Jeremy Rosen
Why Do We Pray?
Summary
Why do we pray? Does God need our prayers? What does prayer mean in Judaism? A discussion of the possibilities.
Jeremy Rosen
Manchester-born Jeremy Rosen was educated at Cambridge University England and Mir Yeshiva in Jerusalem. He has practiced as an orthodox rabbi, as principal of Carmel College in the UK, and as professor at the Faculty for Comparative Religion in Antwerp, Belgium. He has written and lectured extensively in the UK and the US, where he now resides and was the rabbi of the Persian-Jewish community in Manhattan.
Yes, precisely so. It is self-reflection and that’s how I understand it.
Absolutely. The Talmud says we don’t rely on miracles, but that doesn’t mean to say that we might not hope for. And it is this question of hope, which I’ve tried to say towards the end that is the core of what prayer is.
Yes, I think that could also be an effort to achieve something. It is part of the process of deciding on what you want on hoping you can achieve it and then finally putting it into action. So really life is like putting up a building. You’ve got a plan, you’ve got to start building the blocks in that pan. You go on building all the time. The house changes all the time. You change all the time. It’s an ongoing process throughout one’s life.