Why Do Jews Pray?
Proud to introduce my very dear friend Rav Adam Sommer, an ENORMOUS TALMID CHACHAM who completes the Shas BAVLI, Yerushalmi and countless other major sidrot kodesh EACH YEAR. SUBSCRIBE TO HIS CHANNEL TODAY, and your Enjoy the purity of Torah. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9lud2XQRJqNgzBu7SkR8Wg Biography of Rav Adam Sommer Adam Sommer born Sept 24, 1975 is an American businessman whose main focus is Torah study. He is the grandson of New York Real Estate Developer Sigmund Sommer. Adam was born in Queens, New York to a German Jewish family. He attended Duke University. He began his career working for his family office as a construction project manager building a hotel and shopping center before moving to Manhattan. He became acquainted with Hineni’s Rebbitzein Ester Jungreis in 2002 and began learning more seriously about his Jewish roots. During that time, Adam learned more about frumkeit from his cousin Shemi Rokeach of the Rokeach family from Belz. In 2005 Adam moved to Main Land China to develop a business venture in Guangzhou China. During the course of his 20’s and 30’s, Adam studied Taijutsu in Japan with Dr Haatsumi Maasaki, the famed martial artist, where he earned a black belt in the art. Adam also studied kung-fu while living in the mainland. Adam moved to Jerusalem Israel in 2013 where he began learning in the Yeshiva Dvar Yerushalayim with Rosh Yeshiva Baruch Horowitz in Har Nof. In 2019, Adam became the Rosh Yeshiva’s hebruta and he teaches the Yeshiva’s Yerushalmi gemara class. Adam learns Torah full time at the Yeshiva and an after-hours Kollel. Adam has grown up and lived in mansions with maids and the finest foods but felt spiritually empty and began to question the meaning of material persuits as an end before seeking out Hineni. Adam excelled in eastern martial arts for more than a decade but found that nothing in the world compares to the treasures in the Torah and Torah learning, particularly in a Yeshivish environment. In 2015, Adam finished the Yerushalmi shas for the first time where the Rosh Yeshiva arranged for a sium at the home of Rabbi Kanievski to celebrate. At the sium, Rabbi Kanievski gave Adam a blessing to finish the whole Torah each year. In 2016 he finished the Bavli Shas for the first time and Yerushalmi shas in 350 days, along with the Tanakh, Shulchan Aruch and Mishnah. Since then, he completes the Bavli Shas, Yerushalmi Shas, Mishnah, Shulchan Aruch, Midrash Rabbah and Tanakh each year according to a learning program arranged by Rabbi Ezriel Auerbach. In 2018, Adam was tested on the Yerushalmi Shas by the Rosh Yeshiva of Meir Yeshiva. Adam describes looking at pages of the Yerushalmi as seeing the letters sparkle, catch on fire, and then stand-up on the page and dance. He is passionate about inspiring jews to connect with the less popular jewish classics such as those by Rabbi Shlomo Ibn Gibriol and making those ideas accessible for a general audience. In 2016, Adam married Edna, the niece of Rabbi Nissim Yagen, where they live in Har Nof, Jerusalem. To Support our KIRUV and Torah Teachings work please DONATE at www.BeEzratHaShem.org If you'd like to invite Rabbi Yaron Reuven to give a lecture at your synagogue, home or office please email Info@BeEzratHaShem.org Rabbi Reuven is based out of Florida but travels to give lectures to different groups. Join one of our interactive "Interesting Torah" Whatsapp groups to get daily updates and short Torah clips that can uplift your day by texting 1.917.468.2324 or +91 93236 69880 Available on Apple iTunes Store, Amazon App Store and Android Play Store https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.beezrathashem GOOGLE App https://apps.apple.com/us/app/beezrat-hashem/id1279094981?uo=4 APPLE App https://www.amazon.com/Hosttec-Solutions-BeEzrat-HaShem/dp/B07QST1294/ AMAZON App Rabbi Yaron Reuven is a proud member of the Igud HaRabbonim (The Rabbinical Alliance of America), a national rabbinic organization founded in 1942. Today, our 900+ members are congregational leaders, religious teachers, chaplains, heads of Jewish organizations and communal leaders united in their commitment to traditional Orthodox Judaism. For more information please visit: https://rabbinicalalliance.org/ 00:00:00 Intoduction 00:00:39 Shemoneh Esrei and Temple Building 00:01:27 Ensuring Prayers are Answered 00:02:19 Concentration in Prayer 00:03:02 Birkat HaMazon for Parnassah 00:04:45 Importance of Fellow Jew's Welfare 00:05:47 Maintaining Intention During Shema 00:07:06 Holiness Through Observance 00:08:43 Refining Yourself Through Learning
