VaEschanan 5631 First Ma'amar

The first Midrash[1] on this week’s parsha says that if a person pays attention to his prayer he can rest assured that it is heard as it says in Tehillim, (10:17) “... תָּכִין לִבָּם תַּקְשִׁיב אָזְנֶךָ/… You prepare their heart; let Your ear be attentive.”  If a person’s heart is prepared when he prays, God listens to the prayer.

This Midrash is difficult to understand.  It implies that if a person does not pay attention to the words of his prayer, he has prayed albeit not properly.  But the very definition of prayer is a request, a petition of God.  If a person mouths the words while his thoughts are elsewhere, is this prayer?

To be sure, at the very least one must be attentive to his words.  The Midrash, however, is referring to a higher level of prayer.  The clue to understanding this Midrash is in the pasuk the Midrash brings.  The pasuk says that God prepares their hearts and He listens to their prayers.  Shouldn’t the pasuk say that the ones who pray prepare their own hearts?  Why does it say that God prepares their hearts?  The Sfas Emes explains that at the highest level, true preparation is also from God.  The Midrash is teaching us that a person who prays in a totally unselfconscious way, pouring out his heart before God, has reached a level of prayer at which God Himself prepares and directs that person’s heart towards Him.  This type of prayer is certainly heard.

But why would we want God to direct our hearts?  Can we not direct our own hearts?  The answer to this question is related to the reason a person approaches God with a request.  At its highest level, prayer is not about asking for our own benefit.  At its highest level, prayer is about asking for the sake of Heaven.  The pasuk in Mishlei (16:1) says, “לְאָדָם מַעַרְכֵי־לֵב וּמֵה' מַעֲנֵה לָשׁוֹן/The preparation of thoughts in the heart are man’s but the response of the tongue is from God.”  A person who reaches the highest level of prayer, whose prayers are for the sake of Heaven is so completely unselfconscious and involved in the connection to God that the prayer affords, that he even forgets the need that brought him to prayer in the first place.  At this level God puts the appropriate words into his mouth to ask for what he really needs.  Shlomo HaMelech is teaching us that if we prepare properly for prayer then God supplies us with the proper words.  At this level of prayer for the sake of Heaven we want God to direct our hearts, to supply us with the proper words and the best way to approach Him.

What can we do to reach this level of prayer?  The Sfas Emes learns the ways of preparing for prayer from the first Midrash on the parsha.[2]  This Midrash mentions ten different expressions that represent prayer.  Significantly, the primary Hebrew word for prayer – tefilla, is not among them.  Why not?  The Sfas Emes explains that the Midrash is teaching us ten different ways of preparing for prayer.  In order to reach a level of prayer at which God directs us we need to use the tools mentioned in the Midrash.

Chazal teach us that even the righteous who are able to approach God in prayer on the merit of their good deeds prefer to come before God as unworthy and rely completely on His mercy and compassion.[3]  The Kotzker Rav asks from a pasuk in Iyov, (41:3) “מִי הִקְדִּימַנִי וַאֲשַׁלֵּם .../I will pay the one who comes before Me …”  God is telling Iyov that He will answer the prayers of the one who comes before Him and makes a request.  The implication is that no one really deserves to be answered, not even the righteous.  The Sfas Emes elucidates that if a person were truly deserving, he would not have to ask.  He would receive what he should according to the letter of the law.  Yet, Chazal tell us that the righteous are deserving in the merit of their good deeds.  How does this Chazal reconcile with the pasuk in Iyov?

The Sfas Emes explains, according to what we’ve said, that while the pasuk in Iyov is referring to petitioning God with requests, Chazal are referring to approaching God in prayer.  No one, not even the righteous, merit positive answers from God.  And this is implied by the pasuk in Iyov.  However, the righteous are certainly able to approach God and come close to Him in the merit of their good deeds.  Still, they prefer to come before God as unworthy.  They would rather approach God with entreaties.  The last of the expressions of prayer mentioned in the Midrash, in fact, is tachanunim/entreaties which comes from the root chanun/compassionate.  It implies that God in His mercy allows us to approach Him with our requests even when we are unworthy of His compassion[4]. 

This is why the first Midrash above brings the pasuk, “... תָּכִין לִבָּם .../… You prepare their heart …” as an expression of the highest level of prayer.  As we noted earlier, significantly, the pasuk says that God prepares their hearts rather than their preparing their own hearts.  At the highest level, we want to approach God from a position of unworthiness and rely upon Him to prepare our hearts, to guide us in prayer.

According to this approach to prayer we can understand the inner meaning of the first pasuk in our parsha, “וָאֶתְחַנַּן אֶל־ה' ... לֵאמֹר/I entreated God … saying.” (Devarim 3:23)  VaEschanan/I entreated is in the reflexive form.  The last word in the pasuk, leimor/saying is apparently extra.  Moshe Rabbeinu is saying, “I prepared myself reaching the level of one who entreats before God so that I could be guided by Him in prayer.”  Moshe Rabbeinu is teaching us that prayer is a reflexive activity.  It is working on ourselves, preparing ourselves to approach our Creator.  The primary goal of prayer is approaching and coming close to God.   May we merit it.  Amen!

