Kavana in Tefila - Part III | Rabbi Yossi Goldin | November 4th

Sorry again. Uh apologies again for my um coming a little bit late this morning. Nice to see everybody. And um as we always open up, we continue to dive in that our learning should be a bring a rafu to all those who have been injured should be a Yeshua for all of our all the bodies to come home soon. [snorts] um should be auded by the war and and as always should give guidance to all of our leaders to make the right decisions. >> Okay. So we are continuing in our in our uh series on kavana in um what we saw last week was we talked about how um as opposed to other mitzvot generally will require a certain elevated um type of kavana um than other mitzvot would. Whereas other mitzvot the type of kavana that we need is a person needs to have kavana that they're about to do the mitzvah has intent to do the mitzvah itself. when it comes to aspects of is going to be fundamentally different because it is it involves as pointed out as we saw last week it involves both mitzvah and the mitzvah that there's the act that a person does and that's on the one hand the act that you need to do in order to do the mitzvah but then there's also a separate mitzvah the fulfillment of the mitzvah generally is done more internally in terms of a person's heart and a person's mind what we spent time talking about last week was the specific type of kavana um that is needed for the the of that when it comes to the of as opposed to other aspects other parts of shim is generally the fulfillment of not just the mitzvah of daving but or the mitzvah of kabalat of accepting upon oneself the yoke of heaven and therefore there is a an added element of uh when it comes to shama which is that a person needs to have in mind according to most of them needs to have in mind the words that they're saying, but also needs to have in mind that they are accepting as the as as as as the king and accepting his yoke uh upon themselves. And we also talked at the end about a certain that we have for Shama, why we cover our eyes, why we say it out loud that that and all of that is ultimately ostensibly in order to help increase our kavana specifically during during Shama. What I want to do today is to focus on um a different type of kavana that is required or there's a little bit of an overlap that is required specifically for shimona. Um now I want to also b based on on a question that someone asked me last week. I want to clarify um there's no question obviously that when we're when when we talk about kavana for davening the most ideal would be that a person should have kavana the kavana that we're going to talk about today the kavana for the words that you say the kavana for understanding that you're standing in front of that should exist for all of our for the entire time that we're ding to hashem whenever we talk to um understanding that that is perhaps challenging for us kazal will identify specific areas where not only is it preferred and ideal, but it's going to be required. So, for example, last week we were talking about how minimally a person needs to have that added sha for the first p of sha. Does that mean that you only need it for the first of sha? No, ideally you should have it for the entire sha. But Kazal established that and there was a mus we saw in the gam that while ideally a person should have this added element of intent for the entire sha after the fact the minimum you should have it for is at least the first or we saw even the first tup the same thing is going to be true today we're going to be seeing we're we're going to see how ultimately um there's only a specific element where a person should have should try to have is expected to have that kavana. But of course, ideally, the covenant that we're going to talk about today should be had throughout the entire and as I said, ultimately throughout our entire our entire ding experience. The what we should be striving for is that when we talk to a keshu, we sit down and we dav the entire time that we do that. We are able to think about the words that we're saying and have a basic recognition that we're standing in front of a keshu. The ideal is certainly to have it the entire time. the postkim just discussed what should be the minimal amount of time that you have it if for some reason someone is not able to concentrate the entire time so I don't want people to think that we're only ideally only talking about short amount of time ideally of course we should have kavana as with all mitzvot throughout the entire time so if you look at source number one the garra seems to talk about or the gmorra discusses the specific kavana that a person needs for what they call now as we've mentioned before in the in the pasta in the in the in the kazal is usually a reference to specifically and the reason being that ay is considered to be the apex of our daily of each of our and as we'll hopefully see when we go we go through the structure of the in more detail much of what we say throughout the rest of the in the morning is meant to kind of build up to the apex of so when kazal refer to they're generally referring specifically But as I mentioned, of course, it also would apply to the to everything else as well. A rabbi is taught in source number one. Somebody who dins need to direct needs to direct his heart needs to have certain kavana towards towards heaven. Um and then if you look at the ne the next the next line again we'll skip >> sorry. Yes. >> Is similar to or a little less interesting than shama. means it's positive. >> Yes. Correct. Correct. >> Correct. Correct. So, Aba, so as you're pointing out, Abash Abashul continues and says that there is a Simon usually means like a redness. There's a hint to this idea. Um, now you're asking in terms of in terms of specifically it does mean it's dissa not dice and things like you are correct. You are correct as would usually be referred to as here is the source. Here is the pipet is the main source for it. Sim is usually what what I would