{"id":59301,"date":"2018-03-05T15:16:54","date_gmt":"2018-03-05T20:16:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?p=59301"},"modified":"2018-03-14T06:14:00","modified_gmt":"2018-03-14T11:14:00","slug":"prayer-become-dirty-word","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/prayer-become-dirty-word\/","title":{"rendered":"When Did \u201cPrayer\u201d Become a Dirty Word?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cThoughts and prayers\u201d are out of fashion. We first saw pushback to \u201cthoughts and prayers\u201d following the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting. It intensified in 2015, in the wake of the Paris and San Bernardino attacks. Following the recent Florida school shooting, the online community no longer has any patience whatsoever for \u201cthoughts and prayers.\u201d Initially, I found this understandable. When politicians tweeted \u201cthoughts and prayers\u201d to victims and their families, the public was responding by saying, \u201cWe don\u2019t want platitudes, we want action!\u201d At least, that&#8217;s how I understood it. Then Kevin Smith had a heart attack.<\/p>\n<p>Smith, the filmmaker behind <em>Clerks<\/em>, <em>Dogma<\/em>, <em>Yoga Hosers<\/em> and many other motion pictures, suffered a massive heart attack that almost killed him. In response, actor Chris Pratt (<em>Parks and Recreation<\/em>, <em>Guardians of the Galaxy<\/em>) took to Twitter to extend prayers. The Twitterati weren\u2019t having it. Responses included:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Doctors and nurses save lives, not prayer.<\/li>\n<li>There is NO proof there is a higher power. Zilch.<\/li>\n<li>We all know God isn\u2019t real.<\/li>\n<li>Praying is utterly worthless. Just an easy way to pat yourself on the back while making you warm and fuzzy inside by actually thinking your prayers affect the plan of a divine sky daddy that&#8217;s supposedly omnicient (sic) and omnipotent.<\/li>\n<li>Thank the surgeons and modern medicine. Your magical sky fairy had nothing to do with it I assure you.<\/li>\n<li>A claim that prayer heals is dangerous. It results in needless deaths every year around the globe.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In fairness, there were many who came to Pratt\u2019s defense, including screenwriter James Gunn (<em>Guardians of the Galaxy<\/em>), who wrote, \u201cThere is nothing wrong with sending someone positive thoughts &amp; prayers. But when this is coupled with inaction when action will benefit the situation, it\u2019s empty. \u2026 (N)o one expects Chris Pratt to shoulder doctors out of the way and perform heart surgery on Kevin Smith. Nor does Kevin need Chris to pay his medical bills. So I think his prayers are appreciated, and about all he can do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Gunn gets it. It\u2019s one thing to object to \u201cthoughts and prayers\u201d when it\u2019s in lieu of action. But if \u201cthoughts and prayers\u201d are all one has to offer, then objecting to it is nothing more than a mean-spirited attack on another person\u2019s faith.<\/p>\n<p>In Judaism, we have two concepts: <em>bitachon<\/em> (faith in God) and <em>hishtadlus<\/em> (human effort). Both are considered necessary, as we see in many places.<\/p>\n<p>The Talmud in tractate Brachos (35b) discusses the verse of <em>v\u2019asafta d\u2019ganecha<\/em> &#8211; \u201cyou will gather in your grain\u201d (Deut. 11:14). Rabbi Yishmael explains this verse to mean that one is expected to pursue a living in the normal manner, planting and harvesting his crops at the appropriate times. Rabbi Shimon disagrees. He maintains that those who dedicate themselves wholeheartedly to God will receive their sustenance without any effort of their own. The later sage Abaye observes that those who followed Rabbi Yishmael\u2019s approach \u2013 combining their own efforts with faith \u2013 were largely successful. Those who tried Rabbi Shimon\u2019s approach of faith alone tended not to succeed.<\/p>\n<p>Maimonides <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/torah\/halacha\/hashoneh-halachos-2-mishneh-torah\/94-torah-and-work\/\">codifies Rabbi Yishmael\u2019s approach<\/a>, saying that all Torah study must be accompanied by at least some work (Hilchos Talmud Torah 3:9) and that Torah study without work will ultimately be nullified and lead to sin (ibid., 3:10).<\/p>\n<p>Similarly, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/torah\/machshava\/the-god-papers\/ways-rely-upon-god\/\">the Chovos HaLevavos says<\/a> that the proper way to show our faith in God is to engage in the occupations He has provided us to the extent necessary to secure our livings. If God wants us to have more, He\u2019ll take care of it. Conversely, if no more has been decreed for a person, then no means in Heaven or on Earth could possibly secure it for him (Shaar HaBitachon Chapter 4).