Hevruta - Following Lesson 18 - The prayer

A request is what a person feels, what he lacks. This is specifically in the heart, meaning that it does not matter what he says with the mouth, because “request” means, as said above, what a person lacks—for this he asks. And all the deficiencies of a person are not found in the mouth but in the heart. Therefore, it does not matter what a person says with the mouth, but the Creator knows the thoughts. Therefore, Above they hear only what the heart demands and not what the mouth demands, for the above reason, because the mouth has no deficiency that needs to be filled.
— Rabash, Article 27, 1991

What is prayer, where does it come from?

There is prayer and there is prayer. Prayer as we think of it in this world is a kind of request, conversation, gratitude to the Creator, to some upper force that can change our lives and does change them and governs them, and we depend on it. And then we thank Him for what happened, or ask for the present, the future, and many other requests. This is natural for all people, and we see many methods around prayer. There are many religions and beliefs about how to speak with the upper force, how I can soften Him, how I can pay Him something so that He will favor me. We see how this is expressed in dances, songs, sacrifices, lighting candles, and more—from ancient cultures until today.

In the wisdom of Kabbalah, prayer is something completely different.

(From a talk by Rav Dr. Michael Laitman)

To pray is to judge oneself

In the wisdom of Kabbalah, prayer is “to pray” (lehitpalel), it is first of all to judge oneself, to examine oneself: Who am I? What am I? From where? Why? For what? And why is the appeal not toward the Creator but toward oneself? Because the Creator is absolute, He is whole, and if I feel that He is whole, then the whole cannot change. He cannot be better yesterday and worse tomorrow, or the opposite.

(From a talk by Rav Dr. Michael Laitman)

The Upper does not change

I cannot turn to the Good that does good, to “there is none else besides Him,” who is complete in all completeness, and ask, “Be better to me.” If I turn to Him like this, it means that He can be bad and can be good, and this is already a completely flawed attitude toward the Creator. Rather, “the Torah speaks in the language of people.” When we turn to the Creator, we actually turn to ourselves. Therefore, the word “to pray” means that I examine myself and clarify: how am I in relation to that Whole? How should I change and be more suitable to Him, closer, more similar to Him. This is the matter of prayer.

(From a talk by Rav Dr. Michael Laitman)

Prayer is a request from the side of the whole

That is, prayer is actually a request to the Infinite, to the absolute Whole, to One who cannot change. And to the extent that I am able to turn to Him, accordingly I receive from Him forces to change and to be similar to Him. Because my goal is to be a human (“Adam”), and “Adam” comes from the word “to resemble” (Domeh) the Upper, as it is written, “Return, O Israel, unto the Creator your God.” Therefore, I constantly examine myself—how, where, and in what I can still change.

(From a talk by Rav Dr. Michael Laitman)

Prayer is called the work of the Creator

Certainly, this is a process. As we learn in The Study of the Ten Sefirot, all our prayers are when we raise our desires and draw the Lights in order to correct them, and this work is called “the work of the Creator.”

It is called the work of the Creator because to the extent that I bring myself forward, thus I enter treatment, thus I correct myself. Therefore, there is no shame on the part of the person for what happens to him; rather, by his request, by his deficiency to be better, he advances and constantly corrects himself under the Light that heals him from all the defects called “the evil inclination.”

Therefore, prayer is “raising MAN,” and raising MAN is called “Mayin Nukvin.” That is, the deficiency that I raise—how I want to be corrected, to be more bestowing, more loving others.

(From a talk by Rav Dr. Michael Laitman)

A request toward a state that stands before me as an example of better

A request is not that I need to beg before Him. A request means that I open myself and discover that I need to correct myself. I want to correct some desire, some quality of mine, and when I discover it, this is called a request. I do not turn to the Creator; I turn with this request toward a state that stands before me as an example of better, to which I need to equalize myself.

Also, the Creator is called in the wisdom of Kabbalah “Bo-Reh” (come and see). That is, the Creator is not that there is something—He has no form and is not something defined. “Creator” means come and see. Every time I see something higher than me, it is called the Creator. And to that higher than me, I want to bring myself, to resemble Him one to one, truly to be with Him.

Clearly, now I do not see Him. But one who advances in the wisdom of Kabbalah begins to identify what is called “the bestower,” “the giver,” what it means to be “the lover,” what it means to “open the spiritual dimension.”

Everything happens within the person. Therefore, the Creator is called “come and see.” Every verse in The Zohar begins with “come and see.” That is, come and see—this is your Creator at this degree, and this is your Creator at that degree, and each time you discover another Creator. And as much as you advance, you constantly equalize yourself to Him, and then a higher degree is revealed to you, and so on. That is, when you pray, you want to discover yourself each time at a higher degree. This is called prayer.

(From a talk by Rav Dr. Michael Laitman)

Praying for the Rain

Sometimes in the sources it is written about states where a person prays and receives an answer about seemingly corporeal matter. It appears as if the prayer operates directly on external reality—like a request for rain, for example in the story of example of this is the story of Honi HaMe’agel. But the wisdom of Kabbalah explains that the sources speak in the language of branches, meaning they use images from this world to describe internal processes within a person.

Example of this is the story of Honi HaMe’agel.

In days of severe drought, no rains fell and the people suffered greatly. They turned to Honi HaMe’agel - who was known as a righteous man - He drew a circle on the ground, stood inside it, and said: “Master of the world, I will not move from here until You have mercy on Your sons.” After that, rain fell.

This is called “My sons have defeated Me.” And one must see the story in its fullness - the circle and Honi - and this is not simple. But certainly, if a person stands on his demand and demands advancement and wants the rain to descend upon him. Rain in hebrew is Geshem - which has the same root of Gashmiut - corporality - meaning Geshem come as a blessing by which we will grow - where the corporality - our egoism to grow upward toward the sky - the attribute of bestowal. But there must be great wisdom in how to ask; it is not mere stubbornness.

(From a talk by Rav Dr. Michael Laitman)

Build the vessels - Preparation before the prayer

Therefore, there must be preparation for prayer, that one accustoms himself to prayer, so that his mouth and his heart will be equal.
And this can come when the heart agrees through habit, that he understands that reception is called separation, and the main thing is adhesion with the Life of lives, which is the secret of bestowal.
— Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article 122, “To Understand What Is Explained in the Shulchan Aruch”

Q&A

Workshop: how can we ask for a situation we do not feel yet?