanical task" – even though she was reading from a text. Such a prayer comes not from the mouth but from the heart. According to our mishnah that's what makes all the difference.

In Berakhot 102 we had a discussion about "dressing up" for worship. I had brought the halakhah and Reuven Boxman had suggested that that halakhah was no longer appropriate. Now, the mounties come to Reuven's assistance in the form of Clifford Fishman:

I understand the reason for the rule that one should dress for the daily Amidah as one would when being presented to the head of state. I will admit that when I first began attending daily minyanim, I was surprised that few people made any effort to "dress up" for the event. But once I began attending regularly – to help assure a minyan, then during periods of mourning for each of my parents, and now as the regular Thursday morning davener at my synagogue – I came to think there is a positive value to a "come as you are" (within reason!) policy. That it is acceptable to come to weekday minyan dressed however you would normally dress for daily activities suggests to me that attending minyan should not be regarded as "special event" that is out of the norm; rather, it is (or should be) part of everyday life. I anticipate the rejoinder: that we need a "suggestion" that daily prayer should be a regular part of daily life shows how far we (Conservative-Masorti) Jews have fallen from the ideal. But for those, like me, who are trying to build up to a more observant life from a non-observant one, this "suggestion" is a very comforting and inspiring one.