Introduction to the Laws of Prayer - Rabbi Avraham Mizrachi shlita

00:02 Speaker 1 You’re listening to “Lema’an Yishme’u,” a podcast from Machon Halacha Chabad.

00:09 Speaker 2 Hello to all our listeners. With Hashem’s help, we’re beginning a series of classes on prayer and its laws. The series is divided into a number of classes. Their topics are the principles and foundations of the laws of prayer, where to pray, preparations for prayer, concentration during prayer, the significance of a minyan, the laws of assembling ten people for a minyan, Kaddish, Kedushah, Barchu, and the laws of the chazzan. Today, with Hashem’s help, we’ll begin the first class, on the principles and foundations of the laws of prayer and the meaning of prayer. Chassidus places very strong emphasis on prayer. One story that brings this point out begins at the very start of Chabad Chassidus. When the Alter Rebbe, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, was twenty years old, he felt drawn to travel to the Maggid of Mezritch. There were two great centers of Torah at the time, one in Vilna and the other in Mezritch. Vilna was known as a place of Torah, while Mezritch was known as a place of prayer and service of Hashem. The Alter Rebbe stood at a crossroads and said to himself, “I think I know how to learn, but I do not know how to pray.” That is why the Alter Rebbe decided to make his way to the court of the Maggid of Mezritch. From this we understand that one of the foundations of Chassidus is serving Hashem through prayer. There are several explanations of the meaning of the word tefillah, prayer. Chassidus connects its root to the verse in which Rachel said, “With G-dly bonds I have been bound together with my sister, and I have prevailed.” On that verse, Rashi cites Rabbi Menachem ben Saruk’s explanation that tefillah is related to the expression “a tightly fastened seal”—a joining together: through the Omnipresent One, I joined with my sister. In other words, prayer means connection, the Jew connecting with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. This connection is formed during prayer through its three fundamental components: praise of Hakadosh Boruch Hu; contemplation of Hashem’s greatness and exaltedness, and of His kindness to the Jewish people as a whole and to us

03:26 Speaker 2 individually; and requests of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. In this way, we sharpen our awareness that everything comes from Hashem. Nothing can be taken for granted. Prayer and making requests instill in us the awareness that everything depends on Hashem and that we depend on His kindness. By praying to Him and making our requests of Him, we also increase the chances that He will grant what we wish for. Another part of prayer is giving thanks to Hashem for all the good He has done for us. According to Chassidus, this means not only thanking Hakadosh Boruch Hu for the good He bestows on us. It also means acknowledging and recognizing His ultimate truth—the truth of “the foundation of all foundations and the pillar of all wisdom: to know that there is a First Existence Who brings every existing thing into being,” as the Rambam writes at the opening of his work. It is a sincere, deep, genuine awareness that “there is nothing else besides Him,” an acknowledgment of that truth. This comes through contemplation during prayer: through Pesukei Dezimra, through the blessings before Shema, and, at their pinnacle, through saying, “Hear, O Israel: Hashem is our G-d, Hashem is One.” It becomes even stronger during the Amidah, when a person stands face to face in a private, personal prayer between himself and Hakadosh Boruch Hu, addressing Him directly and saying, “Blessed are You, Hashem.” Moving on, we see that prayer had a very prominent place from the earliest history of the Jewish people. We find Avraham Avinu, the first Jew, praying to Hakadosh Boruch Hu to save the people of Sodom, as well as on several other occasions. Yitzchak Avinu and Rivkah prayed and pleaded with Hakadosh Boruch Hu to be blessed with children. Yaakov Avinu prayed to Hashem when he found himself in danger from his brother Esav. With Yaakov in particular, we find an interesting description: the Torah relates his dream

