To pray or not to pray?

This is an article that I have been wanting to write for a very long time now. This article is inspired by a portion (why pray?) of a book called, “Living a Joyous Life” by Rav David Aaron. He has a great gift of explaining things that are quite complex in a way that simple people, like me, can understand them. I would really recommend reading this book to anyone living (or wanting to live) a Jewish life. A good friend of mine and a mentor has also been a great inspiration to this article too.

There is no question that if we want a relationship with HASHEM, then we need to communicate with Him. But the understanding of prayer in Christianity is far different than that of what it is in Judaism. Even the English word “pray” comes from the Latin word “precari” which means, “to beg” which is what many people think about prayer. Because of this western concept of prayer, there has been many confusions regarding the topic, even in the Jewish culture.

The Jewish “L’hitpallel” has nothing to do with begging HASHEM to change His mind. L’hitpallel is a reflexive verb, and it means to do something to yourself, not to HASHEM. When you are praying, your question should not be, is HASHEM listening to my prayers?” Rather, you should ask yourself, “am I listening to my prayers?” Does what I hear impact me? Have I changed? (Living a Joyous Life pg 114)

Basically, we do not demand that HASHEM move from where He is to come to where we are. Rather, we need to pick ourselves up and move to where HASHEM is, to be in line with His instructions.

Just like a radio works, there are many different radio stations with different frequencies. All the different frequencies are there floating around by the radio, but what station plays is the one who’s frequency the radio is tuned into. If you are in tune with HASHEM, then that is what you are going to “hear” so to speak. But if you tuned into a different frequency, then you are going to “hear” something else. L’hitpallel is how we tune into HASHEM.

We do not demand from HASHEM, just as a radio cannot demand what the radio station must play, but rather tunes into the radio station so that it can broadcast what is already being played. What station are you tuning into?

The Jewish faith is a faith of actions based on the Torah. It is not a passive faith of just believing something to be true, but rather it is actively living in truth, DOING what is right.

So to come back to the title of this article, “to pray or not to pray,” or correctly translated, “to beg or not to beg,” we should not beg. Rather, we should search within ourselves and change whatever needs to be changed so that we can be in line with the Will of HASHEM. May we all actively seek to be perfectly in tune with the frequency of HASHEM.

Be Perfect as your Father in heaven is Perfect

The Torah reading for this past Shabbat was very much about purging the evil out of Israel and to be perfect before YHWH our Elohim. By the mouth of two or three witnesses, those who are guilty of the evil must be put to death. What is this evil that is being spoken of here? Disobeying the Torah of YHWH is evil. Although not all evil acts are punishable by death, many are, for example, adultery, murder, magic, sorcery, idolatry and a few others.

Does this really sound like the character of the Almighty (or the 'love of Jesus'), killing those that disobey His Commands? Only those who believe in human rights and other humanistic religions, like Christianity, do not think that this is His Character. They believe that everyone should have “the love of Jesus” forgiving everyone’s iniquities and evil deeds continuously. The fact of the matter is that the Messiah came to do the Torah of His Father. Christianity has been based on humanistic man-made doctrines that do not in anyway resemble the true Messiah. Even the Bible has been fabricated (mistranslated in many places) to promote the anti-Messiah doctrines that the Church teaches. A really good example of this is the story about the woman caught in adultery found in John 8:1-11, where “Jesus” just happened to forgive her evil sin that should have been punished by death. The problem with that story is that it never happened according to the Aramaic New Testament and even the earliest Greek translations. You can read more on that topic here. The church uses this passage to justify the evil works of their members.

Let us have a look at a few verses from the Living Word of the Almighty from this Torah reading,

“Follow righteousness, righteousness alone, so that you live and inherit the land which יהוה (YHWH) your Elohim is giving you” (Deut 16:20). Now when one does a study ofTorah and the prophets, you will notice that everything works in cycles and are signs and shadows of things still to come. One of the most obvious examples is that of entering into the promised land of Israel signifying entering into the Kingdom of YHWH at the end of days. The Torah is spoken of as “the Living Words” in Acts 7:38. It is the Instruction for us, to teach us how we are going to be able to inherit and enter into the Kingdom of YHWH just as it was instruction for the Hebrews on how to inherit the Land that YHWH was giving them.

“When there is found in your midst, in any of your cities which יהוה (YHWH) your Elohim is giving you, a man or a woman who does what is evil in the eyes of יהוה (YHWH) your Elohim, in transgressing His covenant,
and has gone and served other mighty ones and bowed down to them, or to the sun or to the moon or to any of the host of the heavens, which I have not commanded,
and it has been made known to you and you have heard, and has searched diligently. Then see, if true: the matter is confirmed that such an abomination has been done in Yisra’ĕl,
then you shall bring out to your gates that man or woman who has done this evil matter, and you shall stone to death that man or woman with stones” (Deut 17:2-5)

If one does a little research on the origin, practices and traditions of Christianity, you will find that it all comes from Sun-worship. Easter, Christmas, Jesus, God, Lord, Holy, the cross and many more names and traditions all stem from Sun-worship! Are these things not abominations? Did the Messiah come to declare what was once an abomination in the eyes of Him and His Father, now okay and acceptable? Certainly not! 

The reason that YHWH divorced the majority of Israel was because they did not heed His Command not to learn to do according to the abominations of the Gentiles. “When you come into the land which יהוה (YHWH) your Elohim is giving you, do not learn to do according to the abominations of those gentiles” (Deut 18:9). It is very evident that the church is following these abominations and is therefore abominable to YHWH. Again you have to ask yourself, is what was abominable before, now made good?

One thing that the Church really hammers on is that it is impossible to keep the Torah or be perfect. The Torah itself teaches us that we are to be perfect before YHWH, “Be perfect before יהוה (YHWH) your Elohim” (Deut 18:13). Why would YHWH command this if it was impossible to do? This is because it is not impossible and the church is lying to us. 

Let us read of a few characters in the Scriptures, “This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with Elohim” (Gen 6:9). “There was a man in the land of Uts, whose name was Iyoḇ. And that man was perfect and straight, and one who feared Elohim and turned aside from evil” (Job 1:1). “There was in the days of Herodes, the sovereign of Yehuḏah, a certain priest named Zeḵaryah, of the division of Aḇiyah. And his wife was of the daughters of Aharon, and her name was Elisheḇa. And they were both righteous before Elohim, blamelessly walking in all the commands and righteousnesses of יהוה (YHWH)” (Luke 1:5). These are but a few examples of people who were perfect and righteous before YHWH.  Now let us see what the Messiah Himself taught what we are to do, “Therefore, be perfect, as your Father in the heavens is perfect” (Mat 5:48).

So according to the Living Word of YHWH and by the teaching of the Messiah, we are to be perfect before YHWH walking in all the Commands of YHWH. We are not to learn to do as the pagan Gentiles do. Should we not then search out to see whether we are doing as the pagans are doing or are we following the Word of the Almighty?