The Talmud states that it is permissible to pray in any language that you can understand; however, traditional Judaism has always stressed the importance of praying in Hebrew. This sounds familiar and from a familiar source as well. A traditional Cha siddhic story speaks glowingly of the prayer of an uneducated Jew who wanted to pray but did not speak Hebrew. The man began to recite the only Hebrew he knew: the alphabet. He recited it over and over again, until a rabbi asked what he was doing. The man told the rabbi, The Holy One, Blessed is He, knows what is in my heart. I will give Him the letters, and He can put the words together. Even liberal Judaism is increasingly recognizing the value of Hebrew. My grandmother tells me that fifty years ago, you never heard a word of Hebrew in a Reform synagogue. Today, the standard Reform prayerbook contains the text of many prayers in Hebrew, and many of the standard prayers are recited in Hebrew, generally followed by transliteration and an English translation. I have heard several Reform rabbis read from the Torah in Hebrew, also generally followed by an English translation or explanation. There are many good reasons for praying in Hebrew: it gives you an incentive for learning Hebrew, which might otherwise be forgotten; it provides a link to Jews all over the world; it is the language in which the covenant with G-d was formed, etc. To me, however, the most important reason to pray in Hebrew is that Hebrew is the language of Jewish thought.
Posted on: Fri, 21 Mar 2014 14:50:48 +0000
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