The Development of the Tefilah Text II | Rabbi Yossi Goldin

and certainly in light of those who didn't hear the news unfortunately there was a terror attack this morning in the uh in the Jordan Valley um a number of number of soldiers were were were were attacked um sorry to be the bearer of good of of bad news I assume most people have seen the news but un virtually was a terror attack this morning yeah the Jordan Valley um about six or seven soldiers were injured a couple of them very seriously so as we always open up that um we doin that our learning should be a referal for all those injured certainly most recent soldiers and everybody who's been injured and it should be and for our should return home safely and should give to all those who have been impacted by this war and of course during these very important uh meetings happening between world leaders as we speak uh Hashem should give guidance to all of our leaders to make the uh the right decisions for all of am isra and for the entire world um okay so um I'm going to use to to use a sports phrase for those who are familiar with that with the uh with the with the sport of football I I'm doing what's called called an audible uh in terms of what are learning which means that in audible in football I'm teaching you guys some things this is a Toro right here if you want to call football Mada um uh in football and audible is when a quarterback sees a c certain play is planned and then based on what he sees in front of him he changes the play on the Run um this week I was planning on doing some one thing but based on um the way that we ended last week and and some feedback or some questions that came from from the crowd I want to do something a little bit different this week than i' had originally planned um last week we kind of ended very quickly um and rushed through some of the some of the main sources for for the value and the importance of having a set text we discussed the background and we discussed it the we discussed it excuse me we discussed the background of the set text we discussed um the different opinions as to why kazal or why the aness haola different approaches to why an Ana had developed a set text and then at the end and we discussed a number of potential reasons or or positive um positive results from having a set text and we because we didn't see the sources inside and we kind of rushed through that end I decided that I wanted to begin this morning reviewing those because I think they're very important and they hopefully will add more meaning to our understanding of having a set text in Fila and the second part of today actually is a result of of of some comments and questions that were asked which is regarding the question of whether or not a person is allowed to Davin and say the set text in a language other than Hebrew if there are people who don't understand Hebrew can they say DAV Shak can they DAV in English can they DAV in French can they DAV in other languages which is a very very fascinating discussion so that's what we're going to do with the second half of of today and next week be we'll get to discussing personal fot and inserting personal fot into your into one's um daily daily doing so last week just to just to do a quick review aside from discussing the historical development of having a set text for Shon es we we discussed a number of different interpretations as to why specifically anah decided to create a set text we saw that according to the rambam the reason why anah decided to create a set text was they came to the realization upon the return from the galut from the first bet mikdash as they rebuilt the second bet mdash they came to the realization that the language that people's Hebrew language had eroded significantly and that many other languages had become integrated and were now now a part of the of the conversation and the culture and therefore they realized that people were not going to be able to practically be able to Davin in their own language meaning in Hebrew on their own and so kazal an therefore realized there was a need for a set text that would make ensure that everybody would continue to doin in Hebrew uh for for for Generations that was according to the raban we saw that according to Jonathan saaks his understanding of the development of the set text was a little bit different it already be according to R it began in galut once am is were in galut after the destruction of the first bet mikdash there was a need to gather there was a need to come together to converse and replace what had existed in the BET mikdash and that was the beginning says R saak of the of of the concept of coming together to pray together as many people right right the Jews that pray together stay together we'll get to that when we talk about uhor and Rak then suggested that it began in galut but as am Israel continued and returned with the with with the building of the bet mikdash there was a continuation continued development of this set text of and as Rak suggested it really became mostly formulated with the destruction of the second betam mikdash once the corote were no longer uh happening on daily basis then took over the set structure of a corbon used to be there used to be corbon that were very very structured andot was was much more independent and unstructured and with with the with the destruction of the second bet mikash as corbane were no longer brought on on a continual basis adopted the structure of corbane and therefore that also explains the gamar that we know that talks about how came to replace or came to replace the the Corban note the third interpretation we saw for for the development of the set text was R Shimon Schwab and Shimon Schwab noted something else that occurred during the the second the second bash which is the end of n the end of Prophecy andab suggested that during the times of the first and second B mikdash even the regular Layman who was not necessarily A navi in the way that we understood it still was able to attain a certain level of Prophecy because of all of the prophets that existed in amongst am Israel and therefore their ability to communicate and to develop and create meaningful was much more common once prophecy ended towards the end of the second mikash with the death of Ezra or many people say that Ezra was Mal was the last Nai as prophecy ended people's ability to to create and to write meaningful ended and therefore there was much more of a need for a set text okay and those the three interpretations