When his sister Miriam was stricken with leprosy, Moses beseeched God to heal her with a remarkably terse prayer: "Please, God! Please heal her." (Numbers 12:13)
The Talmud (Brachot 34) took note of the unusual brevity of this prayer in the following story:
Once, a student lead the prayers in Rabbi Eliezer's house of study, and his prayers were particularly lengthy. The other students complained, "Master, how slow this fellow is!"
Rabbi Eliezer responded to them, "He is no slower than Moses, who pleaded on behalf of the Jewish people [after the sin of the Golden Calf] for forty days and forty nights."
On another occasion, a different student led the prayers. This student read the prayers quickly. The other students complained, "How hasty this fellow is!"
This time, Rabbi Eliezer replied, "He is no hastier than Moses, who pleaded for his sister's recovery with a few short words."
What determined the length of Moses' prayers? Why did his own sister merit only a brief, one-line prayer?
Prayer serves two purposes. The first function is to refine character traits and elevate understanding - of the person praying, or of those for whom the prayer is said. This type of prayer requires tenacity and perseverance. True changes in flawed personality traits entail extended effort. They take place gradually over time.
Thus, when praying for the Jewish people, Moses needed to pray for forty days. What is the significance of this length of time? Forty days is the time it takes for an embryo to develop limbs and become recognizable as a human fetus. The forty days of Moses' prayer indicates a rebirth of the Jewish people, with a new heart and spirit.
There is, however, a second function of prayer. Sometimes the inner emotions have already been properly refined and purified. The prayer only needs to verbalize that which already exists in the inner soul. In such cases, an extended prayer is unnecessary. Even a brief prayer may express many holy feelings. In the case of Miriam, she had already conceded her mistake. Her healing, both physical and spiritual, required only a short, simple prayer.
[Based on Ein Aya, vol. I, p. 163]
The Talmud (Brachot 34) took note of the unusual brevity of this prayer in the following story:
Once, a student lead the prayers in Rabbi Eliezer's house of study, and his prayers were particularly lengthy. The other students complained, "Master, how slow this fellow is!"
Rabbi Eliezer responded to them, "He is no slower than Moses, who pleaded on behalf of the Jewish people [after the sin of the Golden Calf] for forty days and forty nights."
On another occasion, a different student led the prayers. This student read the prayers quickly. The other students complained, "How hasty this fellow is!"
This time, Rabbi Eliezer replied, "He is no hastier than Moses, who pleaded for his sister's recovery with a few short words."
What determined the length of Moses' prayers? Why did his own sister merit only a brief, one-line prayer?
Prayer serves two purposes. The first function is to refine character traits and elevate understanding - of the person praying, or of those for whom the prayer is said. This type of prayer requires tenacity and perseverance. True changes in flawed personality traits entail extended effort. They take place gradually over time.
Thus, when praying for the Jewish people, Moses needed to pray for forty days. What is the significance of this length of time? Forty days is the time it takes for an embryo to develop limbs and become recognizable as a human fetus. The forty days of Moses' prayer indicates a rebirth of the Jewish people, with a new heart and spirit.
There is, however, a second function of prayer. Sometimes the inner emotions have already been properly refined and purified. The prayer only needs to verbalize that which already exists in the inner soul. In such cases, an extended prayer is unnecessary. Even a brief prayer may express many holy feelings. In the case of Miriam, she had already conceded her mistake. Her healing, both physical and spiritual, required only a short, simple prayer.
[Based on Ein Aya, vol. I, p. 163]