Q&A: Prayer
Prayer
Question
Hello, honorable Rabbi,
Regarding this description of the High Priest, who would pray on Yom Kippur that the prayer of travelers asking for the rain to stop should not be accepted— is there any way to know whether this is a tradition from Sinai or the reasoning of prophets or sages who instituted it?
Because if it is a tradition from Sinai, then אולי the meaning would be that prayer really does have the power to change things in reality… and is not just reasoning or wishful longing…
Thank you!
Answer
1. I wrote that in my opinion as well, apparently in the past the Holy One, blessed be He, was involved, and then prayer could change the state of the world.
2. You do not need to get to the prayer of the High Priest. The Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) speaks about such situations.
3. To the best of my understanding, this is not a law given to Moses at Sinai, nor an enactment; rather, that is how he would pray because he thought it was right, or because that is what people thought was right at that time.