Yaakov Hibbert Presents… Prayer

In this weeks Sedra we find what seems to be the most bizarre prayer – ever. Korach is at loggerheads with Moshe. They are debating the very tenants of our faith – the authenticity of the Torah and of Moshe being the prophet who has a direct line to Hashem – two of the thirteen principles of faith. Moshe decides on a plan of action which will sort things out. Both sides will bring a fire-pan of incense and “the man whom Hashem will chose – he is the holy one”.

Moshe then turns to Hashem and utters the following prayer, “Do not turn to their gift-offerings”. Did Moshe entertain that Hashem might accept the offering of Korach in place of his? Was he unsure of his position as direct communicator to Hashem?

Many commentators are bothered by this absurd prayer of Moshe – in fact several learn that this was not really a prayer as such. Moshe did not need to pray as to whose offering Hashem would accept – that was a forgone conclusion for Moshe. Rather, they learn that Moshe was stating the fact that Hashem would not turn to their offerings.

Rashi offers us two other explanations: his first explanation takes the verse quite literally, Moshe was asking that Hashem not accept their incense-offering. I think this is best understood with the help of Rabeinu Bachay (13th century) and others who explain that the offering itself that the ‘deniers’ brought was itself a partial atonement for them. It would grant them “delaying of the Divine wrath” to give them a chance to see the light. Moshe it seems wanted a decisive decision to be made, now was not the time to leave any room of doubt in the minds of the Jewish Nation.

Along the same vein Rashi brings a second explanation: Moshe was referring back onto other offerings that they had previously brought. Moshe was requesting to annul their ‘credits’. This answer also seems to be that Moshe was davening that there should be no delay in deciding.

These two explanations show us how Hashem cares so much even for the wicked. Were it not for the prayer of Moshe, they potentially had the ability to live on as deniers, with the hope that they would eventually do repentance, even though this would prolong the argument and possibly cause more uncertainty in the camp.

Perhaps we can see here an expression of the complete humility and self effacement that was constantly evident in Moshe. In place of demanding that the truth be revealed he requested it ‘as if’ there were two options. Yes he knew that the Divine origin of the Torah was not fabricated in any way by himself yet he unassumingly prayed ‘as if’ his role as Divine communicator was at stake.

Perhaps we can offer another explanation. We have explained previously that prayer is a cog in the natural process of anything that happens in this world. Just as you need to water a tree to get the results, so to one must pray to actualise any potential. This is why Moshe was davening – as part of the natural process he had to daven. All can be in place as it was at the beginning of creation, but nothing came forth form the ground – it was all potential waiting to be unlocked. Only when Adam came and prayed did the land suddenly sprout its vegetation.

We see from this that even things which are forgone conclusions need to be davened for. Even the most obvious things we must thank Hashem for. You can’t take anything for granted. Moshe’s davening in this context was more an appreciation of the fact that the Torah was Divine and he had been appointed as the messenger to impart it to the Yidden, than a request to prove the fact. Perhaps this is the depth to the first explanation that we brought – this was not so much a prayer of request but a statement about the fact.

The Alter of Kelm (1234-1234) takes this one stage further: Moshe was scared from the davening of the wicked. Since prayer is a process that is part of the mechanics of this world, one can actually pray for the something and get it even if this is not the ‘best’ thing for you.

A story will help us understand this point. There was a young man in a pre-war yeshiva who wanted to take leave for his brother’s Bar Mitzvah mid-term – something not often done in those days when travel was hard and it meant many days if not weeks away from the yeshiva. The boy went to ask permission from the revered Reb Elya Lopian. As he approached the venerable Rabbi’s office he thought of the various ‘reasons’ to request the time off. ‘My mother could do with my help schlepping tables for the simcha’, ‘my grandparents haven’t seen me in over ten years, this could be the last time I could see them’. Many reasons flowed though his mind. As he neared to the office he began to imagine what Reb Elya would respond  to each reason that he would present. One by one he realised that each and every reason was tainted by his own personal ‘wrong’ reasons to go. As he raised his hand to knock on the door he realised that his final reason also held no water, and so he turned back knowing that he didn’t really need to go.

So too is prayer – a process where we come and get close to Hashem. Through this process we can evaluate that which we have in our life and that which we need. We re-calibrate our perspective on life when we daven. “What is really important in life?” is a question that answers itself the closer we connect to Hashem. In prayer we learn to appreciate that which we have and thus work out what things we need. The challenge of prayer is to go through this process honestly – however we may sometimes end up deluding ourselves, and end up praying for something that we could and should do without. But prayer still works – it’s part of the process as we have said.

It’s a bit like when a child nags his parents for something which they know is detrimental to the child; if he nags enough they may well give it to him so that he can see for himself why they kept on saying no.

Their offerings [the original form of prayer] were misdirected, they were asking for the wrong thing, but they were asking nonetheless. Moshe realised this and thus needed to daven to counteract their misplaced offerings.

Good Shabbos, Yaakov