06:10 Speaker 2 and says, “He dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set on the earth, and its top reached the heavens, and behold, angels of G-d were ascending and descending on it.” The holy Zohar says of “a ladder was set on the earth,” “This ladder is prayer.” In other words, Hakadosh Boruch Hu sets before us a ladder called prayer. Through it, a Jew who prays sincerely, from the depths of his heart, climbs from one level to the next, rung by rung. It begins with Modeh Ani and the morning blessings, the foundation on which the ladder stands, set on the earth. Slowly, step by step, he climbs higher in his connection with Hakadosh Boruch Hu, through the morning prayers, Pesukei Dezimra, and the blessings before Shema. The height of attachment to Hakadosh Boruch Hu comes with Shema Yisroel, the Amidah, and Tachanun. After that, Shacharis also follows a descent through the order of the worlds, on the return journey: Ashrei, the Song of the Day, Kavei el Hashem [unclear], and Aleinu. It is a ladder that rises from earth to heaven and continues with the flow of blessing back from heaven to earth. Another prayer that stands out in Tanach is Chana’s prayer. Chana prayed at length and poured out her soul before Hashem to be blessed with a son. Her prayer was answered, and she was blessed with a very great son, Shmuel the Prophet, of whom Tehillim says, “Moshe and Aharon were among His priests, and Shmuel among those who called upon His name.” Shmuel is considered equal to Moshe and Aharon. During his lifetime, Shmuel merited to anoint King David, from whom the royal line descends and from whom Moshiach ultimately comes. King David laid the groundwork for the Beis Hamikdash, and Shlomo built the Beis Hamikdash itself. All this followed from Shmuel’s anointing of King David—and all of it from Chana’s prayer. As Chana says in her prayer, “He will give strength to His king and raise the horn of His anointed one.” Her prayer was indeed answered. There is a beautiful allusion to Chana in the Amidah. In the blessing beginning “May You speedily cause the offspring of David Your servant to flourish,” we

09:02 Speaker 2 conclude, “Blessed are You, Hashem, Who causes the horn of salvation to flourish.” The final letters of the Hebrew words for “causes to flourish,” “horn,” and “salvation” spell Chana. The words “horn of salvation” also allude to Chana’s prayer: “He will raise the horn of His anointed one.” It is no coincidence that Chana’s prayer occupies such a central place in the teachings of our Sages in Tractate Berachos, where many laws of prayer are learned from it. With Hashem’s help, we’ll return to Chana’s prayer in later classes. This concludes the first part of our first class, in which we traced some milestones in prayer from the beginning of the Jewish people: through our forefathers, through the prophets, and through Moshe Rabbeinu, who also prayed extensively. As we recall from “Va’eschanan el Hashem,” he offered 515 prayers, pleading with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. And, of course, our Sages established Shacharis, Minchah, and Maariv corresponding to our forefathers Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov. As we’ll see in later classes, every one of us among the Jewish people prays these three prayers as a continuation of the prayers of our forefathers. The obligation to pray: Is there a Torah or rabbinic obligation to pray every day? Our great early authorities discussed this question and disagreed. On one hand, the Rambam states at the beginning of the Laws of Prayer that it is a positive Torah commandment to pray every day. He cites several verses: “You shall serve Hashem your G-d,” and, “To serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul.” Our Sages expound in Tractate Taanis: “To serve Him with all your heart”—what is service of the heart? This is prayer. From this, the Rambam learned that the Torah obligates us to pray to Hakadosh Boruch Hu each and every day. The Ramban, by contrast, argues that there is no obligation to pray here. The verse “to serve Him with all your heart” is a general instruction that our service of Hakadosh Boruch Hu must be wholehearted, with the intention of serving Him, not for ulterior motives. There are certain circumstances in which the Torah addresses prayer, such as sounding the trumpet in a time of distress,

