{"id":56723,"date":"2019-06-03T15:36:22","date_gmt":"2019-06-03T12:36:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=56723"},"modified":"2022-12-26T15:24:16","modified_gmt":"2022-12-26T13:24:16","slug":"prayer-from-the-female-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/prayer-from-the-female-heart\/","title":{"rendered":"Prayer from the (Female) Heart"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[662,882,437],"acf":{"old_id":"56723","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":56278,"related_cahpter":"233","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"How a spontaneous, anguished outpouring of the heart became a role model for the ages","content":"

The story of Hannah is one of the most heart-wrenching in the Bible. Misunderstood by her husband, tortured by her sister-wife, she leaves a festive family meal to spill out her heart to God in the Tabernacle, begging for the child she has been desiring for so long. The heartfelt nature of her prayer is expressed in the unique phrasing \u201c<\/span>v\u2019chana hi medaberet al liba<\/span><\/em>\u201d, \u201cAnd Hannah was speaking in her heart\u201d, or, more literally of or over her heart. The Talmud in Berachot 31b understands this phrase to be specifically relevant to her request, and explains that she spoke \u201cconcerning matters of the heart,\u201d asking God, \u00a0\u201cWhy have you given me breasts over my heart and no child to nurse?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Hannah\u2019s prayer is spontaneous, anguished, and deeply feminine. And yet, Rav Himnuna in the Talmud (Brachot 31a) derives many of the laws of the daily <\/span>amida<\/span><\/em>, the centerpiece of ritualized daily prayer, from Hannah, including the requirement to focus on the words of the prayer, and to shape the words with one\u2019s lips without raising one\u2019s voice. (For more on this topic, see<\/span> www.deracheha.org\/prayer-1-obligation\/<\/span><\/a>)<\/span><\/p>\n

Hannah and her prayer are a surprising choice. Why would she, of all people, be the rabbinic role model for ritualized prayer? And how could her spontaneous pleas be the model for an unchanging script recited at regular times each day?<\/span><\/p>\n

My question about choosing Hannah stems from a mistaken assumption that ritualized prayer is inherently male, an easy mistake to make for anyone who has grown up in the Orthodox world. When boys are encouraged to attend prayer services and girls are not, and when young women are discouraged by synagogues inhospitable to female prayer, it\u2019s a short jump to assuming that prayer exists exclusively in the male realm. But it\u2019s clear that the rabbis of the Talmud didn\u2019t think that way. In fact they explicitly teach in Berachot 20a \u201c[Women] are obligated in prayer, for it [prayer] is seeking mercy.\u201d Every person, no matter what gender, needs divine mercy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thinking about mercy, and outside of the male-box, takes us one step further. Hannah is the perfect example of someone who recognizes that her problems can be solved only with God\u2019s help, and so earnestly turns to Him in prayer for mercy. That\u2019s not ideal feminine behavior, that\u2019s ideal human behavior! <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, there are set texts and times for prayer, but that is only a starting point. Daily prayer should be treated not just as an obligation but as an opportunity to approach God in a request for whatever we need most. Our goal should be to take inspiration from Hannah\u2019s prayer, and incorporate those personal, deeply felt desires and emotions into our daily conversations with God. We appeal to God\u2019s mercy, and hope to be as worthy of it as Hannah was.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":56724,"id":56724,"title":"isam1-hands","filename":"isam1-hands.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam1-hands.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/prayer-from-the-female-heart\/isam1-hands\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"isam1-hands","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":56723,"date":"2019-06-03 12:36:08","modified":"2020-10-26 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