Rabbi Yair Kobernick

When the telephone was invented, a great Rabbi commented, "Unbelievable, amazing, I can talk right here, and be heard hundreds of miles away! This is what the Jewish people have been teaching the world for so long, that by speaking softly in prayer, we are actually heard by G-d."

Many of Judaism's foundations can be found throughout the siddur (prayer book). The siddur can be considered a text-book for learning about Judaism in general as it contains such a vast array of concepts and ideas that are so vital to living a Jewish life. Keep in mind 2 of the main goals when approaching the study of Tefilah:

A. The Spiritual Goal: standing before G-d, to express thanks and appreciation to G-d for everything we have, to praise and show honor to G-d. We realize that everything is from G-d and that our parents (and anyone else who gives or provides for us) are only G-d's helpers.

B. The Practical Goal: to ask for things that we feel we need, such as health, livelihood, good relationships with people and nations - peace, knowledge, personal needs, etc.

The nature of prayer is that it is simply a "personal" conversation between individuals and G-d. Life in the fanatical world of today is so jumbled. But, established prayer guarantees that twice or three times a day we can slow down, stop, and completely zero in on our relationship with G-d and the universe. It's better than any sedative on the market.

However, if prayer is personal, why do we have a structured formal script? The fact that we have everything written for us almost makes it automatic, impersonal and distant? By requiring that we pray a certain number of times a day from a specific text ensures that we stay in constant daily contact with G-d. Otherwise people would just praise G-d when things go well and call out for help when the going gets rough. Praying every day helps people secure their day. By studying the siddur we learn that many of the prayers are indeed individualized and can be very personal.

How can we approach G-d with requests for our needs? Shouldn't we say, if a person has done GOOD DEEDS and merits those things that he is asking for, then for sure, what he deserves he should receive! And if not, he should not get those things EVEN if he asks for them.

The answer is that by praying, we become more elevated than we were before we prayed. Prayer itself brings us closer to G-d. Since standing in front of the Almighty humbles us, it is at this moment when we feel the awesome power of G-d that we may ask for whatever we feel we need even if we are imperfect and not deserving.

Some of the more general things that we should be thinking about during prayer include asking for nature to continue running smoothly. That the sun should continue to shine and for rain to fall. That plants, trees, fruits & vegetables should keep growing. Just think, the sun, if too close to planet earth, could easily sizzle us all away. If a little bit too far, we'd turn into ice-cubes. The winds can either clean the air we breath or blow dust and sand that would be life threatening. If vegetation would stop growing properly we'd be in trouble. A diet based solely on chemically produced foods is surely hazardous to our health.

In our Tefilah we praise and thank G-d for all of these things. By doing this we come closer to G-d and achieve for ourselves the merit of being deserving for all of these things to continue occurring in a beneficial and safe manner.

Proper sleep is also something to be mentioned. Naturally we wake up every morning. But how do we wake up? Sometimes we may wake up tired because we didn't sleep well at night or because we woke up earlier than usual and didn't get enough sleep. Waking up late can cause us to miss or be late to important things, like school! (Well, lets say breakfast.) Who can help us with this? Who can we turn to for proper sleep? Hinei lo yanum v'lo yishan shomer yisroel, Behold He neither slumbers nor sleeps. While we sleep, G-d remains wide awake as always, making sure that everyone sleeps peacefully. If we turn to G-d with a little prayer before we go to sleep, we just may sleep better! (Some adults turn to sleeping pills. If they would try the Kriat Shema Al HaMita prayer before going to bed, it could help them sleep better!)