Transcript
0:39to pray three times a day with the Shemoneh Esrei and to really concentrate on your prayer because this is the time to make this request. And I'll tell you a secret about Shemoneh Esrei. Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachmani in the name of Rabbi Yochanan says, the 18 blessings of Shemoneh Esrei correspond to the 18 commands that are written in the second scriptural passage about the building of the Mishkan, in Pekudei, there are 18 commands which are talking about the fabrication and assembly of the Mishkan. And it says over there, as Hashem commanded Moshe, 18 times. The connection between Shemoneh Esrei and building the Temple is like you building when you pray. And that each act of prayer, each act of Torah learning, each act of mitzvot strengthens and brings order to the spiritual dimensions of the world, refining yourself, making yourself more holy, and starting to see new things in the spiritual dimension, then your spiritual journey is truly unfolding. I have another secret for you to help get your prayers answered. Avuha de-Shemuel says, if somebody makes an error in prayer,
1:45Prayer in the blessing of the patriarchs, this is going to be the first blessing of the Shemona Esrei. An error there is a very bad sign that someone's prayer may be undesirable. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said, if the lips of a person produce fruit and his words... Prayer flow effortlessly from his lips, he will be informed that his prayer for Shemoneh Esrei was accepted. And what is the scriptural basis for this teaching? When one produces "fruit of the lips," then "Peace, peace, for far and near," says Hashem, "and I will heal him." If the praying is done in a clean way where there's no bumbling or stumbling and a person prays well, there's a good chance that Heaven will help to grant requests. If you're not concentrating while you are praying, you did not pray. That is the halacha by the Rambam (Maimonides) regarding the Shema. also requires intense concentration. The first verse discusses God's absolute oneness and His total sovereignty. Again, you're trying to connect with the idea of Ein Od Milvado. When saying the Shema, the intensity of concentration is for a shorter period of time compared to the Shemoneh Esrei, as Shemoneh Esrei involves a much longer set of prayers. It's just that you...
3:02The creator of the universe—you're connecting to this higher source. Prayer requires specific concentration from beginning to end, so you should be able to exert yourself spiritually and concentrate. If you want to work on your ability to earn more parnassah, there's a lot of stories about people who get special brachah in saying Birkat HaMazon for a longer period of time, with the... intense concentration. In fact, when people go to Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky and ask, "What should I do to earn more parnassah?" the first thing he's going to tell you is to spend more time on Birkat Hamazon. There's a connection, a pipeline, going from thanking Hashem—being grateful for His sustenance of you, as He created you and is sustaining you—and you thanking Him. Now, there's a theme that shows up in the Midrashim and the Halakhot that... Once somebody is no longer grateful, you are no longer obligated to go and help him. You don't have to spend any extra effort to help him out if he's not grateful. And it's very serious not to be grateful to Hashem for sustaining you. So birkat hamazon is a very, very special prayer. Rabbi Chizkiah in the Gemara and Rabbi Yaakov Bar-Acha were sitting outdoors in a certain place and Rabbi Yaakov Bar-Acha had with him some perutot. These are coins that are of very low value. The time of prayer arrived, and Rabbi Yaakov gave perutot to Rabbi Chizkiah. Rabbi Chizkiah tied one part to his belt, another part forming a pouch in which he placed the perutot, but the knot loosened and...
