Everybody loves grammar, right? The Hebrew word ללמוד means "to learn". The Hebrew word ללמד means "to teach". Same root letters (three, as is typical): ל-מ-ד; the two words differ only on בנין/conjunction. ללמוד is in the simple conjunction, whereas as ללמד is in the intensified conjunction. The Hebrew language itself tells us that teaching as in intensified form or learning. Of course, to give over an idea, one needs to have a deeper understanding himself first. That is one reason I look forward to giving a shiur. It takes me hours of preparation to give a 45 minutes shiur; must of that time is spent really just clarifying for myself the ideas to be presented.
Having the opportunity to speak about תפילה, therefore, is always very appealing to me. Every preparation means more review; more review means a chance to learn something new about תפילה; learning something new makes that next תפילה a more fresh/interesting experience; the more fresh and exciting any experience is, the more chance of paying attention. Put all that together with the astounding importance of תפילה, and I have at least a fighting chance of paying attention to what I am saying while davening. At least that next תפילה
When I first wrote about why one should daven, I noted that it is hard to come up with a logical reason to daven, yet we know we have such an obligation, so we need to just learn the rules. That is all true, but it is only half of the truth; the cold, hard, logical half (as is my custom). The other half -- the squishy, touchy/feely half -- didn't occur to me at first (as is my custom). While reviewing, though, I realized that תפילה is much different than kashrus, sha'atnez, Shabbos and whatnot, that are legislated by the Torah. In those cases, the Torah mandated them and we do our best to follow the rules. In the case of תפילה, though, it is our illustrious ancestors who innovated the idea to pray. Our Sages used the Torah mandated Temple offerings to give form to our תפילה for all generations. Still, the heart and soul of תפילה originated with our forebears, and we continue that legacy.
With that in mind, it is worth taking another look at the progression of brachos in our תפילה; in particular introductory three brachos. Note the the first three brachos are absolutely not requests; they are simple statements of facts about the One with whom we are meeting.
We start by noting that we have three channels of approach; each exemplified by one of our avos. We connect ourselves to the Creator by declaring that we study their lives and strive to emulate their ways. We recognize also that HaShem not only created us, but also wants us to be close to Him. We believe with all our being that He will make us successful in the endeavor. He is our King who helps us along the way, saves us when we get in over our head, and shields us from dangers that we do not even realize.
Next, we recognize that HaShem the world with absolute precision. Not drop of dew nor rain falls except at His command. The life and death of every living thing is in His Hands and His alone. He brings us into this world, will keep us here as long as we need to be here to accomplish our purpose. then removes us at the right time. All is proceeding according to plan; in the end of which we will all come back to experience what we helped to create.
In the last bracha of the introduction we recognize that the Ways of HaShem are beyond our grasp. They are more than beyond our understanding, they are קדוש/completely and utterly above and divorced from human reason.
With that introduction, one may well wonder why in the world one would make any requests! How can I possibly know what to ask for when I absolutely don't have any idea of the whole picture? In fact, the first bracha is not a request at all; just a simple statement that we have intelligence and that intelligence was give to us by the Creator and He wants us to use that to build a relationship with Him. That realization leads to the rest of the requests, as described by the Kuzari and summarized here.
Having the opportunity to speak about תפילה, therefore, is always very appealing to me. Every preparation means more review; more review means a chance to learn something new about תפילה; learning something new makes that next תפילה a more fresh/interesting experience; the more fresh and exciting any experience is, the more chance of paying attention. Put all that together with the astounding importance of תפילה, and I have at least a fighting chance of paying attention to what I am saying while davening. At least that next תפילה
When I first wrote about why one should daven, I noted that it is hard to come up with a logical reason to daven, yet we know we have such an obligation, so we need to just learn the rules. That is all true, but it is only half of the truth; the cold, hard, logical half (as is my custom). The other half -- the squishy, touchy/feely half -- didn't occur to me at first (as is my custom). While reviewing, though, I realized that תפילה is much different than kashrus, sha'atnez, Shabbos and whatnot, that are legislated by the Torah. In those cases, the Torah mandated them and we do our best to follow the rules. In the case of תפילה, though, it is our illustrious ancestors who innovated the idea to pray. Our Sages used the Torah mandated Temple offerings to give form to our תפילה for all generations. Still, the heart and soul of תפילה originated with our forebears, and we continue that legacy.
With that in mind, it is worth taking another look at the progression of brachos in our תפילה; in particular introductory three brachos. Note the the first three brachos are absolutely not requests; they are simple statements of facts about the One with whom we are meeting.
We start by noting that we have three channels of approach; each exemplified by one of our avos. We connect ourselves to the Creator by declaring that we study their lives and strive to emulate their ways. We recognize also that HaShem not only created us, but also wants us to be close to Him. We believe with all our being that He will make us successful in the endeavor. He is our King who helps us along the way, saves us when we get in over our head, and shields us from dangers that we do not even realize.
Next, we recognize that HaShem the world with absolute precision. Not drop of dew nor rain falls except at His command. The life and death of every living thing is in His Hands and His alone. He brings us into this world, will keep us here as long as we need to be here to accomplish our purpose. then removes us at the right time. All is proceeding according to plan; in the end of which we will all come back to experience what we helped to create.
In the last bracha of the introduction we recognize that the Ways of HaShem are beyond our grasp. They are more than beyond our understanding, they are קדוש/completely and utterly above and divorced from human reason.
With that introduction, one may well wonder why in the world one would make any requests! How can I possibly know what to ask for when I absolutely don't have any idea of the whole picture? In fact, the first bracha is not a request at all; just a simple statement that we have intelligence and that intelligence was give to us by the Creator and He wants us to use that to build a relationship with Him. That realization leads to the rest of the requests, as described by the Kuzari and summarized here.
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