(יג) וַיֹּאמֶר מֹשֶׁה אֶל הָאֱלֹהִים:
הִנֵּה אָנֹכִי בָא אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל
וְאָמַרְתִּי לָהֶם,
"אֱלֹהֵי אֲבוֹתֵיכֶם שְׁלָחַנִי
אֲלֵיכֶם, וְאָמְרוּ לִי,
'מַה שְּׁמוֹ?'
מָה אֹמַר אֲלֵהֶם?"
(13) Moses said to God:
Look, when I come to the Israelites and say to them,
"The God of your ancestors has sent me
to you, they are going to ask me,
'What is God's name?'
What should I tell them?"
(יד) וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים אֶל מֹשֶׁה:
"אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה."
וַיֹּאמֶר,
"כֹּה תֹאמַר לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל,
אֶהְיֶה שְׁלָחַנִי אֲלֵיכֶם."
(14) God said to Moses:
"I WILL BE THAT I WILL BE."
And God said,
"So shall you say to the Israelites,
I AM has sent me to you."
(מא) אֲנִי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם,
אֲשֶׁר הוֹצֵאתִי אֶתְכֶם מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם
לִהְיוֹת לָכֶם לֵאלֹהִים.
אֲנִי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם.
(41) I am God, your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt
to be your God.
I am God, your God.
(ה) וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ
בְּכָל לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל נַפְשְׁךָ
וּבְכָל מְאֹדֶךָ.
(5) You should love God, your God,
with your whole heart, your whole self,
and all of your strength.
Take a look at these four pesukim (verses) from Tanakh.
What do these verses teach us about the relationship between human beings and God in the Torah?
What do human beings want from God? What does God want from us?
Why might the Torah describe God using human characteristics?
In what ways is it helpful to imagine God with a human body and human emotions? It what ways is it complicated or frustrating?
(טו) הכל צפוי, והרשות נתונה, ובטוב העולם נדון.והכל לפי רב המעשה.
(15) Everything is foreseen, and freewill is given, and with goodness the world is judged. All according to one's actions.
Think for a minute about the God you don't believe in.
Is that God... omniscient (all knowing), omnipotent (all powerful), omnipresent (everywhere)?
Is that God a force of judgment? A God that rewards and punishes?
What does that God look like? Does God have a human form?
Now think about what you do believe. You don't have to use the word God. Here are some ideas to get you started:
"God isn't a being. God is being." -- Karen Armstrong
Do you believe in a Power greater than yourself?
Do you believe that rational or scientific explanations can answer all of our questions about life, about our purpose in the world, about being?
Do you believe that you are connected to others and to the world in ways you might not understand? How are your actions a part of that connection?
(יח) קָרוֹב יְהוָה לְכָל קֹרְאָיו
לְכֹל אֲשֶׁר יִקְרָאֻהוּ בֶאֱמֶת.
(18) God is close to everyone who calls God,
to all those who calls God in truth.
יה"ר מלפני שיכבשו רחמי את כעסי ויגולו רחמי על מדותי ואתנהג עם בני במדת רחמים ואכנס להם לפנים משורת הדין.
What is the prayer that God prays?
8. Abraham Joshua Heschel
We cannot make God visible to us, but we can make ourselves visible to God. So we open our thoughts to God. The purpose of prayer is to be brought to God’s attention, to be listened to, to be understood by God; not to know God, but to be known to God. -- Moral Grandeur, p. 341-345
Prayer is...
A thought? A question? A wish list? A relationship? A waste of time? A beginning? An answer?
I THINK PRAYER IS... ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Prayer is one way of acknowledging our inability to control every aspect of our lives. Prayer is acceptance. Do you ever call out to God? Do you ever pray? Are there ways other than prayer to create and sustain a relationship with God, or a Power greater than ourselves?
How is art prayer? How is meditation a prayer? How is going for a run a prayer? How is nourishing your body a prayer? How is respecting your family a prayer?