that we saw for why anah themselves created the set text of as we as we know it I'd like to do now and again it's really just a continuation of that which is to now take a step back and look at today okay today much of what they described obviously still exists there is no n the value of a set text still very much is is is in play but I think if we think about it there are a number of different advantages to having a set text that that that we again we mentioned briefly at the end of last year that I'd like to that I'd like to go over today I think if we if we if we look at a number of sources we can come up with I would call six six different advantages to having a set text nowadays not withstanding obviously certain challenges that arise which I think kazal account for um as well okay so the first is the first main advantage to having a set text is what was highlighted by Rak and by the ram which is that if we don't have a set text the likelihood of us of every single Jew continuing to doin and express thems every single day on a consistent basis would be very low many people would dove in when they had a tragedy many people would dove in when things were going well when the when when they felt like it and many of us wouldn't do if there was no obligation on a regular daily basis we'd wake up in the morning we're rushed we have a lot of things going on we have our family needs we have our personal needs and doing would probably likely get pushed to the side unless there was some major reason why we felt that need in order to ensure and this is what the ran was highlighting that every single person would make sure to dve into a every single day the set text contributes to that to that consistency and so in order to ensure that we have that time three times a day or for those who dive in less than three times a day two times a day in order to ensure that we do that what was necessary was a set and very structured text in addition to also having a set time all of those things contribute to the to the ensured continuation of on a daily basis so that's that's reason number one which I don't even think we need a source for I think that's just very logical and it really is builds off of what the RAB and I think Rak highlighted in addition there are a number of sources that point to other advantages most specifically and this is really a continuation I think of what RAB was saying RAB was talking about how once there is a lack of n then our ability to construct meaningful text no longer existed so there is thein in his commentary on P aot Source number one I brought I brought I brought all the sources again for you Source number one the he notes that the reason why a set text is important is because there is a unique mystical power to the text that was written by anah and we'll see it inside in Source number one the again for those of you who came a little bit late the reason why we're going over these sources again is because we didn't really see them inside and we kind of rushed through them and I think they're fundamental to understanding the importance of a set text says says now in hour due to our many sins due to the sins of the destruction of the we no longer have now all we have is our and these words the words of our they exist and they exist on the highest levels the highest Realms of sh and every single word they go up to the highest and they reach the highest placesan they reach just as high as where mystically the Corban used to used to achieve says now right it's not just for no reason that these 120 Elders including many prophets were the ones who established this then ask wait a second but why did they have to do it can't we we're we're human beings human being we are human beings many of us are very poetic many of us are very cable some are not some are and some are less and some are more okay but many of us why should we not be able to rights and be able to contribute and to put together many people like us are not missing to be able to ask for what we need or to be healed from our illnesses in proper in proper language why do you need prophets why can't each of us especially those who are more capable be able to construct a proper says the following says again from a mystical perspective the that was created and authored by an they had certain they had certain intentions V and they established it in a specific way that everything from a mystical perspective is included in the language of they created a text that could be understood on different levels so that every single person could understand it on their level and yet the power of it is much greater and deeper than we could possibly understand and I'm just to put this in perspective this is very much in the worldview of's famous famous work he's made many works but his famous work was something called the ne and the ne was a book where he writes about the mystical power most it's a lot of different pieces but the famous One shard solid is about the mystical power of Lima Torah of learning Torah and how learning Torah isn't just another way to attain knowledge but that each time a person learns Torah the mystical application and the mystical impact that has on the world is greater than we can even understand and it's learned in the yes as a fundamental safer to understanding the importance of learning Torah along those same lines he also understands the value of fat fat isn't just something that we do for ourselves it isn't just something that has impact on us it says it has a mystical impact on the entire world the words that we're saying have much deeper meaning than we can even realize and therefore this text is not just a text that the rabbis happened to write they included within it deep understand mystical interpretations and understandings that we might not fully understand and therefore much more powerful than we know we're now in the fourth line the last three words of the line and as a general rule from the time that this were instituted there were no two two prayers that that people made that had the same impact the impact is always different depending on the person depending on where they are at in life depending on many so many different aspects and we will never fully understand the impact of our of our and the way that we D in the that we say one day is going to be different than the that we say another day because things change and everything depends on these words on the power of these words that's why prophecy was needed that's why these