The real world of prayers TB Yoma 75

God fed the Israelites during the forty years of wandering in the wilderness manna and quails. Today’s daf TB Yoma 75 interprets the verses surrounding these events in typical aggadic[1] fashion.

“The manna was called white because it whitened Israel’s sins. The people feared that if they sinned the manna would not continue to fall. Consequently, they devoted themselves to introspection and repentance.” (Sefaria.org translation) Introspection is a key element to a spiritual life. Ashley Lorenzana writes, “Even if you think you're doing well and have it all figured out, there is a voice you will always inevitably hear at some point which nags at you and says "but wait..." Don't ever dismiss it, listen to what it has to say. Life will never be close enough to perfect, and listening to that voice means stepping outside of yourself and considering your own wrongdoings and flaws.”

Daily prayer not only affords us time for this introspection, but provides us with a glimpse of a future of promise, commitment and inspiration. Rabbi Lawrence Hoffman shares a story about a Midtown church in New York City which illustrates these ideas.

“New York’s Midtown area houses a Lutheran Church that is part of a modern high-rise office and shopping mall. Visitors are invited to look outside the church through a sanctuary window that could have been colored in with a stained glass biblical scene, but was left transparent instead. The view leads onto the street, where homeless people shuffle back and forth amid the wealth of New York’s East Side. The point of it all is to see the outside with the vision of the inside, to grasp the message worship and then to apply it. Before coming to pray, we might have passed the poor without noticing them. But now, after praying the words of the prophets and committing ourselves to justice and charity, the world outside is seen in a new light. We leave for the sense that we are called to end poverty: how can we do otherwise and still remain true to the story of our prayers?”[2]

Prayer posits the “real” world and calls us to transform the outside world to match the “real” world of the prayers.

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[1] Midrash is ancient rabbinic interpretation of scripture. Aggadah is rabbinic narrative. The two terms are, however, often used interchangeably to refer to those many aspects of rabbinic literature that are not related to Jewish behavior or law

[2] The Art of Public Prayer: Not for Clergy Only, page 160-161