12:06 Speaker 2 “When you go to war against the enemy who oppresses you, you shall sound the trumpets.” That is in times of distress, but on an ordinary day there is no Torah obligation to pray. Our Sages did, of course, interpret the verse “and to serve Him with all your heart” to mean: What is service of the heart? Prayer. But that is only a scriptural support; according to the Ramban, there is no Torah obligation to pray. Returning to the Rambam’s view, even the Rambam agrees that what the Torah requires in prayer is, essentially, a heartfelt, personal turning to Hakadosh Boruch Hu every day. A person can turn to Him with a request, with thanks or praise, or with all three together. But the Torah does not prescribe a fixed number of prayers each day, set prayer times, or a prescribed text. None of that is required by the Torah. As we will see, the wording of the prayers, their times, and the number of prayers on ordinary days, Shabbos, festivals, and Rosh Chodesh were established later, at the beginning of the Second Beis Hamikdash period, by the Men of the Great Assembly. There is an interesting practical difference between the Ramban and the Rambam: Is there a Torah obligation to pray every day, or is there no such Torah obligation, and it was our Sages who instituted daily prayer? One practical difference concerns women’s obligation to pray. We have a general rule: women are exempt from time-bound positive mitzvos, but obligated in positive mitzvos that are not time-bound. How do we define the mitzvah of prayer? Is it a time-bound positive Torah mitzvah, from which women would be exempt, or a positive Torah mitzvah that is not time-bound, in which they would be obligated? Or is it a positive mitzvah established by the Sages, in which women are nevertheless obligated at least by rabbinic law? That is an interesting practical difference between the Rambam and the Ramban. In his Shulchan Aruch, section 106, the Alter Rebbe discusses both views and the question of women’s obligation to pray.

14:54 Speaker 2 Let’s read the Alter Rebbe’s words in section 106, paragraph 2, with certain passages omitted: “Although women are exempt from reciting Shema, they are obligated in prayer, because it is a positive mitzvah that is not time-bound. The prayer times are rabbinic, while the fundamental mitzvah of prayer is from the Torah, as it says, ‘and to serve Him with all your heart.’ What is service of the heart? Prayer. But the Torah does not prescribe its wording, and a person may pray in whatever words and at whatever time they wish. Someone who prays once during the day or night has fulfilled their Torah obligation”—once in a twenty-four-hour period. We can clearly see that the Alter Rebbe is citing the Rambam’s view that we mentioned a moment ago. “Based on this reasoning, most women have customarily not recited Shemoneh Esrei regularly, morning and evening, since they say some request immediately in the morning, shortly after washing their hands, and thereby fulfill the Torah obligation. It is possible that the Sages did not obligate them to do more.” In summary, according to the Rambam, on the one hand women are obligated to pray because this is a positive mitzvah that is not time-bound. On the other hand, very little is needed to fulfill that obligation: it is enough to make some request once in a twenty-four-hour period to fulfill the Torah obligation, and it is possible that the Sages did not impose any further obligation on women in this regard. By contrast, there is the Ramban’s view: “But some say that the fundamental mitzvah of prayer is rabbinic.” The whole concept of daily prayers has its basis in an enactment of our Sages, not in a Torah obligation. The Men of the Great Assembly, whom we will discuss further, established the eighteen blessings in their prescribed order, to be recited in Shacharis and Minchah as an obligation, and in Maariv as an optional prayer. So if the obligation is rabbinic, and rabbinic law sets a fixed time for fulfilling it, it takes on the definition of a time-bound positive mitzvah. If so, perhaps women should again be exempt, because it is a rabbinic time-bound positive mitzvah? The Alter Rebbe says: “And although it is

17:33 Speaker 2 “a time-bound positive mitzvah instituted by the Sages, and women are exempt from all time-bound positive mitzvos, even rabbinic ones, such as Hallel, Kiddush, and rejoicing, nevertheless they were obligated in Shacharis and Minchah, since prayer is a request for mercy. And this is the primary view.” The Alter Rebbe follows the Magen Avraham, who ruled in accordance with the Ramban’s view. On the one hand, we accept that the obligation is fundamentally rabbinic. On the other hand, there is a stringency: the Sages who instituted prayer saw fit to obligate women as an exception. Although women are generally exempt from time-bound mitzvos, in the case of prayer, which is a request for mercy, the Sages saw fit to include them in this obligation, at least for Shacharis and Minchah. Maariv was originally optional, and women did not accept it as obligatory even when the Jewish people accepted Maariv as an obligation. So, in summary, Shacharis and Minchah are obligatory for women as well. We entered into this subject only to illustrate a practical difference between the Rambam and the Ramban. We saw that the Alter Rebbe leans toward the more stringent ruling in accordance with the Ramban’s view—more stringent in a certain respect—and this helps us understand the source of the obligation to pray. One approach holds that it begins in the Torah; the other holds that it begins only with a rabbinic enactment. Everyone agrees that the form of prayer—its wording, its times, and how many times we pray—is rabbinic. I want to read you another passage from the Alter Rebbe’s laws of prayer, in section 89, paragraph 1. The Men of the Great Assembly: let’s understand what that term means. We are speaking about the beginning of the Second Beis Hamikdash period. When Ezra the Scribe brought the exiles of Babylonia back to the Land of Israel to build the Second Beis Hamikdash, he established the largest court in history, with 120 members—120 elders. For example, there were the prophets Chaggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, as well as Mordechai. They were members of the Great Assembly, which numbered one hundred

