Rocking While Praying

[RCNicholas]

Just a quick random question...

So I was wathcing this National Geographic progam on Jerusalem, and I was wondering...why do Jews rock back and forth while praying at the Wailing Wall? Does it have some spiritual significance?

[Tanakh Keeper]

Just a quick random question...

So I was wathcing this National Geographic progam on Jerusalem, and I was wondering...why do Jews rock back and forth while praying at the Wailing Wall? Does it have some spiritual significance?

The main purpose of Jewish prayer is the introspection it provides us. We look inside ourselves and see our role in the universe and our relationship to G-d. Another purpose of prayer is to increase our awareness of G-d in our lives and the role that G-d plays in our lives. We get better at praying by doing it more often and by putting ourselves in the proper frame of mind. We want to avoid saying our prayers by rote, we want to focus on our prayers with a specific awareness that we are speaking to G-d each time we do it.

The rocking (davening) that you have noticed is merely an aid to focus on our prayers. It isn’t mandatory. There is a biblical reference to this technique in P s a 35:10 “All my limbs shall declare, 'O L-rd, who is like You?”

In my experience, I’ve seen people use all sorts of techniques to focus. Some rock back and forth, others bob up and down, others cover their heads with their tallis, while others just close their eyes. Personally, continuous davening is a distraction to me. I only use an occasional bow as a silent exclamation point.

[timspong]

The main purpose of Jewish prayer is the introspection it provides us. We look inside ourselves and see our role in the universe and our relationship to G-d. Another purpose of prayer is to increase our awareness of G-d in our lives and the role that G-d plays in our lives. We get better at praying by doing it more often and by putting ourselves in the proper frame of mind. We want to avoid saying our prayers by rote, we want to focus on our prayers with a specific awareness that we are speaking to G-d each time we do it.

The rocking (davening) that you have noticed is merely an aid to focus on our prayers. It isn’t mandatory. There is a biblical reference to this technique in P s a 35:10 “All my limbs shall declare, 'O L-rd, who is like You?”

In my experience, I’ve seen people use all sorts of techniques to focus. Some rock back and forth, others bob up and down, others cover their heads with their tallis, while others just close their eyes. Personally, continuous davening is a distraction to me. I only use an occasional bow as a silent exclamation point.

You know I sometimes rock when I pray, I didn't realise it was a bonified technique. I works for me to somehow intensify my prayer, kinda stirs up my thoughts a little bit.

[RCNicholas]

The main purpose of Jewish prayer is the introspection it provides us. We look inside ourselves and see our role in the universe and our relationship to G-d. Another purpose of prayer is to increase our awareness of G-d in our lives and the role that G-d plays in our lives. We get better at praying by doing it more often and by putting ourselves in the proper frame of mind. We want to avoid saying our prayers by rote, we want to focus on our prayers with a specific awareness that we are speaking to G-d each time we do it.

The rocking (davening) that you have noticed is merely an aid to focus on our prayers. It isn’t mandatory. There is a biblical reference to this technique in P s a 35:10 “All my limbs shall declare, 'O L-rd, who is like You?”

In my experience, I’ve seen people use all sorts of techniques to focus. Some rock back and forth, others bob up and down, others cover their heads with their tallis, while others just close their eyes. Personally, continuous davening is a distraction to me. I only use an occasional bow as a silent exclamation point.

Thanks! I knew there had to be some reason for it. While I would probably interpret Psalm 35:10 more metaphorically than that, I do see your point. I don't see Christians do the same thing much, if at all, so I didn't know its origin. Your response was very helpful!

[Ahimelech]

Psalms 35, well that is a cool nugget of info, thank you, I was told that the rocking was because G-d is omnipresent and therefore when you rock back -n- forth you are moving through His presence.