Intent in Prayer - Rabbi Avraham Mizrachi shlita

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

00:09 Speaker 2 In this part of the class, we’ll discuss another precaution a person must take during prayer: not saying words of holiness in the presence of exposed parts of the body. In the previous class, we discussed things like [unclear], excrement, and the like. Now we’ll discuss the prohibition against saying words of holiness in the presence of exposed parts of the body. The Torah says, “Your camp shall be holy, and He shall not see any indecent thing among you and turn away from you.” When a man sees another man, or a woman sees another woman, with the private parts themselves exposed, it is forbidden to say words of holiness. But when a man sees a woman, our Sages said, “A handbreadth of a woman’s body is considered ervah.” In other words, any area that women normally cover must not be exposed, and if it is exposed, one may not say words of holiness in its presence. Our Sages also said, “A woman’s hair is considered ervah.” That is, if a married woman who covers her hair has her hair exposed, it is considered ervah, and one may not say words of holiness in its presence. If a person needs to pray, recite a blessing, or study Torah, but a woman standing in front of him has a handbreadth of an area normally covered exposed, he should preferably turn completely in another direction so that he cannot see her, as the Alter Rebbe explains from the verse, “He shall not see any indecent thing among you.” Once he turns away and cannot see her, it is permissible. If he cannot turn around, he should look into his siddur or close his eyes, and then he may say words of holiness. One may not say words of holiness while hearing a woman sing. “A woman’s singing voice is considered ervah.” Therefore, if a woman is singing, he must not pray while hearing her voice. As the Alter Rebbe writes in section 75, subsection 6: “A woman’s singing voice, whether she is unmarried or married—even if she is his wife—is considered ervah, and it is forbidden to recite Shema while hearing it,” or to pray or speak words of Torah. But her speaking voice, since he is accustomed

02:48 Speaker 2 to it, is not considered ervah, even if she is married. The Alter Rebbe continues: “Even a singing voice, if he can direct his heart to his prayer in such a way that he does not hear it or pay attention to it, it is permitted.” That concludes this part on the prohibition against saying words of holiness in the presence of ervah. A suitable place for prayer. In this part of the class, we’ll discuss where a person praying may stand in relation to his rabbi. Halacha addresses the situation of someone praying near his rabbi. Out of respect for his rabbi, there are certain limits on where he may pray near him. The Alter Rebbe states in his Shulchan Aruch, in section 90, subsection 23, that one should not pray immediately next to his rabbi—not at his side, in front of him, or behind him—unless he is at least four amos away. Of course, there are particular reasons why standing in front, behind, or to the side is inappropriate. Standing alongside his rabbi is disrespectful because it gives the impression that they are equals, of the same standing. All the more so if he prays in front of his rabbi, placing himself ahead of him and turning his back on him. That is certainly disrespectful. And when he prays behind his rabbi, with the rabbi in front and himself behind, it can appear as though he is bowing to his rabbi, which is inappropriate. But there are two important qualifications. These restrictions apply when this is not the student’s regular place for prayer, but he and his rabbi happen to be praying somewhere that is not their regular place—for example, in a particular house. Then all the restrictions we mentioned apply. But if their regular places were assigned by the gabbaim, the management of the beis midrash, or the like, and the student’s

