WEEK EIGHT: Questions, Answers, and Discussion on Faith and Good Deeds - PART ONE

Friends,

This is going to be SOME week of discussion. You guys are putting my feet to the fire with your excellent input. I will be logging in DAILY at least until Wednesday or Thursday to make some deposits.

Here is my first. I put another one up today as well, but check in daily. This discussion is HOT and extremely relevant.

BTW, this is NOT my last posting on this subject of the relationship between faith and good deeds.

Go to it!

Robert said...

In the lecture it was stated, “Doing the right thing has value even independent of the intent. If you feed a poor child even though you don’t have the warm fuzzy feelings, you are still doing a good thing. Deeds have dignity of their own.”
This sounds good on paper (so to speak), but how realistic is it to believe that someone who is not motivated by the love of G-d would even want to do a “good deed” such as feeding a hungry child. Does Isaiah 64:5 (“We have become like an unclean thing and all our virtues like a filthy rag”) have anything to do with this initial question? If doing a good deed doesn’t gain favor in G-d’s eyes then why do it since performing it with the wrong heart it is like a filthy rag? I see Isaiah 64:5, as Israel defiled with sin that even their pretensions to righteousness are vitiated by a basically self-seeking motive, rather than by supreme love of God (which alone can be the basis of true morality; compare to Deut 6:5) Does my question make sense?

Robert, your question makes sense, but there are non sequiturs in it, and it enshrines a very common false premise/ First of all, it would be nice to imagine that only people motivated by the love of God “would even want to do a “good deed” such as feeding a hungry child.” Do you really believe that only religious people care about humanity and human suffering? Let’s put it the other way: do you actually think that all who really believe in God involve themselves in relieving the suffering of others? I wish it were so, but there are plenty of believers who spend their time with the halleujahs and Davidic Dancing, but whose involvement in relieving the suffering of others is minimal at best. Similarly there are people who are not sure there is a God, who don’t give him a second thought, who know that right is right and that it is wrong to let people suffer and do nothing about it. Such people do great things.

Secondly, the “all our righteousness is as filthy rags” idea does NOT mean that righteous deeds are worthless unless situated in the right kind of faith. In the context, the Prophet is speaking of how Judah l is in a time of judgment—the Temple has been destroyed—and in this context, it is apparent to him that for some reason, Hashem is unimpressed with their good deeds—“all our righteousness is as filthy rags.” This does not means that good deeds are worthless, anymore than it means that evil deeds are immaterial. After all, it is Judah’s wicked deeds which have brought this upon them. No, tending the orphan, the fatherless and the widow is holy, right and good—whoever does it.

Let’s look at it this way: Does a Christian doing the wrong thing outweigh an atheist doing the right thing? You answer. If your answer is like mine, “Of course not,” then we must acknowledge that there is something in the deed itself that has relative weight. Come to think of it, Paul uses precisely this argument in Romans 2: 14 When Gentiles (and here he talking about pagans!) who have not the law do by nature what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or perhaps excuse them 16 on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus. . . . 26 So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? 27 Then those who are physically uncircumcised but keep the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law.”

Paul is clearly teaching here that pagans may do the right thing because of their consciences and because of the Law of God written on their hearts by the Creator God. Such deeds are GOOD deeds and trump the lives of those who have God’s law but don’t obey it.

Does this mean that people are saved by such deeds? No one is saying that. What I AM saying is that God prefers a person who does the right thing to a person who prides himself on the right kind of faith and does not do the right thing.

Also, Derek gave some excellent input to which you said:

. . . Maybe you missed my point. I was just expressing the importance of our motives behind our deeds, after all doesnt Hashem check our motives for all that we do?
Maybe the better question is - "How does our motive line up to the notion of doing the right thing independent of intent?"
After all Prov. 16:2 seems to emphasize Hashem checking our motive. A person may think nothing is wrong with what he does; outwardly it may seem innocent. But God knows his heart, whether the motives behind his actions are pure or not. The LORD judges people on the basis of why they act (Prov. 17:3; 21:2) because He sees human hearts ( Matt. 6:4, 8, 18)

Yes, Robert, God does judge motives. But to assume that only religious motives please him is a big jump. God does not dismiss the good deeds of people who really care about righteousness and mercy. He would on the other hand dismiss the deeds of someone who is doing what they do for deceitful reasons, such as someone treating someone well so as to only take advantage of them in the end.

Judaism cares about motives too—but again, I’d rather have a kind and caring atheist next door than an indifferent and self-involved Baptist. And God would see my point.

Week SEVEN – Talking about Mitzvah and Commandment

Shalom, My Friends,

This week, we will be concentrating on Mitzvah and Commandment, among other things. I will have more to say about this tomorrow. I am being visited by Dr. Mark Kinzer, and we have a group of crucial networking meetings concerning the future of MJTI, so I will be logging on not only today, but tomorrow and perhaps Tuesday to update your assignment. However, I wanted to get you started now.

Watching

Begin by looking at DVD’s 3.3 and 3.4 34 minutes.