call re there's a hint to it. Um there's there's a reference that reminds us of this idea not necessarily as the source for it. Yes, you are you are you are correct. And here what is the what is it? The pusk says you should prepare their hearts and then your ears should listen. So what the what the puk is referencing is the concept of first preparation. First you prepare your heart and then there's a certain sense of of listening to our to our to our so references this idea of having a certain amount of of kavana and in fact if you look the garra continues and this is a well-known garra that we'll hopefully uh deal with in more detail as well says there are many great that we can learn from theim of kana Okay, as many people may be familiar with and again we haven't really discussed this in detail. We'll get to it hopefully. But the story of Kana Davening for a son in in Shel is considered to be many of the that we have for Davening are derived from the of Kana. And here the Garra mentioned some of some of those. What are some that we learn from the story of Kana? The Pik tells us that Kana was speaking on her heart or to her about her heart. Okay. Says, "What does that mean? Why is there a reference to her heart when she's when she's dinging we we're learning from this that there is this concept that when a person davins there needs to be something internal going on it needs to be an expression of one's of one's heart, there needs to be a certain kavana continues the and again these are just we'll we'll discuss these in more detail in another time. The describes how her lips were were moving that we learned from here is that a person needs to actually verbalize the actual words. Meaning a person can't say, "Well, knows all my knows knows what I'm thinking, so I'll just look at it and I'll just scan it with my eyes." No, we learn from the from the needs requires a certain verbalization of the the words themselves. And of course, part of this has to do with the fact that it changes who we are, that we're different when we're verbalizing it as opposed to simply just thinking about it. Continues the fact it says that she was moving her lips. She was moving her lips, but her voice was not heard. We learned from here that a person should not raise their voice too loud in the context of tila. Certainly we're talking more about in the in this the post can discuss whether this applies even if you're domining at home or or more in shul it's generally assumed that we're referring to shu the idea being you don't we don't want you to be disturbing your neighbor while you're in shul if a person is dominating at home and they find that they can have more kavana by raising their voice they're allowed to and there are also communities um this is more of a a cultural thing there are some shs there are some even where they specifically say shout everything out loud and that's part of the way that they d so part of this has to do with whether or not you saying it out loud would be would would would would bother your neighbor. Not again, we're not going to get into all it too much, but but the basic understanding is when you're ding, you should say the words, but you shouldn't say it out loud because out of a concern that you might disrupt your neighbor. And the puzz was seeing her saw her saying these mouthing these words without any sound coming out. He thought she was drunk and therefore he c uh he he he, you know, rebuked her. Shikur pel we learn from the fact that a was yelling at her and saying what are you doing we learn from here that someone who is drunk should not din again that's a whole other whole other conversation now so what we see from this is again when as opposed to simply the kavana that's needed for mitzvot when it comes to there is this additional level of kavana that is needed now what is that kavana what should I be thinking about so the the garra doesn't explain but there is a hint what's the hint to what type of kavana we should be having when we're talking about there's one extra word here in the when the Gmor discusses the need for kavana if it just wanted to say I need to have it what's that extra word okay now again you can say that's obvious but the point is if we're trying to understand what this kavana should be so here we have a hint what what should I be thinking about what is the kavana the kavana seems to be a kavana of thinking about heaven recognizing that I'm standing in front of. We're going to see that the post that is one that is one of the types of that the postkim discussing. [laughter] >> Excellent question. Okay. So, you're asking about whether or not if you're if you started with Kavana and afterwards you don't. So we'll get to that specifically when it comes to when with shama we saw that minimally a person should have kavana for the first tukim of of of of shama and I think it happens to be that most of us it's easier because we cover our eyes and because we say it out loud so then so then so then minimally as long as you had a cover enough for that that's enough you don't have to go back if afterwards ideally you should but and we're going to see we're going to see something similar right now when it comes to if you look at source number two this is a second gum that deals with the requirement of kavana the braot somebody who ideally should have for all of the if you can't have for all of the you should at least have for one of them. At this point the doesn't specify which one but then the name of quotes in the name of it doesn't just mean any of the that a person should have ideally should have for is the which is the first of right from here we we we have the source for the general that most people are aware of which is that ideally minimally a person should have kavana for the first braha of Okay. Um, and if you don't, as we're going to see soon, at least initially the was initially the was and if you didn't have for the first of that you should have to you should go back and say that again. We're going to see that it's