Old Woman in Prayer, Nicolaes Maes, c. 1656
I was doing some reading up on prayer in my handy Judaism book, and I've already learned some fascinating facts from our beloved author Mr. David. S. Ariel. For example, David tells me that there is a word in the Jewish faith-tefillah-which refers to the "spontaneous outpouring of the human heart." If there's anyone who enjoys some spontaneous heart-pouring, it's me. I love this idea that our heart is full of liquid desire, hope, yearning, seeking, and when it is full to the brim, our faithful yearning waterfalls into prayer.
David also taught me that there are three main types of prayers in Jewish culture: hodayah (thanksgiving), tehillah (praise) and bakashah (request). Grandma Shorr took her family to her mother and father's house every Friday evening for the Sabbath meal. The oldest male child was responsible for saying the hodayah prayer over the sabbath meal, which incidentally was my step-dad Jack. Jack went to Hebrew school where he memorized the standard prayers that he then repeated for the Sabbath meals and his Bar Mitzvah among other places. He recalled to me a piece of the Friday evening prayer, "We thank Adonai (God) who brings bread from the earth and wine from the vine...". I love the simplicity of this repetition and the intention. To be grateful for the earth, the bread, and the wine is to be in tune with the very fundamentals of living, I think.
Next Sunday: Prayer with Grandma Hastings
Oh, how I LOVE this painting. The Dutch Golden Age of painting is absolutely divine. I don't know what it is that draws me to this particular style of art, but at BYU I fell in love with Flemish emblem books, Jan Steen and many of his other contemporaries. Their paintings are packed with symbols and imagery that speak to your soul. This painting and blog just made my heart ache and at the same time sustained it.
ReplyDelete"I love this idea that our heart is full of liquid desire, hope, yearning, seeking, and when it is full to the brim, our faithful yearning waterfalls into prayer."---This will be copied into my journal, along with your entire last entry on prayer which was just PURE POETRY.
Lora, I love the heck out of you. I do. Thank you for your comment. Thank you!!
ReplyDeleteJudaism is for me like one of those words I often use but do not really know the definition of. I hope you can keep up with this theme of sharing something about your Jewish ancestry.
ReplyDelete