Reading

Begin by reading Rothschild/Heschel pp. 155-197, which all have to do with Mitzvah. Please note that there is a disconnect between the syllabus sections named on the DVD's and our own Syllabus packet. The Section H named on the DVD's is not in our Packet, and the Section J named on the DVD's is our Section H. So DO use our Section H. In addition, use and read our Section I, at the appropriate time.

Doing

I encourage you to continue experimenting with Jewish prayer, and to share on the blog concerning your experiences. I promise you that each time you do liturgical prayer it is different, and sometimes you will be surprised by a sudden influx of insight, awareness, and companionship. Continue with the Shemoneh Esrei/Amidah especially, found on pages 99 through 119 in the Artscroll Siddur (Nusach Ashkenaz) which all of you are supposed to have. As before, the context of that praying, which should be done standing, experiment with using these benedictions as a kind of outline or agenda for prayer—that is, in the midst of certain benedictions, insert your own prayers. And again, this is especially appropriate in the benedictions for healing, for the blessing of the year (that is, for provision and sustenance), as well as others. Again, report on the texture of the experience—what can you say about it that is worth sharing? I would ask that you make three contributions to the blog on these matters, as well as supplying the traditional three questions from your reading and the DVD’s, and interacting at least twice with each other by way of comments.

This week, we will be wading deep into the issue of Torah observance and its place in Messianic Judaism. Like I said, I will log on again within 24 hours to supplement what I am saying now . . . I will augment and edit the very posting.

One of the issues you will discover in this week’s DVD watching is the proposition that doing the right thing has value even independent of the intent. It is better if you have kavvanah, but even if you don’t, deeds have a dignity and priority of their own. “The world needs more than the secret holiness of individual inwardness.” Good deeds done without love may profit me nothing (1 Cor 13), but still bring benefit to the world.

This deals with the positive role of law in the life of the Jew. On the DVD, Roger will ask a question concerning “Where does this leave the Church?’ In other words, this mentality is so different from that of the Church, and this imperative to obey the Law, is foreign to the Church’s ethos (and rightly so), bringing us into the very big question—How are the obligations of Messianic Jews different from the obligations of believing Gentiles, even Gentiles in our congregations?

As you study and each craft three questions for me this week, as is our habit, consider such questions as well as what might be the implications of such an issues for how we conduct congregational life?

More later.

HERE’S THE MORE I PROMISED!

I thought it a good idea to stay on one theme this week, so we will stick to the issue of Torah and the place of Torah in Messianic Jewish life.

Please ADD to your watching, DVD 4.4 beginning about minute 26:20 (what goes before pertains to Kavvanah, and we will handle that later).

Read as well the two additional sections I am sending you by email attachment, both from Heshel. One on “Religious Behaviorism” and the other on “The Meaning of Observance.” (If you do the assigned reading in Heschel for this week, you will be reading the chapters upon which these hand-outs are based.

If you have trouble coming up with questions this week, I will accept instead your choosing quotations from Heschel that especially grab you together with your brief discussion of why you chose what you did. (I regard Heschel as the most quotable Jew since Yeshua!).

I am also throwing in DVD 5.4, which you should watch together with Section Q in your materials packet. It is not very demanding and watching this DVD now will help reduce the rush at the end. Although not related to our theme for this week, you will find it light and interesting.

Don’t forget to check your e-mail for the attachments I promised!

WEEK SIX: Questions, Answers and Discussion - Part Three

Derek asked :

2 questions about prayer:

1. In the early days I used to think davvening meant the act of swaying during prayer. I now know better, but is there a name for the swaying?

2. I am curious about the rationale for swaying. I tell people it is a way to increase concentration, but I have always felt something else (though I've not heard anyone day it). I feel as though I am repeatedly bowing to Adonai. I enjoy this act of devotion. Is that an element of the swaying that anyone speaks of?



Authors are not agreed or certain about the etymology of “davvening.” One suggestion is that it is related to the LATIN “divinus.” However, as for the swaying, it is called “shuckling.” Two descriptions of its purpose come to mind from my reading: One is that it is a way of actualizing “let all my bones rejoice” and/or “Let all that is within me bless His Holy Name.” Another is that it has to do with shifting one’s center of gravity while praying—it helps with bodily comfort and longevity in the standing position. I think Jordan Lee Wagner of “The Syngaogue Survival Kit” is the author of the latter explanation.

As for Paul’s question concerning the definition of ‘holiness” and its relationship to “spirituality,” I was thinking of this while walking to the subway here in NYC where I am today finishing a three day visit with my oldest son. How’s this?” “Holiness is presenting oneself as a living sacrifice to Hashem in all ways always.” “Spirituality is the consideration, discussion, study, and pursuit of means toward that end.” Just as there were prescribed ways that different sacrifices were presented in the Older Testament, so the prescribed pathway of holiness differs for different people-groups. Particularly, the pathway mapped out for Israel is different (but overlapping) with that of the nations.

Of course, other communities would define holiness and spirituality differently, and generically, both terms could be otherwise defined. However, these are the definitions I am proposing for us and our context.

