Do Jews Kneel in Prayer?
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Question:
I was given no formal education of my Jewish heritage, but I’m told that Jews are instructed not to kneel when we worship. Is this correct? If so, what is this instruction about?
Answer:
Throughout the Bible, we find bowing and kneeling as part of prayer, and this was indeed the practice in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. There are several reasons, however, why we do not kneel when we worship today.
The Bible states, in Leviticus 26:1, “Nor shall you install a kneeling-stone in your land, to bow down upon it.” Idol-worshipers often placed a special stone before their idol and then used it to kneel upon while they prayed to their idols. The above verse forbids prostrating yourself flat-out on a stone floor, even if you are worshiping the One G‑d. Our Sages extended this prohibition to include kneeling.1
However, the Code of Jewish Law states that if you put an intervening substance between your knees and the stone floor, then it is permitted to kneel.2 Therefore, on Yom Kippur, when we do kneel and bow down with our faces to the floor, people bring towels to kneel on, since many synagogues (especially in Israel) have stone or tile floors.
When it comes to daily prayers, however, we are concerned about transgressing this prohibition and therefore do not kneel in prayer.
Additionally, according to the Talmud, a person of holiness and stature is discouraged from kneeling in his prayers unless he is sure that his prayers will be answered. If such a person were to kneel in his prayers, and his prayers were not accepted, it would seem, in the eyes of the masses, as if G‑d were unfair and unjust, while truly it is just we who cannot understand His ways.3
Please let me know if this helps.
Rabbi Baruch S. Davidson
Ask the Rabbi @ The Judaism Website Chabad.org
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- Prayer (1075)
Skokie
Regarding Talmud study Brachot 10b.4-11a.1
I was taught that in accordance with Sefer Yetzirah, that as the world was created with 32 utterances of Elokim, we as minority partners in creation, are connecting with that energy when the human spine (which is composed of thirty-two vertebrae) is straightened (as we straighten the world by putting holiness into the mundane). Thus our vertebrae must be straight when we say the shema. As well, the pronounciation of echad as "echadth" (Yeminite), we also properly align the 32 teeth we have. Thus, as I was taught, extending our days by extending the echa"dth" (Berachot 13b).
Moreover, since when have we Jews lacked the emunah to act in a manner consistent with the presumption our prayers will be accepted? Is this not in great portion the very "Joy of Yom Kippur"?
A modest Jew
Albany
Boca Raton FL
Iteland
Alabama
יא וְדָנִיֵּאל כְּדִי יְדַע דִּי-רְשִׁים כְּתָבָא, עַל לְבַיְתֵהּ, וְכַוִּין פְּתִיחָן לֵהּ בְּעִלִּיתֵהּ, נֶגֶד יְרוּשְׁלֶם; וְזִמְנִין תְּלָתָה בְיוֹמָא הוּא בָּרֵךְ עַל-בִּרְכוֹהִי, וּמְצַלֵּא וּמוֹדֵא קֳדָם אֱלָהֵהּ, כָּל-קֳבֵל דִּי-הֲוָא עָבֵד, מִן-קַדְמַת דְּנָה. {ס} 11 And when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house--now his windows were open in his upper chamber toward Jerusalem--and he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime. {S}
יב אֱדַיִן גֻּבְרַיָּא אִלֵּךְ, הַרְגִּשׁוּ, וְהַשְׁכַּחוּ, לְדָנִיֵּאל--בָּעֵה וּמִתְחַנַּן, קֳדָם אֱלָהֵהּ. 12 Then these men came tumultuously, and found Daniel making petition and supplication before his God.
Hermosa Beach
Joe: While prostrating may have been common even among Jews at one point in time, today it is limited for the most part only to certain point in the Rosh Hashana Yom Kippur prayers. Why some Jews say they have never seen this is merely a question about their attendance at an observant synagogue on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.
Thereafter
That's one of the reasons the Koran is prohibited from any translation.
Prostrating to G-d, should be normal practice for all humanity that believes in the Thereafter.
Whats make me wonder is how come some Jews say they do prostrate some times, while other Jews say they have never seen any Jew prostrating.
San Diego