Reorganizing the Letters of Reality: A Mystical and Chassidic Approach to Prayer, with Rabbi Dovid'l Weinberg (221)

Orthodox Conundrum

One of the beautiful aspects of Torah Judaism is its insistence on eilu v’eilu divrei Elokim chayim - that two different and even potentially contradictory approaches can both represent the words of the living God. Opening our minds to differing ways of seeing Torah - that, in the words of many ancient texts, there are seventy facets to the Torah, and accordingly endless ways of explaining its ideas - is not merely a theological truth, but also a mandate. By accepting that, in the words of Rav Soloveitchik, “The white light of divinity is always refracted through reality’s ‘dome of many-colored glass,’” we demonstrate the greatness of Torah. In contrast, when we insist that there is only one appropriate way to understand Judaism, we make Torah, Judaism, and even God smaller than they really are.

Last week, Scott was honored to interview Rabbi Dr. Raphael Zarum, Dean of the London School of Jewish Studies, to discuss what happens when we pray. The conversation was fascinating and inspiring, and many people reached out to complement Rabbi Zarum on his meaningful and clear presentation.

With that in mind, we were excited to record a follow-up episode that offers a different perspective on Jewish prayer. Rabbi Zarum's approach broadly fits within the rationalist tradition of Judaism; his theology is clearly and openly influenced by Maimonides. Scott's guest today, Rabbi Dovid’l Weinberg, has a more mystical, Kabbalistic, and Chassidic point of view. Dovid’l talked about many aspects of prayer, including the fascinating idea that just as God used, according to the Kabbalists, the Hebrew letters in order to create and sustain the universe, those who really know how to pray correctly use those same letters to reorganize the world into something different. That was only one idea among the many concepts, both theoretical and extremely personal, that Dovid’l presented.

We hope that by learning about two different yet complementary approaches to tefilah, you will gain a greater appreciation for what prayer is and can be, and perhaps even start to develop your own unique approach that offers you even greater spiritual sustenance.

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