These definitions are in addition to those presented in the Extended Course Description and other documents, lectures, comments in this course. However, thanks Paul for the question. I like this current approach you evoked and would suggest to all of us, that as we devote ourselves to the study of ANY worthwhile pursuit, it is a good idea to from time to time update our definitions—it is a good exercise in assessing and coalescing thought.

robert said...
Robert

Q1-

In Sonsino’s book page 8, he says, “In many areas, Kabbalah has even reached the masses: In Tel Aviv, the Kabbalah Learning Center has a display in the central bus station.” I first want to clarify that I know little about Jewish Kabbalah and actually look forward towards learning more about this in R 532. My question is how open can our movement be to the Kabbalah when very few of our leaders know anything about it? Most MJ Rabbi’s that I have spoken to seem afraid of it (should they?) Christians seem to get their ideologies of Kabbalah from the media and usually say it’s demonic. The reports that I hear from those serving in Israel is that many young Israelis are drawn to this movement and the fruit of it is very crass, sinful and far from a respectable Judaism. America seems to have a “McDonalized” version of Kabbalah, so how is our Americanized Kabbalah different from that in Israel? I was told by a Chabad-Lubavitch that true Kabbalah is not really exposed to the public, but rather carried down orally Dor L’ Dor? 


Kabbalah is Jewish esoteric (off the beaten path, known only to the initiated, thus, secret) speculative theologizing about spiritual knowledge, power and creation. As such, it traverses concerns normally found in the area of magic—which also concerns the interfacing of knowledge and power. However, it is simplistic to simply say that kabbalah is Jewish magic. It would be like simply saying that a Christian interested in knowing more about God so he can experience more of the flow of God’s power is simply involved in Christian magic. It is hamfisted, overgeneralized thinking.

Still, there are many who relate to Kabbalah in a magical way—as a means of accessing and controlling spiritual power. These people are immature, wrong, and “cruising for a bruising”—apt to get into trouble.

In the more seasoned and responsible of Jewish circles, Kabbalah is an area of study reserved for those with a deep knowledge of, experience in, and devotion to the pathways of Torah holiness. It is an area that only the mature are allowed to investigate—persons whose character guarantees they are not seeking to play with fire.

As speculative theology, Kabbalah is useful as material to inform Messianic Jewish theological constructs, because it gives us Jewish ways rooted in Torah of speaking about the nature of God, Creation and Messiah. Mark Kinzer will be teaching on some of this in our courses of study.

But the kinds of things done at the Kabbalah Center or available on the bookshelves in popular bookstores should be avoided—they are pandering to people’s craving for spiritual secrets and access to power apart from deep moral and spiritual commitments appropriate to a Torah life—the latter must be the foundation for the study and assessment of Kabbalistic writings.

Robert’s 
Q2-

In Lecture 3.2 you stated, “We need to be careful not to restrict people who say – I really sensed G-d in a sunset… or a mother sensing God in a birth.” You then asked if this was to be rated 1st or 2nd rate, and that Providence is Hashem in the middle of ordinary circumstances. I certainly agree that we should not demean these experiences; I personally have had quite a few. But my question is, isn’t this type of “awe” similar to that of the charismatic movement? A common event in our congregation is to have a non-Jew with a Pentecostal background come in and say, “G-d is saying this, or I witnessed gold dust in my bedroom so forth and so on. Where do we draw the line to where experiencing G-d doesn’t become a “Woodstock” experience? It seems that the Reconstructionist perspective of, “enriching the individual emotionally and intellectually filling him/her with a sense of great awe,” is quite similar to the Charismatic experience?

Thanks for your question: What I was advocating was for us to not despise what is normally called “General revelation,” the kind of thing Paul speaks of in Romans one, of God’s eternal power and deity being clearly perceived in the things he has made. When a woman wonders at the birth process, or someone wonders at a sunset or the beauty of music, this is general revelation—and it is a genuine pathway to knowledge. It is general revelation—that kind which is available to everyone—through ordinary experiences. The kinds of charismatic/Pentecostal testimonies you mention (people claiming to have found gold dust in their room, seeing Jesus in the blender, ete.) are NOT this. Here people are claiming special revelation through out of the ordinary experiences, and in some manner, in my view, are often seeking to be regarded as special for having had such “revelations.” For the most part this is to spirituality what cotton candy is to nutrition. It is not healthy and ought not to be merchandised in our congregations.

Finally, for today, I think some of our comments here are based on a misunderstanding of Roz Kinzer’s position on charismatic experience. She very much values the charismatic experiences she had in her formative years, and we should not disparage such either. Thesse matters warrant further discussion—and more thought from me before I interact with your questions. Hopefully, tomorrow.

Until then—shalom,

WEEK SIX: Questions, Answers, Discussion - Part Two

john said...
And now for a third question:

I was really touched by something on the DVD's that buzzed around my head for several days.It's a new paradigm shift type of idea,that forces me to re-think on prayer..
The phrase was something like this:
" when we decide to bring forth something to G-d that we want him to deal with,really want him to change,,G-d is right there..ready to start...come on let's get started...let's deal with it"
This is really important because it implies that G-D acts rapidly,is just waiting for us to ask his help,etc
This concept would change things for me if I really believed it! Itwould mean that I could now (without experiencing it)know that G-D was working interiorly in me!
What do we say to people/to ourselves,when year after year we don't see any results in our interior lives(same sins/failings)?
I chanced upon the thought that this may be where MITZVOT may have it's role,with observance propelling us further along the "derech" when no visible signs of change are in evidence at all.

