Letter of Consolation: On Prayer

And one of the strongest means of union between man and his Creator is his being faithful to the obligation imposed upon him of praying three times every day, in the morning, out of gratitude to God for sending the dawn, in the midday, the time of the declining of the sun from the east to the west, and also at the end of the day. And of this we find traces since the existence of day and night. And our rabbis hand down traditions [b. Berakhot 26b] concerning the first fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that they used to offer up these three prayers. Our father Abraham (peace be with him) used to lay stress on the morning prayer. He watched for the coming out of the sun, and then placed himself before God, as it is said: And Abraham got up early in the morning (Genesis 19: 27). And Isaac laid stress on the afternoon prayer. He used to watch for the beginning of the seventh hour of the day in order to pray, as it is said: And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide (Genesis 24:63), and Jacob laid stress on the evening prayer, when the stars appeared, as it is said: And he lighted on a certain place and tarried there all night (Genesis 28:11). But still all of them offered up the three prayers, for although every good man performs all the commandments of God, there is still some one upon which he lays special stress; Abraham laid special stress on the morning prayer because he was the first of the true believers, and because it was he who, as giver of light to the world, and Mahdi [anointed one], was the means of bringing the dawn. And Isaac, the second of God’s messengers, laid stress on the second prayer, and Jacob the third, on the third; and the pious of our faith never neglect the three prayers, and he who is good prays the three, or two, or one, at least, as it happens to him, but no one ever desists altogether from uttering prayer, and when David knew the excellence of prayer, he described himself and those who, like him, were diligent in prayer, seldom neglecting it, as follows: Evening and morning, and at noonday will I complain (Psalms 55:18). And Daniel (peace be with him) describes his own laying stress on these three prayers, when he says: And he kneeled upon his knees three times a day and prayed (Daniel 6:11), and he risked his life by praying when the Persians and the Medes prohibited all prayers on his account, hoping that he would fall, and he did fall, but God did not allow any harm to come to him. The king had given orders that none should pray for thirty days, but that all should implore aid morning and evening from the king not from a god, and not from Allah [i.e., the God of Israel], and Daniel risked his life and prayed in accordance with his wont. [ . . . ]

And when prayer was in this state, the three later prophets, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi (peace be with them), with a hundred and twenty elders, arranged for us a prayer, in which the learned and the ignorant might be equal, the learned adding nothing to it, the unlearned omitting nothing from it, and this prayer is the “eighteen blessings” [i.e., the Amidah]; but this prayer is arranged for those who are in a condition of safety, but as for times and places of danger, they also arranged a short prayer that men might not be left without prayer entirely, and they made a difference between this latter prayer and the “eighteen blessings.” The latter prayer is to be prayed towards the qibla [i.e., the direction of prayer, toward Jerusalem], while the worshipper is standing, or sitting if there be an excuse to do so; and with regard to the shorter prayer, it is to be prayed in places of danger, whether the worshipper is standing, sitting, or walking, and towards any qibla, and this prayer may be uttered at any one of the fixed times; but should the worshipper arrive at a place of safety, having uttered the prayer three times, he need only repeat the evening prayer, not those of the morning or afternoon; and if he reaches a place of safety in time for afternoon prayer, he should say that prayer before saying the “eighteen blessings” of the morning service. And he who does not know the whole prayer should pray the abridged one at the appointed time, and not remain without prayer altogether, for those who do not join the practice of prayer and those who separate themselves from religion altogether are alike.

Moreover, he who stands up to pray without knowing what he says does not pray at all. The only recognized prayer is that which our holy men composed, namely, namely., the “eighteen blessings” for those who understand, or the abridged prayer for those who do not understand, or the still more abridged one. And he who is able should utter the abridged prayer in Hebrew, as follows, the whole first part “O Lord, open thou my lips,” till the end of “And thou art holy,” and the last three blessings in full, but the middle blessings abridged, after the following reading of our rabbis [see b. Berakhot 29a]. [ . . . ]

This is sufficient in time of necessity as a substitute for “And You graciously bestow knowledge,” and the following blessings, and it may be uttered by the worshipper whether standing or sitting, if there be an excuse to sit, but there is a still more abridged prayer for times of pressing danger in the well-known words of our rabbis [see b. Berakhot 29b]. If we utter this prayer, we need not repeat either the first three or the last three blessings, and he who does not know it in Hebrew may pray it in Arabic, and such prayer is sufficient for him, because prayer is permissible in any language, especially if the contents of the prayer are those prescribed by our rabbis but translated into Arabic. But to pray in Arabic without regard to the ideas prescribed by our rabbis is not permissible. [ . . . ]

And this is the context of the prayer of which we have already spoken as being permissible in times of danger, “O God, our God, and the God of our fathers, behold You know that our desires are great, and our speech is scanty. May it be Your will, O God, to grant to each one of us our due necessities and provide our bodies with sustenance and accept our prayer, for it is You who accepts prayer. May Your great name be blessed.” This is sufficient for him who is ignorant, so that he may not remain regularly without prayer. In the sight of God there is nothing more powerful than prayer, for when the intention of a man is sincere, the heart pure, believing in God and his apostle, then his faith is sound, his belief correct, and he finds favor in the sight of God, and God averts from him misfortunes, and he obtains mercy from God, and consolation, and his end is assured him, and he escapes from the fire, and he is worthy of resurrection and the obtaining of a reward, and the beholding of divinely promised bliss. And this is true even if he were one who could not read and was ignorant.