not so practical nowadays. But that was the initial. We look at source number three. The Rambam highlights these. And again, he he describes things in a very very beautiful way in terms of the type of covenant that we should have. Source number three, the Rambam. How what is this that a person needs to have? What is this of the heart that is not is not considered to be let's say you David without says you should go back. Now again we're going to see the Rambam later is going to actually clarify that that only means if you if you didn't have any Kavana at all as opposed if you have Kavana for the first but he's just highlighting that without is is on some level has very little meaning let's say you're you're confused you're you're you're in a you're in a state of confusion or you're in a state where you're distracted if you know that you're some you're in a state right now where you can't concentrate on anything. You should actually not. And we're going to see that this is brought. We'll get to it. We'll get to it soon. Let's say someone comes back from a long trip. If a person is tired or distracted or upset for whatever reason, ideally you shouldn't dive in until you're able to be in a state where you can at least potentially have kavana. um when you're when when you're domining. Again, this is just the Rambam. Right now, we're going to see that we generally there there's different there's different uh opinions about this. So, hold off. But that's the Rambam just describing the importance of Kavana. Now, look how he describes it. It continues in his next next. What is this? How does a person achieve it? That a person should try to clear himself of all other thoughts. A person should try to picture himself standing in front of the therefore a person needs to sit a little bit before dvening in order to in order to try to help himself to calm himself down and and to concentrate. Again, we're going to talk. I know I keep saying we're going to do it next week, but next week we're going to we're going to discuss the practical elements. The Ram is giving us a very very clear clear clear idea here. What's one way to help you clear yourself of your thoughts and to concentrate? Come a little before. If something's important to you, when we're when we have a big meeting or we have something that's really important, we make sure to arrive a few minutes early so we can prepare ourselves beforehand. Person has a big interview, he's not going to show up and just run in. He's going to stop a few minutes beforehand, make sure he looks appropriate, make sure his mind is in appropriate place. Same thing is with the best thing to do is to come a few minutes before calm ourselves down try to get ourselves in a certain state and then you can start to in a calm way in an appropriate way. And you also shouldn't be trying to to have the be some kind of burden that you're trying to get rid of or as we would say to just try to check off the box. He says, "Not only should you sit before Daven, the ideal would be not like most of us where by the time we get to the last cottage, we're like, you know, our fill and our off and we're standing by the door ready to jump out, right? But rather the ideal would be you take off your fill and your tallet only after you finish domining and even to sit for a minute because the feel experience should be one that requires us to kind of bring ourselves back into the into into the world and then he adds the well-known idea and then he says that the earlier saintly people used to come an hour before to prepare themselves. They would have an hourlong davening and then they would have an hour where they where they would process everything before they before they enter the world. Now understandably we don't necessarily have the time to do that but the ideal or understanding the ideal or understanding the imagery is something that is very important for us. The idea of not rushing into and not rushing out of is something that we should be we should be seeing as an ideal and something that we should be thinking about. So that's the Ram again giving more imagery and obviously what he's highlighting is what type of covenant when we talk about kavana that we need for ding. What's the kava that the raam is talking about? A recognition that what >> that we're standing in front of Hashem. That's the coven that we need when we when we d and then the raam in source number four just again clarifies what it means when we say that somebody who doesn't needs to repeat. This is in source number four. What if somebody and did not have he should go back and as he said earlier but then he says here and then he mentions what we saw in the that if you had kavana for the first braha that's enough as long as you had kavana for the first braha although ideally you should have kavana for the entire as long as you had kavana for the first braha that is enough and And then and then again the implication being that if you didn't have kavana for the versha you would you would need you would need to repeat it. Okay. Now there's a big discussion in in in the rishonim regarding what type of of kavana we need. We see the rambom says it's clearly a kavana that is needed is about recognizing that we're standing in front of hashem. But there's another type of kavana that is required which is which is similar what we saw in shim and we're going to see that now in the shar and that is the kavana shouldn't just be that you're standing in front of hashem but also understanding the words that you're saying. Okay, if you look at source number six, we're going to skip number five just uh for times for time sake. The the main authority when he quotes this he says the following he has to have what should you have. Number one, he says, number one, make sure you understand the words that you're saying. That is another added level of covenant that you need, which is you should make sure you understand the words that you that you know what you're saying. And then he continues, the other type of the