I am not sure of the statement to which you are referring, John, but in general I agree with the sentiment. There is an old Christian hymn that captures the ethos for me. It says, “I sought the Lord, and afterward I knew, he moved my hear to seek him seeking me.” God is infinite, God is good, and God is committed to His people. His infinitude should remind us that his resources are never strained nor exhausted. This does not mean that things always go well for us. No. And no one can answer truly and satisfactorily why answers don’t seem to come when things are worst and God’s people are best.

Nevertheless, when we have an impulse to move in the right direction, say, in the direction of repentance, we are not irrational in assuming that God is for us in that situation, indeed, that he was the unseen and unbidden Party who moved us to move. The parable of the Prodigal Son touches on this somewhat, we see that the father in the story is already on the lookout for his son when his son returns.

As for remaining on “the derech even when no visible signs of change are in evidence at all,” the reason for remaining on the derech is not results: rather it is the glorification of God. One is reminded of the story of the Daniel’s three friends who told Nebuchadnezzar, “If our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire and out of your hand, O king, let him deliver us. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods and we will not worship the golden statue that you have set up" (Daniel 3). The fact is, Daniel’s friends were committed to serve and honor God deliverance or no deliverance. A life of obedience can only be sustained with this mindset, because life has more than enough disappointments in it to cause us to abandon hope, faith and love if we make it contingent upon “results.”

john said...
As for my experiences with the Siddur and the AMIDAH this week (three days):

I experimented with several ways of reciting the blessings:

I started praying the blessing slowly,as I would read any prayer book,(Christian/Jewish) and by the time I got to the Malkhut beit David my mind was wandering.
I was feeling very guilty because all those fine people on the DVD's were praising the "texture" of the siddur,etc..and I was finding it a bit dry!!

I tried saying the blessings to myself..in my head ,instead of out loud..and it was certainly worse...

Then I remembered a CD I had heard of a lute player who had recorded the "song of songs" (Jean David,Algerian Jew).The disc was mostly spoken..but spoken with the Hebrew recited really really slowly...
This "opened up" the Siddur and the AMIDAH for me..The SELICHAH is so beautiful in this way..The refuah takes on new life(I even entered up chanting this to an improvised simply melody!!)
I felt strangely linked to all those in my immediate family, no longer here on earth,who recited these same blessings...
I'm more sure than ever that authentic Jewish Messianic worship must drink deeply from these streams...But how?? It's so different from what people want!!

Ah, John, what a wonderful mystical brother you are: I have found a kinsmen according to my own flesh! I am so very delighted that you discovered that the way in which we use the siddur has great affect on “what we get out of it.” I too discovered some time ago that chanting parts of the text to extemporaneous memories (which Hasidim calls “niggunim”) increased my kavvanah and joy. And I too experienced that aching, awe-filled and mysterious sense of linkage to my ancestors and to our people that comes from really connecting to the prayers and to the God of whom they speak. It is hard to describe and impossible to forget.

As for how to help Messianic Judaism drink from these wells, I have already discussed the need for instruction. In addition, of course, we ourselves need to become consistent practitioners, and to bring others along, one by one, until we have a little community of prayer. Frankly, this kind of commitment and change is sometimes more easily “felt than tell’t,” people catch a whiff by participating. Then we must become or discover masters who will bring them along. But more remains to be said on this important matter.


As for Birkat Ha-minim,” and the cursing of slanderers, I pray this prayer against those people within the ranks of Jewish community whose agendas are aimed against the community’s welfare. I do not think this is wrong---it is like the imprecator psalms of David.

nathaniel said...
“Is it better to speed through the rest of the Amidah (in a sense, just finishing the motion) when we run out of time, vs just putting the siddur down and?”

The custom of our people is that above all in the Amidah, one should not allow interruptions, because this is the time when we are most aware of standing before the King of Kings, Blessed be He. I think this guideline is most appropriate, and one we should endeavor to follow, because it guards and supports our awareness of the importance of this time before God. It is, traditionally, the heart of our priestly ‘sacrifice of prayer,” and to allow it to be interrupted is to infer that something more important has come up. Obviously, we ought to avoid that!

As previously mentioned in the syllabus materials, there are gradations of importance in the siddur prayers—some parts that may be left out if the circumstances require it. At the heart of the service, the most non-negotiables are the Amidah and the Shema. If absolutely necessary one may restrict the Shema to just the three paragraphs without the blessings before and after, or even just the first paragraph (Plus, of course, in both cases, the initial declaration—Shema Yisrael. . . etc). Some siddurs have an abbreviated Amidah as well—one paragraph that summarizes all of the concepts. I will see if it is included in Artscroll and get back to you.

In responding to Robert, thank you for your comments on the Amidah’s three steps forward [which should be matched by three steps backward at the end, when we say “Oseh Shalom Bimromav . . . ]. I am delighted you got so much out of it.

