We Are So Much More Than We Ever Imagined

After 22 years of absence, Jacob had believed that Joseph was dead. When they are reunited in Egypt in parshas Vayechi, an overjoyed Jacob says to his son, “רְאֹה פָנֶיךָ לֹא פִלָּלְתִּי וְהִנֵּה הֶרְאָה אֹתִי א-לֹהִים גַּם אֶת־זַרְעֶךָ/R’oh panecha lo PILLALti, v’hinei her’ah oti E-lohim/I had not IMAGINED to see your face, and behold G-d has shown me your children as well” (Genesis 48:11).

The word “פלל/pillel” in this verse means “to imagine,” and this is the same root as the word “להתפלל/l’hitpallel,” which means “to pray.” As Rabbi YY Jacobson points out, this provides us a fascinating insight into the concept of prayer. On the simple level, prayer is considered the requesting of one’s needs. On a deeper level, we pray three times daily in order to temporarily shut out the distractions of the world and reconnect to our ultimate divine reality. But as “להתפלל/l’hitpallel” is the reflexive form of the word “to imagine,” we come to understand prayer as the daily process of “re-imagining” one’s being.

In spite of the way we may conceive of our lives in this bounded and limited reality, prayer is the opportunity to envision our authentic and ultimate essence. It is the practice of pulling back the curtain and seeing ourselves the way that God sees us.

When we are cognizant of our Godly core and our infinite potential, we can reimagine our existence and effectuate a more optimal reality. In this way, prayer seeks to change the world not simply by pleading for God’s assistance, but by perceiving our true nature and thereby visualizing, designing, and actualizing the future that we desire and deserve.

—

Pnei Hashem is an introduction to the deepest depths of the human experience based on the esoteric teachings of Torah.  www.pneihashem.com