other aspect to the covenant that is needed here is a recognition that I am standing in front of Hashem to feel like I am standing in front of you. Maybe even that you put the first one first. It's an excellent excellent question. U why why did he put the first one first? Again, I didn't bring you the the the the the tour the tour who who the is based off of also brings it in that order. I'm not sure if it has to do with the with with with with whether one is more important than the other. I think they're both uh important elements. We're actually going to see soon that some of the one the Misha says, well, how could you think about two things at once? It's hard to have coming on two things. So, he's going to actually he suggests an order to it which is the opposite which we we'll get we'll get to in a minute. Okay. So the says a person who is dominating needs to think about the words that he's saying needs to recognize that he's standing in front of Hashem. And then he goes on to this to to to to talk about the importance of this. Similar to what we saw in the Rambam, we're in source number six, the very end of the last line. He should remove all thoughts that are that are distracting him until he gets to a point where his thoughts are totally focused on doning. And listen to this. He should think that had he been talking to an important person, to his boss, to the king, to the president, to somebody important, he would make sure that his words made a lot of sense. He would know what he is saying. He would make sure to say them correctly. You'd be very prepared if you were talking to somebody important. We're in the third line, the middle of the line. Certainly when we're talking in front of Hashem who understand who even knows our thoughts and knows our intentions, we should be striving to prepare oursel and have that proper that proper. And then he goes on to to quote the famous idea of the said this is what the earlier used to do. He says the earlier by spending an hour what they were able to do was achieve a certain he says an almost prophetic level. They were able to totally divest themselves of of any extraneous thoughts to almost get to a very very high spiritual level which he says almost achieving prophecy. Now that's not necessarily what we need to get to but we can learn from there the importance of of spending that time. One second. And if you have other thoughts that come in, let's say you're in the middle of dinging. You did all this. You prepared. You came a few minutes early to do and you got there. Okay. And and you know what? We're still human and we started with and then all of a sudden something else creeps in. You should stop. Ideally, again, you should stop. You should stop and try to push that out of your out of out of your mind. You should try to think about things that ground you and help you think about uh God and not to think about things that are more lightheaded and more and less serious. And do your best to try to be thinking about these things. Interestingly enough, the the Rama uh adds a couple of interesting points. The Rama is the is in the is the smaller wording on the on the at the end of the He then says he suggests that one type of way to achieve this is to think about the greatness of God versus as opposed to the the loneliness of man. And I think what he's saying is to help us get into a proper mindset, we have to recognize how much we owe to how much we are dependent on him and that will help us in our kavana. And then he says something very interesting which until I saw this, I only saw this a week or two ago. I did not even know this was a and I was actually guilty of this. This is just a side point, but I think it was important. There's actually a prohibition that a person, it is not appropriate for a person to kiss their children in my kids would come in and I would just give them a kiss on their head when they would come into says the Rama. is not appropriate because shul is a place where our focus should be more on our relationship with I want to stress this doesn't mean we should be rude to our children doesn't mean we shouldn't care about our children again what what what what the idea simply is is that shul is a place where we should be focusing on our relationship with hashem our kids can be a part of that and of course and again part of the conversation here is going to be we'll see in the nishur discuss ing bringing kids to shul. It's a whole whole conversation and I'm sure each of us have opinions about about that. But the point here is that is that it's not it's not about lessening the importance of kissing your children as much as it is highlighting the importance of focusing in shul specifically on our relationship with with again this is something that I was not even aware of um but um something that I try to hold back from when uh now that now that I know. Yes. So I can see this. I can see it. I can't even do it, but I can see it in the first three braas. But when we're talking about carnos and and people getting well, etc., etc. So we're automatically bringing in all our thoughts and worries and stuff into >> Excellent. Excellent question. The question that was asked was granted this is hard, but you could see we could see it being realistic in the first three when we're it's mostly about praising God. We're praising God. So it makes sense that we'll be able to think about God. But as we're now in the middle where we're requesting things from Hashem and part of that very often is we're requesting personal things from Hashem. We know that you're allowed to within each of those even add in your own personal to each of those each of those. So it'll become natural that our minds will be flooded with personal issues. I think it's a great point. I think it's a great question and and and and I and I think you're right. Meaning it is definitely harder. But I think the the goal is when we're thinking about even those personal things, the goal is we're meant to be thinking about those personal things