Jewish prayer, under the influence of Hasidism especially, is keenly aware that we pray with our whole being—Body, Soul, Spirit, and that the body is to be included in the act. Postures are important, etc. Of course one can “get carried away” as the earlier Hasidim did, opening themselves up to harsh criticism for what was deemed their intemperate exhibitionism. Nevertheless, especially when in private prayer, bring your body into it: “Let ALL that is within me bless His Holy Name.”

Robert’s sensitivity to the repentance portions of our service {the Tachanun) is also appreciated—the pathway of repentance is something we should walk every day. The habit of a Cheshbon Nefesh is excellent toward that end: taking a personal moral/spiritual inventory. Some Hasidim are in the habit of doing so daily.

To conclude today’s posting, I am pasting in, in its entirety, a teaching I did for my people on the Cheshbon Nefesh. See if it helps you all.

And we have much more to do. Such GREAT questions! Keep it up, folks!

TAKING A SPIRITUAL INVENTORY AND LEARNING FROM IT:
"CHESHBON HANEFESH"
Adapted and expanded from material found on the Web at http://www.cckollel.org/html/heritage/questions/question45.shtml

Without a plan, it is hard to show G-d that you are seriously committed to change in the future. The Hebrew word for this evaluation is Cheshbon haNefesh which means "a spiritual accounting." The first step in making a plan is to determine goals and how to implement them. We have two suggested systems to try.

SETTING LIFETIME GOALS
What are your lifetime goals? It is often difficult to get perspective on this question, so try asking yourself in the following way: "At my funeral what is it that I want people to say about me? What kinds of values, relationships, accomplishments would I want to come readily to their minds as characteristic of the life I have led?"

Another exercise. Take a new sheet of paper and write down another question: "If I knew I only had one year to live, how would I spend my time?" Don't get lost in thinking TOO MUCH-just write--and don't censor yourself. Brainstorm. Even write down those things which seem impossible or foolish. Just write.

Now, spend some time refining your lists, in a way that will identify your THREE MOST IMPORTANT GOALS. Then write these three in order of priority. You have now finished a "Lifetime Goals Statement." After you finish, ask yourself, "Why can't I make this a reality?" Brainstorm different ways of overcoming those obstacles that prevent you from getting where you want to go.

A BUSINESS APPROACH
Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzato (17th century) explains in his classic work on Jewish ethics, Path of the Just: "A person should observe all his actions and watch over all his ways so as not to perpetuate a bad trait, let alone a sin or a crime. A person needs to carefully examine his ways and weigh them daily-just as a successful businessperson constantly evaluates all his undertakings so that nothing goes wrong. A person should set aside definite times and hours for this evaluation so that it isn't performed haphazardly, but rather is conducted with the greatest regularity... for it yields rich returns. Every company has a plan with directions, dates and deadlines for each step in their future. Shouldn't we have one as well?"
In order to make such plans, we need to first evaluate past performance.

TAKING AN INVENTORY OF YOUR LIFE
Try the following exercise: Write out a list of all the major areas of your life. These will be the specific areas that you will monitor on a regular basis - either daily, weekly or monthly. For each category, identify specific questions that cut to the core of the issue. Try to be as comprehensive as you can. Here are some possible areas you might choose:
1.Relationships-Have I spent enough quality time with people I care about? Have I shown proper patience, compassion and respect toward co-workers, friends-and strangers? Have I looked for virtues in others? Have I listened attentively to others? Have I taken joy in the success and accomplishments of others?
2.Spirituality-Have I sought a pattern of spiritual discipline that works for me: attainable, sustainable and renewing of my best self? Do I know G-d more deeply or as deeply as a year ago? Why? Why not? Have I invested my gifts and time in the well-being of others? Of my congregation?
3.Character development-Am I aware of times when I have been arrogant, sarcastic or critical? Have I treated time like my most precious commodity or do I spend it without much thought? Have I made righteous choices this past year in the area of my sex life? My choices of friends?
4.Scripture Study-Have I set aside specific times daily for Scripture study? Have I progressed in my knowledge the Scriptures and in my acquaintance with books which solidly build my character and knowledge of spiritual things?
5.Career-Have I selected a career that satisfies my innate needs for meaning and accomplishment? Have I created a work environment free of jealousy, gossip, and immodest behavior?
6.Global and Community Concerns-Have I been actively involved in contributing to the improvement of my community? Have I been idealistic about the possibility of tikkun olam--repairing the world? Have I been engaged in communicating this ideal to others? Do my choices demonstrate that I have felt moved by the plight of others who are estranged from Jewish life and from the more abundant life Yeshua offers?
7.Health-Have I been eating well and exercising regularly? Have I availed myself of relevant new medical information?
8.Financial-Have I exercised some sort of a plan for handling unforeseen expenses? Have I beenI quick to pay off debts? Have I been giving tzedakkah and been giving to my congregation according to plan or has it been on the basis of impulse?
Now that you have some idea of how you have been doing, let's close with some concrete ideas for improving your life in just one area, that of Spirituality: Not all of the ideas work equally well for everyone. Choose the ones that work best for you!

