Olat Reiyah · Essays on Prayer, Prayer and Torah, Chapter 1
1
התפלה משמשת להכניס את כל התורה וכל העבודה, כל החכמה וכל ההופעה, בתכונה טבעית, ומעמד נפשי קבוע, והיא חיי השעה, כלומר, שמחיה את השעה, להיות עומדת ישר מול יניקת שפע חיי עולם. אבל התורה חיי עולם היא, למעלה מהטבע, וכשיש טבע אז מעלת הנסים גדולה ועליונה מאד, אבל כשהטבע מתדלדלת נקראים הנסים טרחא כלפי שמיא וגרעון של שינוי סדרי בראשית, "כמה גרוע אדם זה" (שבת נ"ג:). והננו מתפללים להעמיד את הטבע, למען יהיו כל חיי עולם מבוססים אצלנו ומכוונים לקביעות תכונת חיי שעה, המופיעה תמיד בקרבנו, "כל הנשמה תהלל יה", על כל נשימה ונשימה הילול מיוחד, ומתכפל שעה ועולם והיה לשעשוע. "בחקותיך אשתעשע – ואשעה בחקיך תמיד".
Prayer serves to bring all the Torah, all service, all wisdom and the entirety of manifest life60For an exploration of this concept see Maharal Tifferet Yisrael perek 13, and 59, Midrash Tehillim 50. And Shmonah Kvatzim 3:339 from R’ Kook. into a natural quality and well-founded state of soul. Prayer is the life of the moment, that is to say - she gives life to the moment by placing it in line to draw down the abundance of everlasting life. But the Torah is everlasting life, above nature itself. When natural processes run right, then miracle61The word נס can mean a flag or a miracle (see Rashi on Bamidbar 17:15), and the two are linked. A flag is raised in the midst of battle, or as a sign of sovereignty, in order to have a symbol above the plane of struggle. When people lift up their eyes to that symbol on high, it adds meaning to their plane of existence and struggle by adding a dimension to it, literally lifting up a flat worldview. In the same way, miracles reveal that there is another order of existence, of expressed Divine will, which exists. The splitting of the Red Sea will stand forever as an emblem of what is actually possible in the world, despite the evidence of our daily existence. is a great and lofty level indeed, but when nature itself degenerates, then miracles are an imposition on heaven and a deficiency in that they change the orders of creation, “how lowly is this man…” (Shabbat 53b)62For more on the relationship between nature and miracle see Michtav M’Eliyahu p.177 HaNes v’HaTeva. Also the Rambam Yesode HaTorah 8:1. We pray in order to set nature right, that eternal life be well-founded with us, aligned with the life of the moment which appears continually within us. “Let all that has breath praise the Lord,” (Tehillim 150:6) a distinct praise for every individual breath. The momentary and the eternal double over together, becoming a delight. “I will delight myself in your statutes – and I will speak of your statutes continually“.63Tehillim 119:18/117. This is the joy of each instantaneous moment being perfectly aligned to express the infinity of creation.
התפלה משמשת להכניס את כל התורה וכל העבודה, כל החכמה וכל ההופעה, בתכונה טבעית, ומעמד נפשי קבוע, והיא חיי השעה, כלומר, שמחיה את השעה, להיות עומדת ישר מול יניקת שפע חיי עולם. אבל התורה חיי עולם היא, למעלה מהטבע, וכשיש טבע אז מעלת הנסים גדולה ועליונה מאד, אבל כשהטבע מתדלדלת נקראים הנסים טרחא כלפי שמיא וגרעון של שינוי סדרי בראשית, "כמה גרוע אדם זה" (שבת נ"ג:). והננו מתפללים להעמיד את הטבע, למען יהיו כל חיי עולם מבוססים אצלנו ומכוונים לקביעות תכונת חיי שעה, המופיעה תמיד בקרבנו, "כל הנשמה תהלל יה", על כל נשימה ונשימה הילול מיוחד, ומתכפל שעה ועולם והיה לשעשוע. "בחקותיך אשתעשע – ואשעה בחקיך תמיד".
Prayer serves to bring all the Torah, all service, all wisdom and the entirety of manifest life60For an exploration of this concept see Maharal Tifferet Yisrael perek 13, and 59, Midrash Tehillim 50. And Shmonah Kvatzim 3:339 from R’ Kook. into a natural quality and well-founded state of soul. Prayer is the life of the moment, that is to say - she gives life to the moment by placing it in line to draw down the abundance of everlasting life. But the Torah is everlasting life, above nature itself. When natural processes run right, then miracle61The word נס can mean a flag or a miracle (see Rashi on Bamidbar 17:15), and the two are linked. A flag is raised in the midst of battle, or as a sign of sovereignty, in order to have a symbol above the plane of struggle. When people lift up their eyes to that symbol on high, it adds meaning to their plane of existence and struggle by adding a dimension to it, literally lifting up a flat worldview. In the same way, miracles reveal that there is another order of existence, of expressed Divine will, which exists. The splitting of the Red Sea will stand forever as an emblem of what is actually possible in the world, despite the evidence of our daily existence. is a great and lofty level indeed, but when nature itself degenerates, then miracles are an imposition on heaven and a deficiency in that they change the orders of creation, “how lowly is this man…” (Shabbat 53b)62For more on the relationship between nature and miracle see Michtav M’Eliyahu p.177 HaNes v’HaTeva. Also the Rambam Yesode HaTorah 8:1. We pray in order to set nature right, that eternal life be well-founded with us, aligned with the life of the moment which appears continually within us. “Let all that has breath praise the Lord,” (Tehillim 150:6) a distinct praise for every individual breath. The momentary and the eternal double over together, becoming a delight. “I will delight myself in your statutes – and I will speak of your statutes continually“.63Tehillim 119:18/117. This is the joy of each instantaneous moment being perfectly aligned to express the infinity of creation.