One of the principle divides between so-called orthodox and non-orthodox Jewry is whether or not one prays regularly. In Judaism, prayer means something very specific. We recognize spontaneous prayers – Talmud and Midrash are full of prayers by the masters, and many of these have been incorporated into the Siddur – but when rabbinic literature refers to prayer, tefillah, it refers to the Shemonei Esrei, otherwise known as the Amidah.

Why is the Shemonei Esrei important? I can rattle off historical facts. Shemonei Esrei is one of the oldest Jewish texts. Shemonei Esrei is the central prayer of the individual and community Jewish service. Shemonei Esrei is the prayer of all religious Jews of all lands, responsible for protecting a core Jewish identity in diverse times and places. All of these things deserve deeper comment. But I believe these kinds of didactic statements obscure one of the most fundamental aspects of the Shemonei Esrei: Shemonei Esrei articulates the central Jewish value system that informs daily life.

Judaism is not a creedal religion in the sense that Jews don’t recite an explicit creed. Yes, there are creedal statements in the Torah (e.g. “Hear Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One!” Deut. 6:4; “Do not bear a grudge against the children of your kin, and love your neighbor as yourself. I am God.” Lev. 19:18) but do the depths of these statements allow them to be purely creedal? Even the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20:1-17; Deuteronomy 5:4-21) can be articulated as either creed or law, and there is a yawning difference between these two ideas. Various masters, particularly in medieval times, formulated creeds of Jewish faith (e.g. Maimonides’ Thirteen Articles of Jewish Faith). Some of these attempts are studied and part of the Oral Torah, and a few of them have made it into the Siddur as supplementary prayers and songs. But Shemonei Esrei maintains pride of place as the central Jewish expression alongside the Shema, and Shemonei Esrei’s character is arguably petitionary, not creedal. This is a big part of the reason why, when asked questions about belief by adherents of creedal religions, Jewish people may answer, “well, there are a few opinions on the subject.” This is also part of the reason why, when inspecting the Jewish prayer service for a “Jewish creed,” nothing pops out.

Even so, Shemonei Esrei articulates a Jewish value system necessary to operate Jewishly. Many different subjects are covered, but the essential value is to ask questions. This value goes unstated, but the petition and praise rhetoric begs us to ask what we are doing, why we are praising God for these things? More questions follow: What does it mean to be descended from Sarah and Abraham? Why do the seasons have to change and why is the world the way it is? Where does knowledge come from, and what is knowledge? Or even more personal questions: How should I approach my day? How can I be a more caring person? Why do I make mistakes and why repent? These are universal human questions on the surface, but the Shemonei Esrei’s articulation invites you into the particularly Jewish discussions of life, and some of the biggest questions of all: Why should I praise when the world is a mess? What can I do to help?

I think that the reason why the Shemonei Esrei speaks in this way is to provide guideposts for behavior that promotes reflection. What is a value? Is a value something we follow blindly? Should we give charity to someone who is obviously going to purchase drugs with our money because it is a value to give charity? Or is a value a gateway to living life in a conscious way? I believe a value is the later, and I also believe the Shemoneh Esrei is designed to instill this approach both in rhetoric and repetition until this approach is second-nature to consciousness.

We can find a reason for this in this week’s Torah portion, Ki Tissa. The Israelites, seeing that Moses has been on the mountain for quite some time and doubting his return, craft a golden calf to worship. Questions often asked of this story are: Weren’t the Israelites accustomed to idol worship in Egypt, and why didn’t God or Moses predict that something like this might happen? The Hebrew reveals something interesting: the word for calf – egel – is related to the word for circle or round – eegul. Maybe this means that human nature is circular instead of linear? With this in mind, maybe God did know what would happen, but waited to see what the people would do, which would be what they were accustomed to doing. God’s subsequent wrath reveals that what the people were accustomed to doing was not what they were supposed to do, teaching that becoming complacently accustomed to values and traditions is wrong and dangerous. Conscious connection to values actualizes our humanity, and is necessary to realizing a better, more ideal world.

The relationship of calf to circle and consciousness to values reveals something else. If the calf means something about human nature, and humans built the calf, then humans are responsible for human nature. We have a choice. We can go in circles and build up more golden calves, or we can go in circles and build up ourselves to make things better. What tools do we have to make the right choice? We must be able to ask ourselves if our habits are positive or negative before we can imagine constructive changes.

This is why the Shemonei Esrei is so important, and why we should think of regularly praying the Shemonei Esrei less as part of orthodoxy and more as part of being Jewish. Practiced regularly and pondered in the situations we face, it orients us to life in productive and positive ways. Inspiring us to ask questions, we enter into divine conversation, affirm our partnership with God, and take responsibility for our part in creation.