DEVELOPING AND STRENGTHENING YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH G-D
1. HAVE A TIME DAILY TO RELATE TO G-D IN PRAYER IN YOUR OWN WORDS
a. It is a Jewish custom to speak to G-d directly before going to sleep. This is a perfect time to reflect and introspect on your relationship to G-d, and to evaluate if you are on target in fulfilling your purpose in life.
b. You might want to learn about the practice of "Hitbodedut--voluntary self-seclusion" which involves having an appointment each day where you pour out your heart to G-d and work on your life in His presence. Rabbi Dauermann has materials on this practice.
2. WRITE YOUR OWN PRAYERS
Choose an area that you really want to improve in and are motivated to pray for. Then sit down and write out a prayer that will inspire you to grow. For instance, you can ask G-d for the strength to study Torah with more concentration. Or for the opportunity to perform more acts of human kindness. Or for assistance in not speaking Loshon Hora (gossip). Write a list of things to thank G-d for.
3. CONSIDER MAKING IT A PROJECT TO LEARN HOW THE SIDDUR CAN REALLY CATALYZE YOUR LIFE OF PRAYER
a. The quality of the experience of liturgical prayer is directly proportional to the understanding of the prayers. The Siddur is certainly deep. It constitutes a major compendium of ideas about the world, about G-d, about G-d's will for Israel and the nations, and can serve as an index for learning many of the fundamentals of our faith. Have you put yourself on a growth curve to begin incorporating these thousands of years of prayer wisdom into your own life?
b. Why not make it a point to attend Rabbi Dauermann's Workshop on Jewish prayer next week?
c. Make it a point to find out how praying with the help of the siddur in the morning can increase the "kedusha factor (active holiness)" in your daily life, while strengthening you daily for the struggles all of us face.
d. Learn from Rabbi Dauermann about the "Ladder of Practice" which takes you from the easiest to the most challenging practices of Jewish prayer life.
4. CONSIDER MAKING IT A PROJECT TO STUDY THE BIBLE MORE CONSISTENTLY AND REWARDINGLY IN THE YEAR TO COME
a. Why not consider committing to becoming involved in the Bet Midrash which is beginning on January 12?
b. Begin now to prayerfully look for a "chevruta" a "study buddy" with whom you will learn together in the year to come, and with whom you can be mutually accountable.

WEEK SIX: Questions, Answers, Discussion - Part One

Friends,

Lotz of goodies in your thoughts and responses last week. Here's the first installment on my interaction with you. I am eager to get into our interaction about this.

Stuart
paul said...
On inserting my own prayers during the Amidah:

I realize I may be jumping the gun here, but I have been doing this on and off for some time. When I began this, I used to offer my own prayers at the end of the Amidah and before Tachanun. Then, where the context was appropriate in the Amidah, I added my own prayers as those may have been. I have since arrived at a confluence of the two. In keeping with tradition, there are certain parts where personal petitions are permitted, of course in traditional form. And where my prayers could be offered here, I would do so. For those that did not fall into being offered within the Amidah in accordance with tradition, at least as I understand it, I would add those petitions after the Amidah, before taking three steps forward.
April 1, 2007 6:29 PM


paul said...
Paul has two questions as to the form of the questions to post on the blog this week:

Why is this week the same as every other week? Why, on this week, don't we get to ask four questions?

Okay, I really don't want to take on developing four questions but I couldn't resist.
April 1, 2007 6:31 PM


paul said...
Addendum to the prayer comment:

I realized that I really didn't share the impact. Personally, I can't say that my prayers in this format are any more effective than previously. Nor can I say that they are any less effective. Candidly, I have not found any realistic means to measure the effectiveness of prayer at all. So I offer them in faith. And in that faith, because these petitions are offered at the time I am offering one of the three or four daily sacrifices to Hashem prescribed in Torah, and, as such, represents the offering itself, I believe that these petitions offered at these times are pleasing and acceptable to Hashem. Again, I have no evidence of this. What is more, now that I am having to write this down, I realize that I need to review Leviticus to see how this fits within the rubric of the sacrificial offerings. But that is my present belief.
April 1, 2007 6:42 PM



stuart dauermann said...
Traditionally, one of the places where personal petitions are offered is during the benediction "Sh'ma Kolenu." Also, names are inserted during the blessing for a complete hearling IRefuah Sh'lemah). However, I imagine there are many who do as I do, intermingling their prayers with the statuory prayers, so that one's prayers become a sort of dialogue with the siddur, and, of course, always, a dialogue with Hashem. A

A Happy Passover to all of you. And more question . . .

On all other weeks, some people do not dip into this blog even once. On this week, why not twice?

Stuart
April 2, 2007 1:48 PM



stuart dauermann said...
Paul, 

On the interrelationship of levitical sacrifices and traditional prayer, Allen Singer, Mark Kinzer's associate at Congregation Zerah Avraham, Ann Arbor, has developed some sort of teaching materials. 

