Sefer Bereishit
Parshat Chayei Sarah: On the Importance of Prayer
By Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz
Parshat Chayei Sarah is best remembered for the story of how Isaac came to fall in love with and marry Rebecca. And I think our understanding of that event can be enriched if we pay attention to what happens immediately before the pair meets.
Genesis chapter 24 tells us:
And Isaac went out to converse in the field toward evening and, looking up, he saw camels approaching. 1
On its surface, this sentence sounds straightforward and mundane. But the Jewish tradition, of course, extracted further meaning from it, explaining that Isaac actually went out to pray. The Talmud teaches:
It was stated: Rabbi Yosei, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, said, [the] prayers were instituted by the Patriarchs. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said, [the] prayers were instituted based on the daily [sacrificial] offerings…
It was taught in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yosei, son of Rabbi Ḥanina: Abraham instituted Tefillat Shacharit, the morning prayer, as it is stated, “And Abraham rose early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord” (Genesis 19:27), and “standing” only refers to prayer…
Isaac instituted Tefillat Minchah, the afternoon prayer, as it is stated, “And Isaac went out to converse [lasu’aḥ] in the field toward evening” (Genesis 24:63), and “conversing” only refers to prayer, as it is stated, “A prayer of the afflicted when he is faint and pours out his complaint [siḥo] before the Lord” (Psalms 102:1).
Jacob instituted Tefillat Arvit, the evening prayer, as it is stated, “And he encountered the place and he slept there” (Genesis 28:11), and “encounter” only refers to prayer… 2
But, with this explanation, the tradition is doing something that was then countercultural. While many people had (and continue to have) as their ancient heroes those who were victorious in war, or those who were powerful kings, the Jews made role models out of humble masters of prayer.
It’s notable that, immediately after Isaac’s conversation, or prayer, he crosses paths with Rebecca, who was to become his wife and the matriarch who would shape the next generation of the Jewish story. One might suggest that this was the answer to Isaac’s prayer.
For leaders, activists, and changemakers, though, I believe we need an additional theology of prayer, one that goes beyond the hope of our wishes immediately being answered. I believe our model of prayer should be two-fold. First, prayer should serve as spiritual recharging and rejuvenation. In our prayers, both in isolation and in community, we can spiritually center ourselves, reflect, and heal.
Second, prayer should challenge us morally to do more and to be more. When asking God to act, we should know that we are reminding ourselves to act Godly in that very request. When we ask God to heal the sick, we are reinforcing our duty to care for the sick. When asking God to clothe the naked, we are reiterating our obligation to care for the poor.
Our ancestors were complicated, rich biblical figures. But we are complicated too. What we have in common is that, while they weren’t perfect and neither are we, we share a commitment to walking on a path of spiritual and moral growth.
Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel famously said, regarding his marching with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “I felt my legs were praying,” which may be a reference to what the abolitionist who’d escaped slavery Frederick Douglass had declared, “Praying for freedom never did me any good ‘til I started praying with my feet.” 3
I believe what Heschel meant here was not that protest itself is prayer; that distorts the integrity of both activities. Rather, I think he was saying that one goal of prayer is to cultivate the intentionality for actions we are about to take. And so, feet in protest are not prayer, but feet—with a mind, heart, and soul above them—with the consciousness and spiritual intentionality of walking with God to do justice, is where prayer and protest meet.
Many of us tend to think of prayer as a replaceable activity; one can find a similar period of relaxation and resetting of the mind through meditation, yoga, or SoulCycle. But, in the Jewish tradition, we see the added value of having a scheduled meeting time with God.
In this parshah in particular, with the model of Yitzchak, we find the value of Minchah. Yes, we need Shacharit, based on Avraham’s initiative, to prepare for the day. And yes, we need Maariv, based on Yaakov’s example, to wind down and reflect. But perhaps the most powerful prayer is the one dropped right in the middle of the day, as an intervention to be sure that we are aligned with our moral purpose.
The 18th-century Hasidic master Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev 4 explained the significance of Isaac’s instituting a prayer time in the afternoon:
This prayer is presented at a time when a person does not think that they have to either thank the Lord for having awoken well from their sleep, or after having completed the day’s chores without problems and entrusting our soul to God once more when we lie down, confident that He will restore it to us in the morning. Neither of these considerations motivates us to devote time to prayer in the middle of our daily activities. If we take time out to pray during the day nonetheless, God may consider this as a gift from us. 5
The afternoon prayer is imperative because that is when, amid all the busy-ness of the day, we are reminded of the things we value most.
The Kedushat Levi goes deeper:
Yitzchak [went out to] meditate in the open field; It is a rule that people who practice submissiveness (in the sense of humility) are liable to become depressed, due to the constant awareness that they cannot act freely in accordance with their desires, as they constantly defer to the wishes of others. When a person reserves his submissiveness vis a vis their Creator, by serving God exclusively, they thereby attach themselves to the source of joy. It follows that instead of becoming morose and depressed, they will walk through life in a spirit of happiness and joy. Our verse alludes to this psychological phenomenon… Yitzchak’s taking a stroll was intended to fill his heart with joy. In the field he would be able to communicate with his Creator, i.e. with Holiness. Becoming associated with Holiness would engender feelings of joy within him. 6
Sadly, prayer is commonly perceived to be a choreographed, institutional, out-of-touch experience, in which a leader tells us to rise, bow, sit, and turn to page 42 in a prayer book that does not speak to us. But our very forefathers, by creating the prayer services with their own, spontaneous prayers, remind us of not only the value of traditional prayer, but what they engaged in themselves: avodah shebaleiv, service from the heart. 7
According to the medieval commentator Abraham ibn Ezra, Isaac’s prayer was a meditation while he went walking among the trees. 8 Many Jews make a regular practice of hitbodedut, 9 going out into nature and talking to God in one’s own words.
To engage in acts of prayer, we need not embrace any dogmas. Instead, prayer can be the moment when we speak with a consciousness elevated beyond the mundane. Prayer is our opportunity to transcend the realm of the ordinary.
When we run a race, we don’t wait for the finish line to come to us; we know we must run to the finish line. When we paddle a boat against the waves to a shore, we don’t hope for the shore to come to us; we know we must paddle to the shore.
So too, we may wish for God to reach out and touch us, and we indeed pray for that to happen. But at the same time, we know that we ourselves must do the work of drawing closer. Prayer, then, is the activity of aligning our will with God’s will—of refining our character, and of reuniting with our past in creation and with our future in redemption.
Sources
- Genesis 24:63
- Babylonian Talmud, Berakhot 26b
- T’ruah, “Praying With Our Feet,” by Rabbi Laurie Green
- Rabbi Levi Yitzchak is also known as the Kedushat Levi, the title of his famous important work on hasidut.
- Kedushat Levi, Commentary on Genesis 24:63
- Ibid.
- Contrary to a common misconception, it is permissible for one to add their own words of prayer, in any language they understand, to the traditional prayers. One may do so even between blessings of the silent Amidah prayer. One may also recite the traditional, printed prayers in the language they are most comfortable with. These additional means of prayer aid in transforming it into avodah shebaleiv.
- Ibn Ezra on Genesis 24:63:1
- Hitbodedut literally means “isolation.”