Еврейская мысль к Йоэль 2:13

Shemot Rabbah 21 on Beshalach, states that human beings cannot judge their fellow men until they have listened to the arguments of either litigant. Not so the Almighty. Of Him it is said (Isaiah 65,24) "before they will call out, I shall respond; while they are still talking, I will already listen." This is also what G'd had said to Moses at the sea of reeds: "Why are you crying out to Me?" The purpose of prayer is not to inform G'd of our problems, but to prepare our hearts, to improve our ways before Him. Not sack and ashes cause our prayers to be heard, but repentance and good’ deeds. As the prophet Yoel proclaimed (Yoel 2,13) "tear out your hearts, not your clothes, and return to the Lord." Anyone who is not conscious of this requirement is as if he appeared before G'd offering counterfeit money. As David says in Psalms 145,18, "the Lord is close to all who call upon Him in truth." The substance of our daily prayers the amidah, the eighteen benedictions, is patterned after the Priestly blessings. There are three opening paragraphs, three closing paragraphs, and the "requests" in the middle. The priests, immediately after performing the service in the temple, recited the blessing. The temple service itself consisted of three elements, based on three kinds of service demanded from us and spelled out in the first paragraph of the keriyat shema. "Love the Lord your G'd with all your heart," i.e. service with our mental faculties, the heart being the seat of understanding. (Proverbs 14,33) "Wisdom resides in an understanding heart," or Exodus 31,6 " I have given an additional understanding in the heart of every wise person." The requirement to serve the Lord "with all your soul," refers to service with one's body. The Talmud Berachot 54, says that this may on occasion require our very life. The requirement to serve G'd "with all your might," refers to placing all our earthly possessions in the service of the Lord. When someone, be it an individual or a community, performs this service sincerely, he must convince himself first that the deity to whom he dedicates all his efforts is deserving of such service, and that no one else deserves such allegiance. Reflecting on this leads to proper concentration of one's heart. Again, without expenditure of funds for the upkeep of the temple and its furnishings, proper service is not feasible. Lastly, both the Levites and the Israelites, in addition to the Priests, perform physical tasks. In this manner, the community as a whole is represented in fulfilling the requirement stipulated in the first paragraph of the keriyat shema. Once all sectors of the nation have become involved in the "Service," those who have performed same should qualify for the triple blessing contained in the Priestly blessing described in Numbers 6, 24-27. The first blessing "may the Lord bless you and keep you,” refers to protection against errors of the mind and the heart. "May He bless you,” means "may He grant you additional insights.” The second blessing refers to material blessings; the third blessing discusses the result of total physical subservience to G'd, which results in the type of closeness to G'd that is the goal of all our strivings. This appears last, as it represents the attainment of our hishtalmut, our perfection. Whenever man offers prayer, he automatically engages in service with his possessions, since he takes time out from being gainfully occupied. He employs his body, by standing, bowing, prostrating himself etc. Lastly, he employs his mind by concentrating on the proper meaning of his devotion. For this reason our sages consider prayer as comparable to service in the holy Temple. He who prays properly, deserves to be rewarded with the promise contained in the last of the Priestly blessings, i.e. shalom, serenity, a feeling of closeness to the Creator.

The eighteen benedictions parallel the Priests' blessings also formally, in that they commence with the word "bless" and end with the word "peace." Since the generosity of G'd is frequently apparent by His granting a double measure of blessings, the three blessings can actually be viewed as six. Our sages accordingly may have divided the eighteen benedictions into three groups of six. In the first group of three, we express our belief in the ability of G'd to answer our requests. Inasmuch as these three benedictions are service with the mind, as we have explained, they are followed by three requests all of which are for the benefit of the mind. "You grant man knowledge," is a request for spiritual assistance to our intellect. "Make us return to Your Torah," is a request to help us overcome our sinful urges. The third request "forgive us our Lord for we have sinned," requests assistance to our "ego" problems which are the root cause of committing sins. All three requests, at any rate, are concerned with the improvement of the state of our mind, and therefore correspond to the "may He bless you and keep you" section of the Priestly blessings. The next six benedictions, while dealing with physical needs, are divided into absolute needs, namely freedom of the body, health and food supply, followed by three requests which if not fulfilled will not jeopardise our survival, but will impede our progress towards our goal in life. Without national redemption, restoration of inspired leadership, and visible punishment of our detractors, our progress towards the golden age can hardly be expected. The benedictions asking that the righteous will be seen to receive their reward, is the other side of the coin of the more recently added nineteenth benediction concerning "the slanderers." When we reach the last six benedictions, we find all of the "may He lift His countenance to you and grant you peace" variety, that we have in the Priestly blessing. The reestablishment of the Kingdom of Heaven, the coming of the Messiah, response to our supplications are the first phase of the eventual granting of the "peace" for which we strive in all its ramifications. Rabbi Shimon, who warns in Avot 2,13, not to make prayer something that is performed by rote, i.e. keva, but rather to make all our prayers entreaties, wants us to utilise the recital of keriyat shema prior to the amidah to attain the mental state necessary to express our prayers meaningfully. In the absence of such mental state, the best we may receive is matnat chinam, an undeserved gift, but not the proper response to our prayers.

(7) He must strengthen himself greatly to be able to bear the suffering from refraining to do the evil he had been addicted to do, and firmly resolve inwardly and outwardly to renounce it, as written "And tear your hearts, and not your garments" (Yoel 2:13).