The aggadah and tefillah

For many of us when we read the word aggadah, we assume that the subject deals with legend. However, after you read the book under review this week, the very concept of aggadah will take on a new, more truthful and realistic meaning.

Rabbi Immanuel Bernstein, a London-born scholar who now resides in Jerusalem and is the son of the distinguished Rabbi Isaac Bernstein, zt”l, late rabbi of the famed Jewish Center on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, recently published a learned and informative book entitled “Aggadah: Sages, Stories, and Secrets” (Mosaica Press, 2015).

Within this work can be found a full-blown definition of the very essence of what constitutes aggadah, embodying such concepts as free will, basic belief, divine tests, evil speech, the art of gratitude, truth, Torah study, mitzvos and prayer. It is to this last subject, prayer, that I will devote the focus of my essay this week. But, first a little background.

In my interview with the author, he informed me of the following:

“I was motivated to write this sefer for a number of reasons. Firstly, the subject of aggadah is one which is very close to my heart. I have given shiurim on various aggadot over the course of a number of years and found that students really resonated with the method and ideas inherent in their content.

“More specifically, my goal was two-fold. On one hand, I found the subject of Aggadah to be significantly under-appreciated by many among our people. It is frequently misunderstood, if not completely misrepresented. This is not a new phenomenon, it was discussed by the Rambam in his time and the Maharal in his era.

“Secondly, the topics I chose to discuss through aggadah are key areas and ideas of Judaism, which themselves are often approached superficially or by rote, without insight or inspiration. There is always the hazard that Jewish living may, barring a conscious decision to the contrary, become performed by rote. Although the actual performance of mitzvos is critical and non-negotiable, added insight and innerness makes a world of difference.”

Rabbi Bernstein elaborated on the purpose and theme of this work: