Coordination of intentions
Hello Rabbi,
I saw Rabbi HaLevi having difficulty with Rambam in the laws of prayer. How once (4:1) the Rambam wrote that intention delays the entire prayer and if one did not intend, one should repeat it, and another time (2-10) he wrote that intention delays only the first blessing and if one intended to do so, one should repeat it.
And there he wrote that there are two laws regarding intention in prayer:
A- The meaning of the interpretations of the words (=literal understanding) is that it is only delayed in the first blessing.
In the case of the intention of standing before God (perhaps a conscious understanding) that it hinders the entire prayer.
My question is, if it is truly said that prayer without understanding that I am currently standing before God is not prayer and that I do not fulfill my obligation, and I do not believe that in prayer I am standing before God but rather that I am obligated to pray by virtue of God’s command, can I even perform the 18th?
I don’t understand the situation you are describing. You are constantly standing before God. What’s the problem?
Beyond that, as far as I remember, he has no evidence that these are precisely the intentions. You can make two rulings based on any other interpretation (such as an intention to leave the house – meaning a prayer by virtue of a commitment).
If I believe that prayer is intended to preserve the social structure of Judaism in exile and nothing more, how am I supposed to believe that I stand before God during prayer? After all, He has no desire for that (perhaps because of the systems that only rabbis practice prayer).
One could perhaps say that God is interested in the regulations of the Sages, but where do we get that from?
What do I care what prayer is for? That's the point of reading. The question is what prayer is, not what it is for. Do you think that the preservation of the social structure is done by way of meaningless chatter? (A bit like Leibowitz) Prayer is standing before God, and perhaps they established it to preserve the social structure (where did this strange idea come from? But that's not important to the discussion)
If you don't think you're standing before God, your prayer is worthless even without R' Chaim.
If when everyone prays they are supposed to think that they are standing against God, and in reality most prayers look the way they do (starting late, ending in a hurry, chatting, reading leaflets, etc.), then most people probably don't think that they are standing against God, because if they thought so, they certainly wouldn't allow themselves to behave in this way.
So it turns out that there is no point in most prayers in most places.
First, so what?
Second, I disagree. The Rem’A writes about intention in the first three blessings that today no one intends and therefore one should not return if one did not intend. But he rather abolishes the obligation to pray because one does not go forth with intention.
And third, there is a law against the use of intention in general, and also with this one.
And fourth, the question is whether the Rem’A's evidence is good. If so, then this is the explanation. And if it turns out that no one is fulfilling the commandment of prayer, then no one is fulfilling it. Nor does anyone manage to completely avoid the prohibition of slander.
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