within the context of what we're asking from and therefore granted it's not it's harder because all of a sudden we're thinking about this and my mind goes here and my mind goes here and the next thing I know I'm bound down from before I even I don't even know if I did this yet. It's totally totally normal and natural as we've seen. But the point of those things is to request them within the context of our relation with Hashem. Therefore, it does it is they are it's asking of us to try to do that in in the in the most appropriate appropriate way. Again, none of this is easy and it requires training and it requires work. And that's what I think we're going to talk about next week is that you know those of us who come in and expect how many times we have I heard this idea like FILA doesn't move me. Tila isn't inspiring for me. Fila does and we kind of come in and this is I think part of over general mentality of we come and we expect things to happen to us. We expect that that everything should be done for us and to us as opposed to recognition that much of inspiration and much of our spirituality is based on work is based on investment is based on preparation. Uh and and therefore much of our ability to connect to davining is go of course there are always going to be external factors. Some people like do some people like singing some people don't like singing. Some people like a quicker pace. Some people like a uh a slower pace. There's always going to be external factors as well. But a large part of our connection to is going to be connected to our work and our own conscious effort in putting in and improving improving the the Okay. Yes. >> Uh of your statement about children. I don't think it should be exclusive to kids your child didn't show. You're so happy that your child wants to come to show. I think >> I I think it's a great point. I agree with you. >> I I agree with you. I agree with you 100%. And my natural inclation when my kid comes to sit next to me is hey I'm so happy to see you and I give him a kiss on his head. And when I when my kids come under their tal my talis for beer cut kohhanim and I put my hands on their head right after the braha finishes the first thing I used to do was I would kiss my kid on his head and say you know I agree with you. It's a natural inclination. Um and and I and I understand what you're saying. Um, which is why I didn't know about this alaka cuz it it to me was somewhat counterintuitive, but I understand the the value of where it's coming from, which is that the balance of shul is always a balance between our own personal experiences and recognizing the seriousness and recognizing where we are and what we're meant to be doing. And there's always how you express that is going to be different in different ways. And and and I understand what you're saying. I understand what you're saying. Um but but but you know this is this is the way that the at least kazal have established that that we're going to express our recognition of of our relationship with even if it means that we're going to be giving them one less kiss we'll give an extra kiss outside of sh I agree I don't it's like it's not like I won't say I'm swappy to see you obviously it depends on where we are in dvening but meaning I encourage and and everything that we can do in order to encourage and give them the proper experience of davining but but at least the way the Rama understands it is not appropriate necessarily to kiss because of what because because of what's going on. Just like again, the only muscle I could think of is if you're standing in front of a of a again losing muscle, stand sitting in front of a king and your kid runs in, you might act a little bit differently, not because you care about your kid less, but because you're focused on on on on the experience you're having right now. And sometimes and and therefore, I think that's what that that's that's the way I'm I'm understanding it. But I I totally um understand your you know, your concern/objection. Okay. Okay, the Mishna Buru here in in the bottom of source number six um mentions a few other interesting points regarding this recognition the idea of covenant. So what we've seen so far is that there's this added level of kavana that is needed specifically for davin minimally as as we saw for the first of um and and that it includes an understanding of the words that we're saying as well as a basic recognition that we're standing in front of. So if you look at the Mishnaba in inferences what does it mean when we talk about understanding the words that we're saying there's different levels of understanding the words that we're saying. So he says the following. He says don't get fancy. Don't start thinking about all the cabalistic under understandings of the names of God and Yehood and this and all these. There are many and again he's going to say that if you're somebody who's on that level, great. But there are many people who you know they have these sided on top. It has like different things of what you can be a kavan. He says don't go don't be fancy. This isn't referring to like special for the names of the cabalistic understandings. He said all you need to do is think about understanding the words, the simple understanding of the words. That's what you should be focusing on. Unless you're somebody who's on a higher level, unless you're somebody who's a cabalist, and these are these and these are things that have extra meaning for you and add to your understanding of because if you're not on that level and you start thinking and you learned in some cabala class you took about the different names of Hashem and you start thinking, he says it could totally mess you up, right? Just like we know that there are some people who take beginner classes in mysticism and think they now understand kabala and very often they're totally totally off base in what they're what what they think rather what we should be thinking about is not anything fancy just thinking about the words that you that you