Former prayer ban
Hello, Honorable Rabbi, perhaps your approach regarding prayers regarding the prohibition of praying for a change in nature, which you inferred from the prohibition of praying for a previous prayer, is incorrect, and in fact a prayer that is a logical contradiction was prohibited, because if you pray about the past, then it follows that if your desire is fulfilled, then since it has already happened, you will not pray about it because it has happened! And to be serious, perhaps the prohibition presented in the Mishnah is actually a vain prayer because it is praying to change the past (or alternatively, because it is formulated as a prayer for the future for something that has already happened). For example, it says, “He was on the road and heard a cry in the city, and said, ‘May it not be my sons’,” but it does not necessarily mean that I am therefore forbidden to pray: “May it be my sons’ who were harmed and died, that they may come back to life.” Although no one guarantees that they will come back to life, it is difficult to call such a prayer a vain prayer (because what is vain about it? The Holy One, blessed be He, is omnipotent, and I asked for a request within His power). And even if you explain that changing the past is not a logical contradiction but a physical one, isn't it reasonable to interpret that the Sages did not reach your conclusion on this matter and that in fact their words revolve around the above principle and not the prohibition of praying for miracles? Because in your opinion, the prohibition of asking for miracles is very difficult because people have always prayed for miracles and were not called sinners (nor prophets), and I'm not talking about the slim possibility that Hashem will break from His leadership and intervene, but only that it is difficult to call something a prohibition because, after all, what is vain in such a prayer (my assumption is that the prohibition stems from mentioning the name of God in vain, but I didn't go into the issue)?
Thank you and all the best and strength.
לגלות עוד מהאתר הרב מיכאל אברהם
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