---

[1]Devarim R. 2:1

[2]Ibid., א"ר יוחנן עשרה לשונות נקראת תפלה ואלו הן, שועה, צעקה, נאקה, רנה, פגיעה, ביצור, קריאה, ניפול, ופילול, ותחנונים

[3]Sifri VaEschanan 26

[4]See also Ramban in Parashas Mishpatim (Shmos 22:26) That חנון implies that He accepts supplication even from one who is not worthy.  The root of חנון is חנם/free.

VaEschanan 5631 Third Ma'amar

Chazal[1] teach us that if one prays immediately after saying Kri’as Shma, his prayer is accepted.  Why is this?  Why is it important to pray immediately following Kri’as Shma?  The answer, the Sfas Emes teaches, requires a deeper understanding of both Kri’as Shma and prayer.

 

A simple understanding of the sequence of Kri’as Shma followed by prayer is this.  Kri’as Shma is a declaration that God is One and that He gives existence and life to all.  Prayer is calling out to God.  Our prayers are meaningful to the extent that we believe our declaration.  Significantly, the pasuk upon which this Chazal is based ends with the words from this week’s parsha, “... בְּכָל־קָרְאֵנוּ אֵלָיו/… whenever we call to Him.” (Devarim 4:7)  Prayer is meaningful to the extent that we are calling to God.

The Sfas Emes, however, elucidates a deeper aspect to the connection between Kri’as Shma and prayer.  The Sfas Emes teaches us that prayer follows the declaration of Kri’as Shma because to the extent that God is revealed, our prayers are accepted.  Certainly Kri’as Sh’ma is an acknowledgement that God is with us.  However, what is the connection between this acknowledgement and our prayers being accepted?  To understand this, our concept of prayer needs to change.

Generally, we think of prayer as requests that we make of God.  We ask God for things that we believe are good for us.  The ultimate good, of course, is God Himself.  When God gives us something that is good, in essence He is revealing Himself to us.  Everything that we receive is essentially a revelation.  Taking this idea to extreme, if He revealed Himself to us completely, we would have no need for further prayer.  Regardless of our specific request, then, what we are generally asking for when we pray is God’s revelation. 

God gave us the ability to effect His revelation by calling out to Him, declaring that we believe He is here but hidden and asking Him to reveal Himself.  The ultimate goal of prayer is God’s revelation.  Thus, God’s revelation and the acceptance of our prayers is one and the same thing.  As the Sfas Emes teaches us, to the extent that God is revealed, our prayers are accepted.  First we acknowledge God’s presence with the declaration of Kri’as Sh’ma.  Then we ask for His revelation by praying to Him.

In addition to saying Kri’as Shma, Chazal required us to precede prayer with a mention of the redemption from Egypt.  Recalling the redemption is another way of reminding ourselves that God is hidden within everything, even the darkest exile.  The definition of redemption, the Sfas Emes teaches us, is revelation.  If redemption is revelation, then exile is concealment.  God is in the exile with us.  He gives existence to the exile as well.

There can be no better segue to prayer which, as we’ve said, is essentially a request that God reveal Himself to us, than to remind ourselves that God is here and hidden and can therefore reveal Himself to us.

This week’s parsha contains the Ten Commandments.  This is the second time the Ten Commandments appear in the Torah.  They first appear in parshas Yisro.[2]  There are several differences between the two versions of the Ten Commandments.  We find one difference in the mitzvah of Shabbos.  In parshas Yisro the Torah tells us that the reason for the mitzvah of Shabbos is because God rested on the seventh day of the Creation.[3]  By keeping Shabbos we give testimony that God created the world and that he is the cause of its continued existence.

In this week’s parsha the mitzvah of Shabbos contains no mention whatsoever of the Creation.  Instead, the Torah tells us that by keeping Shabbos we remember the Exodus.[4]  We were slaves in Egypt and God delivered us from bondage.  What is the connection between Shabbos and the Exodus?

According to the concept that exile is God’s concealment and redemption is His revelation, the answer is clear.  Both the Exodus and Shabbos are testimony that everything is from God.  For this reason, we say in kiddush on Friday night that Shabbos is a remembrance for the Exodus.

May we merit approaching prayer as it was meant to be approached, as a plea for God’s revelation.  Amen.

---

[1] Devarim R. 2:10

[2] Shmos 20:1-13

[3] Shmos 20:10

[4] Devarim 5:14

Va'Eschanan 5631 First Ma'amar

The first Midrash on this week’s parsha says that if a person pays attention to his prayer he can rest assured that it is heard as it says in Tehillim, “... תָּכִין לִבָּם תַּקְשִׁיב אָזְנֶךָ/… You prepare their heart; let Your ear be attentive.” If a person’s heart is prepared when he prays God listens to the prayer.

This Midrash is difficult to understand. It implies that if a person does not pay attention to the words of his prayer, he has prayed albeit not properly. But the very definition of prayer is a request, a petition of God. If a person mouths the words while his thoughts are elsewhere, is this prayer?

Click here to read rest of ma'amar.