He is a sensible and thorough student. I would suggest you contact him and ask him if there is anything he can send you on the matter, 

Stuart
April 2, 2007 1:51 PM


nathaniel said...
I am not very experienced with the Siddur, so some of this was very new to me. Having said that, this did not feel foreign, and was overall a good experience.

What was most meaningful to me is the way the Siddur helped me to direct my prayers, as I went through certain benedictions, I was lead to pray for certain things and or people, so their was a good amount of focus as I went along.
April 4, 2007 6:11 AM

Thanks for your comment Nathaniel. Your comment is of course true. What we may sometimes miss is the communal benefit of siddur prayer. Just last week, a protégé of mine, Jon, asked if I wanted to go to the local Conservative Synagogue for end of the Passover services (at 9:00 AM on Tuesday). I said, “Certainly!” and went. They were using a siddur I had not used before, but of course almost all of the prayers were well-known to me, as they are the same prayers I use in my own prayer life and at my congregation. There was a sense of unity between myself and these dear people, and indeed with all of praying Israel throughout time. It is a holy thing—not an idea, but a reality, an experience. I am reminded of the late 1970’s when I was still working with Jews for Jesus, and, on a missionary trip, paid a visit to a synagogue in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Even though I was not at all as active in Jewish life then, as now, I remember being moved as I walked in, saw that some men had hung their Bowler hats on a hook when they came in, very different from what I had experienced in Brooklyn as a child, Yet, the melodies they sang were the same I had grown up with. Again, the unity of the people of Israel.

This brings us to the a broader issue: in what ways have our Messianic Jewish theological understandings, service orders, and ecclesiological assumptions evidenced a disregard or even a contempt for the unity of the people of Israel, despite whatever missionary rhetoric we learned to the contrary?

The siddur then is far more than a guide to personal prayer: it is meeting place with God, with our people, and with ourselves as Jews. And, as you will find after reading it regularly, adopting a siddur-based prayer practice deeply shapes one’s theology.

john said...
Here are my three questions for this week on prayer:

I was thinking how we are going to present liturgical forms of prayer as in the Siddur to Jewish people who are unacquainted with it,who are Ba'al Teshuvah (newly observant) or who have come out from christian charasmatic/pentecostalist types of settings,or who may come to Messianic synagogues which closely resemble orthodox and conservative synagogues
.

The task for us is the same as it is for many mainstream Jewish institutions, really. About two years ago I heard a Cantor from a prominent Los Angeles synagogue say that years ago you, one’s comments to one’s flock were concerning “How” to do this or that prayer. Now the task is to say “Why.” Mainstream synagogues are having trouble “selling” Jewish prayer too. And their solutions are very much the same as we must implement. We need qualified educators, we need groups that model how things are done, we need well-prepared training/educational materials, almost always borrowed from the wider Jewish community. And we need wisdom, humility, and sanity in implementing things—a kind of sanctified, patient gradualism, for example. Too many in our movement teach Jewish prayer and Jewish life like an amulet, or like some elite holy culture. There is nothing living, sane, patient about it. Mature religious Jews are capable of far more tolerance and patience than are some of us. We need to bring our people along, and to start from where they are. We need to not only implement training programs that explain not only how but also why; we also need to have communal contexts where such prayer has a natural place. We don’t have that now: what we have is an attempt to have a hyper-intense experience once a week, which leads to a lot of straining and aritificality, if you ask me.

We need to develop knowledgeable and intensely human praying communities that know they are not there yet, but are helping each other to grow toward a certain maturity in Messianic Jewish liturgical prayer.
As for developing Jewish prayer for Jewish believers cut off from the wider community, I am not sure that can be done. Jewish life is intrinsically communal. It is as artificial to pursue Jewish life in isolation from Jewish community, as it is to try and learn Japanese language, life and culture from books and recordings, without spending time with the Japanese people in their own contexts. This would be artifical, sterile and weird: and so with learning of Judaism and its practice: it must be among Jews, with Jews, and as Jews.


You say, “And then there's all the rigidity that some of our synagogues (Traditional)inject into it:¨


I don’t know what you mean by “our synagogues.” Those of Judaism as a whole? Or MJ synagogues. Although some congregations and segments of the wider Jewish world are insular and difficult to get in step with, and, like the Amish, do not provide an invitation and program for joining, in the main, modern Jewish congregations today are conscious of the need to make themselves user-friendly, and masterful at bringing people along. They know that today’s Jews are not knowledgable, and they are doing all then can to win such Jews and bring them along. We must learn from them!

If the critique is of some MJ congregations, then the problem is that neophytes and converts tend to be absolutist and rigid—it is the people at home in the culture who better know how to breathe with it.

Yes, there are some congregations that “go light speed,” and I have been as frustrated about this as anyone. But even there, some communities compensate: light speed davvvening on week-days, and a learrner’s minyan also available on shabbat. Both we and they must learn not to simply leave people behind. Of course this should never been dummying down Judaism, but rather being winsome, patient, skillful, and expert in bringing people along at whatever pace they can manage. You speak of an introduction for beginners—that is certainly in the right direction. I don’t think I agree that the MOST important thing about Jewish prayer is its first person plural language, although that is instructive. I do like and agree with the tenor of your comments here about prayer. I know from experience that the repetition of phrases, both encountering them over and over again in the liturgy, and meditating on them through repetition during the day, is not like Eastern Mysticism provided one does not become mindless in the enterprise—it is meditation with ever deepening understanding.

