[Avodah] Mi Sheberach for a Non-Jew

[Micha Berger]

On Mon, September 3, 2007 9:47 pm, Meir Shinnar wrote:
: We are entitled to ask hashem.  We don't have the right to expect
: that our requests be granted...
: Your pshat is that the act of tefilla is a mitzva just like tzedaka -
: and therefore the two texts - both ba'avur she'anu mitpallelim and
: ba'avur she'eten tzedak - are congruent - but most understand ba'avur
: she'anu mitpallelim as reflecting the power of prayer - rather than
: just as a mitzva - and is therefore iyun tefilla.


I take it RMS's "most" are those who "asser". I fail to see, though,
why they interpret the phrase as they do. If "ba'avur she... notenim
tzedaqah" and "ba'avur she... mispallelim ba'adam" are used in the
same role, why would you think that they have a different dynamic?

I took it for granted that the "mispallelim ba'adam" was simply a
means of trying to get /some/ zekhus backing the tefillah even without
committing to spending money which may not be available.

And what about Unesaneh Tokef? Does "Utefillah ... ma'avirin es ro'ah
hagezeirah" escape similar criticism? If so, why? How about "Tefillah
le'ani ki ya'atof, velifnei H' yishpokh sikho"?

Tir'u baTov!
-mi

-- 
Micha Berger             Spirituality is like a bird: if you tighten
micha at aishdas.org        your grip on it, it chokes; slacken your grip,
http://www.aishdas.org   and it flies away.
Fax: (270) 514-1507                            - Rav Yisrael Salanter