words need to be written in Prophecy and all the explanations and all the revelations that people write concerning this text he says it's just a drop in the ocean we will never fully understand the Deep depths of the text of fah and the power of fah when we dve in on a daily basis because it was imbued with that Holiness through the through the through the which just want to finish I'll take a question it is greater than the understanding than any man any human can properly ever understand this beautiful language it connects the the lower worlds and the upper worlds just like a Corban that was the explanation he gave of a Corban he said that a Corban a Corban was whereas Torah learning was taking the upper worlds and bringing it down into this world a Corban and by and by extension is taking something from this world and bringing it up to to to the to the to the upper to the upper worlds nothing will change this is the text that will be with us until the coming of Mia and that's why they said and now he's getting back to because this comment is actually on the comment the first mishna or the sorry the second mishna she's explaining and that she says this is what it means he says when they say that the world stands on three things that the world the combination the connection between the upper worlds and the lower worlds they consist of being built upon three different thingsa because Torah takes from the upper world and brings it down into this world the aod and what does aod do do that it brings it brings a connection from the from the lower worlds up into the upper worlds and that is what does okay so in very beautiful and poetic language and I thought it was important to see his language because his language is very unique and very powerful and very evocative where he's explaining how there is tremendous power to these words why do we need to set text very simply because this text has a certain mystical Holiness that we don't fully understand and therefore it is important for us to use text because of its unique powers correct meing above and beyond what anybody can understand that meaning might be the for so I think I think I think I I think he's saying I think he's saying the following I think he's saying that there is unique power to these words independent of what a person understands at the same time when a person uses these words and Doin with these words based on his understanding and where he is in life where it will get to and the what what the effect it will have will depend but there's no question that that's all that's because it's a combination of the power of the words and the person who is I guess you know giving and saying those words but but therefore you need it's it's a combination of both that's how I understand it yes excellent good correct but you're highlighting is another reason which we're going to get to as well which is that part of the power of this is the is the unity that's not that's not what he's highlighting here although I think it is a part of it but yes I think that's a very that's a very good point we'll get to that yes instead of self-expression this corre be a spring board forre be able to access and if you have extra things to say by excellent you are correct you are have it's not sub absolutely we're going to correct that's we're going to talk about next week which is that everything we're talking about now the set text that we have is only one side of the coin and there's a whole second side of the coin which is that kazal also instituted within the set text opportunities for a person to have to have self- expression within the text outside of the text and we'll get to that next week but 100 100% that's why it's important when people say oh it's so hard the answer this is just the beginning this is the base we want to make sure that you dve it we want to make sure that you start with something those who want to who are able to and find the opportunity and are encouraged to add on their own that that patem will get to we'll get to in the in the future now another I think less mystical way of saying this and this is something that we mentioned last week as well is that what a set text does is it doesn't just give us and help us Davin it also reminds us and highlights for us the important themes that we should be thinking about okay we mentioned this last week and I think it's a it's an important point right very few of us if we were saying daving on our own even if we were to say okay I would be I would be I would be the person who really would do in every single day and it wouldn't depend on my emotion it wouldn't depend on my mood I would D in every single day how many of us would be saying the words how many of us would be saying even personally to ask for forgiveness we' probably be focusing on God give me this God give me that please take care of this I need to take care of that I'm having trouble with this right most of the things that we have in they include all of those opportunities but they also include so many themes and so many things that we should be thinking about right both on a personal level and on a communal level these are important and fundamental themes to us and to Jews and we would all admit after looking at it oh yeah that's an important thing to think about okay maybe we'd find one or two that we weren't 100% sure we understood and we'd have to spend time understanding that and maybe we'll do that if we're able to go through the Shon one at a time but I think we would the concept of Shalom how many of us would would would get up and okay maybe during war we D for shalom shalom but or or even mod on a fundamental there's so many aspects to Shon es that many of us just wouldn't think about and so by creating a set text they're not just enabling us to Davin every single day they're also as we mentioned last week they're highlighting for us these are the things you should be thinking of them these are the things you should be focusing on on a daily basis we should be saying to our ourselves bring us the we should be thinking about I think many of us here and our think about that a little bit more maybe we than we do in GIS but living in y maybe we maybe we're also less sensitive to it because we see yush bustling and we see how great Yim is maybe we don't have time to think as much about what we're still yearning for okay there's so many different things here and so what the Shona es really does is it's just a message and a lesson in what should be our priorities