Peacefulpete:
Another interesting parallel is the Jesuine line...
Interestingly, the Jesuine caution seems to parallel the intentionality if the Mishna.
I think we might have to thank the Watchtower for a little confusion going on here.
“Ask and ye shall receive.”--Luke 11:9.
"You cannot ask God for a parking spot."--My rabbi.
If you ask any of Jehovah's Witnesses or exJWs to draw a straight line between the two of these, using reason, to make the two meet, they likely could not do so.
When I wrote that many Jews do not think that God listens to prayer, this might sound odd to the mind of a JW or a former JW. I tend to forget who I am talking to.
I did not write that "God does not wish to listen to" or "God cannot" or "God will not" or "God is incapable" or anything along those lines.
When I wrote what I did about why and how Jews prayed, I tried very careful to remind readers that the English word for prayer did not necessarily mean "worship" or "ask." It could include these terms, but only when these specifically addressed these subjects within Jewish t'filah. We are only using the word "prayer," because that is the English word, and we are speaking English here.
There is a lot to be desired that will escape the mind for Jehovah's Witnesses and exJWs when the subject of Jewish prayer comes up--even Catholic and Protestant prayer--because it is what is known as liturgical prayer.
Liturgy is something so foreign to the experience of Jehovah's Witnesses that you might us well just die now and be reborn as Buddhist monks who undergo gender reassignment and then became figure skaters for a living who sell hotdogs on street corner during the off-season. Sounds very weird, but that is how different "liturgy" is to the Jehovah's Witness religious experience.
And yet "liturgical prayer" is so central to Judaism and Christianity, especially first-century Christianity. The liturgy was totally wiped away from the Second Great Awakening as "evil" due to its connection with the Catholic Church, even though its connection goes back to the Jewish Temple.
The Liturgy is an order, simply put, set to the hours of the day, when the Great Sacrifices would occur upon the Altar, namely Morning, Noon, and Night. The Great Thanksgiving would occur at each, and in fact, the Greek word for this expression is "Eucharist," which is what the prayer for the "Offering of Thanksgiving" for the Bread and Wine during Mass is called. This prayer comes from the Jewish Siddur, the HaMotzi: "Blessed are you, Lord our God, Sovereign of the Universe, who brings forth bread from the earth."
When the Talmud is describing the recitation of the Shema, it is talking about learning from what you are saying. This is similar to catechesis in Catholic liturgical prayer, such as what occurs when the Apostles' Creed is prayed. Both "prayers" are central to belief within the Liturgy in the services of either faith and yet neither are actually prayers.
The Shema is:
Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.
And the Creed is:
I believe in God,
the Father almighty,
Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died and was buried;
he descended into hell;
on the third day he rose again from the dead;
he ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty;
from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting.
Amen.
Neither is a "prayer" in the "Watchtower" sense of the word. But they are in the Catholic and Jewish sense. In fact, they are the most important of prayers to these services. While saying the Shema, Jews cover their eyes so they can pay attention to the words (which they say in Hebrew) and pay attention to the words. In Catholicism, they stand erect and face the central crucifix over the altar and say the words in unison.
The verse from Matthew 6:7, the so-called "Jesuine line" is actually a request to not pray as "the pagans" or "Gentiles." How? Jesus described it as "repetitive" or "babbling." Academics and scholars point to the lists of divine names of deities from different languages transliterated to resemble other tongues to help those who did not speak the native tongue of the deity to hopefully get the pronunciation "just right." It was the hope that by uttering of the many "names" on the list, a petitioner would get at least one of the pronunciations right and somehow get their petition heard. Jesus said such babbling or repetitions were not needed.
This is similar to the Jewish and Catholic form of prayer today. God is "omnipresent" or merely "is." God doesn't "listen." The prayers of people do not float off into the air or space. These words of "creeds" or the Shema actually instruct the listener. They do not teach God what to believe. That is ridiculous.
One does not need to utter a divine name, as if they exact use or pronunciation of a name is needed before God would "wake up" and respond. God does not respond to name or come calling like a pet dog or a genie in a bottle. (This is what Mishnah B 4.4 was getting at.) God doesn't respond to the clap of hands or dances for coin. God doesn't "have" to "listen."
The prayers of Jehovah's Witnesses are based on a different view, namely on a deity that hears and responds, that comes when asked, and the only pays attention if the right name is used, pays attention only to special people, and that gives out party favors, like the Wizard of Oz and the end of the original MGM movie. It's "trick or treat" with Jehovah of the Watchtower.
