Tefillah Blog

Ushpizin

This week we were supposed to watch the first half of the Hebrew film Ushpizin (Aramaic for "guests") as a way to look at attitudes towards prayer and God.

Some background about the context.

The main characters are Chasidic Jews of the Breslov community. The Breslov Jews are known for their diversity and many members who are hozer b'teshuvah ( חוזר בתשובה  - those who have become observant/returned to traditional Judaism) as opposed to other groups that have many frum (having led pious lives). This community is also well represented in the film by the heavy "foreign" accents in the characters' Hebrew. The more numerous Chabad Jews around the world are members of the Lubavitch community. Many of the Chasidic movements are considered both charismatic and embracing mysticism. Some like the Satmar Chasids are anti-Zionist.

The setting represented in the film is that of an Ultra Orthodox Jerusalem neighborhood which are known for little tolerance of secular/profane behavior.

The antagonists may come across as cartoonish but are easily recognizable as tshach-tshach-im (hard to translate perhaps "low lifes"). These characters have some depth and from my own past experiences mirror reality very well.

Key Points in the first part of the film:

• 00:00 Moshe is revealed as a poor married Chasid who can not afford to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles, Sukkot, which is about to begin. He notices a $250 Citron which is well beyond his means.
• 00:06 We are introduced to two criminals, Eliyahu and Yossef, who are escaped convicts on the run.We also learn of the desperation of Moshe and Malli in poverty and in childlessness turning to argumentativeness.
• 00:12 Moshe and his wife Malli are so desperate that they our out their hearts to God and pray (petition God) for a miracle. Is it answered prayer when they receive $1000 and another's Sukkah?
• 00:18 We see their joy and celebration with praise and thanksgiving to God. Moshe dutifully tithes 10% to a friend in need.
• 00:24 With all of these blessings why do they suddenly discover some "flies in the ointment"? The convicts are headed their way, is the sukkah stolen, is the purchase of the citron exorbitant (what does the citron represent?), is the purchase of a pair of nice earrings responsible? There is seeking forgiveness for the stolen sukkah.
• 00:30 The convicts arrive and they are considered a sign from God as the Ushpizin and are begged to stay. Why is this considered a mitzvah? What would you do in their position?
• 00:35 During the first dinner in their Sukkah we start to see the depth of the characters. We see how they deal with temptation, we understand how childlessness is straining the couple, we see doubt and deep seated anger revealed. This couple appears less religious and more human.
• 00:41 We question whether these Ushpizin are really sent from God - they certainly don't act Holy. We see heavy drinking and an urge to fight in Moshe. (Stop at 00:46)

We go from answered pray to things falling apart rather quickly. Instead of stereotypical characters we see authentic people struggling to hold on to their beliefs when challenged. One might ask, 'with blessings like this who needs them?' Next week we will see the crisises compound themselves until people are pretty raw and how we find resolution.

Worship

Our first class focused on the topic of worship or avodah עֲבוֹדָה in Hebrew in which prayer is a prime component. In modern usage avodah is considered the prayer service.

The Hebrew language is based on a thousand or so three letter roots which make up the majority of the ancient language. In this case the root for worship (A-V-D) can be translated as 'work'. It is helpful to think that Hebrew worship was not so much a concept of thinking but of doing.

Modern day worship is considered a substitute for the Temple sacrificial system (having ended around 1900 years ago). With the Babylonian captivity (around 2600 years ago) exiled Jewish people created a system (precursor of the synagogue) that substituted for the Temple centered services. Different modern day Jewish practices regard Temple worship with different perspectives. Reform Judaism rejects the sacrificial system and has removed certain traditional prayers seeking a return to those practices. Conservative Judaism reminisces about the services of the past and Chasidic Judaism yearns and stresses a return to Temple service.

The heart of the Jewish liturgy is embodied in the Siddur or Jewish prayerbook which has evolved over thousands of years. Originally the concept of codifying the prayers into a fixed format was rejected by Jewish sages but over time accepted in the principle of keva. This is balanced by the personal expression of spontaneity and heart felt devotion called kavanah.

The Jewish word for prayer is tefillah or תְּפִלָּה  which may come from a root meaning to fall down or be overtaken (N-P-L). The verb to pray is hitpallel or הִתְפַּלֵּל  which is to literally 'judge oneself'.

Four types of prayer are:

• Petitionary (generally asking for something)
• Thanksgiving
• Praise
• Seeking forgiveness

Jewish thought considers some prayers to be vain and prohibited such as those that benefit an individual to the harm of the community. Indeed in class we reviewed the story of Bil'am (Numbers 22-24) to discuss the power of prayer or curses. We find in this story the origin of Mah Tovu (Num 24:5) which is traditionally recited upon entering a synagogue. This blessing was supposed to be a curse upon the Jewish nation.

We also discussed the word blessing which is bracha or בְּרָכָה in Hebrew. Its root (B-R-C) literally means knee. Although it is no longer a practice to kneel in Jewish prayer the connection is obvious when you consider the way one would approach a king. (Prostrating oneself is also rare and reserved for one service during the Day of Atonement.) 

Our first class also included my donning a Jewish prayer shawl (tallit), singing to Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach's singing of Pischu Li and our dancing to Matisyahu's Tzama L'Chol Nafshi and Got No Water as a way to appreciate different ways to worship.

The next few classes will gently consider the spiritual aspects of our existence.

Then the remainder of this course is going to focus on Jewish liturgy as a guide to developing our communication with God.

To find Hebrew language roots and a decent online Hebrew English dictionary go to Maskilon.