{"id":62728,"date":"2019-09-11T17:21:32","date_gmt":"2019-09-11T14:21:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=62728"},"modified":"2019-09-12T08:03:57","modified_gmt":"2019-09-12T05:03:57","slug":"elijah-and-the-intensity-of-prayer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/elijah-and-the-intensity-of-prayer\/","title":{"rendered":"Elijah And The Intensity Of Prayer"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/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":[],"acf":{"old_id":"62728","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":33877,"related_cahpter":"305","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Postures of powerful pleas and pointed petitions","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After three years of drought, our chapter describes the famous contest between Elijah and the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, ending in their death (I Kings 18:1-40). Elijah then tells Ahab he hears \u201ca rumbling of [approaching] rain\u201d (verse 41), in imminent fulfillment of what Elijah had prophesied at the beginning of our chapter. Our chapter comes full circle by concluding with a detailed description of the end of the drought: \u201cthe sky grew black with clouds; there was wind, and a heavy downpour fell\u201d (verse 45). But first, after Elijah hears the initial indications of the coming rainstorm, we are told that \u201che stretched himself upon the ground\u201d (verse 42).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Significantly, Elisha, Elijah\u2019s disciple, later adopts a similar posture in reviving the son of the Shunammite widow: \u201cHe put his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands, as he stretched himself over him, and the body of the child became warm\u201d (II Kings 4:34). Scripture seems to suggest that \u201cstretching oneself out\u201d is a very powerful and intense form of non-verbal prayer. But, why in our chapter does Elijah also \u201cput his face between his knees\u201d (verse 42)? It is possible that Elijah chose this way of hiding his face because, at this point, he did not yet want to see the approaching raincloud. But \u2013 dramatically &#8212; Elijah sends his servant to look for and eventually see \u201ca cloud as small as a man\u2019s hand rising in the West\u201d (verses 43-44).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Significantly, the early wonder-working Rabbi, Hanina ben Dosa, is reported to have employed an approach to life-saving prayer similar to that of Elijah. Talmud Bavli Berakhot 34b relates that when the son of Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai fell ill, Rabban Yohanan said to him: \u201cHanina, my son, pray for him that he may live.\u201d Hanina put his head between his knees and prayed for the son and he lived.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The practice of putting one\u2019s head between one\u2019s knees in prayer seems to have been replaced by another physical gesture to intensify prayer. Talmud Bavli Berakhot 13b relates that Rabbi Yehudah Ha-Nasi would \u201cpass his hands over his eyes,\u201d when reciting the first verse of the Shema in order to recite this \u201cacceptance of the yoke of Heaven\u201d with complete concentration and intention (kavvanah). This Talmudic passage is reflected in what has become the accepted custom. \u201cOne places one\u2019s hands over one\u2019s face in reciting the first verse [of the Shema], in order not to look at anything that would interfere with concentrated intention (Shulhan Arukh, Orah Hayyim 61:5).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Image: Women saying the Shema during prayer services at a synagogue in Medellin, Colombia. 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