Pinchas 5631 Second Ma'amar

“... אֶת-קָרְבָּנִי לַחְמִי ... תִּשְׁמְרוּ לְהַקְרִיב לִי .../… Take care to offer me my offering of my food …” What is the significance of sacrifice?

Everything in the physical Creation has a spiritual source. The ultimate source, of course, is God Himself. This spiritual source is the channel through which God bestows blessing on the physical creation. The structure of the Creation, physical and spiritual, though, is such that there are blockages which prevent this.

How can these blockages be overcome? One of the ways is through sacrifice[1]. The Hebrew word for sacrifice is korban. The root of this word means to draw near. The korban is a means of drawing everything to its source. By offering a sacrifice to God we clarify that He is the ultimate Source. The realization and belief removes the blockages, elevates and draws us close to Him.

For this reason Chazal established our daily prayers based on the times of the daily sacrifices. They wanted to teach us that just as the sacrifices draw the physical close to its spiritual source, so too, prayer draws us closer to God. By asking God for everything, big or small, we recognize that He is the Source of everything. The very act of prayer with this intent removes the blockages that separate the physical from its spiritual source.

On Shabbos there is an additional prayer corresponding to the additional korban that is brought. The significance of the additional korban is tied to the relationship between Shabbos and the preceding weekdays. When we work to serve God during the week, we experience the results on Shabbos. The reward for our labors during the week is a spiritual experience of closeness to God on Shabbos. It is easy and natural to think that we deserve this experience, that it is payment for our weekday work. This is a mistaken line of thought, though. God owes us nothing. Just as the weekday korban and, by extension, the weekday prayers teach us that everything comes from God and we make that clear by asking Him for everything, large or small, the additional korban, and by extension, the additional prayer teach us that even that which we merit through our hard work in serving God, we receive only because this is His desire.


[1] “Sacrifice,” the English translation for the Hebrew korban misses the underlying meaning of the concept. Sacrifice implies that in order to receive, something must be given up. While this may be the case, it is also possible to sacrifice without receiving anything. Korban, though, teaches us what actually happens every time a korban is brought.

Nitzavim VaYeilech - First Ma'amar of VaYeilech 5631

“... וְאָעִידָה בָּם אֶת-הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֶת-הָאָרֶץ/… And I will call upon the heavens and the earth to testify about them (i.e. the nation of Israel).” The heavens and the earth represent the entire Creation. How does the Creation testify? The Chiddushei HaRim explains that the entire Creation is affected by the actions of the nation of Israel. When we do good, the Creation responds positively. When, God forbid, the opposite is the case, the Creation responds accordingly. By its response the Creation testifies regarding our actions. When we think about this we come to the realization that it is actually we who are clarifying the inner workings of the Creation. If the Creation responds to our actions then it is as if we are testifying, through our actions, that God is the force that directs everything.

The concept that we are witnesses to the Godly force that underlies the Creation is an aspect of Shabbos. How so? The Zohar says that Shabbos is called a testimony. When we say the pesukim of VaYechulu we are giving testimony that God created the world. Shabbos is the testimony that we give. Chazal say, in fact, that when we say the pesukim of VaYechulu we become partners with God in the Creation. This is because Shabbos as the culmination of Creation represents the entire Creation.

Although generally, nature hides God, nature hides nothing from those who know without doubt that God is the force underlying the Creation. The Sfas Emes goes further and explains that nature does not have the power to hide God from us. The reason is because the source of our souls is above the physical Creation. Chazal tell us that all the souls of the nation of Israel have a single source which is a very high spiritual place, so to speak. In fact, it is such a high place that there is nothing that stands between God, as it were, and the soul of Israel. This is the meaning of the first pasuk of parshas Nitzavim, “אַתֶּם נִצָּבִים הַיּוֹם כֻּלְּכֶם לִפְנֵי ה' אֱ-לֹהֵיכֶם .../This day you are all standing before God, your Lord …” The Sfas Emes explains that standing before God implies that there is nothing separating us from Him. There is nothing between us. The implication is that we are between God and the rest of the Creation, so to speak. Anything that comes to the Creation must necessarily come through us.

Rashi alludes to this idea with the following Midrash: Why does the parsha of Nitzavim directly follow the curses of parshas Tavo? The Midrash answers that after the nation heard the curses they became quite upset and complained, “Who can possibly withstand these?!” Moshe Rabeinu, upon hearing this consoled them with parshas Nitzavim where it states, “לְמַעַן הָקִים-אֹתְךָ הַיּוֹם לוֹ לְעָם .../In order to establish you this day as a nation unto Him …” The Midrash explains that the pasuk is comparing the nation to “this day” which is dark at night and light during the day. The Sfas Emes explains that darkness and light come through the nation of Israel. As we explained, this is because the nation of Israel is first in the spiritual structure of the Creation. Because of this, through our actions we have the ability to turn things around.

“אַתֶּם נִצָּבִים ... לִפְנֵי ה .../You are standing … before God …” also suggests prayer. Standing before God connotes acceptance of and submission to Him. We accept God’s yoke and submit to Him by identifying with the nation of Israel whose collective soul is always before God.