A Prayer For Those Who Don't Talk In Shul
(first published in Kerem Volume 7: 5761 2001)
http://kerem.org/a-taste-of-kerem/a-prayer
Translated and with a commentary by Rabbi Kenneth L. Cohen
"Rabbi Hiyya said 'I have never concentrated on prayer all of my days. Once I
tried to concentrate, but all I could think about was politics.' Shmuel said
'During prayer, I count the clouds.' Rabbi Bun Bar Hiyya said 'I count the
stones in the wall when I should be praying.' Rabbi Matnaya said, 'I am grateful
to my head, because it knows to bow automatically when we reach the modim
prayer.'" (Yerushalmi, Berachot 16a)
"A person is obligated to pray with proper intention and to recite all the
blessings with intention, but there are very few people in this world who do so
with all their hearts." (Orchot Tzadikim, Sha'ar Teshuvah, page 509 in the
Feldheim edition)
I like being Jewish so much that I took the ultimate step and became a rabbi.
Little did I realize at the time that this would mean that I would be the only
one in shul who wasn't supposed to daven. Sitting on the bimah, I held the
ultimate responsibility for the smooth running of the services. This, of course,
is also a form of Divine service, but still, it isn't prayer. I would try to
steal moments of "kavanah" where I could, but always drawn back to earth by the
uncertainty that something might go wrong--that Mr. Goldberg wouldn't get his
aliyah, that the Bat Mitzvah might need some encouragement, that somebody would
drop the Torah. How could I be so self indulgent as to seek transcendent union
with the Infinite Source of All Life when my job was to be a captain of
industry?
Things got a little better when I left the pulpit rabbinate for an
administrative position. But having been a chatterbox since early childhood,
sometimes the temptation to socialize still distracts me. I try to remind myself
that kibitzing is best left for the kiddush.
The tension between keva (fixed prayer) and kavanah (proper intention) is an
age old one. How does one prevent prayer from become a rote, and therefore
unfulfilling experience? I had discovered a tactic in my quest for "kavanah."
Periodically, I would change prayer books. The different pagination, different
typeface, different commentaries would keep prayer fresh. For the most part,
this worked.
A few weeks ago, I was davening from prayer book I had recently purchased,
the SIDDUR HAGRA, the prayer book of the Vilna Gaon. I enjoyed reading the
commentaries of the great Lithuanian luminary and liked the feel of my new book:
its layout, the crisp print and hearty binding. I felt as if I had been
transported back to 18th century and had become a Litvak (the week before I was
a Chasid). But then I quickly shifted into my "bad boy" mode with a vengeance
and started kibitzing. With a "disapproving" scowl, I looked at my watch and
asked my chums why they came so late to shul. "But YOU are the one who just
walked in !" came the playful defense. "No, I was out in the hall looking for
YOU!" Laughter. Then I would chide a single friend. Time for him to get married,
I asserted. After all, why should HE be happy? His parents were there. I
informed them that I was on a mission from God to get their darling son hitched.
They wished me luck. Then other friends came in with their kids. Soon I was busy
teaching a 16-month-old to shake hands and say "good shabbes." Then I turned my
attention to the ten year old in front of me, tapping him on the shoulder and
quickly, before he could turn, directed my gaze "innocently" back into my
siddur. And then it happened.....
On the very page to which I had turned, there was a prayer I had never seen
before. A special "Mi Shebeirakh" (prayer said at the time of the Torah reading)
for those who don't talk in synagogue. I offer this translation as an act of
atonement and as a gift of love to all the other "bad boys and girls" who kibitz
in shul.
The notes in the book attribute its authorship to Rabbi Yom Tov Lipmann
Ha-Levi Heller (1579-1654), a Moravian rabbi and author of a standard commentary
on the Mishnah, "Tosafot Yom Tov." The note says that it was composed during the
Cossack uprising of Bogdan Chemelnicki in 1648 (gezeirot tach ve'tat) during
which time upward to a quarter of a million Jews were killed. It was Heller's
clear hope that proper intention in prayer would avert the disaster.
May the One who blessed our ancestors Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Moses and
Aaron, David and Solomon bless all that guard their mouths and tongues and do
not speak during the time of prayer. May the Holy One, Blessed be He, shield
them from all trouble and misfortune, from plague and illness, and extend to
them all the blessing which are found in the Torah of Moses our teacher and in
all the books of the Prophets and the Sacred Writings. May they merit seeing
their children live, thrive and grow in Torah, see them to the marriage canopy
and to the performance of good works, and to serve the Lord our God always in
truth and innocence, and let us say AMEN!