what should be the thing with both on a personal level God give me the wisdom to make the right decisions right like we talked about before God should give wisdom to our leaders to make the right decisions God should give each of us the wisdom to make the right not God give me this and this or God have me do this and this it should be I'm okay I'm going to make that decision but please give me the wisdom to make the right decision or give me the wisdom to know how to make the right decision and please God forgive me for my sins and please God all and of course and the other things that are important and of course as this continues it moves to more National and communal things where kazal are basically saying these are things that you should be thinking about and that I think is another reason for the set text because it's a message to us of this should be these should be your priorities these should be the things that you are that you that you are thinking about taking this a step further if you look at source number two Don who is a American Orthodox Rabbi wrote a book called to pray as a Jew are there any more sheets I think the she sheets were all in the front there were no more so I apologize I guess we'll have to we'll have to ask them to make more copies moving forward um that's a good sign I guess on some level but okay if there's oh there are some extras here so please pass them down that would be great thank you here here here's a couple here here see here here's another one if you could just pass these down pass down here okay I I try I try to I try to save as much Tre as many trees as we can so they're a little bit smaller the text but if we need to we'll try to make it bigger okay so I'm very into as you can see providing the sources and I I try to find the balance between giving you the sources but not giving you too many sources and killing too many trees because you know we have to find that find that balance but a very very well-known I would say a American classic to pray as a Jew has a beautiful line where he talks about how when we dove in and this is similar what we were talking about before when we dove in we're connecting to all other Jews and we're also we're also connecting to many of the important values and many of the values and ideals of Judaism look at source number two prayer does not belong exclusively to the followers of One Faith all people who believe in God are moved at one time or another to utter a heart a heartfelt prayer to him and sometimes confirmed non-believers are equally moved but if prayer is common to all faiths what makes Jewish prayer Jewish Jewish prayer is prayer that uses the idiom of the Hebrew Bible and reflects the Jewish Soul it is prayer that expresses the basic values of the Jewish people and affirms the central articles of Jewish faith it is prayer that reflects our historical experience and gives expression to our future aspirations excuse me when the prayer of Jew when the prayer of a Jewish person does not reflect one of these components please excuse the typo he may be praying but it cannot be said that he is praying as a Jew a Jew may choose his word his own words when praying to God as we're going to talk about in the future but when he uses the words of the sitter he becomes part of a people he ident ifies with Jews everywhere who use the same words and express the same thoughts he affirms the principle of mutual responsibility and concern he takes his place at the dawn of history as he binds himself to Abraham Isaac and yob he asserts his rights to a Jewish future in this world and to personal redemption in the world to come whatever is special about Jewish theology whatever is special about Jewish values whatever is special about Jewish history is also special about Jewish prayer and very so he highlights what you were saying but in a much more beautiful way than could ever say it which is number one we're connecting to all of the values of Judaism what we were talking about before but we're also connecting to all other Jews as we mentioned before even though obviously there are different streams there's there's there's ashas Andi and and and Andi Andes and there are points where sometimes I'll walk be like wait a second is this the same religion but no that's a joke because fundamentally it is fundamentally I can walk into anywhere in the world where there was a minion and feel comfortable doing Shak and and there's something both inspiring and important about that the fact that everybody is saying the fundamentally same text with different variations which by the way only enrich our Judaism because they take with them the cultures and everything that of of of je Jewish history is incredibly important and Incredibly value when we Dove the text that were doing we doing the same thing that they have been doing for thousands and thousands of years that the same thing that millions of Jews are daving all over the world and the same thing that beat hasem our descendants will continue to be davening until and maybe even after that for all we know yes so I don't I no I don't I don't I don't I don't I don't think it's I don't think it's our place to talk about other other other other sects of Judaism or other streams of Judaism and I just also don't think that I mean again okay if it didn't work then that that all that does if we believe that it didn't work and I personally believe that it didn't work that only so it only highlights what we're saying and I think that's the point yes agreed I think I think I think I think the point that you're making the most important point that you're making is what you just said a minute ago which is again as you look at the development of of of the streams of Judaism and again this isn't you know to say anything bad history proves itself and and and we've seen that certain decisions that other streams made regarding various things turned out to be the wrong decision for the sake of those of th of those of those streams my my just I'll just give you an example and this isle you said I think it's an important my father always used to say said that when he was as many of you know my father was the rabbi in England New Jersey for many many years hopefully you'll all stick around for his uh his his she 1115 much better much better than mine and he um and he he said that one time he had he had a conservative Rabbi with whom he was friendly um in the area of New Jersey who told him that he was jealous of him he said that because of the