Shemoneh Esrei 4: Does Hashem Need Our Praise?
The Shemoneh Esrei is divided into three sections. In the first three brachos, we praise Hashem. In the middle brachos, we make our requests; and in the last three, we thank Hashem.
Clearly, Hashem does not need our praises, and the purpose of praising Hashem is not to “butter Him up” so that we can have a better chance to have our requests granted. What then is the purpose of these first three brachos?
The Rashba1 explains the intent of the first three brachos: One who is contemplating making a request of someone typically asks himself three questions prior to the request:
1. Does he owe me anything?
2. Does he have the ability to grant my request?
3. Is he the only one who can grant my request?
These first three brachos demonstrate that:
A) Hashem owes us nothing. Hashem is “גומל חסדים טובים” – which means He bestows chesed upon us even if we are undeserving.
B) He is All-Capable (“כל יכול”). The second brachah of “גבורות” demonstrates clearly that Hashem is a “Kol Yachol” – nothing is beyond His abilities, including reviving the deceased.
C) There is no other independent power (“אין עוד מלבדו”). In the third brachah (“אתה קדוש”), we focus on Hashem being מוקדש (mukdash) and מובדל מכל (muvdal mi’kol) – “separate and distinct from all.”
Through these three brachos, we have reminded ourselves that, though we are undeserving, we are standing before the only one Who can, and Who wants to, answer all of our requests and provide all of our needs. Why is this understanding through praising Hashem so important before we make our requests? The Ralbag2 teaches that it is precisely through praising Hashem that we become more “davuk” (attached) with Him. This in turn results in a greater possibility that our requests will be heard. Combining the Rashba and Ralbag, we can understand the increased closeness that results from our total dependence on Hashem, realized through recognizing that He owes me nothing, He is All-Capable, and there is no other power that can help me. It is now clear that beginning the Shemoneh Esrei with praise is for our benefit.
The Chovos HaL’vavos similarly explains that the humility of recognizing that we are totally dependent on Hashem leads to closeness with Him and elevates our nefesh to our Creator. This closeness results from the shevach (the first three brachos) and hodaah (the last three brachos) sections of our Shemoneh Esrei. The Chovos HaL’vavos is teaching us that we are the ones who benefit from these two sections of Shemoneh Esrei. Praising Hashem and thanking Him leads us to humility, which leads to dveikus (closeness to Hashem), which results in the elevation of our nefesh. This is the very essence of tefilah. Based on the Chovos HaL’vavos, we can see that the first three brachos are not simply an introduction to our requests, but are in reality an integral part of the essence of tefilah.
The same is true for the last three brachos. We thank Hashem not for fulfilling our needs, but for granting us once again this recognition that we are completely dependent on Him, thereby getting closer to Him, which is the purpose of tefilah.
Perhaps we are starting to gain a deeper appreciation of why we should aim to enthusiastically look forward to our next tefilah, instead of viewing it as a mandatory action we must perform.
1 Rashba, Peirushei HaHagados, B’rachos 32a
2 Ralbag, in Shmuel 2:22, quoted in the sefer Nafshi Cholas Ahavasecha