05:28 Speaker 2 regular place happens to be near his rabbi, there is no problem. In any case, he should try not to stand behind his rabbi in a way that would prevent his rabbi from taking three steps backward without waiting for the student. That is inappropriate under any circumstances. Even if it is the student’s regular place, he should still stand far enough behind his rabbi to leave at least four amos beyond the three steps the rabbi will need to take during prayer, so that he does not hold up his rabbi at the end of his prayer. This brings us to another very important subject, also connected to the person praying and the place where he prays. There is an interesting halacha that says looking at the sky arouses concentration. That certainly does not mean a person should constantly look at the sky while praying. But looking at the sky can help him concentrate. It arouses fear of Heaven and humility of heart. So if, in the middle of prayer, a person feels distracted, unable to concentrate properly, perhaps troubled by other thoughts, a glance at the sky through the synagogue windows—as we’ll see shortly—can help his prayer. It can help him concentrate and focus on the central point we keep discussing: prayer is about the connection between a Jew and Hakadosh Boruch Hu. So when his concentration becomes a little clouded, looking at the sky through the synagogue windows can indeed help him concentrate or feel reverence for Hashem while praying. Therefore, a synagogue, or any building used for prayer, should have windows or openings through which the sky can be seen. It is good for those windows to face Jerusalem, the direction of prayer. Interestingly, the Rebbe explains in Likkutei Sichos that there is a connection between the physical and the spiritual. Just as prayer ascends spiritually to Hakadosh Boruch Hu through Jerusalem, so too, when a person faces Jerusalem geographically while praying and the windows open toward the sky in that same direction,

07:57 Speaker 2 the physical and spiritual come together to aid concentration and the proper ascent of the prayer. We should mention that, according to the holy Zohar, it is fitting for a synagogue to have at least twelve windows. According to Kabbalah and the mystical teachings, these correspond to the twelve windows in the heavens. This is fitting for a synagogue and helps concentration in prayer. As a rule, prayer should take place inside an enclosed building, not in an open area. An open area can lead to a lighthearted attitude, distraction, and less humility and awe before Hakadosh Boruch Hu. In an enclosed place, by contrast, awe of Hakadosh Boruch Hu comes upon him and his heart is humbled, in the words of the halacha. That is the proper way to pray. Someone traveling, however, who has no enclosed place in which to pray should certainly not refrain from praying along the way. He should stop off to the side. If he can find a small grove among the trees or a spot near a wall beside the road, that is preferable. But if he is traveling and those options are unavailable, he may also pray at the side of the road. This brings us to another very important detail about where a person prays in relation to the synagogue and the other people praying. This can be quite common when a synagogue is completely full and people want to pray outside it, or when, for any number of reasons, people want to hold additional minyanim or courtyard minyanim. Unfortunately, when synagogues are closed, we need to know that there are also halachos governing where people may pray in relation to the synagogue. Where is it permitted or forbidden to pray—in front of the synagogue, behind it, or to its sides? Halacha addresses that too, and we’ll look at it in the next few minutes. There are several factors we need to pay attention to. First, that the direction faced in prayer by someone outside

10:22 Speaker 2 Facing the synagogue should be in the same direction as the people praying inside it. It should not appear, G-d forbid, that he is praying in a different direction, to some other entity. In the language of halachah, it would look as though he denies the One before Whom the congregation is praying. He is changing the direction of prayer. Nor should it appear that he is showing disrespect to the synagogue by turning his back toward it. Because of all these considerations, there are several halachic restrictions, as follows. On the eastern side of the synagogue, at its front—assuming, of course, that people pray facing east, which is sometimes the direction of Jerusalem—someone who wants to pray in front of the synagogue, beyond its eastern wall and outside the building, should not pray there. Why? If he faces the same direction as the people inside, his back is to the synagogue, and it looks as though he is showing it disrespect. And if he turns to face the synagogue, that avoids the first problem, but now he is praying in the opposite direction from the people inside. That creates the other problem we mentioned: it looks as though he denies the One before Whom the congregation is praying. So, to sum up, one does not pray in front of the synagogue—neither facing the direction of prayer nor facing the synagogue. On the western side, behind the synagogue, if he wants to hold a minyan there or pray there on his own, there is no problem, provided he faces the same direction as the people inside. Then he is facing the right way, and there is no issue of turning his back on the synagogue; on the contrary, he is facing it, which is certainly proper. Of course, if, G-d forbid, he