decision that the conservative movement made to allow sh to allow Jews to to drive to sh the inadvertant consequence which maybe they didn't fully unintended consequence is the proper word excuse me was that there was no longer a sense of community the facts that Orthodox Jews need to live within walking distance to their sh created a sense of community around the sh which was much more conducive to the development of the community Orthodox the sh a non-orthodox sh that enables their members to to to to drive to sh its members can live an hour away and drive to sh and they no longer have that sense of community and therefore it created and without that was that was an un what they were thought they were doing was bringing more people in and this was an unintended consequence now does that mean that every decision they made again I don't want to get into the Theology of all of that but I think you are correct but I think but I I I think I think you are pointing out something very different which very important which is that what we have to highlight here is the fact that we've kept our tradition over those years and that we have kept the set text over those years is a symbol of the power of the Orthodox community and itself is the symbol of the strength of who we are that we can move in wherever we are and move to whatever City we want in any country we want to be able to feel comfortable with those practices and specifically with the shows the power of of a set text okay to take this even a step further Rabbi Jonathan sax in his introduction to the Coran sitter notes how the beauty of our set text is not just that it connects all of us but that our the text that has been written weaves together in a beautiful way all of Jewish history and it echoes so much of what has happened over the course of Jewish history and again in language that only risx could could uh could could write in the sitter is the coral symphony the covenantal people have sung to God across 40 centuries from the days of the Patriarchs until the present day in it we hear the voices of Israel's prophets priests and Kings its sages and Scholars poets and philosophers rationalists and Mystics singing in calibrated Harmony its libretto weaves together texts from almost every part of the vast library of Jewish spirituality Torah the prophets the writings the classic compendia of the or mishna mid and talmud together with philosophical passages like my's 13 principles of faith and extracts from the Zohar the key text of Jewish mysticism there is space in Judaism for private meditation the personal plea but when we pray publicly we do so as members of a people who have served spoken to and wrestled with God for longer and in more varied circumstances than any other in history we use the words of the greatest of those who came before us to make our prayers articulate and to join them to the prayers of others throughout the world and throughout the centuries almost every age in major Jewish Community has added something of its own new words prayers customs and Melodies there are many different liturgies ashkanazi sari Oriental yemenite Italian those of RAB Isa laua known as the arizal and the Von and others each with its own subdivisions each tradition has a character of its own to which the Jewish law applies the principle nahara every river has its own course each of the historic Traditions has its own Integrity its own channel through which words stream from from Earth to heaven and so ASX beautifully points out our text our sitter as it is is really as he calls it this coral symphony of all of Jewish history from the times of the way that kazal incorporated filot from from the Torah itself through the na'vi through sa for through everything that we has been added over the course of Jewish history it's really just so the set text is not just a way for us to Davin it's not just a way to that we all keep have have a have a base for which we're all saying the same thing it's so much deeper and so much greater and that I think is important for us to realize despite the challenges of a set text there is so much that is richer we're so much richer because of the text that we have one final U approach to the value of having a set text is mentioned by by Arya Kaplan also a a really very very special and Jewish scholar in America in the late in the in the mid to late 1900s he has a great book I think i' quoted it before called Jewish meditation and in Jewish meditation he writes about how much of or aspects of really are on some level meant to be a form of meditative discipline and So He suggests that part of the reason why there is a set text and he also notes that this is why we say it three times a day is because fundamentally much OFA was meant to be a form of meditation now we when we think of meditation many of us think of like someone sitting cross-legged and and going like this and you know in in some Far Far East uh Far East country but meditation really is about is just controlled thinking is an ability to control our thoughts to think about the things that we want to and to be able to focus on various things and So He suggests that that one of the reasons we have a set text aside from everything else we discussed was to enable somebody to be able to use this as a meditative discipline by the way his interpretation is that's what that's what it meant when theal say that the used to come an hour before in order to prepare for do what were they sitting there doing for an hour or so you could say they were learning you could say they went to the Mikvah you could say there's lots of different interpretations and nowadays probably everyone would find a way to interpret it in the way that that fits into what what speaks to them but his suggestion was what they were doing was they were sitting down and trying to get into the state to De to achieve a state of meditation that would enable the to be what it was originally intended to be look at source number Source number four I brought you a small excerpt from from what he says again I recommend the book it's really really an excellent and and very in my opinion very original type of book he he he read many early cabalistic sources that talk about and and also connects them to many different meditation meditative sources as well Source number four the great assembly also realized that the general populist would need a meditative discipline but rather than have it be something loose and unstructured they needed a discipline