I feel very fortunate: A dear childhood friend has gifted me with a
joint, weeklong pilgrimage to Eastern Europe; it's a journey to Holy
Sites, primarily praying at the resting places of reknowned Chassidic
Masters.
Now, I know that sincere prayer can be effective anywhere, even in
one's living room; we're never out of G-d's 'earshot'.
So why am I here in Rostov, Russia as I write these words?
Effective Prayer is a bit of an art form. To find a sense of
self-awareness, and the connection of self with the Divine, one needs
to cut through one's internal static, the sense of distractedness and
self-absorption that comes with life.
In order to truly pray, you need to get into a 'zone', and that's not
as easy as it sounds.
While Jewish Law advances the synagogue and prayer group (Minyan) as
our prescribed - effective - setting for Prayer, our Sages also
suggest that periodic visits to a cemetery are advisable.
Why?
A. A cemetery - with its clear message of human mortaility - is
conducive to a sober, self-reflective attitude.It helps dispel the
trivialities which cloud the mind and allow for crystallization of
life's priorities.
B.This sense of focus is often amplified when one is visiting the
gravesite of a person with whom one has/d a deep relationship.
Revisiting the relationship, or perhaps the last interactions the two
of you had while he/she was physically alive, This poignant,
emotionally sensitive state of mind can be a helpful setting for
proper prayer.
C.Practically speaking, different venues have varying effects on prayer.
One can certainly pray while sitting in the stands at a Yankee game,
but it's not a setting that's conducive to contemplation and
introspection.
On the other hand, standing at the Grand Canyon would seem to present
a much more contemplative ambience.
Praying at the grave of a person who lived a committed, purposeful and
inspiring (Holy!)life sets a tone, and its a tone which is helpful for
prayer.
D.Looking at the practical metaphysics of prayer, Torah thought
teaches that some places have better "reception" for our
communications with the Divine.
To use a rather pedestrian example: We all know what it means to find
the right spot for clear cellular communiication.Some places are
obviously better than others.
Similarly, our Sages speak of"conducive" places for prayer. There are
areas - the Western Wall for example - where the 'air' is less
'polluted' and allows for prayers to rise to the Divine.
The gravesite of a Holy person is just such a place.The spiritual
vibes which emanate from a Holy person - and his/her resting place -
create a "spiritual clearing" from which our sentiments are better
able to ascend to more rarefied realms and find their 'mark'.
E.During the course of human life, a persons's soul is contained
within the body. After passing, the soul's transcendentlevels ascend
to higher planes, but the soul's interactive dimension, its interface
with the human world, continunes to resonate in the world s/he "left
behind".
That is why Talmudic literature describes a righteous person's death
as "s/he left life to the living", meaning that s/he has left life -
spirituality, faith, love etc, - to REMAIN within the acessibility of
those who remain living on a physical plane.
In this sense, it is specifically AFTER the person's physical passing
that the greatest accessibllity is manifest. While the person was
alive, we had access to him/her through their speech and actions,
which were limited by the scope of his/her body, ability to
communicate etc. Now, his/her spiritual life is acessible to anyone
and at any time.
The only proviso is that I/we express a genuine desire to connect with
that soul.
And the Kabbalah teaches that our most effective point of interface is
at the deceased's gravesite.
More on this and on the specific points on the itinerary on the blog.
ב"ה