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Daily Chizuk #0757
Weekly Parasha
Deep-Rooted Love: Choosing His Honor Above All
Parashat Noach: All Year Long
The knowledge that whatever will happen this year has already been determined during the Yamim Noraim makes it difficult for a person to pray with the same intensity now that he had been praying with then, during those days. The yetzer hara tries to convince a person that his prayers aren’t really accomplishing anything anyway, so why should he put so much effort into them. We must know, prayer is always necessary at all times of year for many reasons.
Prayer is not meant to just be a tool that we use to get things from Hashem. Prayer is a wondrous mitzvah which is meant to elevate us and bring us closer to Hashem. The Beit Tefila writes that in every word of the Amida, a person can find inspiration to gain more fear of Hashem, more love of Hashem and help himself be humbled before Hashem. There are numerous kavanot in every word which must be studied in order to utilize them properly. The sefer Yosef Ometz writes, it is obvious that a person should learn the meaning behind the words of the prayers before he learns anything else. A focused prayer, with true understanding of the words can elevate a person to another level. Every prayer is supposed to be a religious experience. When the Rabbis tell us prayers break decrees because the person on whom the decree was made has changed because of his prayer, it’s meant literally. But it’s conditional on the person’s kavana. The fact that Hashem gives us a refuah shelema or parnasa or shidduchim or a child from our tefilot is an extra bonus to help get us to pray, but that is not the purpose of the prayer, it is just a side benefit. The purpose is to grow spiritually and become more connected and humbled in front of Hashem. This applies all year long, every single day and the more effort we put into our prayers, the better people we will become from it. Let us resolve to put more effort into understanding what we are saying and utilize the precious gift of tefila to become the people we are meant to become.
Shabbat Shalom!
The knowledge that whatever will happen this year has already been determined during the Yamim Noraim makes it difficult for a person to pray with the same intensity now that he had been praying with then, during those days. The yetzer hara tries to convince a person that his prayers aren’t really accomplishing anything anyway, so why should he put so much effort into them. We must know, prayer is always necessary at all times of year for many reasons.
Prayer is not meant to just be a tool that we use to get things from Hashem. Prayer is a wondrous mitzvah which is meant to elevate us and bring us closer to Hashem. The Beit Tefila writes that in every word of the Amida, a person can find inspiration to gain more fear of Hashem, more love of Hashem and help himself be humbled before Hashem. There are numerous kavanot in every word which must be studied in order to utilize them properly. The sefer Yosef Ometz writes, it is obvious that a person should learn the meaning behind the words of the prayers before he learns anything else. A focused prayer, with true understanding of the words can elevate a person to another level. Every prayer is supposed to be a religious experience. When the Rabbis tell us prayers break decrees because the person on whom the decree was made has changed because of his prayer, it’s meant literally. But it’s conditional on the person’s kavana. The fact that Hashem gives us a refuah shelema or parnasa or shidduchim or a child from our tefilot is an extra bonus to help get us to pray, but that is not the purpose of the prayer, it is just a side benefit. The purpose is to grow spiritually and become more connected and humbled in front of Hashem. This applies all year long, every single day and the more effort we put into our prayers, the better people we will become from it. Let us resolve to put more effort into understanding what we are saying and utilize the precious gift of tefila to become the people we are meant to become.
Shabbat Shalom!
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