with a structure common to the entire Jewish Nation one that would serve as a means of uniting the people it would have to contain the hopes and aspirations of the nation as a whole to reinforce the unity of the Jewish people the meditative discipline that was composed by the great assembly what we call the anah ended up as the sorry for the typo a standing prayer consisting of 18 sections which would be repeated silently in an upright position three times a day it is true that nowadays the amida is thought of more as a prayer than a meditative device but the most ancient sources regarded as a meditation indeed theud verifies that this was its original intention this also explains why the jemus legislated the same prayer be repeated three times each day people often complain that saying the same prayer over and over is tedious and uninspiring for anyone familiar with Mantra meditation however the opposite is true all types of Mantra meditation involve repetition in Mantra meditation the de the device repeated is a word or a phrase and it can be repeated over and over for weeks months or even years on end the amido was meant to be repeated three times every day from childhood on and essentially the same formula would be said for an entire lifetime the amida could therefore be looked upon as one long Mantra in many ways it has the same effects as a mantra lifting the individual to a meditative level of Consciousness as we shall see there's an entire literature that describes how the amida can be used in this manner but most important there is ample evidence that was originally composed sorry again for the typos as the common form of meditation to be used by the entire nation okay now for some people this might not speak to you the idea of meditation Mantra meditation might not be might not be what speaks most to you but I think it's an important understanding of the text um I remember that I I read this book when I was personally in Yeshiva my Shala I had a little bit more time than I did that I do nowadays in my life and and I use certain aspects of this I'm not I wouldn't say I'm I'm I'm a meditative type of person but some of the tools he used he talks about the idea of focusing on Shon es and taking time to focus on every single word and again I highly recommend highly recommend the book amongst all the other sources because I think there is there's a lot to this the ability to control our minds which I which I think is what we probably struggle with the most and I do and I imagine many of you as well during SCH es where you start SCH you think you're good and then like a two minutes later you're like how am I thinking about the you know I don't know the New York Yankees when I was just talking about like but the way our minds go it's challenging and so what meditation is fundamentally is just helping us control our thoughts in a in a in in a meaningful way and and therefore this is just another approach to the value of having having a set text yes yes absolutely correct okay so what he's raising is that meditation as as as controlled thinking requires a certain amount of time and the pace of many of our shs creates that challenge agreed although I would I would argue that the one place where it can be used even in in our shs that that that that in our shs that are quick is Inon when a person is doming on their own they're welome they're welcome to to have it in a different way that was where I used it the most but you are correct the one challenge I would say is we could also learn from the which is they came an hour before doing if we all come an hour before doing and we get into the mode we have our talison filling on maybe we even start again I'm not class criticizing you I'm criticizing myself as well I think some of this could be I know that when I personally am ding in a Sho that is particularly quick I try at least in my mind I try to get there earlier so that I know that I can if I can start sura again the the the doing with the minion is always going to be a balance between the needs of the community the needs of the individual and every individual needs to figure out how they can fit within that that that Community I think it's a good question good question you can ask you can ask rashai when he comes in in a couple of Shar he's the rabbi he's the rabbi of the sh I'm not I am not the rabbi of a community so I can't uh it's an excellent excellent question and I think the role of the rabbi is as I said to balance the needs of the community Comm as well as the needs of individuals and find that right balance and I think it's a coming upon us as well to also balance our our our needs and the communities needs and I find that usually when it comes to there is a way with with us being willing to challenge ourselves to find to find to find that right balance quick great meditation yes well see we're going to see soon yeah yeah I will I'll say even more than that we're gonna see next week that we're gonna see next week that the idea of having time to yourself to D in outside of the what we would call what called is fundamental and that's true but we're talking more about the value of initation with in within within the within the set text and the value of having those words repeated every day there is a certain there is a certain value that yes one more question then we're going to go on or comment interesting yes yes absolutely absolutely I don't think the her mindfulness was as common back then um I think again you could you have to read the book but I haven't read it in a while but a lot of what he was trying to show is that we think of my of meditation as just this like you know like I said someone sitting cross-legged and and you know in the Far East but he said what what what what meditation really is is what probably we would call I mean there's different types of meditation but a big part of it is like when I say controlled thinking that's what mindfulness I mean I'm not I'm not an expert in mindfulness but but mindfulness is at the end of the day is an ability to have more control over living in the moment over controlling your thoughts letting competing or impeding thoughts come in and and and take control and living much more in the moment being mindful of what you're thinking about and what's going on in your mind and I think absolutely I think that I think meditation definitely is a part of that or one aspect of meditation definitely definitely is definitely is that yeah yes yes we're gonna get to that next week