There have been some heated discussions at XGH regarding davening and I thought I would like to put it my two senses. Rambam rule that if someone prays saying the Amidah without proper intent one has to repeat it.
רמב"ם תפילה ונשיאת כפים י:א
מי שהתפלל ולא כיון את לבו יחזור ויתפלל בכוונה
What exactly is the proper intent?
רמב"ם תפילה ונשיאת כפים ד:טז
כיצד היא הכוונה שיפנה את לבו מכל המחשבות ויראה עצמו כאלו הוא עומד לפני השכינה,
The intent should be that one clears the mind from all thoughts and pictures himself standing in front of the Shechinah. (Shechinah is a term used to describe the presence of God.)
The intent that is binding and without which the prayer is nullified is not thinking about the mystical “secret” or even the meaning of the words. One just has to see himself as standing in front of God and if one does not one has not prayed. That explains why the body language, the stance and every aspect of the person that prays have to show that he is standing in front of God.
רמב"ם תפילה ונשיאת כפים ה:א
שמונה דברים צריך המתפלל להזהר בהן ולעשותן, ואם היה דחוק או נאנס או שעבר ולא עשה אותן אין מעכבין, ואלו הן: עמידה, ונוכח המקדש, ותקון הגוף, ותקון המלבושים, ותקון המקום, והשויית הקול, והכריעה, והשתחויה.
(Translation/Paraphrase)- Eight things are required from a person that prays … They are: Standing; facing the Beit Hamikdash; preparation of the body, the clothes, the place one prays in; the voice has to be balanced; genuflection and prostration.
In context of the Halacha it is clear that all these outward manifestations are required to reinforce in the mind of the person that is praying that he is standing in front of God.
What does that mean? Why is it important that three times a day we stop everything and visualize ourselves standing in front of God? In MN 3:51 we read:
“We must bear in mind that all such religious acts as reading the Law, praying, and the performance of other precepts, serve exclusively as the means of causing us to occupy and fill our mind with the precepts of God, and free it from worldly business; for we are thus, as it were, in communication with God, and undisturbed by any other thing.”
The quest for knowing the unknowable, for increasing our awareness of that glimpse of the unknown I mentioned in my earlier post, is at the center of man’s search for the meaning of his own existence. It is a quest that requires keeping it constantly in front of our eyes. It is not an easy task and requires constant reminder to take us away from our daily grind and refocus on the big question. That is why we have Mitzvot that affect our every action. When eating, working even going to sleep there are rules to remind us to stop and think why am I doing this? That is one of the aspects of Avodat Hashem, submitting to this constant reminder to question. Unfortunately, once these actions become ingrained in us, they become rote and we do not pay attention to what they are meant to remind us of. We focus on the act only and not on its meaning and what it is meant to teach us. Praying thrice daily are moments that make us pause and see ourselves standing in front of God. There is no action to distract us just words we say while seeing ourselves standing in front of God. Rambam continues:
“I will now commence to show you the way how to educate and train yourselves in order to attain that great perfection. The first thing you must do is this: Turn your thoughts away from everything while you read Shema or during the Tefilah, and do not content yourself with being devout when you read the first verse of Shema, or the first paragraph of the prayer. When you have successfully practiced this for many years, try in reading the Law or listening to it, to have all your heart and all your thought occupied with understanding what you read or hear. After some time when you have mastered this, accustom yourself to have your mind free from all other thoughts when you read any portion of the other books of the prophets, or when you say any blessing; and to have your attention directed exclusively to the perception and the understanding of what you utter. When you have succeeded in properly performing these acts of divine service, and you have your thought, during their performance, entirely abstracted from worldly affairs, take then care that your thought be not disturbed by thinking of your wants or of superfluous things. In short, think of worldly matters when you eat, drink, bathe, talk with your wife and little children, or when you converse with other people. These times, which are frequent and long, I think must suffice to you for reflecting on everything that is necessary as regards business, household, and health. But when you are engaged in the performance of religious duties, have your mind exclusively directed to what you are doing.”
In addition to its inherent purpose of giving us times to meditate, prayer is also one of several other Mitzvot that helps develop our capacity for focus and concentration. Seen this way prayer is an important part of that total dedication to finding the truth which is the purpose of the whole Torah and Mitzvot. It is an important part because it addresses the human condition of distraction and involvement in daily survival. It teaches us to always stop and keep things in their proper perspective.
As to the content, in its pure original form prayer was a spontaneous expression of man’s thoughts and requests. There was a required format which consisted of at first praise God followed by presenting petitions followed by praise and thanks for all the good already received. As time progressed and we mixed with the nations, we lost the ability to properly express our thoughts in the correct format, the rabbis put together a prepackaged prayer book that contains a synopsis of all the different praises and requests one may have. I have appended excerpts of the pertinent Halachot at the end without translation for those who want the sources.
The issue of petition is one that occupies many people’s minds. (At least it does mine). I can see praise and thanks as a way of focusing on God as the creator, the Cause of everything. What is the meaning in asking for our daily needs? It would appear that we are taking the focus away from God and the big existential questions and bringing it back to our daily life. What can we expect our prayers will result in? What does God answering our requests mean? I will address this in my next post as this one is already longer than intended.
רמב"ם תפילה ונשיאת כפים א:ב
אלא חיוב מצוה זו כך הוא שיהא אדם מתחנן ומתפלל בכל יום ומגיד שבחו של הקדוש ברוך הוא ואחר כך שואל צרכיו שהוא צריך להם בבקשה ובתחנה ואחר כך נותן שבח והודיה לה' על הטובה שהשפיע לו כל אחד לפי כחו.
רמב"ם תפילה ונשיאת כפים א:ג
אם היה רגיל מרבה בתחנה ובקשה ואם היה ערל שפתים מדבר כפי יכלתו ובכל עת שירצה, וכן מנין התפלות כל אחד כפי יכלתו, יש מתפלל פעם אחת ביום, ויש מתפללין פעמים הרבה, והכל יהיו מתפללין נכח המקדש בכל מקום שיהיה, וכן היה הדבר תמיד ממשה רבינו ועד עזרא.
רמב"ם תפילה ונשיאת כפים א:ד
כיון שגלו ישראל בימי נבוכדנצר הרשע נתערבו בפרס ויון ושאר האומות ונולדו להם בנים בארצות הגוים ואותן הבנים נתבלבלו שפתם והיתה שפת כל אחד ואחד מעורבת מלשונות הרבה וכיון שהיה מדבר אינו יכול לדבר כל צורכו בלשון אחת אלא בשיבוש שנאמר ובניהם חצי מדבר אשדודית וגו' ואינם מכירים לדבר יהודית וכלשון עם ועם ומפני זה כשהיה אחד מהן מתפלל תקצר לשונו לשאול חפציו או להגיד שבח הקדוש ברוך הוא בלשון הקדש עד שיערבו עמה לשונות אחרות, וכיון שראה עזרא ובית דינו כך עמדו ותקנו להם שמנה עשרה ברכות על הסדר, שלש ראשונות שבח לה' ושלש אחרונות הודיה, ואמצעיות יש בהן שאלת כל הדברים שהן כמו אבות לכל חפצי איש ואיש ולצרכי הציבור כולן, כדי שיהיו ערוכות בפי הכל וילמדו אותן ותהיה תפלת אלו העלגים תפלה שלימה כתפלת בעלי הלשון הצחה, ומפני ענין זה תקנו כל הברכות והתפלות מסודרות בפי כל ישראל כדי שיהא ענין כל ברכה ערוך בפי העלג
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