12:40 Speaker 2 turns to face the opposite direction, there are two problems: he is praying in the wrong direction, and he is turning his back on the synagogue. That is entirely unacceptable. There are rules for the sides of the synagogue, to the north and south, as well. If he prays in the same direction as the people inside, that is fine: he is neither turning his back on the synagogue nor facing a different direction from the congregation. But if he prays at the side of the synagogue while facing elsewhere—whether toward the north or toward the synagogue—either way there is a problem: either he is not facing Jerusalem, or he is turning his back on the synagogue. So, to sum up, praying in front of the synagogue is entirely ruled out. If he prays behind the synagogue facing toward it, that is fine. Praying to its north or south while facing the direction of prayer is also fine, but not facing other directions. All these restrictions apply when he is in an open area behind, in front of, or beside the synagogue. But if he is inside an enclosed building beside the synagogue, there is no restriction. Even if that building is in front of the synagogue, so that he is facing away from it, there is no problem: because he is inside a separate building, it is not at all apparent that his back is to the synagogue. We are continuing with the laws of prayer, and today, with Hashem’s help, we will touch on several topics connected with them. The first topic we will

15:00 Speaker 2 begin with is preparing the body for prayer. The prophet Amos says, “Prepare to meet your G-d, O Israel.” King Solomon says, “Guard your feet when you go to the house of G-d.” From these verses, along with other sources and reasons, our Sages teach that someone who needs to relieve himself before prayer may not pray in that state. One reason is that the need may distract him during prayer. We have already learned in previous classes that a person must remove anything that may distract him while he prays, and this is one such thing. Another reason is that when there is waste in the body that needs to be expelled, it is not respectful to stand in prayer before Hakadosh Boruch Hu in that condition. For these reasons and others, if a person feels the need before prayer, he must relieve himself and only then begin to pray. What happens when there is a dilemma between praying and relieving oneself? In other words, must one do so in every case before praying, or are there situations where the need is not so great and one may pray as he is? Halachah makes several distinctions. If a person’s need is so urgent that, as halachah defines it, he cannot hold it for the time it takes to walk a parsah—seventy-two minutes—and he nevertheless begins to pray, his prayer is not considered a prayer at all. After relieving himself, he must pray again, because what he prayed in that condition does not count. First of all, this is referring to a bowel movement. In the case of urination, the Alter Rebbe is lenient after the fact: even if the need was urgent and he prayed without first relieving himself, he does not have to pray again. But suppose he does need to relieve himself, though not as urgently as in the case we just discussed: he can put it off and hold it for those seventy-two minutes, the time it takes to walk a parsah. Should he pray like that in the first place? The halachic authorities disagree, and the Alter Rebbe rules as follows: if there is a concern that the time for prayer will pass, it is better for him to pray. But if the time will not pass, he should first relieve himself and then pray. As for praying with a minyan versus praying alone, a minyan is not a reason to pray when his body needs to relieve itself. Even if he will miss the minyan because he goes to relieve himself, it is preferable to do that before praying, even if it means he will pray alone. If he did pray while able to hold it, his prayer is valid after the fact, and he does not need to pray again. If the need is even less pressing, or he is not even sure whether he needs to go, he should ideally check and relieve himself, but he should not miss even communal prayer for that purpose. That sums up the preparations for prayer before a person begins to pray. If he has already begun praying and then feels the need to relieve himself, halachah distinguishes between several situations and different points at which he may interrupt. But to sum up the Alter Rebbe’s rulings in his siddur: if a person needs to relieve himself after beginning to pray and can hold it, it is preferable that he wait until the end of prayer and then relieve himself. If he is in the middle of Shemoneh Esrei and can no longer hold it, then if he needs a bowel movement, he should interrupt Shemoneh Esrei, relieve himself, and return to his prayer. Regarding urination, it sounds very