we're going to talk practically about that next week next week we're going to discuss the specific Hal guidelines for inserting things Raj where and when absolutely it it exists and it's not just doesn't exist it's it's it's an invitation for people and I think that's as I said the other side of the coin to the set text you have a set text but you also have part of the way they established it was an ability for people and encouraged to add in personal F which we'll get to we'll get to next week okay well as I said that was that was just section number one which is really revisiting those sources that we did very quickly last week to get a deeper understanding of the importance of a set text what I want to do now as I mentioned is I want to focus on a question that has come up a number of you have asked me this question and I I think it's an important question um which is the question of being able to say the set text to DAV in a language other than Hebrew meaning we've seen that there's an important to the text we've seen that obviously I would even say that according there is an importance to saying it in Hebrew we see that there's a value to saying it in Hebrew but what if somebody doesn't speak Hebrew what if someone doesn't understand Hebrew they feel more comfortable in a different language and is one allowed to say the set text in a different language and this is a this is a big discussion and I wanted to just go through the major sources with you and see how we conclude because I think it's an important part to this whole conversation the the sources begin the conversation begins with a mishna and a gar in Source number five the gar in Source number five the mishna says the following thing the Mish is going to list a number of different texts that are allowed to be said in any language and then it contrasts it with a number of texts that need to be said specifically in Hebrew so says the mishna the following texts may be said in any language par okay the paraa that a Cohen has the S say when this before the S is is killed again a process that's much longer and more complex that we're going to discuss today but there's a whole section not sorry that she does that is read to her as part of the process before before she as she's being accused of committing adultery before she is killed that par can be said in any language when a person comes and brings all of the all of the all of the tithes that he needs to bring to to the at the end of a certain amount of years you need to make sure that you get rid of all of the M that you may have kept in your home that you failed to give to whoever needed to go give to there's a certain text that you say in they say a certain text that text can be said in any language both and can be said in any language as we've seen the distinguishes between these two even though we put them all as part of our daily they are two separate mitv kma kma excuse me involves the Mitzvah of what's called accepting upon yourself the Yoke of heaven and saying the three part of and generally refers right and when a person benches that can be said in any language certain types of certain types of swearing that a person needs to swear in ba under certain circumstances thatu can be said in any language and then says the Mish and the following things need to be said specifically only in Hebrew just to see them as to finish the mishna when the person would bring the the person would bring the first fruits to there was a few he needed to say those needed to be said in Hebrew as part of the process when a person if if a person if a woman's husband dies and she has no children there was a Mitzvah that she should marry the husband's brother nowadays we don't do this but the other option always existed and that's what we do nowadays we do the process of KH where where it's a whole process by where the husband the brother refuses to marry refuses to marry the wife and he frees her from any connection that there's a whole text that needs to be said and that text needs to be said in Hebrew bra when we discuss the various and at har and haral which were quoted in uh in if I'm not mistaken we're talking about so those actually as well those the blessings and the curses need to be said in Hebrew and and the the as we know that they say every single day as part of the those all need to be said in Hebrew okay that's the mishna now what the gamar proceeds to do is to discuss each of these and try to understand why certain ones are specifically allowed to be said in any language and other ones need to be said in Hebrew so look at source number six where the gar discusses why can why we're going to focus specifically on not just on not really on sh so much why can be said in any language says the it's about creating a relationship it's about asking for Mercy from Hashem call any way or in any in any fashion that a person wants to be able to ask for mercy and connect to a he's allowed to David okay so very clearly very simply why can f be said in any language because it's all about connection it's all about relating to hasem and therefore we encourage anyone to that in any language but the conversation doesn't stop there ask the gar really can really be said in any language but we have a source that seems to contradict that [Applause] says the following that a person should never ask for his personal needs in Aramaic why because says if anyone asks or doin for things in in Aramaic the malim the Angels up in heaven will will not help him why because they don't understand the Aramaic language now again we're not really going to understand exactly what the Angels what they understand some say it doesn't mean they don't understand it it means they don't like this language it's ironic because all of gamar is written in Aramaic that's an area that we're not going to get into here okay what the gamarra seems to Clearly say is this Source seems to indicate that a person should not Davin in Aramaic which means you shouldn't doav in a different language so how does that fit in with our mishna answers the gamar lha it's not a question one is talking about a case where a person is doing on their own without not in the context of a of a Tor of 10 men or of of a of a minion and what is ding with a Tor the simple understanding is what the gamar is basically saying is if you're doing with a seore you're doing as part of with 10 men as part of a minion so then your has much more power to it and therefore even doing in a different language would be