We had considered relocating to Winston Towers a few years ago. Of course, I discussed the idea with R' Fuerst, who disabused us of the notion. Among the reasons the dayan gave us for not moving was simply: You are in a good neighborhood; why take a chance on moving? Baruch HaShem, we accepted the advice/p'sak and didn't move. One of the great things about this neighborhood is that you can get a Torah vort just taking a walk with your grandchildren. I heard this yesterday:
We have just changed our request for parnassa in ברך עלינו from ותן טל ומטר לברכה/give dew and rain for a blessing, to simply ותן ברכה/give a blessing. What if a person mistakenly said ותן טל ומטר לברכה because that is what he is used to and, let's be honest, he was sort of on autopilot? Then the person needs to correct his mistake. Either by going back to the ברך עלינו, or repeating shmone esrei, or saying a make-up shmone esrei after the next t'fila; depending on when he realized his mistake.
Of course, halachically that makes perfect sense. He basically didn't daven, so Chazal gave him a chance to make it up. That is the only reason the physicist in me needs. My physicist is at whole and at peace.
The philosopher, though, thinks there must be more to it. Indeed, the vort I heard from my very chashuv neighbor addressed that precisely. What happened here? Our day dreamer was on autopilot and said what he is used to saying. However, he davened for rain when rain would be harmful to the world. We can't let that stand. The power of t'fila! A Jew davened for rain in this season; that must be corrected! Mind you, we are talking about a Jew who is likely cruising through t'fila on autopilot! Nonetheless, even his t'fila is so important/strong that it needs to be corrected to prevent damage to the world.
The philosopher in me loves that vort. The physicist in me says, umm.... (My physicist always starts that way when he wants to point out some inconsistency in the preceding thought. You have been warned.) Umm... what about someone who says the wrong thing on purpose; someone who doesn't care what Chazal said about what the world needs. He has studied ecology and meteorology and sociology (all soft sciences, you may notice; just saying) and knows that the farmers really need rain, so he davens for rain. That person certainly is paying attention to his t'fila. Now he does t'shuva, but too late to repeat his shmone esrei; he does not have the option to daven a make-up t'fila. His broken t'fila stands. Why are we worried about that one who was certainly is paying attention?
My philosopher and physicist had a DMC (deep, meaningful conversation) to resolve their differences. Baruch HaShem! They -- that is, me, myself, and I -- are whole and at peace with each other. It is absolutely true that one should pay attention to every word. However, he should also remember that HaShem runs the world. We are not davening to fix the world. We are davening because HaShem said that is part of our hishtadlus. Even the one who is not paying as much attention as he should be realizes that. He is obligated to daven and he is doing his hishtadlus. His t'filos are chashuv! The one who paid a lot of attention and intentionally prayed for rain? He is כופר בעיקר/denies that HaShem runs the world. His t'filos are worse than nothing; they are an abomination!
The t'fila of the simplest Jew -- even one who is barely paying attention -- is powerful and world changing. But it is not the prayer itself, it is the recognition that everything is only from HaShem and making our recognition concrete by saying over and over again: HaShem, you run all dimensions of the world from the loftiest plans to the smallest details.
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