Q&A: What Is Prayer For?
What Is Prayer For?
Question
Hello Rabbi!
The Talmud says that on Rosh Hashanah everything is written and sealed, and that is why we pray and hear the shofar, etc.
In the language of the Talmud, people “pass before Him like the children of Maron.”
But what about all those who do not pray and do not hear the shofar, and in the end a year is sealed for them that in practice is not all that different from the year that was sealed for me?
Isn’t that a bit strange?
I pray and concentrate and cry, while they—both believers and non-believers—do not pray, and in the end they finish with basically the same kind of year as mine in a general sense.
Both they and I have crises, both they and I have successes and pleasures, etc.
What is the difference? Why should I pray in the first place?
And if the Rabbi tells me that it is because we need a connection to God, how can one connect when the wording of the prayer is that we should be sealed for a good year, but in practice I am not really praying for a good year, because I can get the same result even without the prayer?
In general, this whole topic is exhausting and difficult.
I would be happy to get an answer! Thank you very much
Answer
You are probably new here. I have written more than once that in my opinion, generally speaking, prayers do not help, including on Rosh Hashanah. That is because the Holy One, blessed be He, is not involved in the world (except perhaps in rare and unusual cases). From that perspective, Rosh Hashanah is a day of self-examination for us, not a day that determines what will happen to us. I also do not know where the Sages got the idea that this is a Day of Judgment and that we are judged on it. And certainly on the second day, which is only an enactment because of doubt about the proper day, all of this is irrelevant.
The part of the prayers that deals with requests for a good year is not really all that essential in my view. I do not feel confident enough to cancel it out entirely (because of the sporadic involvement I mentioned), but I certainly do not see it as the focal point of the day.
Discussion on Answer
You are assuming that what was is what will be. That is not true. I have explained here more than once the change in God's mode of conduct in the world. See for example here:
https://www.google.com/url?client=internal-element-cse&cx=f18e4f052adde49eb&q=https://mikyab.net/%25D7%259B%25D7%25AA%25D7%2591%25D7%2599%25D7%259D/%25D7%259E%25D7%2590%25D7%259E%25D7%2599%25D7%25A8%25D7%2599%25D7%259D/%25D7%2597%25D7%2599%25D7%25A4%25D7%2595%25D7%25A9-%25D7%2590%25D7%2597%25D7%25A8-%25D7%2590%25D7%259C%25D7%2595%25D7%2594%25D7%2599%25D7%259D-%25D7%2591%25D7%25A2%25D7%2595%25D7%259C%25D7%259D/&sa=U&ved=2ahUKEwjgnZWC4r6DAxVyif0HHR4VDewQFnoECAEQAQ&usg=AOvVaw2kz1HqB72UBgoYlTJpGM4p
A sign of curse or blessing—those are factual assessments made by the Sages, and they have no binding force whatsoever. The Torah-level commandment of prayer is not necessarily about requests, and even if it is—that is a statement of the medieval authorities, not of the Holy One, blessed be He. One does not have to accept it.
When the Rabbi says that this is not the focus nowadays, what does that mean? After all, if it changes nothing now, then it also changed nothing in the past. And also, why would the Sages obligate a person to pray, and even to repeat the prayer if he altered the formula they established, and likewise if he asked for rain in the summer, which is considered a sign of curse? And if the Rabbi says that it is all so that a person will feel connected to the Creator, etc., why is prayer a Torah commandment according to a large portion of the medieval authorities (Rishonim)? And is there no other way to connect? Also, we do see in the Hebrew Bible that importance is attributed to prayer.