20:17 Speaker 2 and twenty elders. The Great Assembly had a very, very important role in shaping the conduct of the Jewish people. From the time of the Second Beis Hamikdash onward, many practices were introduced that had not been observed earlier, in the time of the First Beis Hamikdash or during the Babylonian exile. The Sages of that period saw that the conduct of the Jewish people during the First Beis Hamikdash period had been lacking, particularly in their connection with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. After all, the First Beis Hamikdash was destroyed because of idolatry, forbidden relations, and bloodshed. The Sages who came to build the Second Beis Hamikdash established many enactments, safeguards, and stringencies to help the Jewish people return to proper conduct, return to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, and merit the continued existence of the Second Beis Hamikdash. One of their most central enactments, which we still observe and hold firmly to this very day, is prayer. The Men of the Great Assembly saw that, for a Jew to connect with Hakadosh Boruch Hu—as we said in the introduction, the essence of prayer is a Jew’s inner connection with Hashem—prayer needed a framework of times, a set text, and a daily obligation. That way, prayer would bring a Jew to a deep, inner connection with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. As the exile lengthens—sadly, the Second Beis Hamikdash was destroyed, and we have been in exile for nearly two thousand years—on the one hand, we grow more distant from the time of the Beis Hamikdash; on the other, we draw closer to the time of the Geulah. For these reasons, we should pray more, spend longer in prayer, and go deeper into prayer. That is why, over the generations, prayer has grown longer and deeper. With the revelation of the teachings of Chassidus came the whole concept of preparing for prayer and studying Chassidus before prayer. All of this is so that the inner connection meant to find expression in prayer will indeed be realized. And as the exile lengthens and the darkness increases, on the contrary, it is incumbent on us to pray with ever greater kavanah

23:05 Speaker 2 In prayer, to spend more time praying, so that prayer actually connects us with Hakadosh Boruch Hu in practice. I’ll read the Alter Rebbe’s words in section 89, paragraph 1: “The Men of the Great Assembly instituted three daily prayers, each consisting of eighteen blessings.” The three prayers correspond to the prayers of our forefathers Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, which we mentioned in the first lesson. Avraham instituted Shacharis, Yitzchak instituted Minchah, and Yaakov instituted Maariv. Our Sages established that two of them, Shacharis and Minchah, are obligatory, while the third is optional. Why are Shacharis and Minchah more obligatory than Maariv? This is where the offerings come in. When the Beis Hamikdash stood, there were two daily offerings every day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Today, when we have no offerings, prayers take their place. Even when there were offerings, there were still prayers that every Jew recited corresponding to the daily offerings brought in the Beis Hamikdash: the morning daily offering corresponding to Shacharis, and the afternoon daily offering corresponding to Minchah. Maariv was optional, corresponding to the limbs and fats that, if they had not been consumed during the day, continued to be offered throughout the night. But now all of Israel has accepted Maariv as an obligation, as explained in its place. The Alter Rebbe goes on to add that although the prayer originally consisted of eighteen blessings, Rabban Gamliel and his court added another blessing. So altogether we have nineteen blessings in the central part of prayer, the Amidah. This prayer of nineteen blessings is divided, as we said at the outset, into praise of Hakadosh Boruch Hu at the beginning, thirteen blessings of requests to Hakadosh Boruch Hu in the middle, and three blessings of thanks to Hashem at the end. With that, we have briefly covered the different views on whether prayer is a positive commandment from the Torah or a rabbinic obligation. In this part of the lesson, with Hashem’s help, we’ll discuss the laws concerning where to pray. Says