17:35 Speaker 2 Yes, after the fact, he does not need to pray again. But if he really does need to relieve himself, just not as urgently as in the case we discussed a moment ago, and he can put it off—he can hold it in for those seventy-two minutes, the time it takes to travel a parsah—is it right to pray that way in the first place? The poskim disagree on this, and the Alter Rebbe rules as follows: If there is a concern that the time for prayer will pass, it is better for him to pray. But if the time for prayer will not pass, he should first relieve himself and then pray. As for praying with a minyan or praying alone, praying with a minyan is not a reason to pray when his body is telling him he needs to relieve himself. Even if he will miss the minyan because he went to relieve himself, it is preferable that he do so before praying, even if that means he will pray alone. After the fact, if he prayed in this condition, when he was able to hold it in, his prayer is valid and he does not need to pray again. If the need is less pressing, or if he is even unsure whether he needs to go, then ideally, of course, he should check and relieve himself, but he should not miss even communal prayer for that purpose. That, essentially, sums up the preparations for prayer before a person begins to pray. If a person is already in the middle of prayer and then feels the need to relieve himself, halachah makes several distinctions about when he may interrupt. But the upshot of the Alter Rebbe’s rulings in his siddur is this: If someone needs to relieve himself and has already begun praying, then if he can hold it in, it is preferable to do so until the end of prayer and relieve himself afterward. If he is in the middle of Shemoneh Esrei and can no longer hold it in, then if he needs to have a bowel movement, he should interrupt Shemoneh Esrei, relieve himself, and return to his prayer. Regarding urination, it sounds very

20:11 Speaker 2 It’s interesting and a little strange, but the Alter Rebbe is very strict about this. His ruling is that a person should not interrupt the Amidah to relieve himself, even if urine is running down his legs. We won’t go into all the details of the halachah here, but that is the general point. So that is a brief, general summary of the halachah we began with: a person needs to prepare his body before prayer, as part of “Prepare to meet your G-d, O Israel.” In this part, we’ll also discuss a very important subject connected to a person’s state of mind during prayer. As we said, prayer requires concentration and kavanah. What happens if someone has had an alcoholic drink and wants to pray afterward? Is it forbidden? Is it permitted? What happens after the fact? How much has the alcohol affected him? We’ll discuss all of that in this part of the lesson. The basic, general rule is that a person who is drunk should not pray or recite Shema and its blessings. If he prayed while in the state defined as drunkenness—which we’ll explain shortly—his prayer is an abomination. Our Sages spoke very severely about this state, and he must pray again, because it is considered as though he did not pray at all. If the time for that prayer has passed and the time for the next prayer has arrived, he should recite the next prayer twice, under the law of a makeup prayer, because prayer while drunk is not considered prayer at all. What is the definition of drunkenness we’re talking about? It is someone who drank alcohol and was affected so strongly that he cannot speak before a king in the way one should speak before a king. He cannot speak respectfully and coherently, without affronting the king’s dignity. That means the alcohol has affected him to the point of drunkenness. As we’ve explained, prayer in a state of drunkenness is not considered prayer. Now, someone whose condition is less severe than that of a drunk person—

22:38 Speaker 2 he drank less and was less affected by the alcohol. He feels somewhat dizzy, but not to the point that he cannot speak before a king. He can speak before a king and would do so respectfully, but he is still not entirely clearheaded. The halachic term for this state is “one who has been drinking.” Ideally, he should not pray in this state; he should do what is needed to let the effects of the wine wear off. That is, of course, provided the time for prayer will not pass. If he sees that the time for prayer is about to end, he should pray in this state as a last resort. And, of course, if he already prayed while in this state, he has fulfilled his obligation and does not need to pray again. In the time of our Sages, wines were very strong, so drinking a revi’is of wine without a meal could already cause dizziness, and a person needed to let its effects wear off before praying. If he drank more than a revi’is, that was already a real issue of having been drinking, or even of being drunk, according to the distinctions we’ve just discussed. Today our wines are weaker, so after drinking a revi’is of wine, or even more than a revi’is, the practice is to pray and not be concerned about its effects. This is especially so if, after praying—sorry, after drinking—he prays from a siddur, which helps him focus. Alternatively, if there is a concern that the time for prayer will pass, he should pray even if he does not have a siddur with him. One reason is that nowadays our kavanah in prayer is not so great in any case. Therefore, after drinking a revi’is of wine or a little more, there is no reason for concern, and we are lenient and pray. But, of course, if drinking a revi’is of wine or more affected him so strongly that he reached a state of actual drunkenness,

