Moses, sentenced to die before entering the Promised Land, fasts, prays, and appeals to God to overturn the decree. But God orders the heavenly courts to close their gates so they would not hear Moses’s prayer. This midrash helps illustrate a conception of prayer as a legal appeal—found in the Bible and Hittite texts and reflected throughout much of the High Holiday liturgy: prayer can challenge a divine decree in the heavenly courtroom.
Prof.
Shalom E. Holtz
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