What Are We Actually Davening For
Adapted from Rabbi Braun’s sermon in 5776
On Wednesday afternoon I received an email with a request to recite a prayer on behalf of Hadar Goldin, an IDf soldier killed in last year’s war in Israel whose body is still being held by Hammas terrorists.
It read: please consider reciting the following, composed by the Chief Rabbinate, on a regular basis in your communities:
אב הרחמים שוכן מרומים ברחמיו העצומים, הוא יפקוד ברחמים את החיילים הקדושים והטהורים הדר בן שמחה וחדווה לאה ואורון בן הרצל וזהבה, שמסרו נפשם על קדושת השם. מנשרים קלו ומאריות גברו לעשות רצון קונם וחפץ צורם בעוז ובענווה. יזכרם אלוהינו לטובה עם שאר צדיקי עולם, יביאם לקבר ישראל, ככתוב ואל עמו תביאנו, וינוחו בשלום על משכבם ונאמר אמן.
God of compassion who dwells on high, with his infinite mercy, he shall watch with mercy over the holy and pure soldiers Hadar ben Simcha and Chedva Leah, and Oron ben Herzl and Zahava who have given their lives al kedushat Hashem faster than eagles and stronger than lions to do the will of their creator with courage and humility.
May God remember them for good with other righteous of the world, and bring them to burial in Israel as it says, they should be brought to their nation, let them rest in peace and we shall say amen.
I am not in favor of continually adding tefilot, that for another time.
But I believe that it is worth asking an important question – what are we actually davening for? This is formulated as a prayer request and all. It requests that Hashem bring these bodies back to their families and Israel for burial. Do we expect Hashem to whisk up the body and miraculously transport it back for burial? If not, what are we davening for?
Last week I mentioned that we should include the victims of the Terror attack in Paris in our prayers. It is definitely a traditional response, but again we have to ask – what are we actually davening for? Are we asking for God to bring them comfort? Is that really how it works? Is God going to pay a shiva call?
Every week we pray for the soldiers and for state of Israel. What are we asking for then?
Let me answer this question first and then work backwards.
This morning we read one of the more famous verses in the Torah.
בראשית פרק כח
יב) וַֽיַּחֲלֹ֗ם וְהִנֵּ֤ה סֻלָּם֙ מֻצָּ֣ב אַ֔רְצָה וְרֹאשׁ֖וֹ מַגִּ֣יעַ הַשָּׁמָ֑יְמָה וְהִנֵּה֙ מַלְאֲכֵ֣י אֱלֹהִ֔ים עֹלִ֥ים וְיֹרְדִ֖ים בּֽוֹ
And Jacob had a dream and behold there was a ladder rooted in the ground that ascended to the heavens, and there were angels of God ascending and descending the ladder.
What does that mean? What did Hashem show Yaakov?
One of the more well known explanations is that Hashem shows him the four kingdoms, Babylonia, Persia, Greece and Rome that will rise and then fall, reassuring Yaakov that after all of those empires we will still be around.
One of the great resources for the study of Midrash is Rabbi Menachem Mendel Kasher’s footnotes in his Torah Shleimah where he offers alternate versions of the well-known Midrashim.
On this verse and Midrash he quotes the following from Vayikra Rabba in the name of Rabbi Meir.
After showing Yaakov these 4 kingdoms Hashem says to Yaakov – You too can ascend the ladder and become a great kingdom. At that moment Yaakov becomes afraid and says to God- maybe if I ascend I will also descend like these other kingdoms? Hashem reassures him – don’t worry, if you ascend you will remain there and won’t suffer the same fate as these other nations. The Midrash concludes that Yaakov did not believe him and did not ascend!
(Even crazier the Midrash suggests that if Yaakov had ascended we might not have been
Why didn’t Yaakov ascend? What does it mean that he did not believe Hashem, and what was he afraid of? I can’t believe that the Midrash is suggesting that he really does not believe God and thinks that either we won’t ascend of that we will really fall as well.
I would suggest that Jacob understood that when Hashem tells him that he can ascend it means exactly that. Yaakov must take the initiative and ascend. He has to build the family and conquer the land and establish his presence in the land. He will then be responsible to see that they remain in the land etc. Yes Hashem will be with him, helping in the background, fulfilling his promise. But it will not be readily apparent when and how Hashem will step in and help.
Yaakov must be in the forefront, taking risks and making decisions for an entire people. And that is frightening. Hashem does not promise to elevate Yaakov; that Yaakov must do himself.
I think that is what we daven for today for the people and state of Israel. We don’t and shouldn’t expect that all we have to do is daven and Hashem will take care of Hamas. We have to build the country and army and fight and daven that Hashem help us, knowing that we will not be able to know exactly when or how that aid is coming. That is why these prayers are not as meaningful as they should be for us. In traditional terms we are asking for a nes nistar, a hidden miracle and not a nes nigleh, an open and revealed miracle.
Now let’s return to Hadar Goldin. If there is little movement to bring his body home and we don’t expect an overt miraculous return, what are we actually davening for?
Maybe this is a different type of prayer. Sometimes we pray for something specific. We want a sick person healed. Sometimes as above we ask for God’s help in a less specific way.
Other times, and as food for thought I think most of our Amidah is this type of prayer, the prayer is not actually a request. Rather they are reminders for us, teaching us what is truly important. This prayer serves to keep our personal and national goals and ideals in the forefront of our mind and ideally then spur us to action. It is not what we want from God but what God wants from us!
I would suggest that the prayer for Hadar is an attempt by his parents to do just that. It forces us to think about it, it keeps Hadar and his fate in the forefront of our minds and they hope we will be moved to do something about it.
