The Hasidic Parable

Beyond Request

Beyond Request parable of one who deeply desired to speak with the king, his heart burning with that wish.... And it happened that the king decreed that he would fulfill any request made of him. But when this person, who so desired to speak with the king, approached to make his request, he feared lest the king might actually grant him his request For then he would lack nothing, in which case what reason would he have to speak with the king? And for this reason he actually preferred that the king not grant his request, so that he would have reason to continue to corne before the king and speak with him. And this is the meaning of the verse: "The entire prayer of the afflicted person is that he be able to pour out his heart before the Lord" (the homilist's reading of Ps. 102:1). (DegeJ mabane E/rayimY The above parable, related by Moshe Hayyim Efrayim of Sedilikov, a grandson of the Baal Shem Tov, raises a question concerning petitionary prayer-prayer in the form of a request. The school of the Maggid of Mezherich2 taught emphatically that the essence of prayer is not making a request, and if a request is made, it is at most but an occasion for prayer, an excuse to speak with God. The act of making a connection with God far surpasses any request and paradoxically includes all 41 Beyond Request parable of one who deeply desired to speal~ with the l~ing, his heart burning with that wish.... And it happened that the l~ing decreed that he would fulfill any request made of him. But when this person, who so desired to speal~ with the l~ing, approached to mal~e his request, he feared lest the l~ing might actually grant him his request. For then he would lacl~ nothing, in which case what reason would he have to speal~ with the l~ing? And for this reason he actually preferred that the l~ing not grant his request, so that he would have reason to continue to come before the l~ing and speal~ with him. And this is the meaning of the verse: liThe entire prayer of the afflicted person is that he be able to pour out his heart before the Lord" (the homilist's reading of Ps. 102:1). (Degel mabane E/rayimY The above parable, related by Moshe Hayyim Efrayim of Sedilikov, a grandson of the Baal Shem Tov, raises a question concerning petitionary prayer-prayer in the form of a request. The school of the Maggid of Mezherich2 taught emphatically that the essence of prayer is not making a request, and if a request is made, it is at most but an occasion for prayer, an excuse to speak with God. The act of making a connection with God far surpasses any request and paradoxically includes all 41 42 THE ttAflDIC PA~ABLE requests. "An unanswered prayer," said Efrayim of Sedilikov, "is a thing of joy." While for Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav, petitioning God for one's needs exemplifies a simplicity and directness in prayer,3 others, including the Maggid, understood prayer as a liberation from and transcendence of self and its concerns, an emptying of all consciousness of self. Efrayim's parable is based upon a contradiction between the supplicant 's stated request and his real request. As in relationships between human beings, friends cherish one another not for the tangible benefits they receive from each other but rather because of the ongoing contact and communication built into the friendship. Personness takes precedence over thingness. In his homily containing this parable, Efrayim of Sedilikov was seeking to understand a version of the familiar saying of Antigonus of Sokho found in the Mishnah: "Do not be as servants who serve their master in order to receive a reward, but rather be like servants who serve the master not in order to receive a reward.,,4 The hasidic homilist cited a different version of that mishnaic saying: "Be like servants who serve their master on condition that they not receive a reward." Efrayim of Sedilikov quoted his grandfather the Baal Shem Tov to explain that both versions are correct but that they represent two different levels, with the latter higher than the former. The parable exemplifies that paradoxical second version in which the servant does his work precisely in order not to receive a reward! Reward, it was felt, impugns both...