Title: Maharal on Prayer: Elucidation and Reflections
By: Rabbi Avraham Dov (Barry) Katz
Ktav Publishing House
At times it is hard to contain one’s excitement when hearing of new projects which present the opportunity to create cataclysmic societal shifts. It was wonderful to hear that Rabbi Avraham Dov (Barry) Katz took upon himself to translate, elucidate, and reflect on Rabbi Yehuda Loew’s, universally known as the Maharal, masterpiece, Netiv HaAvodah. Rabbi Katz has spent the past forty years working in world of computer science and technology, having been recognized and received multiple patents and awards for his contributions to society.
The Maharal is undoubtedly the 16th century’s preeminent scholar of Jewish thought. Rabbi Loew, the Chief Rabbi of Prague, authored dozens of breathtaking sefarim over the course of his legendary life. His works span from the Chumash, Nach, Mishna, Gemara, the holidays, Jewish philosophy, mysticism, and everything in between. One of his more eminent volumes is entitled Netivot Olam, a compilation of netivot or pathways to connect to G-d. This philosophical anthology sets forth thirty-three paths through which one can connect to Hashem, covering a wide range of topics from teshuva, tzedaka, torah learning, faith, various character traits, chessed, derech eretz, and more. The second of these “pathways” is entitled Netiv HaAvodah, The Path of Prayer, where the Maharal in twenty beautiful and poetic chapters glosses on the significance and power of prayer. Probing the difficult questions of how prayer works, to providing thought provoking insights into prayer itself, Netiv HaAvodah is one of the foundational and fundamental works on teffilah.
The Maharal is classically celebrated for taking deep Kabbalistic and mystical ideas and bringing them down to Earth, writing in a deep and beautiful style. He masks the traditional Kabbalistic terms in more conventional Rabbinic Hebrew. The Maharal’s various volumes are a treasure trove of Jewish thought, magnificently structured by topic, yet with significant overlap as many principles and theories come up time and time again in various places. Access to Rabbi Loew’s works was limited to those who could to read, understand, and grapple with complex Hebrew texts. That is until now.
Rabbi Katz sets out to bring this breathtaking book off the shelves and onto the shtenders of Anglo-Jews in shuls and batei medrish throughout the world. For starters, the Hebrew text itself is superbly presented, printed in clear block typescript, fully vowelized, and with clearly defined paragraphs. There are straightforward Hebrew footnotes which present further sources for the ideas quoted by the Maharal, referencing Tanach, Chazal, the Maharal’s other sefarim, and other authors who discuss said points such as the Kuzari, Abudraham, Maharsha, Shulchan Aruch, and others. The Maharal did not generally cite or reference his sources, as such these footnotes are exceedingly helpful to better understand what he is saying. Personally, I prefer when translated sefarim present the Hebrew and English texts in front of you at the same time, so that you can reference the original text and not merely read the translation, so that when reading the original text, you can glance at the translation when needed without having to flip pages. Each English paragraph opens off with the corresponding paragraphs opening Hebrew word so that the reader knows exactly which paragraph is being translated. This was an excellent addition, although I would have preferred if said word were bolded in order to differentiate it from the rest of the passage. Rabbi Katz skillfully kept the translations concise and accurate, ensuring that each paragraph was translated into a similar sized paragraph, thus preventing one Hebrew page from turning into a multi-paged exposition.
The sefer opens with historical background, giving some biographical information about the Maharal and places his writings into their proper historical context, both within the Jewish world and the broader world. Katz gives each chapter a name, enabling those who prefer to find a specific piece the ability to easily locate what they are looking for. Within each chapter there are bolded and italicized subdivisions and brief explanations as to what is about to come, providing a built-in framework and structure to the sefer, enabling the reader to learn in an organized and systematic manner. While some may find this unnecessary and a bit unconventional, I was pleasantly surprised with how this tool helped keep the Maharal’s ideas properly placed in my head and helped create an outline throughout the work.
Most importantly are the introductions both to the sefer itself as well as those which precede each of the twenty chapters. Katz offers a general preface and an introduction Netiv HaAvodah, where he divides the sefer into three smaller sections, all of which is a helpful tool for those who use this sefer to better understand the breakdown of the sefer and keep the pearls of wisdom organized and easily referenceable. In the general introduction, he provides a short synopsis of each chapter, thus preparing a roadmap for the path upon which you are about to embark. Prior to each chapter a short bullet pointed overview presents the key points which are addressed in the upcoming chapter. This helps hone in on the fundamental ideas which the Maharal presents is said segment. This is followed by some of Rabbi Katz’s personal reflections on the chapter, which is truly a window into the morals and lessons which he took from the Maharal’s messages. Here Katz elucidates on his own ruminations and musings regarding a key tenant or two from the forthcoming piece.
I strongly recommend this sefer. This is the first complete sefer of the Maharal’s which has been translated and published, and the footnotes, elucidations, and reflections are a nice addition and quite helpful. This is a wonderful sefer which can act as both an entryway to the worldview of the Maharal for a first-time learner and an aid to help organize and consolidate one’s thoughts throughout their learning. This composition stands to provide great benefit to the experienced learner. I hope and pray that this be the first of many sefarim which Rabbi Katz embarks upon translating and elucidating as he takes us down many other paths in the future.
