{"id":35376,"date":"2014-03-18T15:39:05","date_gmt":"2014-03-18T15:39:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?p=35376"},"modified":"2014-03-20T20:53:47","modified_gmt":"2014-03-20T20:53:47","slug":"quaint-prayer-makes-comeback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/quaint-prayer-makes-comeback\/","title":{"rendered":"A Quaint Prayer Makes a Comeback"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article was featured in Jewish Action Summer 2010<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Airplane<\/a><\/div>\n

As I looked out the window of the El Al jet, the plane was lifting off the runway. The fellow beside me was already snoring. A tall, denim-clad woman sprawled on the seat across the aisle watched with interest as I whipped out my siddur. When I began whispering Tefillat Haderech, she arched her eyebrows and asked aloud, \u201cDo you actually believe that if this plane goes down, you will survive because you said that\u2014and I will die because I didn\u2019t?\u201d Her smile was twisted in amused derision.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d I said, meeting her gaze. She rolled her eyes. \u201cTo be more precise, I believe that now that I\u2019ve said it, we\u2019ll both be safe because the plane won\u2019t go down at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHa! As if God is listening! Remind me to thank you when we reach New York.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is going to be some trip, I thought. Rip Van Winkle on one side of me, Spinoza on the other.<\/p>\n

There was a tap on my arm. \u201cYou\u2019re not like all the others,\u201d Spinoza intoned slowly. \u201cI like you\u2014or at least, I\u2019ll talk to you.\u201d Oh, goody.<\/p>\n

With that inauspicious opener, we began our trans-Atlantic discussion of prayer, what\u2019s wrong with Jewish society, what went wrong in her yeshivah education, all of her sins, and the immorality of buying leather goods. I have to admit that for a couple of women with totally opposite lifestyles, we hit it off.<\/p>\n

But her original question got me thinking. The wording of the prayer evokes quaint images of days long ago, when brigands roamed the high seas and bandits ruled the treacherous roads connecting oases. Travelers then were primitive and vulnerable, not civilized creatures with GPS, Wi-Fi and mezonot rolls.<\/p>\n

Who can deny that when we were kids, Tefillat Haderech was, at best, an afterthought? In Dad\u2019s Chevy, the invocation was to save us from flat tires, carsickness and drunk drivers. As an adult, I regarded it as nothing more than insurance against flight delays and losing our luggage.<\/p>\n

But over the last few years, the clock has turned back with alarming rapidity: our brief hiatus of safety is over, a mere blip on the screen of history. Gone are the days when we could skip merrily down the yellow brick road.<\/p>\n

Now, shocking headlines warn of bombers and pirates and cutthroats (Oh, my!) and every word of Tefillat Haderech jumps out at me with striking relevance. I\u2019ll be honest with you: As I make my way up the security line at the airport, my tendency is to eye my fellow passengers through a dark lens.<\/p>\n

\u201cDear God,\u201d I think furtively, \u201crescue us from the hand of every foe and ambush . . .\u201d Wait! What was that fellow slipping out of his pocket just now? Oh, it\u2019s a candy bar. Aha! Is it really a candy bar, or does it just look like a candy bar? He\u2019s eating it. Diabolically clever. \u201cSave us from robbers and wild animals . . .\u201d That woman with the bulging tote bag looks a little nervous to me; why does she keep checking her cell phone? And that character over there has a terrorist face if ever there were one\u2013oh, he\u2019s the pilot. A guy with a terrorist face is the pilot! Maybe he\u2019s just pretending to be the pilot. It\u2019s a fake uniform! He just smiled at me in a reassuring way. Smart. Very smart\u2013 thinks he\u2019ll throw me off his trail . . . Where is Security when you need it?<\/p>\n

I haven\u2019t gotten on the plane yet, and I\u2019ve said Tefillat Haderech six times. That\u2019s overkill, I chide myself, then cringe at the word. No need to panic. God will take care of the candyeater, the tote-bagger and the shifty pilot. I don\u2019t have to trust Security. I have my own protection. After all, isn\u2019t that what prayer is for? Why be afraid? Why worry?<\/p>\n

It occurs to me that it\u2019s time for Moshiach. Maybe even before this flight takes off. I calm myself reflecting that when he finally comes, a lot of people will be thrown out of work: first to go will be that beady-eyed girl with the clipboard at the El Al terminal (\u201cYou understend why I esk you ziss questions?\u201d); doctors will head for the nearest kollel; the entire military will retrain in driving tractors. When that big shofar blows, x-ray scanners will be cast aside and we will dance onto the planes taking us to Eretz Yisrael, as baggage handlers cheerfully, gently load our belongings aboard.<\/p>\n

No doubt, we will be hard-pressed trying to explain to our great-grandchildren about life in the Pre-Messianic Era. What it felt like to be on the lookout for danger; how we had to swear that we packed our luggage ourselves. I have a hunch, though, that in time we might have trouble remembering why we needed Tefillat Haderech and her sister, Birkat Hagomel. Someday\u2013 hopefully before my next trip\u2013 they will be outmoded relics of the past. And yes, I actually believe that.<\/p>\n

Charlotte Friedland is a former editor of Jewish Action and also served as a book editor at Mesorah Publications, Ltd. She currently has her own writing\/editing\/ consulting firm in Spring Valley, New York.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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