25:44 Speaker 2 the Alter Rebbe in Shulchan Aruch, section 90, paragraph 10: “A person should always endeavor to pray in the synagogue with the congregation. Even if he can pray at home with ten people, nevertheless, ‘In a multitude of people is the King’s glory.’” In other words, praying in the synagogue with a large congregation has an advantage: it brings honor and glory to Hakadosh Boruch Hu when many people come together to pray to Him. That outweighs the advantage of praying at home with a smaller minyan. Another reason: “A person’s prayer is heard only in the synagogue, as it says, ‘To hear the song and the prayer’: where there is song, there should be prayer.” That is, in the synagogue, where the congregation recites songs and praises in a pleasant, melodious voice, prayer is heard. So the first preference is to go to the synagogue and pray with a large congregation. It honors Hakadosh Boruch Hu when many people pray to Him together, and prayer is heard particularly where a large congregation prays with song and a pleasant voice. The Alter Rebbe gives us another interesting law: what happens if someone cannot make it to the minyan at the synagogue? The minyan finishes too early for him. Does it make a difference whether he prays at home or in the synagogue? After all, there won’t be a minyan at the synagogue either. Why should he go there? Why not pray at home? These are the Alter Rebbe’s words: “Someone who is in town and, due to circumstances beyond his control, did not pray with the congregation, and now prays alone after the entire congregation has finished praying in the synagogue, should nevertheless pray in the synagogue.” Why? There’s no large congregation, no place of song at that moment. Still, the very location of the synagogue, the walls of the synagogue, give prayer there an advantage. Why? “Because it is a fixed place designated for communal prayer.” The very fact that the synagogue is a place set aside for prayer gives it an advantage in having prayers accepted. “A person’s prayer is heard there.” Another reason: “And also

28:33 Speaker 2 because Hakadosh Boruch Hu is present in the synagogue, as it says, ‘G-d stands in the assembly of G-d’”—that is, in His meeting place, where people gather before Him. In other words, the Shechinah rests in the synagogue even when there are no worshippers, no congregation, and no multitude of people. So there is certainly an advantage to praying in the synagogue. Apart from the advantages of praying with a minyan and a large congregation in the synagogue, praying in the synagogue building itself has an advantage. If, then, someone has two options—praying alone at home or praying alone in the synagogue—he should definitely pray alone in the synagogue. Another point: suppose someone has the choice of praying alone in the synagogue or with a minyan elsewhere. For example, there may be a small community, or, Heaven forbid, a situation where prayers are held in a mourner’s home. The minyan has moved from the synagogue to the mourner’s home. Someone might wonder: Wait, a mourner’s home isn’t a synagogue. There’s an advantage to praying in a synagogue, and we said that even an individual’s prayer there has special significance. So perhaps he should prefer to pray alone in the synagogue rather than with a minyan outside it? The answer is no. The advantage of praying with a minyan definitely outweighs the advantage of praying in a synagogue without a minyan. Another question: when there are two synagogues, one with a small congregation and—another place, sorry. If there is another synagogue with a large congregation, it is definitely preferable to go to the one with the larger congregation, because “In a multitude of people is the King’s glory.” But if there is a synagogue with a small congregation and a large congregation outside a synagogue, the synagogue with the small congregation is preferable to the larger gathering outside it. That means that when the two advantages—synagogue and minyan—come together, they outweigh the advantage of

