The fourth and fifth chapters of masechet Berachot (discourse on blessings) detail the practices of prayer. The primary understanding of prayer is a request to God for something. Closely connected to this is a self evaluation from the standpoint of scripture and knowledge of the attributes of the Almighty. Examples of this would be salvation at times of danger, requests for money or success, a cure for ailments and injuries. It also includes giving thanks for gifts received from heaven.
The Rosh Yeshiva of Or Somayach, Rabbi Mendel Weinbach, told a story that the State of Israel in its early days shunned a connection with religion. Later on this troubled a senior member of the government establishment. He explained to an important assistant that when he was in a trench in war at a dangerous time, he felt he had to pray for his life. Although he had left the faith long ago, he had gone to yeshiva as a boy. A siddur was nearby so he opened it up and start to doven. He concluded that some sort of Jewish awareness was needed. The assistant agreed and replied that he had been in a later war and he too was in great danger and wanted to pray. But, he could not say a word -- he had been educated in the Israeli schools.
Similarly people leading faithless lives had visions brought on by near death experiences. In the dream they were faced with demons kind of like them and the pit of everlasting destruction. To escape this horror they searched for distant old childhood memories to remember how to pray. When they did pray angels came and gave them a glimpse of the garden of Eden.
The standard Jewish expression of prayer is a ritual called the Amida (עֲמִידָה) which is the language of standing. It is said while standing because the supplicant so to speak is standing before the Holy One Blessed be He. It is also called the Shemoneh Esrei (שְׁמוֹנֶה עֶשְׂרֵה) or eighteen because it's most commonly used version originally had eighteen sections. It starts with mentioning God has the power to grant all requests, is kind, merciful, and holy. The second to last section is a prayer of thanks. For stylistic reasons, the last section is a prayer for peace. It includes personal requests for things like prosperity, health, and forgiveness. There are national requests for things like honest judges, return of the Jews to the land of Israel, restoration of Jerusalem and the Davidic monarchy. There is also a place to insert special personal requests. For Shabbat and holidays there are variations and insertions for the themes of the day.
The concept of prayer also includes calling out to God according to the need and time. People will travel to the Western Wall or a holy shrine to pour out their hearts. At times a person will simply say Ribono shel olam (master of the world - רִבּוֹנוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם). People will also say Psalms.
There are people who are very devoted. It is as if they made a pact with HaKadosh baruch Hu and are eating a festive meal at his table. They pray to him often for things big and small, thank Him for His bounty, and call upon His name. On the other side there are those that are very distant and have done bad things. Even so on their day of distress, they are invited to call upon God to rescue them from their travail. This is because God is merciful, loves His creations, desires that they do good and not be harmed.
לע"נ האמא מלכה בת חיים ז"ל נלב"ע טז ניסן תשנ"ח
העלון ניתן לקבל בדואר אלקטרוני וגם באתר http://dyschreiber.blogspot.com
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