Abraham Heschel wrote, “We have lost our ability to be shocked…the human soul is too limited to experience dismay in proportion to what happened at Auschwitz, in Hiroshima….” (”0n Prayer”, reprinted in Petuchowski, Understanding Jewish Prayer)
It is the purpose of prayer to shock the human soul into the awareness of the meaning of his or her existence…”Prayer should be an act of catharsis, of purgation of emotions as well as a process of self-clarification, of examining priorities, of elucidating responsibility ….”
“Prayer is meaningless unless it is subversive, unless it seeks to overthrow and to ruin the pyramids of callousness, hatred, opportunism, falsehoods. The liturgical movement must become a revolutionary movement, seeking to overthrow the forces that continue to destroy the promise, the hope, the vision.”
Prayer is not automatic, instant – the worshipper cannot be simply plugged in or “turned on.” Heschel writes, “Prayer will not come about by default. It requires education, training, reflection, contemplation. It is not enough to join others; it is necessary to build a sanctuary within, brick by brick, instances of, meditation, moments of devotion,” (op cit.)