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Why do Jews sway while praying?

The Swaying Candle

By Menachem Posner

Here are two explanations given by Jewish tradition:

a) King David writes (Psalms 35:10), "All of my limbs shall proclaim: Who is like You..." When we praise G‑d, we do so with all of our being: the mind, heart, and mouth express the prayer through speech, and the rest of the body does so by moving. Every fiber of our self is involved in connecting to our Creator.

b) "The soul of man is a candle of G‑d" (Proverbs 20:27). The candle's flame constantly sways and flickers as it attempts to tear free of its wick and ascend on high. Our soul is also engaged in a constant effort to escape the corporeality of this mundane world and cleave to its G‑dly source. This is especially true in the course of prayer, those islands in time when we concentrate and focus on our relationship with G‑d. Our body mirrors this effort as it sways back and forth like a flame.
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Rabbi Menachem Posner is a member of the Chabad.org Ask the Rabbi team.
Image: Detail from a painting by Sarah Kranz. Ms. Kranz has been illustrating magazines, webzines and books (including five children's books) since graduating from the Istituto Europeo di Design, Milan, in 1996. Her clients have included The New York Times and Money Marketing Magazine of London

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Latest Comments:
Posted: May 20, 2011
swaying

The Neshama (soul) is compared to a flame, always in the upward direction.
Kaballah explains that swaying signifies the soul yearning for closeness to G-d, just like a flame rising upward.
Posted By SS, Montreal, Qc, Quebec, Canada

Posted: Apr 24, 2011
My take...
My experience is somewhat similar to Alexandra. I'm ger...never felt the need to sway when I was being raised Christian, but the first time I really truly hooked into group davening on shabbat I was so filled with light and energy that I couldn't stand still. And it just sort of comes naturally so that half the time I don't even notice I'm doing it. If I catch myself at it, I try to tone it down a little bit, especially as I go to a very reserved shul and I don't want the other folks to feel uncomfortable. My take on it: complete and total willingness to follow the divine will and forego all selfish desires (think Abraham/Isaac level of selflessness) + intimate prayer + minyan = overwhelmingly awesome experience.
Posted By Anonymous, Blacksburg, VA

Posted: Apr 21, 2011
I would leave out the King David reference.
The reason is that he also said OTHER things we totally not only disregard, but disobey. He said to praise Him with the harp and tambourines, etc., and we don't do that at all. We rationalize our tradition of not following King David's wish that we praise and pray to G-d with joy, music, dance by saying we are in mourning because the temple was destroyed. So, the second part of the answer above is valid. The first part is negated by the example I cited.
Posted By Karen Joyce Chaya Fradle Kleinman Bell, Riverside, Ca, USA

Posted: Oct 28, 2008
re: anonymous from Atlanta?
Do you feel free to ignore all of rema's rulings, because you have issues with a couple of them?
Posted By Luzy, 6791684

Posted: Oct 28, 2008
Swaying is natural
I grew up in Soviet Union with no religion. When I started to light candles and pray in my late thirties nobody taught me to sway. I found that I swayed naturally with the flow of prayer. There is something in the energy of Jewish prayer that makes you sway whether you daven aloud of pray silently. Maybe thousand years ago or more someone has made conscious choice, or maybe it comes from the Source and Recipient of all prayer. You let go of and immerse in the flow of prayer, and it sways you.
Posted By Alexandra, New York, NY

Posted: Aug 16, 2008
Clarity
What Joel says, does indeed, have some merit. First, the shakers were founded in Manchester, England- so to the person claiming it was an American group- check your history. The second point worth noting is that not all "sephardim" sway; some have been influenced by Ashkenazic practices, others choose to sway. I urge a check on the translation of haredi, which, does in fact, translate to shaker. Eliezer Liebermann in Dessau 1818, contrasts the typical Jewish service with that of the non-Jew: "Why should we not draw a lesson from the people among whom we live? Look at the Gentiles and see how they stand in awe and reverence and with good manners in their house of prayer. No one utters a word, no one moves a limb..." I understand that the rama says that it is acceptable; however, the rama also permitted Moravian Jews to drink non-kosher wine. And, while we are quoting the Rama, lets remember that it was the Rama who said it was necessary to lay tefillin during Chol Hamoed.
Posted By Anonymous, Atlanta, GA

Posted: July 21, 2008
RE: DId the Rebbe Sway?
You are correct; the Rebbe did not sway in the almost frenzied manner often associated with Chassidim. He did, however, rock slightly. One can suggest that this is consistent with the traditional Chabad aversion to ostentatious displays of devotion.
Posted By Menachem Posner for Chabad.org

Posted: July 20, 2008
DId the Rebbe Sway?
I had the honor of praying with the Rebbe multiple times, and have seen videos or him praying. I do not recall ever seeing him sway. Any insights Rabbi Posner?
Posted By Rick Stern, NY, NY

Posted: July 18, 2008
To Joel
Hareidi, literally does mean shaker. But god-fearing Jews have been called Hareidim way before the Shakers came around. See Isaiah 66:5 "Hear the word of the Lord, all those who shake/tremble (hareidim) to his words."
Posted By luzy

Posted: July 18, 2008
To Joel
Your theory doesn't make too much sense. Jews swayed before the Shakers even came around. Plus, the Shakers were an American group. When they were big, there were very few Jews in America, so how could the Shakers' shaking reach the Jews in Europe?

Plus their shaking was not at all like our swaying.
Posted By luzy



 


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