Description: World of Tefillah 02
Bilvavi Mishkan Evneh
Volume I Pages 94-95
If we could really feel that our only key to success is with Hashem’s help, and if something is blocking us it’s His will that’s in control – we would naturally turn to Hashem and ask His assistance – in every single endeavor.
When we try to daven Shacharis, and we try to have some authentic kavanah, it’s difficult. This is likely something that all of us make kabbalos about every year, we put in effort and attempt to come up with different approaches to help us think about what we are saying. It’s frustrating at times, when we come back year after year, and don’t feel that we’ve made enough progress in our davening. Yet, if we possess the correct outlook on life, we would understand that there’s only one way we can successfully have kavanah and heart in davening. Only if Hashem will help us do we stand a chance! The Yetzer Horah is constantly changing up his methods, and always comes up with a new distraction. If we manage to overcome one, he bounces right back with the next one. It can be tiredness, anxiety, distractedness, lack of feeling for the words, feeling disconnected in general, the famous autopilot syndrome and more. The single way we can combat him is only with Hashem’s help. Chazal say, ‘Yitzro shel adam mischadesh alav b’chol yom,’ A person’s yetzer renews itself upon him every day, ‘v’ilmalei Hakadosh Baruch Hu ozro aino yachol lo,’ if not that Hashem helps us, we can’t possibly win! So why are we trying to do it alone?! What we need to do is to ask Hashem for help. Both before davening, and during davening when we start to slip.
Truly, Chazal instituted the pasuk, ‘Hashem sefasai tiftach u’pi yagid tehilasechah,’ before we begin Shemonah Esray. This is a tefillah that we should be able to daven! Saying this pasuk with a little thought both helps us realize that we need divine assistance to be able to daven, and it also brings our minds down to earth, focusing on what we are about to do. There are long tefillos written as introduction to davening, but we need just a short, ‘Hashem please help me daven – feel it, think it and say it properly!’
This is not limited to davening, but in all forms of Avodas Hashem we need His help to perform it properly and we have to ask for it. When a man sits down to learn Torah, essentially, it’s beyond our ability to grasp its depth. Seforim refer to the Torah as ‘sechel nivdal,’ exclusive understanding – meaning it requires one to be connected to ruchniyos to understand. When we work hard to try and understand, we are zocheh to ‘siyatah dishmayah,’ help to understand. But even so, we need a special merit to reach the true pshat, one which conforms to halachah. ‘Ki Hashem yitain chochmah, mipiv daas u’tevunah.’ Hashem grants wisdom, and directly from His mouth do we learn knowledge and understanding. If so, before we begin learning we should daven for help, as we are learning, when we are encountering difficulty, whether it’s in understanding, or simply staying awake, staying interested and focused – we should daven!
This is something that is well-known to have been the practice of the Chazon Ish. Anytime he got stuck, he got up, went to a corner and davened for help! If we do this, then our learning and davening are connected and bound one to another. As we are learning we are connected to Hashem, and when we get up from learning that connection accompanies us on our day. If we learn a Gemarah and understand it – we should say a small prayer of thanks – ‘Thank you Hashem for helping this Gemarah go into my head! Please help me remember it!’ How much kedushah and connection to Hashem can we achieve by combining both learning and davening?! And the same is true for all mitzvos that we do – it’s such an opportunity to ignite the relationship we have with Hashem!
Bilvavi Mishkan Evneh
Volume I Pages 94-95
If we could really feel that our only key to success is with Hashem’s help, and if something is blocking us it’s His will that’s in control – we would naturally turn to Hashem and ask His assistance – in every single endeavor.
When we try to daven Shacharis, and we try to have some authentic kavanah, it’s difficult. This is likely something that all of us make kabbalos about every year, we put in effort and attempt to come up with different approaches to help us think about what we are saying. It’s frustrating at times, when we come back year after year, and don’t feel that we’ve made enough progress in our davening. Yet, if we possess the correct outlook on life, we would understand that there’s only one way we can successfully have kavanah and heart in davening. Only if Hashem will help us do we stand a chance! The Yetzer Horah is constantly changing up his methods, and always comes up with a new distraction. If we manage to overcome one, he bounces right back with the next one. It can be tiredness, anxiety, distractedness, lack of feeling for the words, feeling disconnected in general, the famous autopilot syndrome and more. The single way we can combat him is only with Hashem’s help. Chazal say, ‘Yitzro shel adam mischadesh alav b’chol yom,’ A person’s yetzer renews itself upon him every day, ‘v’ilmalei Hakadosh Baruch Hu ozro aino yachol lo,’ if not that Hashem helps us, we can’t possibly win! So why are we trying to do it alone?! What we need to do is to ask Hashem for help. Both before davening, and during davening when we start to slip.
Truly, Chazal instituted the pasuk, ‘Hashem sefasai tiftach u’pi yagid tehilasechah,’ before we begin Shemonah Esray. This is a tefillah that we should be able to daven! Saying this pasuk with a little thought both helps us realize that we need divine assistance to be able to daven, and it also brings our minds down to earth, focusing on what we are about to do. There are long tefillos written as introduction to davening, but we need just a short, ‘Hashem please help me daven – feel it, think it and say it properly!’
This is not limited to davening, but in all forms of Avodas Hashem we need His help to perform it properly and we have to ask for it. When a man sits down to learn Torah, essentially, it’s beyond our ability to grasp its depth. Seforim refer to the Torah as ‘sechel nivdal,’ exclusive understanding – meaning it requires one to be connected to ruchniyos to understand. When we work hard to try and understand, we are zocheh to ‘siyatah dishmayah,’ help to understand. But even so, we need a special merit to reach the true pshat, one which conforms to halachah. ‘Ki Hashem yitain chochmah, mipiv daas u’tevunah.’ Hashem grants wisdom, and directly from His mouth do we learn knowledge and understanding. If so, before we begin learning we should daven for help, as we are learning, when we are encountering difficulty, whether it’s in understanding, or simply staying awake, staying interested and focused – we should daven!
This is something that is well-known to have been the practice of the Chazon Ish. Anytime he got stuck, he got up, went to a corner and davened for help! If we do this, then our learning and davening are connected and bound one to another. As we are learning we are connected to Hashem, and when we get up from learning that connection accompanies us on our day. If we learn a Gemarah and understand it – we should say a small prayer of thanks – ‘Thank you Hashem for helping this Gemarah go into my head! Please help me remember it!’ How much kedushah and connection to Hashem can we achieve by combining both learning and davening?! And the same is true for all mitzvos that we do – it’s such an opportunity to ignite the relationship we have with Hashem!