The Nature of Tefilah - Prayer - Korach

We all believe in tefilah, in prayer. We say the words every day. We ask Hashem for health, livelihood, wisdom, peace, and protection. Yet many people quietly wonder: Does prayer really change anything? If Hashem already knows what will happen, what exactly is tefillah accomplishing? In this morning’s class on Parashat Korach, we explore one of Judaism’s most profound ideas: prayer is not an exception to the laws of creation—it is one of the laws of creation. Just as fire burns and gravity pulls downward, Hashem created a world in which sincere prayer rises upward and has the power to affect reality. From Moshe Rabbeinu’s fear of Korach’s prayers, to the mothers of the Kohanim Gedolim who worried about the prayers of exiles, to the astonishing teachings of Chazal that prayer can even influence matters of destiny and free choice, we discover the extraordinary power that Hashem placed in the hands of every Jew.