<\/p>\n<p>In the same chapter, the Chovos HaLevavos writes that when one needs something from another person, he should trust in God for it and consider the other person as God\u2019s delivery system, the way that a field is God\u2019s method for delivering crops to us. The ultimate success of any venture is up to God, not to a field or another human. And if someone wants to impede a plan that God has decided upon? Then \u201cnothing can prevent God from saving, by the many or the few\u201d (I Samuel 14:6).<\/p>\n<p>One more: Avos 2:16 tells us that we\u2019re not necessarily responsible to finish a task \u2013 such may not be within our control \u2013 but that doesn\u2019t exempt us from investing our best efforts in the attempt.<\/p>\n<p>So <em>hishtadlus<\/em> (human effort) is definitely necessary, but so is <em>bitachon<\/em> (faith). The Torah tells us (Exodus 21:18-19) that if one person injures another, the aggressor must pay for his victim\u2019s medical bills. Clearly, seeing a doctor is okay \u2013 that\u2019s <em>hishtadlus<\/em>. Nevertheless, King Asa was punished for relying on doctors <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/torah\/nach\/nach-yomi\/ii_chronicles_chapter_16\/\">to the exclusion of God<\/a> (II Chronicles 16:12). He gave it <em>hishtadlus<\/em> but he showed a lack of <em>bitachon. <\/em>Even Joseph was punished for a lack of faith when he relied on Pharaoh\u2019s wine steward to get him out of prison rather than on God.<\/p>\n<p><em>Hishtadlus<\/em> and <em>bitachon <\/em>go hand in hand. If someone says that \u201cthoughts and prayers\u201d are not enough, I\u2019ll be inclined to agree. \u201cThoughts and prayers\u201d are meant to be coupled with actions, whether that means working for a living, seeking medical attention or advocating for legislation. But if someone objects to \u201cthoughts and prayers\u201d <em>in addition<\/em> to action, or in a case where literally no action can be taken? That reveals a very different agenda.<\/p>\n<p>We believe in prayer. We also believe in action. And we absolutely need both. We are expected to invest our best efforts to effect positive change but we must also recognize that, ultimately, everything is up to God.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><em>The words of this author reflect his\/her own opinions and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Orthodox Union.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cThoughts and prayers\u201d are out of fashion. We first saw pushback to \u201cthoughts and prayers\u201d following the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting. It intensified in 2015, in the wake of the Paris and San Bernardino attacks. Following the recent Florida school shooting, the online community no longer has any patience whatsoever for \u201cthoughts and prayers.\u201d Initially,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":384,"featured_media":55226,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiration"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>When Did \u201cPrayer\u201d Become a Dirty Word? - OU Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Who could object to actor Chris Pratt offering his prayers when filmmaker Kevin Smith had a heart attack? 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You&#039;d be surprised. \u201cThoughts and prayers\u201d are out of fashion.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/prayer-become-dirty-word\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"OU Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-03-05T20:16:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-03-14T11:14:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Hospital-Patient.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1256\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"835\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rabbi Jack Abramowitz\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rabbi Jack Abramowitz\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/prayer-become-dirty-word\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/prayer-become-dirty-word\/\",\"name\":\"When Did \u201cPrayer\u201d Become a Dirty Word? - OU Life\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/prayer-become-dirty-word\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/prayer-become-dirty-word\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Hospital-Patient.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-03-05T20:16:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-03-14T11:14:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/50551cbad585e4b2a31b4b0227e06c1c\"},\"description\":\"Who could object to actor Chris Pratt offering his prayers when filmmaker Kevin Smith had a heart attack? 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