31:09 Speaker 2 a large congregation outside a synagogue. I want to quote the Alter Rebbe’s wording in section 94, paragraph 12, on the great advantage of praying in a synagogue and with a minyan. This is what the Alter Rebbe says: “Someone who has a synagogue in his city and does not enter it to pray is called a bad neighbor, and brings exile upon himself and his children, as it says, ‘Thus says Hashem concerning all My evil neighbors who touch the inheritance that I have given My people,’ and so on; ‘Behold, I will uproot them from their land,’ and so on.” That’s the negative side. On the positive side, of course: “Anyone who goes early and late to the synagogue merits long life, as it says, ‘Fortunate is the person who listens to me, watching daily at my doors,’ and afterward it says, ‘For whoever finds me finds life.’” Now, the Alter Rebbe turns to another interesting subject: the effort involved in going to the synagogue. A person has two synagogues in his city. As I understand the Alter Rebbe’s view, this applies even when the two synagogues are entirely equal in their merits, as we’ll see later in the lesson. Still, if one synagogue is close to his home and another is farther away, there is an advantage, in the Alter Rebbe’s words: “If there are two synagogues in his city, it is good to go to the farther one, because there is reward for one’s steps.” An interesting point: it isn’t only the prayer itself in the synagogue that is praiseworthy. The effort a person makes, and the steps he takes to walk to the synagogue, matter too, and he is rewarded for them. So much so that there is an advantage in choosing the more distant synagogue in order to receive a reward for the steps one takes to get there. A person who has several synagogues in his city wants to know how to choose the one where it is most fitting and desirable to pray. First of all, there is a great advantage in having a fixed place for prayer. That is, one of the synagogues should be his regular place of prayer. Not

33:53 Speaker 2 One day here and one day there. Rather, he should designate a particular synagogue as his place of prayer and not change it except for a significant need. If there is a major change in his life—he moves to a different home or neighborhood—then of course he does not have to keep praying in his former place. He may certainly change locations; that is a significant need. If he feels that changing synagogues will make his concentration in prayer deeper and more genuine, then, because concentration is so important in prayer, as we will see in the coming classes, with Hashem’s help, that too is a reason to move from his regular synagogue to a new one where he will pray regularly. If he believes he will concentrate better on prayer in the second synagogue, he may move there. One reason to have a fixed place for prayer is the teaching of our Sages: “Whoever establishes a fixed place for his prayer has the G-d of Avraham to help him.” But there is another aspect to having a particular synagogue as one’s place of prayer. When a person prays in a particular place at a particular time, he is, in a sense, saying to Hakadosh Boruch Hu that his life revolves around its central axis: the synagogue, prayer, and the time for prayer. He arranges all his other activities around that fixed place and time for prayer, rather than fitting prayer in somewhere, sometime, between the pursuits that matter to him. When a person sets a fixed place and time for prayer, it gives importance and value to his connection with Hakadosh Boruch Hu through prayer. Moreover, not only should a person have one regular synagogue, but within the synagogue

36:15 Speaker 2 itself, he should establish a particular place for prayer. A “fixed place” is defined as four amos. For example, if there is a bench in the synagogue, any spot within four amos on that bench counts as the same fixed place. He does not have to designate the exact same centimeters for prayer. Any area within four amos—approximately two meters—is considered one place and can serve as his fixed place. Furthermore, when a person prays at home for any of various reasons, he should establish a fixed place there too, in the words of the halachah, where the members of the household will not disturb him. When we speak of a fixed place for prayer, the prayer for which this matters most is the Amidah. Even if he happens to say the rest of the prayers elsewhere in the synagogue, he should at least have a fixed place where he always prays the Amidah. Many synagogues have seats assigned to specific people. When a person has an assigned seat, that seat does matter for establishing a fixed place for prayer. If he moves to a friend’s seat or someone else’s, it is visibly a change from his regular place. But of course, a person should not insist on his own seat at all costs, even if someone else has sat down there. If he can gently suggest to that person that he move elsewhere, without causing offense, and the person is a guest who agrees, that is fine; it allows him to keep his regular place. But if, G-d forbid, it might hurt the guest or whoever sat there, it is certainly better to let it go and move to another seat. Especially if the second seat is within four amos of his usual one, moving is certainly preferable. When a person is choosing among several

