All Comments (15)

yboanec rmkliovn clhvs irmtuvl gdwcinr fugdchjnp urni

Blogger #10, I hope this is considered a thoughtful post...The word 'prayer' first appears in Genesis, by Abraham talking to Sarah and means to entreat, exhort, or a submissive request.

Blogger #1: Free Will is correctly, freewill offerings to God, not something we have from God. On heaven, see Genesis 1:1 and read on.
Blogger #3: Noah means comfort. Eight souls in his family were saved in the ark. And, we are all basically cousins from Noah's sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth. We either get along or not. And if not, there is a family feud.
#4. The angel of the LORD spoke to Moses. This angel appears throughout Scripture, in both the Old and New Testaments. In Numbers 22:30, the angel of the LORD allows a mule to actually speak a warning to a man, Baalam. The funniest part is that Baalam answers the mule back by saying, Nay. :) God has a great sense of humor!

Read the Bible and you will get to know Him, and pray to Him. Turn to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Otherwise,

Deut 32:20 And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end [shall be]: for they [are] a very froward generation, children in whom [is] no faith.

I think we are still considered a part of this generation.

To Rabbi Steinsaltz: I pray, could you please email me, I have a few questions.

i like what the rabbi said- it was succinct- connection is what its all about-

Wow. Modern myth tacked onto creationism. Humans are amazing creatures!!

Duff - before on prays one must be brain dirtied. That's the process of installing a demon on the victim's nebol bridge. That demon hurts and prayer brings temporary relief. Prayer, drugs and alcohol all bring temporary relief to the mental pain brought about by threats of hell. Drugs and alcohol have other uses as well. There's pneumonia and boredom just to mention a couple of places where prayers don't work, not to belittle faith healing.

The nebol bridge is explained at http://www.hoax-buster.org along with a rant on people who make their bread installing and tending to the monster thereon. It's been going on for a while, oh, about 5,000 years, ever since God created the world.

It is just me, or is the concept of people happily engaged in their spirituality quite threatening to some people on this board?

This is a section on faith. Certainly, everyone constructs their own set of beliefs. R. Steinsaltz has only touched on *his* view of prayer, in his own practice. He hasn't told anyone they should follow his practice.

Ad hominum attacks indicate a problem with the attacker, not the attacked. It would be nice to see some thoughtful posts by people who check the box marked "other," instead of going off on a person who has nothing to do with your REAL issues.

Prayer is simply the method the priests of all humankinds churches have devised to get us to brainwash ourselves when they are not present.

To demonstrate how silly this goofy commentator is, simply substitute the word "Zeus" for the word "God" in his comment. "Zeus" is no more rational than is "God" in any context.

Of course in this case, Jews are very special:

"Prayer is always prayer to Zeus, and for a Jew, it doesn’t pass any intermediaries, but rather goes directly to Zeus Himself."

Oy.

Thank you.

"self, meet Self."

About as simple as it gets.

:)

TO ADIN STEINSALTZ,

I disagree that "Prayer is always prayer to God". Prayer is many things on different levels, but on a conscious level, prayer is whatever the pray-er wants it to be. Since the concept of a 'deity' is not present in all people, and not at all the same in every person, there can be no single subject or object of prayer. Or method.

Buddhists do not pray to a deity.

The world would be much more simpler if all people did agree on this. But not necessarily more accurate, or a better place.

One of our most successful attributes is the fact that even though not one of us has the ability to succeed in everything, together we all can achieve whatever we try to do. What one of us cannot do, another of us can. Working together, we can do so much.

IDIC - Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations

I applaud your efforts.

Faulty Gods are not unprecidented. The Japanese God manfunctioned and they simply got themselves a new one and hardly skipped a step or missed a beat. Their new God is just humming along. Turns out their old God was a handicap but they couldn't know until it broke. They didn't try to fix it. When old God breaks get new God and turn a losing situation into a big winner.

This is not mockery but rather a very legitimate question.

http://www.hoax-buster.org/sellyoursoul says it's Devil and not God that Moses spoke to and makes a compelling case that's so. How can we tell if the voice or whatever it is, stain on the subway wall forinstance, is of God and not of Devil?

Again, how can we identify God when Devil is everywhere saying he is God?

The superficial evidence and the fate of Jews in particular are hardly symptomatic of God and much more in harmony with Devil. Constantine stole your God. Maybe you should let him keep it?

What I like about this particular topic is the that the panelists write about something personal that does not affect anyone else and that gives them comfort -- and certainly does not harm, unlike say, starting wars and the like. I would never think of mocking somebody for what the Rabbi describes, even if I do not believe myself.

Actually, take the last paragraph, add formalized prayer and learning, and you have judaism.

I find that the siddur gives me a framework, so to speak, to address the Creator and remind me evening, morning, and noon who not only provides me my every need, but also has given us creation, and to find the spark in other humans, to come together for the larger good. (To paraphrase many great thinkers)

Seeing prayer as a disipline is not a rigid, unbending rule, but gives me the individual time out during the day, to not only read/speak the universal prayers, but, on a good day, enter into something beyond. It allows more spirit to the prayer when one is able, yet provides the framework even when one's own spirit is not focussed. It also helps me concentrate more on spiritual and learning, instead of the constant materialism we find ourselves surrounded with.

IMHO, God started the Big Bang. He/She also granted the gifts of Free Will and Future to all the thinking beings in the Universe. This being the case, God is not able to alter life and requests/prayers will not be answered. Statistically, your request might come true but it is simply the result of the variabiliy/randomness of Nature.

So put down your rosaries and prayer beads and stop worshiping cows and bowing to Mecca six times a day. Instead work hard at your job, take care of aging parents, volunteer at a soup kitchen, donate to charities and the poor and continue to follow the Commandments of your religion or any good rules of living as gracious and good human beings. And lets all hope there indeed is a place called Heaven!!!