that you are that you are saying and even quote somebody who was a great rabbi who said I used to learn all the different secrets of the Torah but when I would dive in I would dive in like a kino I would dive in with like like a simple a simple child because that on some level is the foundational kavana that we're going for which is somebody who understands the words the words that he that he that he is saying. And then if you look at the last the second to last line in in in that in that um again he's the play the per in where it is. Then the Mishnabura points out that if we have two different kavanote we're supposed to have remembering that we're standing in front of Hashem and the words it's hard to do all of that at once. So he suggests what you should do is it should be done in a certain order before you start think about the fact that you're standing in front of Hashem when you're saying the actual words your focus should be on the words themselves. So he does again if sometimes we can have more of a latent understanding if you if right before you start you say to yourself I'm now standing in front of a baru hopefully that will keep you keep you going and and that that latent awareness will be there as you say the rest of the words as well. So again cuz sometimes what can happen is somebody who's trying to be will be like I have to think about all these different things. Well no this is meant to be before you before you say it. Think about it as you're taking the three steps back or the three steps forward. As you're saying those words, you should be thinking about I'm now entering a a private a private with and then while you're saying the words, you should be focusing specifically specifically on on the words the next sorry the I'm not going to I'm not we're not going to do it inside but basically he then because it's more of a side point but he then discusses the idea of the predom the preponderance of bringing children to sh and whether a person should bring children to sh he's not a fan of bringing young children to He says it disrupts everybody. It creates distraction. It can it also gives the child a certain a certain very infantile understanding of what schul is all about because if that's their understanding when they grow up and they and you never helped shape that then they have an infile understanding of what I'm supposed to be doing in shul. Um he does say that as they get older ideally you should he he suggests that only when you when they're able to sit quietly next to you and answer appropriately then you should bring them you should bring them to shul. Um I know that there are different shaded about this and I know different shooles have different standards. There are some and and I've seen I have I have many friends who I very much respect who believe that bringing children to even from a younger age obviously having them sit appropriately but it it helps guide them and helps shape their view of even when they're younger. Um I think everyone would agree that if your child is making noise or disrupting then you definitely shouldn't be in shul but there's different approaches to whether it's appropriate to bring to bring young kids to sh many places have have a children's fela. So again this is something that I think you know is not 100% uh 100% um 100% clear. Okay. Now we get to the in source number seven. Here we talk about the minimum. We earlier was just talking about the importance of kavana. Now when do I have to have kavana? Look at source number seven. This is what we saw earlier in the as well. Ideally a person should have kavana for all of the if you can for whatever reason have kavana for all of it then at least have kavana for theote says the if you didn't have kavana for the first even if you had for the rest of the you have to go back and you have to repeat that is adds right over here. Nowadays, our is we don't go back if we didn't have because unfortunately we are on the level now where even if we go back 30 seconds later, chances are you're not going to have kavana again. And again, this is about the concern of saying God's name in vain unnecessarily or in an appropriate way. says that says the Rama and therefore our min nowadays is certainly for Ashkanazin I'm not sure have the min to go back because this is only the Rama who says this but certainly for Ashkanazin those of us who have who if you did not ideally you should have kavana for um for for the for the first minimally and if you didn't you should not go back because we're concerned that even the second time around uh you might not you might not have kavana now interestingly enough if you look at the the mission here says the Mishna [snorts] um the in in in so not not the first one the second one what does it mean that you should have says the you should have you should understand the words that you're saying he says I'm going to give you advice if you're supposed to have kavana to know the words of what what is some good advice >> learn the words of spend some time understanding it. Again, we're going to we'll focus on this a little bit more as well, but minimally, if we want to have for we want to understand what we're saying, we need to spend time beforehand understanding the words that we're saying. And then he says at least the and the of we're going to see that modm actually some people add as well to be required. You should at least know the words that you're saying. If you look at source at atif uh katan gimmel which is the next one in the bura adds that in the end of the first line in there are some people who say that just like ideally you have to have for the first of you also need to have for the first for the of okay Um so the first thing is he's saying number one we're adding modim to the to the list when we talk about minimal you should have kavana forot and also for modim we do say that ideally you should try to do modm as well then the mishnabura references what we saw earlier in the ram which is what happens if you're in a state where you