38:35 Speaker 2 synagogues in the same area, which one should he choose as his fixed place for prayer? There are several factors to consider. The first thing to look for is whether one of them is also a beis midrash—a place where Torah is studied, with Torah classes, study partners, and Torah learning. Praying in a place where Torah is studied has priority, even if the congregation is smaller and, seemingly, there is less of the advantage of a large crowd. The fact that Torah is studied in the place where one prays is a great advantage. Of course, he should have a fixed place in that beis midrash. So when choosing a synagogue, if it is also a beis midrash and he has a fixed place there, its status as a place of Torah study is an advantage, even if the congregation is smaller, and he should choose it. A synagogue with many Torah classes, many teachers, a variety of classes, study partners, and a large library that makes it possible to set regular times for Torah study certainly has an advantage. It is good for a person to connect to a place of prayer that also invites Torah study, and in that way connect with Torah and those who study it. Another advantage, which we touched on earlier, is “In a multitude of people is the King’s glory.” As we mentioned, when there are two synagogues, one with more people praying and one with fewer, there is certainly an advantage to praying where there is a larger congregation. Of course, the halachic authorities caution that a large congregation is an advantage only so long as it does not hinder prayer. There may be situations where the size of the crowd puts people farther from the chazzan and the Torah reader, or causes noise and distractions. In that case, we certainly would not give priority to the advantage of a large congregation. It is an advantage, but not at the expense of concentration in prayer or of hearing the

41:09 Speaker 2 chazzan and the Torah reader clearly. Sefer Chassidim states that a synagogue where people maintain quiet during prayer, making it possible to concentrate well, is preferable to a place that may have other advantages, including a large congregation, but is not quiet during prayer. That is not an advantage. One should instead perhaps choose the synagogue with fewer people, where they maintain quiet during prayer and can therefore pray with greater concentration. I want to sharpen a point we made at the beginning, a principle we should always remember: the word tefillah, prayer, is related to connection. Its inner essence is concentration in prayer, the connection between a Jew and Hakadosh Boruch Hu. So all the considerations we have discussed—a large congregation, a place that is also a beis midrash—must revolve around prayer’s central purpose: connecting with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Concentration in prayer is like the soul to the body. Accordingly, whenever we weigh these factors, we must always put central emphasis on whether a particular synagogue will increase and encourage concentration in prayer. In this section, we have tried to summarize the halachos of praying in a synagogue and how to choose the right synagogue for prayer. In the next section, we will again discuss where a person prays, but not in terms of choosing a synagogue or a particular spot within it. Rather, we will discuss the place inside the synagogue on which the person praying stands. Here too, there are halachos defining which places are suitable and which are not. The halachah states, in chapter 90, section 1: “A person who prays must prepare a suitable place for his prayer.” In other words, the place on which he stands while praying must be suitable for prayer. We remind ourselves that the purpose of prayer is to connect a person with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. The place, too, has an effect on that connection.

43:50 Speaker 2 A person should not daven in an elevated place, because being up high can also make him feel elevated inwardly, feel a sense of superiority—and there is no place for superiority before Hashem. As the verse says, “From the depths I called out to You, Hashem.” So the place where a person stands should be level with the floor, not raised above it. As the halachah says, one should not stand on a bed, a chair, a bench, or any elevated place. “Elevated” means more than three tefachim above the floor. Three tefachim are twenty-four centimeters according to the ruling of Rabbi Chaim Naeh. So one should not stand more than twenty-four centimeters above the floor. There are several exceptions. An elderly or sick person lying in bed may find it difficult to get down from the bed to stand on the floor and daven. If he has the ability to stand on the bed, he may do so and daven, because when circumstances leave him no choice, davening in an elevated place is permitted. He is not doing it out of a desire to raise himself up, but simply because he cannot get down to stand on the floor. Another exception is a shliach tzibbur. If standing in an elevated place will allow him to be heard better, he may raise his position so the congregation can hear him better. An elevated area is also not considered high relative to the floor when it has the status of a place in its own right. It is treated as a separate area, rather than as part of the floor above which it is raised. For it to be treated as a separate area, one of the following conditions must be met: either it is at least four amos by four amos—

