WHY GO TO SHUL AND PRAY?

Moshe goes to shul and prays fervently, “God, I need your help. We’re in a recession and I’m about to lose my job. Please, let me win this week’s lottery.” Moshe doesn’t win. He goes back to shul and prays in front of the Holy Ark, “God, I need to win the lottery. I’m an honest hard working man and will probably get a pink slip at the end of the month. I implore You. Let me win.” Moshe doesn’t win. He goes back to shul and prays. This time he prostrates himself on the Bimah in front of the open Holy Ark and prays. “God, I am desperate. I need money to feed my family. I got the pink slip. I need to win the lottery. Answer me O Lord.” God answers him. “Moshe, the least you can do is buy a ticket!”

Many people question the efficacy of prayer and often ask, “Why pray?” In our Siddurim we fervently ask god to hear our prayers, to have mercy upon us and to answer us. At one time or another we have come to the synagogue and express our legitimate traditional wishes and desires. An insightful meditation tells us what prayer can do: “Prayer invites God to let His presence suffuse our spirits, to let His will prevail in our lives. Prayer cannot bring water to parched fields, nor mend a broken bridge, nor rebuild a ruined city {nor enable one to win the lottery}; but prayer can water an arid soul, mend a broken heart, and rebuild a weakened will.” (Gates of Prayer, p. 50)

The synagogue has often been referred to as “The Sanctuary of Israel” where our people prayed, studied Torah and earned eternity. Hayim Nachman Bialik, the great Hebrew poet, emphasized this point in one of his powerful poems, “If You Really Want to Know?” “If you really want to know whence your brothers drew the strength to combat the armed phalanxes of the enemy; if you really want to know whence they drew their courage and their faith, then el beit hamidrash soor—go to the little synagogue in some forsaken village and there at dawn or in the twilight of the vanishing day, you will see three or four men chanting the ancient tune, reciting the old Talmudic chant…There you will stand before the miracle of our people’s eternal life, and see the glory of an undying people.” There is no doubt that the shul, prayer and study merges into a powerful bond that unites us to our history and to our people.

In the anecdote, Moshe properly goes to the Ark. The most important feature of the ancient portable mishkan/sanctuary was the Ark. It was more than a receptacle for the tablets of the Ten Commandments; it was a place of teaching. We read in Exodus 25:22 that God would meet Moses in front of the Holy Ark and teach Moses what He wanted the Israelites to do. This was a new concept for a house of worship. The mishkan was not only a place where sacrifices and prayer were offered but was the place where God revealed His will to the people through Moses. The real purpose of the shul and prayer is to teach God’s will and message and for us to go out in the world and convey this message by our deeds. The Torah that is in the Ark, its teachings must be taken out and lived in our world. If the Torah is in our hearts, then we are the portable mishkan. We can be an influencing factor in the life of our city. We can affect the life and spirit of our environment by the mitzvot we perform l’takein olam, to repair the world.

In Pirke Avot, Chapters of the Fathers, the great Talmudic Rabbi Meir summarizes for us “Why Go to Shul and Pray?” “In order to study and do God’s will and thus acquire many merits…the world is indebted to you. You will be cherished as a friend, a lover of God and of people…it keeps you far from sin…it enables you to become righteous and saintly…you benefit humanity with counsel and knowledge…”