The last division of the Holy Law, Abodah (service or worship), remains for our consideration.
Abodah, the service of God; it means to turn away from the ambitions, the occupations, and the sins which mainly constitute our material existence, and to strive to regain the eternal verities of the higher life when they have gone astray from us in the deceptions, errors, conflicts, and temptations of the world. עבודה שבלב, heart service, our Sages love to call true devotion; that is, to fulfill the will of God towards our inner parts by purifying and ennobling our unseen power, our character.
תפלה, prayer, is our chief form of serving the Supreme One in the present age, but the Hebrew conception of prayer is not the mere request or petition for Divine aid, nor even a mere ecstasy of devotion and adoration; it means the possession and expression of proper conceptions and resolutions concerning our own personality and our duties toward God, the world, and mankind. In former days the sacrificial rite was the expression of our service of God; its ordinances and ceremonies were symbolic actions of profound significance. The Temple, the dwelling of the Torah, itself Israel's most sacred possession, taught the lesson that the Law was God's gift to Israel (ארון), and that for its fulfillment God had given unto man the power of body and mind. (שלחן and מנורה.) The sacrifices, each inculcates its individual meaning, the suppression of sensuality, of selfishness, the consecration of life, of the sentiments, of one's entire personality, to God for the fulfillment of his Law. Some of them typify the endeavor to consecrate oneself to God through the Torah, others the effort to regain lost purity of life by the suppression of sensuality and selfishness, equivalent to return to the Law; others, again, the recognition of God as the Giver of the great good things of life or the Preserver of our peace and happiness. This recognition of the Divine benevolence must be complete, sincere, and free from every material and sensual thought. Our gratitude must be extended to Him because He has given us so much which we can consecrate to the fulfillment of His holy will as revealed in the Torah. These symbolic actions were all accompanied by the living word of fervent devotion. (See Maimonides הלכות תמידים, Chap, vi.) The temple is sunk into ruins, but the living word of worship and instruction remains, completer even than in former times, because the symbolic rites of sacrifices must be represented also by it. The aim of our worship, תפלה from התפלל, is the purification, enlightenment, and uplifting of our inner selves to the recognition of the Most High and our duties towards Him in truth; not mere stirring up of the emotions, swiftly- vanishing devotion, empty sentimentalism, and unreasoning tears, but the cleansing of thought and heart.
Life robs us of the correct judgment concerning God, the world, man, and Israel, and concerning our own relation to them. Leaving the disturbing influences of life and turning to God, you can approach and find Him in the mystic contemplations of the Tefillah. All the various component parts of the Hebrew worship subserve this great purpose, the bringing of man into communication with Him who is concealed from view in his (man's) daily life, תהלות, the psalms or praises; they show us ecstatic visions of God in nature, the world of man and in Israel. תפלות, the prayers or devotions; they stir up our nature to its deepest depths and lift us up to communion with the Divine. תודות, thanks-givings and בקשות, supplications ; they express our profound gratitude for all that Deity has wrought and our full and unrestricted acknowledgment that everything past or future proceeds from His hands, and our humble petition that He may continue His bounty unto US, though we be unworthy. תחנות, humble appeals to His unfailing mercy to heal our weaknesses and backslidings. The scientific foundation and basis upon which all this edifice of worship is raised is the קריאת התורה, "reading of the Law," which imparts unto us the instruction and wisdom which we require; its utmost summit and goal, the perfect fruit of our piety, are the ברכות, benedictions, which supply us the firm resolution actively to promote the fulfillment of the Divine will in the midst of life, so busy with transitory cares and devoted pre-eminently to material aims. Retain these sketchy outlines in your mind, and bearing them in memory contemplate afresh our prayers, our service as a whole, and see if you do not find it more dignified, fuller of meaning and importance than you had ever before imagined.
"Shools," that is, schools, we call our houses of worship, and that is what they should be, schools for the grown-up, for those who have long since exchanged the tasks of the schoolmaster for the problems of life.
And now, my dear Benjamin, a law which bids us recognize God in the world and in mankind, which teaches that the fulfillment of His will is our mission, which shows us in Him the Father of all beings, of all men and in every creature, every human being our brother; a law which makes our whole life service of God through the practice of righteousness and love toward all beings and the proclaiming of these truths for ourselves and others; can this be a law which stunts the mind and the heart, limits every joy of life and turns men into secluded monks? Can it be that the study of this law, when pursued earnestly and intelligently, perverts and deadens the mind, narrows or restricts the impulses of the heart?
Its true description is found in the words of the sweet singer of Israel: "The heavens declare themselves Revelation of God's glory; The thin sheet of space (declares) That it is His handiwork. Day proclaims to day That God has spoken; Night after night revives The thoughts of Deity. No speech we need, No words are spoken, Without them the voice is heard. Through all the earth their voice goes forth, To the end of the earth-world their words. In them He hath set the tent of the sun. Which it leaves as a bridegroom his canopy; It rejoices, as the Almighty, to run its course. And yet fixed in heaven is its issue, Its circuit reaches ever the same end. None are hidden from his sun. But only the law of God is complete, Giving answer to th' inquiring soul; The testimony of God alone is faithful, Giving wisdom to th' unlearned; Th' ordinances of God are righteous, Giving joy to the heart; The commands of God are clear, Giving light to the eyes; The fear of God is pure. Existing forever; The judgments of God are true, They are right altogether, Better than gold and much ore, Sweeter than honey and dripping comb. O, that Thy servant might be illumed by them! To keep them is the great path of life." (Ps. xix.)