25:00 Speaker 2 then he falls under the definition of drunkenness we discussed earlier. It makes no difference whether it was wine or another drink. How does a person dispel the effects of alcohol? Sleep—plenty of sleep—dispels its effects. Walking also helps a person sober up, and naturally, how far he needs to walk depends on how strongly the alcohol has affected him. If he drank a revi’is and it affected him, the halachah recommends walking or riding a distance of one mil. A mil is approximately nine hundred and twelve meters. If he drank more and is actually in the category of “one who has been drinking,” the halachah recommends riding three mil—nine hundred and twelve meters times three. That is the distance he needs to ride to dispel the effects of the wine he drank. So, to sum up, an important part of preparing for prayer is being clearheaded and in a serious frame of mind, so that one can pray properly before Hakadosh Boruch Hu and focus well on one’s prayer. One of the things to watch out for is not being under the influence of alcohol, which could confuse one’s mind. Kavanah in prayer. In this part of the lesson, we’ll focus on one of the most important things in prayer: kavanah. What is the kavanah a person should have? Which passages require particular attention to kavanah? And how should a person prepare his thoughts before he begins to pray? The halachah says that when a person prays, his thoughts should be focused on the meaning of the words he is saying. In other words, prayer is not just saying words or giving expression to them. It needs to come from within, not merely from the lips. So the inner part—the mind and emotions—must also be involved and play a central role

27:32 Speaker 2 in prayer. Hakadosh Boruch Hu examines the thoughts of a person who is praying. Consider: when someone comes to speak before a flesh-and-blood king, who hears only what he says, he prepares carefully beforehand. He prepares and arranges his words so that they will be fit to be heard by the king. All the more so when a person comes to pray before the King of kings, Hakadosh Boruch Hu, Who hears his thoughts. Surely he needs to arrange and direct his thoughts so that they take part in his prayer, so that his thoughts are part of the prayer he is praying. There should be no disconnect between his words and his thoughts, because his thoughts are open before Hakadosh Boruch Hu as he prays. A person who cannot focus on the meaning of the words should at least think about things that humble the heart and direct him toward his Father in Heaven. In other words, he should be in a prayerful frame of mind, even if he is not fully engaged with every sentence he says. Overall, he is directing himself toward Hakadosh Boruch Hu, with humility and fear of Hashem. Before prayer, he should think about the greatness of G-d and the lowliness of man, and remove all worldly pleasures from his heart. In this way, he creates the right state of mind for prayer. As part of maintaining kavanah in prayer and avoiding distractions, the halachah says not to bring children who disrupt their fathers’ kavanah to shul at all. On the contrary, if children can come to shul and behave properly, a person should teach his young sons to stand in awe and reverence in shul and to answer amen after the chazzan. The approach to prayer. A person should approach prayer as a plea for mercy, as a request for compassion, like a pauper begging at the door—not as a burden. He should not make his prayer into a fixed duty, just waiting for the moment

30:01 Speaker 2 That he can get rid of this obligation called prayer. What a person should expect from prayer is that he will pray. Halachah says that a person should not rely on the quality of his prayer, certain that it will bear fruit. In other words, a person prays, feels good about the prayer he offered, and is sure that Hakadosh Boruch Hu will answer him. On what basis? On the strength of the good prayer he offered. That is not the right approach. On the contrary, if he relies so heavily on the effort he put into his prayer, he causes his deeds to be scrutinized to see whether he truly deserves to have his request fulfilled. The approach should be different: he trusts that Hakadosh Boruch Hu will listen to his prayer and grant his request—not because of the quality of his prayer, but because of the goodness and kindness with which Hakadosh Boruch Hu treats His creations, with compassion and mercy. In fact, he should think little of himself, like a poor, lowly person coming to ask something of the King of kings, Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Our Sages teach us in Tractate Berachos: “Whoever prolongs his prayer, his prayer does not return empty-handed.” Every prayer a person offers properly bears fruit. It has a result; it has an effect. How does it have an effect? When does it have an effect? That is up to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. And our Sages say that if a person prays for something and sees that he has not yet been answered, he should continue to hope, take heart, and add more prayers. As the verse says, “Hope in Hashem; be strong and let your heart take courage, and hope in Hashem.” When we speak about having kavanah in prayer—thinking about the meaning of the words—the goal is to maintain that focus throughout every blessing, concentrating on the meaning of the words one is saying. If he cannot stay focused for that long, then he should at least have kavanah during the first blessing of Shemoneh Esrei, known as the blessing of Avos. Strictly speaking, if a person did not have kavanah during Avos, he is supposed to repeat