Your reference to Rabbi Steinsaltz is appreciated as well. He is deeply penetrated by Hasidism, and his call for freedom and innovation in prayer should not surprise us. As for people learning to find God in the process, I teach this to my people regularly at Ahavat Zion, often commenting on moments and insights in the siddur text, and the depth of worship and awareness they embody—it is as people learn to get into the text,, and the text into them, that they encounter God—not by contrivance or gimmick, but because he is glorified there. That is my conviction.


john said...
My second question follows from various Jewish books I read recently on prayer(Olitsky+ Judson,Kugel,Herschel;etc)
Most of these will somewhere along the line talk about the "sacrifice of prayer"
As I understand it ,this would seem to imply Avodat Halev(service of the heart)..the "dry times",perhaps the times drenched in doubt and despair,etc...when prayer is impossible..un-rewarding...unanswered?

As for “the sacrifice of prayer,” the phrase does not refer to “the sacrificial difficulty of praying when time are tough and dry.” Rather, the term refers to seeing our prayers (liturgical and otherwise), our praises, as our offering to God—as a means of giving him the glory due His name. And, of course, it is a sacrifice we offer as well when we are not feeling much in the process, just as, I am sure, when the Temple stood, there were priests and Levites who had head-colds, had had fights with their wives, were generally depressed, but still participated earnestly and carefully in the offering of animal sacrifices. So the term “sacrifice””does not mean “my noble struggle to give God what he demands/deserves even when I don’t feel like it, but rather, the sacrifice of prayer is the offering I offer to God in prayer—the term “sacrifice” describes the action, not my painful, noble struggle.

STILL Week Five - Experimenting With and Learning About Liturgical Prayer

Shalom, My Friends,

In view of our Passover hiatus, which I almost missed (how do you miss a hiatus), we are STILL week FIve. So the following are your directions for this week. Enjoy!

We have some work to do this week, but I think it is a little lighter than the past two. It provides some variety, because it incorporates an element of learning my doing.

At any rate, here is what we have ahead of us this week.

Watching

DVD’s 3.1, 3.2, and 4.3. In my copy and perhaps in yours, 4.3 is defective, ending at about 34 minutes.

Reading

Sonsino chapters 1,3, 5 and related material in Section E in your packet. (You may read this somewhat lightly if time is crunched).

My blog posting on Messianic Judaism vs. Messsianic Judaism (alluded to as a handout on the DVD’s) found at
http://rabbenu.blogspot.com/2004/06/messianic-jewishism-popular-religious.html

My blog posting “Why I Need to Davven” (alluded to as a handout on the DVD’s) found at http://rabbenu.blogspot.com/2004/12/why-i-need-to-davven-part-one.html

Heschel, Section I (on prayer), which is pp. 85-90 in your packet, and 198-203 in Heschel/Rothschild book;

Olitzky and Judson, pages 69-74 in appendix G, and pages 87-103 in their book.

Appendix R - on Hitbodedut (You may read this somewhat lightly now, if time is crunched. We will be discussing it though, next week).

Doing

On your first DVD this week, I discuss Messianic Jewishism vs. Messianic Judaism. I expect we will have much to discuss on this matter, but ask that you hold your comments until next week, our output week.

The focus of this week is on the subject of prayer, and upon learning by doing, that is, experimenting with siddur prayer. Since we are all at various stages of experience and growth in this area, in our experimentation with Jewish prayer I am going to restrict us to one section this week, and that is the weekday Amidah, also known as the Shemoneh Esrei.

It is found on pages 99 through 119 in the Artscroll Siddur (Nusach Ashkenaz) which all of you are supposed to have. For this week, in addition to the readings and DVD’s specified, I am asking that you pray this Amidah in the morning on two or three separate days. In the context of that praying, which should be done standing, experiment with using these benedictions as a kind of outline or agenda for prayer—that is, in the midst of certain benedictions, insert your own prayers. This is especially appropriate in the benedictions for healing, for the blessing of the year (that is, for provision and sustenance), as well as others. I am NOT asking that your report on what you prayed for, but rather, that via the blog, you report on the texture of the experience—what can you say about it that is worth sharing? I would ask that you make three contributions to the blog on these matters, as well as supplying the traditional three questions from your reading and the DVD’s, and interacting at least twice with each other by way of comments.

On the DVD’s we discuss Hitbodedut, which is Jewish non-liturgical prayer. I am not asking that your experiment with that this week. This week, it is liturgical prayer you will be reporting on, specifically the Amidah/Shemoneh Esrei.

I ran across an interesting resource on line for liturgical prayer for those of you for whom it is new. Visit http://www.kakatuv.com/sitemap.html and roam around.

Let me know how this goes for you. Above all, spend time in liturgical prayer—the Amidah/Shemoneh Esrei. Doing it daily wouldn’t hurt you at all.