Exercising Will and Imagination But there is even more to tefillah. To understand the deeper significance of Jewish prayer, we need to examine the way in which its Hebrew root—pallel—is used in the Torah. It first appears in the story of Yaakov and his son Yosef. When Yaakov was nearing his death, Yosef asked his father to bless his two children. Yaakov responded, “I never pilalti that I would see your face again, but God has allowed me also to see the face of your children.” From this verse we can generally understand the word pilalti to mean “I never hoped…” or “I never dreamed…” or “I never imagined…” The great 11th century Torah commentator Rashi reads Yaakov’s words as saying, “I never filled my heart to think the thoughts …” Based on this interpretation, l’hitpallel (“to pray”) actually means to actively and intentionally fill our hearts to think the thought, dream the dream and envision what we want to see happen in our life and in the world. L’hitpallel is an exercise of will, imagination and vision. Through tefillah, we are trying to align our will and vision with God’s will and vision. In fact, the cantor or leader of communal prayer is called in Hebrew a chazzan, a word which is derived from the word chazon literally meaning “vision.” His job is to lead us in a communal exercise whose goal is to channel God’s will and vision, and in so doing, receive His blessings rather then shut them out of our lives. God is constantly showering us with abundant blessings. Our problem is that we block them out through our poor attitudes and misdeeds. Like a cloud that blocks sunlight from warming our faces, we block God’s blessings from penetrating our lives. For example, God is constantly sending us healing and health. When we pray, we acknowledge this hidden truth and actively fill our hearts with visions and longings for health. Through increased awareness of God’s bountiful presence and overflowing benevolence we become receptive to His blessings for wellness and allow them to pour into our lives. Therefore, when we finish our tefillah, we must ask ourselves not whether God heard our tefillah, but whether we heard it ourselves. Did it impact and change us? Do we feel closer to God? Are we more aware and receptive to His loving presence and abundant blessings in our lives? For this reason, Jewish law requires that we must hear the words of prayer. Even though the Amidah is referred to as the “silent” prayer, it is not really silent. We are supposed to enunciate the words in a quiet whisper, audible only to ourselves.