The problem of prayer becomes even stronger very often following the initial assertion that one believes in G-d. Everyone prays in some form or another. Call it whatever you like, simple hopes or wishes are minute forms of prayer as well. We all plead to something before a test or a big tournament, whether to Hashem, Allah or ourselves. The power of prayer becomes a problem however to any who have faith and believe in the concept of predestination. Allow me to accentuate the problem by demonstrating the extent of the utter and total control that G-d has over our own personal lives and the world we live in down to the smallest detail. To any sophisticated individual of a religious persuasion it should be obvious that creation did not occur in such a way that after billions of years of nothingness, G-d decided to create the world in six days, rested on the seventh, and has been observing from above ever since. G-d is above time, and thus this sort of sequence when applied to G-d makes absolutely no sense. Additionally, as the philosophers of Torah explain to us, nothing in the world can be sustained on its own. Creation is a continual, never ending process. Every fraction of a second G-d is constantly creating the world, bringing something from nothing, or turning chaos into order, as modern physics understand it. This idea can be understood through a parable. Imagine you are sitting in a very boring class, and the teacher is talking and you are not listening, and soon enough your mind begins to wander. Your imagination begins working and a daydream starts to form. You imagine yourself on a desert island, eating coconuts and things...and then.......the teacher calls out your name. What happens to the daydream? Instantaneously it vanishes from all existence. In order for a daydream to be sustained, we must be not only fully conscious of it, but continuously active in creating the sequence of it as well. This is only a parable, and should not be taken to be more than such, however in a certain sense, buy way of a parable, we and the universe we live in are nothing more than a daydream of G-d. This is the idea of Divine Providence, which cannot be accepted as a temporarily prevalent idea. One either does not believe in G-d or Divine Providence at all, or else one must believe that EVERYTHING is ruled according to Divine Providence, that everything has a deeper meaning and reason to it and its actions, down to the smallest movement of a leaf in the wind. Any other understanding of the matter does not make any sense. So let us assume for the moment that we accept Divine Providence as a given (this is after all a somewhat religious column, and it is not the time to play devil's advocate just for the sake of it). If such is the case, there is an incredible problem with the concept of prayer. What is the point of praying for something if everything that happens is "meant to be", in accordance with the Divine Plan? Not only does it seem that prayer is thus futile, but the action of praying is almost an effrontery to G-d. In prayer, we are declaring our unsatisfaction with a certain aspect of the Divine Plan. We are making a statement that we know how G-d should rule His universe better than He knows. How can we have the nerve to say such a thing, and even if we did, why bother? G-d has the ultimate power after all, and no matter how much we plead, things will still be done G-d's way, and not ours. If G-d means for someone to be sick (G-d forbid), what is the point of praying to get better? However, one of the central aspects of Jewish life (and the lifestyles of many other religions as well), involves praying. Torah tells us that G-d created vegetation in such a way that we would have to pray for rain in order for things to grow. Numerous times in scripture are to be found passages concerning how "G-d delights in the prayers of the righteous". How can this tremendous paradox be grappled with if one is concerned with living a life the way in which he/she was meant to? The answer resides in the one million dollar question that is often asked, and all too often shrugged off as being heretical. "If G-d is so powerful, can He create a rock that is so powerful that He cannot move it?". The answer is yes. Of course He can. G-d can do whatever He wants. He can and did. He called this rock FREE WILL. We often make things so complicated when in fact what is being looked at is very simple. For thousands of years individuals have been struggling with the meaning of the concept of free will, and how much freedom G-d actually gave us, and how this can be reconciled with the idea of predestination. The answer is remarkably simple. Free will. This is one of the few statements in the history of the world that is meant to be taken as literally as possible. Will. That is what we have freedom over. Will and nothing else. The second our feet walk out of the store with the candy bar in our pocket (without having paid for it I mean), the moment we turn right at the end of the street instead of left, the action of stretching our arms above our heads because we are tired, we have become nothing more than tools of the hand of G-d, actualizers of the divine plan. It is not our freedom that allows us to eat the apple instead of the grapefruit. That is all G-d and His constant creation being actualized again. Our freedom lies in the split millionth of a second (or maybe less, I don't know the exact mathematics, sorry) before any action is actualized. Our freedom lies in our will. Not even in our thoughts so much, but in our will. When this concept is delved into deeper, it reaches the point of the undefinable small moment of choice between good or bad. All that follows and is actualized is G-d's will and action. However, as it should be apparent now, G-d works in accordance with our will. This does not mean necessarily that if you will to have a new car, G-d will give you one, however willing the new car does create an incredible change in the Divine Plan. Moshiach (the Messiah) was due to come 5759 years ago, on the day when Adam and Eve were created. This was the initial Divine Plan. However their will proved them not to be ready, and thus the plan became that they should eat the forbidden fruit and be banished from the garden, and the thus the resulting and prevailing exile we find ourselves in today. The only remaining question to be asked now is then does G-d's will change? How is this possible if G-d is supposed to be perfect and unchanging. The concept of time provides the answer. Time is a dimension which we as mortal humans are bound by. G-d resides far beyond time, and is not bound by it. Nevertheless, our experience of G-d is within time, thus to our perceptions, G-d is indeed changing ALL OF THE TIME. Ultimately however, G-s is always and ever the same and unchanging however this is very difficult to understand as we cannot escape the limits of our bonderizes very simply. Now, back to prayer. Inevitably, the final Dive Plan will be achieved on a cosmic, as well as individual level. The matter is only if we cause the process to be delayed or not and how much, through our will. All soul mates will eventually unite. However sadly, some may have to return many times in many different reincarnations until this occurs. What is so bad about Lahson Hora (lit. Evil tongue, i.e. speaking slanderously), is that even if what one is saying is true about another person, this actual aggravates the negative aspect that is being spoken about. On the brighter side of things, this works just as well when positive things are said about a person. This is experienced first hand when the person that is being discussed is in the presence of the speaker. For example, if 3 people are standing together, Sheila, John and Molly, and Sheila says to John, " You know Molly is such a compassionate person", immediately the compassionate nature of Molly gets aroused, and Molly actually becomes a more compassionate person. Though we do not see this physically and is not easily demonstrated empirically, this same result would occur if Molly were in Australia and John and Sheila in Montreal. This is the incredible power of speech. This is the incredible power of prayer as well, and this is why it is so important to actually mouth the words that are being prayed. This is also why it is best to read the prayers in their original Hebrew if you are Jewish, even if not every word is understood. Why do Jews continuously praise G-d 3 times a day, in so many different words and manners? Obviously G-d is not so egotistical or insecure so as to need or be fulfilled by our praises. If one ponders upon the concepts discussed above, it is clear that when one recites the Smoeni Esrari (the 18 benidictions, a prayer that is recited by Jews three times a day), or any other prayer, this action occurs only because G-d makes it so, however regardless of what causes the action to occur, the act of praying the Smonei Esrai arouses the will, and thus initializes a porducative and G-dly cycle. By mouthing the words Baruch ata....("Blessed are you" - literally refers to drawing down the divine presence into the world. The word Baruch, which comes from eh same root as berech which means a knee, alludes to this idea), we not only arouse our will and thus consequently G-d's own will and Divine Plan, we make these words actual, and physically allow the Divine presence to descend into the world.
