TRUE PRAYER

“Avraham approached, and he said: Will you destroy the righteous with the wicked?” (Bereishit 18:23) Rashi – “We find approach for war…and approach for appeasement….and approach for prayer. Avraham approached [God] for all of these.”

There are many instances where our patriarchs and matriarchs prayed. One of them, cited above, is Avraham’s plea for the people of Sodom. Later in the parsha (21:17), Avraham prays to God to heal Avimelech, the king of the Philistines, his wife and maidservants who were not able to bear children. In next week’s parsha (24:12), Avraham’s servant prays at the well for God to send an appropriate match for Yitzchak. Later (24:63), Yitzchak goes out to pray in the field and encounters a convoy of camels carrying his future wife Rivkah. In parshat Toldot (25:21), Yitzchak and Rivkah pray opposite each other beseeching God to grant them a child. When Yakov is about to confront his brother Esau after a long period of separation, he prays to God to save him from the hand of his brother and not allow Esau to smite him or his family (32:11).

All of these prayers were recited in private, not as part of a group or congregation. They were spontaneous, deeply personal, intense and heartfelt. We are far more accustomed to communal prayer which can be formulaic and somewhat rote. There is an advantage to praying with a group in that we are “pulled along” by the energy of the crowd. But communal prayer can also be distracting and hard to follow, especially if one cannot keep pace with the chazzan. In truth, our services are a blend of communal prayers (such as Kaddish, Kedusha and Hallel) and private entreaties, the most famous being the silent Amidah during which we can pour out our heart to Hashem. A good shul will know how to create the proper balance between these aspects. There should not be too much communal prayer, such that the service turns into a performance by the chazzan and choir, nor should it be too much private prayer, such that the worshippers do not participate in the service.

I have developed somewhat of a morbid fascination with videos of services from American shuls. These are Reform and Conservative synagogues that stream their Shabbat and Yom Tov services live and then post the recordings on social media. This was a trend that began during the Covid pandemic and never stopped. The services are recorded by professional videographers and often feature closing credits, much the same as a television show. It goes without saying that the recording of these services involves the wholesale desecration of Shabbat. Moreover, the actual service often features a full orchestra or band playing electrical instruments. All of the clergy wear hi-tech microphones that amplify and capture their voices. I assume that Reform and Conservative Halacha is at peace with these innovations. My fascination centres on the extent to which these services have deviated from the way in which Jews have always prayed.

I have not attended a non-Orthodox shul service since I was a child but even then, it was nothing compared to what happens in the United States. These services would better be described as entertainment. They are highly choreographed. There is stage lighting and, on occasion, spotlighting, so that the chazzan is illuminated and the congregation is left in darkness. Almost without exception, the shul is designed to resemble a stage: the bimeh is in the front and faces the congregation, not the ark. There are plush chairs behind the bimeh where the clergy and some congregants sit. Rabbis and Chazzanim always seem to be wearing a type of uniform, such as an elaborate kittel (even on occasions other than the High Holy days) or a personalised tallis. These talleisim are often very colourful and are of the regular shawl variety or the thin, scarf variety similar to what Catholic priests wear. In most instances the clergy will wear kippot, even the women, while in others, the rabbi and/or chazzan is bareheaded. There seems to be a high number of women clergy members, perhaps to correct the imbalance of the past? The sermons are always read from notes or teleprompters. I have yet to see one of these rabbis give a speech “off the cuff”. Everything is extremely formal. There is a designated person who tells the congregation when to sit, stand or respond. The congregants sit as quiet as church mice (excuse the expression) and do not seem to participate in the service at all. They are there for a show and the shul certainly gives them one! I cannot begin to imagine how much these services must cost, especially where there is a full band/orchestra and hired singers. A good example is the super-wealthy Park Avenue Synagogue in New York. Their services resemble Broadway Shows. In 2025, their chazzan, Azi Schwartz, sang Simon and Garfunkel’s “Sounds of Silence” during the Rosh Hashanah service, accompanied by musicians and a group of non-Jewish vocalists who had performed at the Tony Awards (see https://youtu.be/WtvPm5utX0Q?si=-MA6blQcmsz989rV). It is a great performance but it is not prayer. Not by any stretch of the imagination.

Perhaps the most bizarre video of this nature is a haphtarah from an unidentified Reform synagogue. The video, which dates to the year 2020, features two clergy members, a man and a woman, dedicating the haphtarah to the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the first female judge on the American Supreme Court. After speaking about the late Ginsburg in glowing terms, including the sentiment that she was a “modern-day prophet”, the two begin their duet. The blessing before the haphtarah is recited normally in Hebrew with the correct musical notes. But then what follows is an English tribute to Ginsburg, complete with tropp (musical notes). These two officiants simply composed a new haphtarah and dispensed with the traditional reading from the prophets! What is interesting is how seriously they take it, as if it is completely normal to do something of this nature. When they see this video, the reactions of traditional South African Jews ranges from complete shock to hysterical laughter.

Nothing is too sacred to change or omit in these synagogues. In one video from a Yom Kippur Mincha service, the rabbi, resplendent in his silk kittel and rainbow tallis, informs the congregation that they will no longer read the Torah portion from Vayikrah 18 as it contains the prohibition against homosexuality and this would be “offensive” to members of the LGBTQ community. Instead, they will read the next chapter, Vayikrah 19. I wonder how the rabbi dealt with the verse (Vayikrah 19:28) that prohibits Jews from having tattoos? Would that not have been offensive to some members of the congregation? Many parts of the Torah contain regulations that do not accord with modern sensibilities. Are we to censor the whole book?

These few examples – and there are many more that are just as outlandish – demonstrate how far left-wing American Jewry has moved from the way our ancestors worshipped God. Consider that on the Shabbat following the death of country and western icon Dolly Parton, many of these synagogues included musical tributes to the late singer. Not that they used her tunes for the prayers. Rather, they simply included her songs in the service. What Dolly Parton has to do with davening is beyond me! Prayer is not a spectator sport. It is not a show and it is not entertainment. It is the way in which we connect with the Divine; where the finite meets the Infinite and where we join with our fellow congregants in praise, thanks and entreaties to Hashem.

Lee, Chani Merryl & Naomi join me in wishing you Shabbat Shalom. Rabbi Liebenberg.

week’s YouTube message: https://youtu.be/OTlgVjA-UVM?si=wAZgk98Y_xPBw7x6