46:16 Speaker 2 in which case it is treated as an area in its own right—or, if it is smaller than four amos by four amos, it is surrounded by partitions. The partitions separate it from the rest of the floor, so it is treated as a place in its own right, where davening is permitted. There is another, very interesting exception: workers picking olives or figs who are now up in the trees, in the middle of their work, and would need time to climb down to the ground. In this case, the Sages allowed them to daven there so as not to take time away from their employer. They need not spend valuable work time climbing down; they may daven in an elevated place. Apart from these exceptions, though, a person should daven on the floor, not in an elevated place. And we have defined an elevated place as one more than twenty-four centimeters above the floor. There is another halachah concerning where to daven. Our Sages said in Tractate Berachos: “A person should always enter a shul the distance of two doorways and then daven.” What does that mean? What is “the distance of two doorways,” and what is behind this instruction? The Alter Rebbe cites four interpretations of this Gemara and includes them all as practical halachah: it is proper to take every interpretation of this teaching into account. The first is Rashi’s interpretation. “A person should always enter the distance of two doorways” means that when entering a shul to daven, he should not stand near the door, close to the exit. Rather, he should go farther into the shul, at least the distance of two doorways. A narrow doorway measures four tefachim; two doorways are eight tefachim. From a point eight tefachim inside the entrance onward is a proper place to daven. Why? Because if he stands at the entrance while davening, it looks

49:01 Speaker 2 as though he is looking for an escape route from davening, which is not appropriate. The practical difference is that if he is not merely visiting this shul but is a regular there, and his established place—the place assigned to him or the place that became his regular spot—is within that distance of two doorways from the entrance, that is perfectly fine. In that case, his position does not suggest any reluctance to daven or any search for an escape route. Another interpretation is that of the Maharam. The Maharam says that when our Sages instructed a person to enter a shul the distance of two doorways, they simply meant that davening near the entrance would distract him with people passing by outside the shul and interfere with his concentration. He should therefore move farther from the door so he can concentrate on davening. According to the Maharam, the practical difference is that if the shul’s door does not open onto a public thoroughfare where people pass by, but is inside the shul building—for example, if the door to the davening hall opens onto the shul’s foyer—there is no problem with davening near the door. On the other hand, even if someone is farther inside the shul, if he is davening next to a window facing a public thoroughfare, the same concern applies. The purpose of going the distance of two doorways into the shul is to improve concentration and avoid being distracted by what is happening outside. So even though he is farther inside the shul, being next to a window can still interfere with his concentration, and that is not desirable. A further interpretation, that of Tosafos, is that “a person should always enter a shul the distance of two doorways” refers not to distance but to time. A person arrives at the shul

51:29 Speaker 2 from outside, carrying the thoughts and concerns that occupied him until it was time to daven. He should not walk in and immediately begin davening. Instead, he should pause for as long as it takes to pass through two doorways. That gives him a little time to clear his mind of what occupied him beforehand; he can then make a fresh start and enter a state of mind suited to davening. The fourth interpretation approaches it from a completely different angle. This halachah concerns not the person davening, but the design of the shul. A shul should be built with two doorways before one enters the davening hall itself: the door to the hall, preceded by another door leading into a foyer or entryway, which in turn leads to the door of the shul’s main hall. So in this part of the lesson we have looked at more halachos that our Sages established concerning davening. The place where we daven should not be elevated, nor should it be somewhere that invites distraction. All of this, of course, is so that we daven properly, with the right concentration, and our davening can achieve its purpose. At the end of this part of the lesson, I want to add an interesting and important halachah that expresses the importance a person should attach to davening. Our Sages said—and it appears in the Shulchan Aruch of the Ben Ish Chai, section 90, paragraph 13—that it is a mitzvah to run to shul, as one would for any mitzvah, as the verse says, “Let us pursue the knowledge of Hashem.” Running expresses the affection, importance, eagerness, and desire we bring to davening, to its time and to the occasion. But running is appropriate only until one enters the shul. Inside the shul, one should not run, but walk calmly. Of course, the virtue of running to daven before entering the shul applies even on Shabbos, and even though on weekdays it is generally not recommended to take long strides, doing so for the sake of davening is proper.

54:17 Speaker 2 All of that applies when going to shul. When leaving the shul, a person must not run or take long strides, because that makes it look as though he stayed for davening against his will and was just waiting for the chance to rush out. Of course, if he is leaving the shul quickly in order to perform a mitzvah or go to the beis midrash, it is certainly proper for him to do so with alacrity. Leaving the shul