4:16So Birkat Hamazon is a very, very special prayer. Rabbi Heskia in the Gemara and Rabbi Yaakov Bar Acha were sitting outdoors in a certain place, and Rabbi Yaakov Bar Acha had with him some perutot. These are coins of very low value. The time for prayer arrived, and Rabbi Yaakov gave perutot to Rabbi Heskia. Rabbi Heskia tied one part to his belt, another part forming a pouch in which he placed the perutot, but the knot loosened and the perutot fell out, and they were lost. the paroches fell out and they were lost. And seeing that Rabbi Chizkiyahu felt guilty about the loss of Rabbi Yaakov's coins, Rabbi Yaakov said to him, "What more were you able to do?" He's basically saying that it's an ones, it's an unavoidable loss. This is really an idea that also shows the derech eretz, because you're concerned for your fellow Jew, for the quality of their prayer as well, and showing that you have to do things to try to give your fellow Jew a good feeling. You have to be concerned about the welfare of your brother Jew. You are required in the Torah to do it. And anyway, don't you want to live in the kind of society where we're all brothers and we're all looking out for each other?
5:24where we're all brothers and we're all looking out for each other. We're all trying to help each other out. Isn't that a more healthy civilization and society to be part of? And that's what Judaism promises when you follow the laws. When you go and you are Hareidi and you go and you live in a Hareidi neighborhood, that's what happens. Everybody looks out for everyone else. Everyone helps out everyone else, and you end up living in a more fulfilling life environment. You are part of the neighborhood, and you have this community to help you. You're part of a community, and you're looking out for other people's well-being, and they're looking out for you. And that's why it's so important to be careful who your neighbors are and to be careful who your friends are. And that's why it's so important to live in a Jewish neighborhood where people are observing the Halacha. The Gemara wants to continue. more fulfilling life environment, you are part of the neighborhood and you have this community to help you, and you're part of a community. You're looking out for other people's well-being, and they're looking out for you. That's why it's so important to be careful who your neighbors are and to be mindful of who your friends are. That's why it's so important to live in a Jewish neighborhood where people are observing halacha. The Gemara wants to continue. One of the workers in the Beit Hamikdash was carrying the purification waters, and the time came for saying the Shema. The halacha is that you're not allowed to divert your attention. And if you do divert your attention, it invalidates it, according to Rabbi Yochanan's opinion. If this process with the waters and the ashes wasn't done yet, and if you already had the intention to bring...
6:36the Terumot. coacheship that one of the requirements is that you have to maintain your intention. You have to guard it. Torah says you are to guard it. You have to be able to keep your attention on these things as well that have sanctity. You're not allowed to go and divert your attention from it. And if you do, then you can't use it anymore. So you have to really keep your head in the game. When you're a Jew, you have to keep your head in the game when you're praying. While you're saying the Shema, you have to really be focused. And why is that? Because our reason for existence is to make ourselves holy and is to be holy to Hashem. The only way to do that is to follow all of the halachot, follow the mitzvot, and keep the observance of the Torah. Once you achieve this level of holiness, the metaphysical experience that you are going to have in your lifetime is going to be truly transformative.
7:58Now you're gonna see completely new things in your lifetime. When you open up the Torah and read these amazing things that happen to all of the patriarchs and matriarchs, and the amazing things that happen to Moshe Rabbeinu, you can also see amazing things happen in your life. This is the guarantee to every Jew. This is not just for those people who lived in the times of our forefathers. This is for you, for you to be able to have as well. You are put here as a Jew. There is so much meaning to it, and everything that is promised to the patriarchs is promised to you. You can transform yourself by fully observing the halachot and the mitzvot, which allows you to start to transform yourself into being holy. tahor, what is impure and what is pure, so you can refine yourself and you can make yourself more holy. The best way to start is to begin learning and to concentrate more on your Shemoneh Esrei and your Shema. If you're not really doing those things today, you don't really understand the Shema; you don't really understand Shemoneh Esrei.
9:04...what it is for, so you can refine yourself and make yourself more holy. The best way to start is to begin learning today. Focus more on your Shemoneh Esrei and your Shema. If you're not really doing those things today, you probably don't fully understand the Shema, and you don't really understand the Shemoneh Esrei. That's okay. Go contact a Hareidi Orthodox rabbi and learn from them. They will guide you through it step by step, and you will start to see and experience the treasure that is available for you. Don't miss out on this opportunity in your lifetime. Have a great day.
