ABSTRACT
For the Jewish people, prayer has served as the vehicle by which they have expressed their joys, sorrows and hopes. Hence, worship has played a major role in the religious life of the Jewish nation, especially in view of the successive crises and calamities in which they have been involved throughout their history.
Whether God merits worship is questioned as is whether someone worthy of worship should demand it; an analogy is drawn with the Paradox of Modesty. Worship being intermingled with petitionary prayer, the latter is assessed as being irrational – for to engage in such prayer must be because it is thought that God does not know what is best. Sometimes the prayers are, irrationally, trying to alter the past, urging God to make something not to have happened. Further, praying for someone would seem to be unfair for those who remain unprayed for.
Maimonides claims that God is incomprehensible. On that basis, is it not reckless to worship or pray? Is it not akin to voting for a political party, knowing nothing of their policies and quality of leadership?
