Parshat Masaei 5768: Never Have to Say: "I Should Have" - Thoughts on Prayer

The Last Lecture

Professor Randy Pausch’s untimely death saddened millions of Americans and people around the world. His "Last Lecture" at Carnegie Mellon University in September 2007,[1] "Achieving Your childhood Dreams", inspires young and old alike to live joyously and achieve their dreams. "I should have…" is something we hope never to have to say.

Mostly when we think of the phrase "I should have," we think of something we regret not having done or said. There is another "I should have", that we ought to avoid: "I should have prayed." If only we knew how much hardship and suffering our prayers could avoid, we would use prayer as a daily tool to change our lives and the lives of others for good. Prayer cannot always save us from the conscious choices that we or other people make, but it can save us from "random" misfortune, and "accidental" suffering. When misfortune strikes, we often question whether there was anything we could have done differently to avoid it. But in that auditing of our actions, we seldom include the question of "could I have prayed more?"

The Power of Prayer

Many people see prayer as nothing more than a religious practice (which it is). But prayer is much more than that too. It is also a generator of a powerful force capable of changing the course of events. If we really understood the power of prayer, when things go wrong we would question whether our prayer was as effective as it could have been.

Prayer is an intimate communication from humankind to G-d. But it also is a process that creates energetic charges in the world, positive charges and negative charges that impact events. Consider theShmoneh Esrei (Eighteen Brachot central to our thrice daily Tefilotknown as the Amidah): Each of the eighteen with the exception of the thirteenth one (added later, making the total nineteen rather than eighteen), create positive charges that impact our lives. Each time we make a blessing over food, we create positive charges of energy in the world.

Energy cannot be generated from mindless recitation of routine formulas. Nor can energy be created by rational analysis. Only the heart can generate energy and radiate it. We need to feel what we pray for, intensely in our hearts, in our chests, and radiate those feelings to the world. Prayer needs to come from a place of intense emotion; feelings of love generate positive energy and G-d forbid feelings of hate generate negative energy. It is not for nothing that prayer is called Avodah She’bbaleiv (spiritual practice centered in the heart). When we generate energy in our hearts, power it with love, and radiate it outward to Hashem and His universe, its effect is incalculable. Try it if you haven’t already experienced it.

The Kohein Gadol and his Task

In the time of the Beit Hamikdash, there was an individual tasked with full time Avodah Shebeleiv (Prayer) for the nation. He was theKohein Gadol. His work was quantifiable and he was held accountable for its effectiveness. If a person was killed accidentally during the reign of a particular Kohein Gadol, the Torah holds him partially responsible for it. The consequence for him was that the person who caused the accidental death had to flee to an Ir Miklat(City of Shelter) until the death of that Kohein and only after his death could the person return to the land in which he previously lived.[2]The reason is so that he prays for the death of the Kohein Gadol in response to the Kohein’s failure to pray that accidental deaths should not occur in the community.[3] Had the Kohein prayed, the accidental death may not have occurred.

A Karmic Reality

This is not a childish tit-for-tat that the Torah encourages; this is a karmic[4] reality of the universe and the way G-d programmed it. In this Parsha, the Torah reveals to us a deep kabbalistic secret of the cause and effect of prayer and failure to pray. Prayer works. Prayer is a force that G-d has given to us to control. When we pray we create positive forces in the world that impact others and benefit us too. Kol hamevakeish rachamim al chaveiro ve’hu tzarich le’otto davar, hu na’anneh tecchilla - (anyone who prays for another person, and needs the same thing is answered first).[5] When we can pray but fail to, we do not leave the atmosphere neutral; even though we did nothing actively, our negligent omission to pray radiates a negative charge that causes harm and backfires on us later on.

Never saying "I should have," applies to prayer too. Prayer should not be reserved for those moments in time when our loved ones or we are hurting. Prayer is a continuous practice, not only for theKohein Gadol but for everyone. The times for prayer are not triggered by any specific event. We do not pray just when we are moved to do so. We pray continuously. Our thrice daily prayer practice is designed as a booster for a practice of being in a continuous state of prayer even as we go about our daily lives. No matter how well everything is going, we pray. We pray not only for the less fortunate but for us too. Wellbeing and prosperity are tenuous and can suddenly evaporate if not continuously sustained by Hashem’s kindness. The positive charges of our prayers energize the world and create the atmosphere through which Hashem radiates His abundant kindness. 

Seek opportunities and make it a daily habit to send positive, loving thoughts, feelings and prayers to others: individuals, communities and the world. The positive forces these thoughts, feelings and prayers create will return to protect and nourish you and your loved ones too.

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