just know that you can't have kabana right you're just you're not you're something happened you're tired you're you're distracted so the Rambam said earlier if you're not going to have kavana you shouldn't do yet you should wait so says to Mr here too if you see that there's no chance that in aot that even in avot you're you're going to be able to have to have kavana says don't do it now most of us in most scenarios I think we kind of fool ourselves into thinking oh yeah I can have kavana right now right meaning I don't think most of the time when we get up to davin we're necessarily Sometimes we are. Sometimes we're dealing with something. Sometimes we're distracted. But I think many of us at least I know I I naively. Okay. Yeah. I'm okay. Now my mind is somewhat clear. I can I can have kavana. Doesn't always work out that way. But so so so here the mission of Bua says if you know for sure that you're in a state where you should where you're not going to be able to have kavana, you shouldn't dam. However, if you look at source number eight is which is one of the a a safer that discusses, he says there's a limit to that. In source number eight, if you can if you estimate that you're not going to be able to have right now, as we said, you should wait until you have, but you should make sure not to lose missing by. So if you choose to wait because you're not able to have kavana only make make sure that you're not going to miss manila and zman creation. What I'm not sure about is what happens if mean if it means you're going to miss doving with a minion. I mean let's say you're in a state where you just can't dive in right now but this is your only chance of ding with a minion. Should you dive in or not? It's unclear to me. It seems to me that if you're not if you know that you're not going to be able to have kavana at all and you're not going to be able to have kavana for avote that you should even forego the minion. Um that again that's my own understanding but you shouldn't miss you shouldn't miss the last time to dive in order to just have kavana um you should be pushing yourself to try to make sure that you make and kachma okay so that's what we've seen we've seen this added level of kavana that is needed uh for for for for all of ding ideally if not at minimum for and if not all minimum at least the first of and if you can't have that bless you then at the very least then then if you can't even if you if you didn't do that for whatever reason as we saw practically you should you should not you should not go back Rabbi Adin Steinald in his book he has a book called a guide to Jewish prayer he notes that what we've been calling the elevated type of kavana i.e e this extra kavana that you need which is a recognition that you're standing in front of hashem and understanding the words that you say he calls that actually the lowest level of kavana because he points out that uh in a certain ideal sense there are many higher levels of kavana that we could be getting to that we're not even fully aware of and we look at source number nine and again I'm not this isn't about to make about here I'm not mentioning this to make us feel bad as much as it is about about making us understand the levels we could be getting to if we were to properly invest the time and effort into preparing for art. Source number nine. There are in fact various levels of kavana, each one higher than the other. The lowest one is one that is nearly passive. Simple understanding of the words being recited. This basic level of kavana to direct his heart to the meaning of the words which he utters is a basic requirement pertaining to any act of reading or recitation to at least comprehend what is being uttered. Admittedly, throughout the ages, there have always been Jews who never managed to learn Hebrew and who never understood the meaning of the prayers, but merely recited them by road. Yet, these unlettered folk would often pray with a fervor that had its own significance and holiness. Thus, they really prayed because in their prayers they were conscious of standing before the creator and felt the sense of communion with him. Even if their thoughts are not always related to the words they uttered, their hearts cried out to God. Our sages taught that such prayer should not be disdained. They spoke of its great value and even stated that it would be received with far more grace than the more highly articulate but indifferent prayers of others. But in an age when deep religious emotion is not very common, the recitation of prayer with sufficient comprehension of its basic meaning is a basic level of kavanine prayer. So of course if somebody does not know the words but they come in with a tremendous amount of fervor and they say I don't really know what I'm saying but they dive in with this with this rec that of course has power. But for most of us, the most fundamental type of tilah that we should have is the words that I'm saying. This initial level of kavana is characterized by varying degrees of intensity depending upon the spiritual abilities of the worshipper and the amount of time and concentration invested in prayer. This stage of mere comprehension may consist of simply of plain literal understanding of each separate word or phrase may involve a greater penetration into the form. Meaning there's this understanding the words. Then there's understanding the paragraph and the themes, the form, the contents and related aspects of prayer. This kind of reading with comprehension creates at least some sort of relationship and if strengthened and deepening may also lead to a certain exaltation of spirit. of those are pointing out that there's the very basic understanding the words and then there's appreciating much greater the structure of the davining understanding a deeper the patterns of the different types of things that that we say and then he continues the next level of kavana goes beyond that of simple reading and understanding to the identification of the worshipper with the prayers