(first published in Kerem Volume 7: 5761 2001)
http://kerem.org/a-taste-of-kerem/a-prayer
Translated and with a commentary by Rabbi Kenneth L. Cohen
"Rabbi Hiyya said 'I have never concentrated on prayer all of my days. Once I
tried to concentrate, but all I could think about was politics.' Shmuel said
'During prayer, I count the clouds.' Rabbi Bun Bar Hiyya said 'I count the
stones in the wall when I should be praying.' Rabbi Matnaya said, 'I am grateful
to my head, because it knows to bow automatically when we reach the modim
prayer.'" (Yerushalmi, Berachot 16a)
"A person is obligated to pray with proper intention and to recite all the
blessings with intention, but there are very few people in this world who do so
with all their hearts." (Orchot Tzadikim, Sha'ar Teshuvah, page 509 in the
Feldheim edition)
I like being Jewish so much that I took the ultimate step and became a rabbi.
Little did I realize at the time that this would mean that I would be the only
one in shul who wasn't supposed to daven. Sitting on the bimah, I held the
ultimate responsibility for the smooth running of the services. This, of course,
is also a form of Divine service, but still, it isn't prayer. I would try to
steal moments of "kavanah" where I could, but always drawn back to earth by the
uncertainty that something might go wrong--that Mr. Goldberg wouldn't get his
aliyah, that the Bat Mitzvah might need some encouragement, that somebody would
drop the Torah. How could I be so self indulgent as to seek transcendent union
with the Infinite Source of All Life when my job was to be a captain of
industry?
Things got a little better when I left the pulpit rabbinate for an
administrative position. But having been a chatterbox since early childhood,
sometimes the temptation to socialize still distracts me. I try to remind myself
that kibitzing is best left for the kiddush.
The tension between keva (fixed prayer) and kavanah (proper intention) is an
age old one. How does one prevent prayer from become a rote, and therefore
unfulfilling experience? I had discovered a tactic in my quest for "kavanah."
Periodically, I would change prayer books. The different pagination, different
typeface, different commentaries would keep prayer fresh. For the most part,
this worked.
A few weeks ago, I was davening from prayer book I had recently purchased,
the SIDDUR HAGRA, the prayer book of the Vilna Gaon. I enjoyed reading the
commentaries of the great Lithuanian luminary and liked the feel of my new book:
its layout, the crisp print and hearty binding. I felt as if I had been
transported back to 18th century and had become a Litvak (the week before I was
a Chasid). But then I quickly shifted into my "bad boy" mode with a vengeance
and started kibitzing. With a "disapproving" scowl, I looked at my watch and
asked my chums why they came so late to shul. "But YOU are the one who just
walked in !" came the playful defense. "No, I was out in the hall looking for
YOU!" Laughter. Then I would chide a single friend. Time for him to get married,
I asserted. After all, why should HE be happy? His parents were there. I
informed them that I was on a mission from God to get their darling son hitched.
They wished me luck. Then other friends came in with their kids. Soon I was busy
teaching a 16-month-old to shake hands and say "good shabbes." Then I turned my
attention to the ten year old in front of me, tapping him on the shoulder and
quickly, before he could turn, directed my gaze "innocently" back into my
siddur. And then it happened.....
On the very page to which I had turned, there was a prayer I had never seen
before. A special "Mi Shebeirakh" (prayer said at the time of the Torah reading)
for those who don't talk in synagogue. I offer this translation as an act of
atonement and as a gift of love to all the other "bad boys and girls" who kibitz
in shul.
The notes in the book attribute its authorship to Rabbi Yom Tov Lipmann
Ha-Levi Heller (1579-1654), a Moravian rabbi and author of a standard commentary
on the Mishnah, "Tosafot Yom Tov." The note says that it was composed during the
Cossack uprising of Bogdan Chemelnicki in 1648 (gezeirot tach ve'tat) during
which time upward to a quarter of a million Jews were killed. It was Heller's
clear hope that proper intention in prayer would avert the disaster.
May the One who blessed our ancestors Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Moses and
Aaron, David and Solomon bless all that guard their mouths and tongues and do
not speak during the time of prayer. May the Holy One, Blessed be He, shield
them from all trouble and misfortune, from plague and illness, and extend to
them all the blessing which are found in the Torah of Moses our teacher and in
all the books of the Prophets and the Sacred Writings. May they merit seeing
their children live, thrive and grow in Torah, see them to the marriage canopy
and to the performance of good works, and to serve the Lord our God always in
truth and innocence, and let us say AMEN!