On Praying To Dead People ("Doreish El HaMaysim") —

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February 9, 2016

Feb 9

Feb 9 On Praying To Dead People ("Doreish El HaMaysim")

There is a rather common practice today for people to pray at the graves of deceased
individuals — especially tzadikim. But is this a permissible, or advisable, practice? We
turn first to Rambam:

Rambam’s Commentary To Mishnah Sanhedrin 10:1:

‫ שהוא יתברך הוא הראוי לעבדו ולגדלו ולהודיעו גדולתו ולעשות מצותיו ושלא יעשו כזה למי שהוא‬:‫היסוד החמישי‬
‫תחתיו במציאות מן המלאכים והכוכבים והגלגלים והיסודות ומה שהורכב מהם לפי שכולם מוטבעים ועל פעולתם אין‬
‫משפט ולא בחירה אלא לו לבדו הש"י וכן אין ראוי לעבדם כדי להיותם אמצעים לקרבם אליו אלא אליו בלבד יכוונו‬
‫המחשבות ויניחו כל מה שזולתו וזה היסוד החמישי הוא שהזהיר על ע"ז ורוב התורה מזהרת עליו‬:
He [God], may He be blessed, is the One whom it is proper to serve, to praise, to make
known His grandeur, and to fulfill His commandments. This should not be done to any
entity that is subservient to Him, be it the angels, the stars, the planets, or the elements
or their compounds. For their activity is programmed. They have no control, and no
choice but to perform His will. Thus it is improper to serve them as intermediaries in
order to come close to God. Rather, one should direct his thoughts toward the Almighty
alone and abandon anything other than Him. This is the fifth Principle, warning us
against idolatry, as affirmed throughout the Torah.

It is clear from Rambam that ascribing any power, ability, or importance to the deceased
itself would be considered avodah zarah. Nothing has any real control or power except
for God Himself. This is a fundamental of Jewish faith. Thus, to pray to the deceased,
under the pretense that the deceased possesses any sort of power, would not only be
inadvisable, but it would be violating one of the principles of faith1, and violating one of
the three sins one is supposed to give up his or her life for.

Asking For Intercession

The fact of the matter is, however, that most people that visit graves so as to pray there
do not actually believe that the deceased possesses any real power independent of God.
Rather, many instead simply ask the deceased to interceded before God on their behalf.
Is this proper?

While according to Rambam, based on the above, it would seem that this practice would
actually be permissible (if not still inadvisable considering just how close it is to an
actual act of idolatry), Ramban will have nothing of it. Ramban2 speaks out vehemently

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against the practice of even using an intermediary in prayer. Asking the deceased to
bring your prayer before God — even without any assumptions that the deceased has any
real power — is seen as pseudo-idolatrous by Ramban, and is thus not allowed. To
Ramban, ascribing any level of free will to angels is seen as deeply problematic. (Ramban
even goes so far as to say that one should refrain from reciting the popular Machnisai
Rachamim prayer of the High Holidays as it evokes angels as intermediaries.)

Ramban’s position on the matter notwithstanding, there are many great authorities that
do permit such a thing, and it has become a popular minhag of klal Yisrael to pray to the
deceased as intermediaries (and to say Machnisai Rachamim). The act of asking a dead
person, or angel, to bring one’s prayers before God is seen as akin to asking a tzadik to
pray on one’s behalf. Thus, as Ramban is not the final word on halacha, it is difficult to
say that such a thing is truly prohibited.

Nevertheless, if one prays directly to the deceased, as discussed above, there is no

question at all that this is halachicly considered avodah zarah. Further, there are many
that refrain from even asking intermediaries to bring prayers before God as, like
Ramban, there is a serious safeik of avodah zarah. Thus, there are indeed many that do
not even say Machnisai Rachamim. (The Vilna Gaon advised against even saying the
“Barchuni” clause of Shalom Aleichem on Friday night as it asks an angel for a blessing.)

Kivrei Tzadikim
What of praying at the graves of tzadikim? Is there any merit in this?

Ran3 explains that we are not meant to engage the dead when praying at a grave. We do
not pray to them directly, of course, but we do not even ask them to intercede on our
behalf. Instead, Ran explains, the purpose of praying at a great person’s grave is that by
the mere fact that he or she was so holy, even his or her bones are infused with holiness.
Thus, their very grave acts as a conduit, of sorts, to bring Godliness and kavod
shamayim into this world. Similar to the staff of Moshe being used to facilitate miracles,
Ran explains, the grave of a holy person facilitates and enhances our own prayers. In
short, the grave of a tzadik is simply a more effective place to pray — in the same manor
that you normally would — as more kavod shamayim is there brought into the world.

According to Ran there is no concept of praying to a dead person in any manner

whatsoever. The positive aspect of kivrei tzadikim has nothing to do with that.

Why At The Gravesite?

Presuming that one does ask the deceased to intercede on his or her behalf, what is the
benefit of doing so at the gravesite specifically? Why not do it from the comfort of one’s
own home?

Certainly, there seems to be Biblical and Talmudic support for visiting the actual
gravesite based on Caleiv4, in addition to the fact that the Zohar mentions such a concept
in a few places, specifically in regards to the fact that the souls of parents rejoice when

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their grave is visited by their children. Other than this, and the opinion of Ran (who of
course has an entirely different conception of what praying at a grave means, and thus
cannot really be employed here), it is unclear exactly what purpose the physical location
serves. Still, a Gemara and the Zohar are ample reason for at least a basic level of
significance to be ascribed.

Is It Theologically Sound?
The simple question that thus faces us is whether or not praying to the deceased as
simply an intermediary to God is theologically sound.

It seems quite clear from Rambam, Ramban, and Ran that it is safer not to engage in
such a practice. Indeed, as there is very likely a safeik avodah zarah, one must wonder
why one would engage in such a thing. Nevertheless, while it is certainly wise to be
chosheish for a possible issur avodah zarah it is not strictly speaking necessary, and
cannot be imposed on others if they instead choose to follow the more popular practice
of praying to the deceased as intermediaries. As so many members of klal Yisrael today
engage in the activity, and it has become somethings of a minhag — and there are solid
opinions to rely on — it is at the technical level theologically sound.

That all being said, there is something perhaps even more fundamental at play here: The
greatest tzadikim of our people — the very ones to whom many feel the need to pray
— did not build their connection to, and relationship with, God by asking others to
intercede, or pray, on their behalf. One must put in the hard work and effort him or
herself. This, together with all the above, leads this author to be of the opinion that
praying to the deceased — in any capacity — is not the best idea.

1. A discussion
there. as to
Regardless, just howand,
Rambam, binding
as weRambam’s
shallas
see, principles of faith
many others, treatare is important,
praying but
to a dead is really
person, neither
under here nor that
the pretense
the deceased possess any sort of real power, idolatrous.↩
2. See Ramban’s commentary to Exodus 20:2↩
3. See Drashos HaRan No. 8.↩
4. See Shemos 13:22 and Sotah 34b.↩

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