Prayer Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ====Rationalist approach==== In this view, the ultimate goal of prayer is to help train a person to focus on divinity through philosophy and intellectual contemplation. This approach was taken by [[Maimonides]] and the other medieval rationalists. One example of this approach to prayer is noted by Rabbi Steven Weil, who was appointed the Orthodox Union's Executive-Vice President in 2009. He notes that the word "prayer" is a derivative of the Latin "precari", which means "to beg". The Hebrew equivalent "tefilah", however, along with its root "pelel" or its reflexive "l'hitpallel", means the act of self-analysis or self-evaluation.<ref>{{citation |url= http://www.ou.org/torah/article/why_tefilah_doesn |title= Why Tefilah Doesn't Mean Prayer: Redefining our Relationship with G-d |first= Steven |last= Weil<!-- deleted page: |author-link= Steven Weil -->|date= September 14, 2010 |type= video presentation |work= ou.org |publisher= [[Orthodox Union]] }}</ref> This approach is sometimes described as the person praying having a dialogue or conversation with God.<ref>{{citation |url= http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/862508/jewish/Talking-With-Gd.htm |first= Naftali |last= Silberberg |date= n.d. |title= Jewish Practice " Mitzvahs & Traditions " Prayer " Insights β Talking With Gβd |work= [[Chabad.org]] }}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page