32:25 Speaker 2 Shemoneh Esrei. But today we do not follow that halachah, because it is quite possible that his kavanah the second time will not be at the required level either. So what would be the point of repeating it? Still, this shows us how important that blessing is, and therefore one should make a very strong effort to have kavanah during the first blessing. A person should train himself that, if he cannot have kavanah throughout every blessing, he should at least pay special attention and have extra kavanah during the concluding words of each blessing. There is a beautiful allusion to this. If we take the endings of all the blessings, they add up to 113 words. This corresponds to Chana’s prayer—the prayer we mentioned in the introduction to our class, which serves as one of the foundations for the laws of prayer. Interestingly, that prayer contains 113 words, exactly paralleling the 113 words in the endings of the blessings of Shemoneh Esrei. And there is another beautiful allusion: if we count the times the word “heart” appears in the Written Torah, the Five Books of the Torah, it appears exactly 113 times. This points to the importance of putting one’s heart, one’s kavanah and one’s thoughts into at least those 113 words at the ends of the blessings. So, in this part of the class we have covered the importance of kavanah in prayer and the minimum kavanah required during Shemoneh Esrei. In this part of the class, we will briefly touch on some important laws of Kaddish and Borchu. Halachah says that the sanctity of Kaddish is greater than all the other sanctities. Answering Kaddish is more important than answering Kedushah. A person should make an effort to hurry to hear Kaddish and be very careful in responding to it. Halachah says that when a person says “Amen, yehei shmei rabba,” he should have proper kavanah and answer aloud. And someone who answers with all the strength of his kavanah has torn up for him

34:56 Speaker 2 a decree of seventy years. And when he says “Amen, yehei shmei rabba” aloud, he nullifies all the accusers and all harsh decrees. When answering “Amen, yehei shmei rabba mevorach,” a person should connect the word “mevorach” to “rabba.” After all, what does the sentence mean? “May His great name be blessed forever and for all eternity.” That is why “rabba” and “mevorach” should be said together. It is proper to listen to the shliach tzibbur as he says Kaddish, so that one’s response is to what one has heard. A person should answer knowing what he is answering to. So it is proper, when Kaddish is being said, simply to listen to its words and respond accordingly. Even if he cannot actually hear the person saying Kaddish, as long as he knows when each section ends, he can still answer “Amen.” Suppose a person arrives at shul or enters a room where people are davening and hears the congregation saying “Amen, yehei shmei rabba,” but did not hear the shliach tzibbur’s concluding words at all. He can join the congregation and say “Yehei shmei rabba mevorach,” because these words are an expression of praise in their own right. The Alter Rebbe writes that it is good to take into account the opinion that one should stand while Kaddish is being said. This does not mean it is an absolute obligation, but it is a good practice. Now, regarding “Borchu es Hashem hamevorach”: here is a very important practical halachah. When a person says “Borchu es Hashem hamevorach,” whether as the shliach tzibbur or as someone called up to the Torah, he must say it loudly enough for at least nine people to hear it. Otherwise, the congregation cannot respond, “Baruch Hashem hamevorach le’olam va’ed,” because nine other people did not hear him. In that case, they should answer only “Amen”; they cannot say the entire phrase “Baruch Hashem hamevorach le’olam va’ed,” because it

37:04 Speaker 2 was not heard by nine people.