recited the prayers in the s are no longer seen as an external text but an expression of inward feeling and experiences the emotions of the worshipper go hand in hand with the words written in the sitter so that he himself experiences the feelings of thanksgiving and joy recollection and contemplation reflected therein. So again this is a higher level where you're not just saying the words and you know what you're saying but you are identifying in a meaningful and personal way with the words that are being said. Such a degree of of identification if not if not if not impossible to attain. Oh sorry is not sorry should be is not impossible to attain as many people feel it in other contexts. People listen to music and feel in total unity with the emotion expressed therein or they read a story and identify wholeheartedly with the characters and events portrayed. Cavana and prayer is very much like this and that it calls for the same kind of identification with the words uttered during prayer. Again he's stressing we might look at this and be like what are the chances that we could do this? But it it can be attained if we want to attain it. And I'm bringing this all I know it's a little bit long but I think he's highlighting very important aspects of what we could be achieving with the proper kavana. There are various degrees of the second level of kavana as well corresponding with the depth and intensity of identification. For some the words in the s are a general guide for the inner emotions that run parallel to them. At a higher degree of identification, words and worshipper fused together with every word and phrase of prayer becoming his own very thoughts and feelings. This kind of identification when it reaches its highest degree of intensity is no longer mere verbal communication but creates a concrete cosmic connection. Another form of kavana derived from mystical and esoteric teachings. Here too there are different levels. There are general kavanote that explain or stress the meaning of prayer as a whole or a particular words. At times such covenote are printed in regular prayer books especially those of the oriental communities are in principle an additional more profound way of interpreting the words uttered in prayer. That's the high the even higher level which is the sense of understanding things in an esoteric cababalistic way which again most of us as we as we saw earlier is not relevant for us. What Rabb Steinel has highlighted for us is that when we talk about this added level of kavana needed and understanding the words that we're saying and even recognition that we're standing in front of a baru that's still not the highest level that we could ever achieve when we're able to not just understand the words but to identify with the words to bring those words into our world and to connect with them in a deeper way that is a higher level of which Rostein suggests can be achieved through the proper work and through the proper effort and it's something that we should be striving for that when we talk about the who sat there for an hour preparing for what they were really doing was trying to achieve this higher level of kavana in a way as a way of then preparing themselves so that when they entered the world of and they said the words they were identifying with them in a much deeper and a much more intense intense way yes >> because I'm laughing at heart I actually use hand motions I get so involved but I can't do that in in shul. Yes, >> me it's actually better to do that. >> Yes. So she's you're raising the point that for some people sometimes certain things you can do when you're dominating at home you can't do in shul. It's an excellent excellent question whether or not what if somebody says I'll be able to I'll be able to have more kavana in shul as opposed to as opposed to at at home as opposed to inul what is more ideal. Um I think we saw this earlier that we generally certainly for men we assume that domining in in shul is is is better and for women there's different approaches to this. Uh there are different types of women. Some women have have better covenant in shul find that being part of the part of the community and being part of the of the doing is easier. Others find that dotting at home is better for them. I remember I remember I remember I remember I think it was even uh chief uh rabbi lord Jonathan Sax mentioning during the times of corona where he commented how during corona when he had to do at home he found a certain level of spirituality that he wasn't able to achieve in minion because he was able to go slower. He was able to go at a different pace. He was able to put in the time. Now perhaps what that means is that we just need to make sure to come to doing earlier. Doesn't mean we can't have that during the doning. Just means it requires it require it requires more effort. Now just u we're not going to be able to to uh to to do the second part of of of of today's class just because of because of time. Um what what we highlight in the second half and and and I would ask everyone if you can to bring to bring these sheets next week. We'll be able to hopefully go over them next week. But what we highlighted similar to what we saw for Shama that just like we saw when it comes to that because of this elevated level of that is needed. Therefore, there are certain regarding how a person should say the first few of the same thing is with because the most ideal time when we should be elevating our kavana there are certain how we stand how we're supposed to position ourselves think the the requirement to stand all of those are ultimately about helping to achieve and helping to raise and achieve this level of added kavana that we're trying to attain during during dinging so we will we will do that next week. Um wishing everybody sorry just because a question just because it's time I see that Rabit is also here. Um I'm happy to take questions on the side but um but I'm going to end I'm going to end here. Wishing everybody a wonderful week.