would be okay but if you're doing on your own then you should not do in another language because you don't have the power of the of the Tor of the minan and therefore you should not do it in another language you should do only in Hebrew okay that's the simple understanding of this Kar now before you all panic and think about wait a second I dive in a different language and I don't always di okay so there are actually there's a big we're gonna do some gar today there is a big there's a big threeway how to understand the conclusion of this gimar okay how do we understand the conclusion of this gimar if you look at source number seven the riff okay ra Ali one of the main main Reon early commentators on the gamar he understands the gamar the way that I just explained it to you he says in Source number seven when the said that a person can D in any language they want that meant if you're ding with a minion if you're ding with a minion you can say the in any language that you want but if you're doing without Dominion you must say it in Hebrew that's the riffs understanding of this kimar which would mean that there might be some challenge in what some people are doing nowadays because that doesn't seem to be what we do nowadays but that's one understanding that's the Riff okay the second explanation is Raba rabu in Source number eight we're not going to see the whole thing inside he quotes the Riff and he says but this doesn't make any sense because we says for example he says I know in my in our communities there are many women who As We Know are not necessarily moid to dove in with the minion and they sometimes will dovein in a different language because they're not comfortable in Hebrew so how does that fit with what we know is the minhag and our communities and therefore he quotes a different explanation this is actually a very unique explanation he says no what the gamarra meant was the following the gamarra was saying that if you're going to dve in the texts of the tour if you're going to dove in the set text of the tore similar to what the Tor doin I.E the main text of that can be said in any language when a person wants to dove in their own personal that must be said in Hebrew now don't get dis discouraged because we don't pin like this but this is the interpret this is his interpretation of the gamar when the gamar said says they weren't referring to are you physically with the minion without it was referring to are you saying the text of the tior or are you saying the text the personal prayer that a person adds on their own says if a person is doing with the text of theor even if you're doing it in your in your in your living room but you're saying the text of the community that's going to have a special power and you can say it in any language you want but if you're ding your own personal prayers you're saying something to Hashem that you want for yourself that's what he calls y it could even be in the minion but you're saying your own text that he says needs to be in Hebrew because it needs an extra power to to to get to a good now we so again we don't POS like this yes we're going to get to that next week that was the RAB now we don't pin like that I just it's important to see the different explanations then we have the third explanation and that is the explanation of the rush the rush again another one of the he quotes all these different opinions thean he says no no no they're all misunderstanding the G he says really the only problem the only language that you have to be careful about is Aramaic he says Aramaic there's something about Aramaic that if you're doing by yourself you shouldn't doav in Aramaic you should and only and and and you should do only in Hebrew but any other language there's no difference between a y and a when the gamar asks the question and said wait AR Mish says you could in any language but then we have someone saying you shouldn't do in Aramaic that's that was specific to Aramaic says the rush really a person as the as the mishna implies is allowed to doin whether he's doing on his own he or she is doing on his own or they're doing with Dominion they can dve in in any language that they understand when the when the gamar said oh but you can only dve in like this with aor that meant specifically Aramaic so again that's well think about it for a second when where do we say Kadesh only with with a minion that is why many that we may be familiar with by the way Al this also applies to there are many that are part of our text which we which we only say with a minion and many people aren't aware that you should only say them with a minion well that's that's that's more of a technical Point okay according to this conclusion of the gar in the end and look at the in Source number 10 the quotes all three opinions he quotes all three opinions that's what he very often does sometimes he'll quote three opinions in this case look at source number 10 I'll read it for you just to just to see it inside it's important to see some of these sources inside Bel you can down in any language you want but only as a community but as an individual you shouldn't who is that according to that's according to the rift that's the first opinion we quoted okay then he says the end of the first line then he says no maybe the distinction isn't between with am minion without Aion it's which text you're saying are you saying the text of the Tor or your personal text and that's that's as we saw that's the opinion of and then he says the third opinion is which is how we even an individual if he's doing for his own personal or if he's saying the text he can say it in any language except for Aramaic Aramaic the angels have a problem with I can't explain to you what their problem is and get the irony of the fact that that all of gar is in again that's a it's a topic for another time but that is so as to conclude Hally according to if a person does not understand Hebrew can they dve it in a language that they understand the answer is yes however and we're not going to see it inside because of time the Mish breu in Source number 11 does bring a couple of I would say provisos to this to this blanket heter this blanket this blanket allowance and he said the following he says basically in summary there are two options if a person does not understand Hebrew they have two options they can DAV in Hebrew the does say that if you say the words in Hebrew even if you don't understand them let's say you use a transliterated where that tells you how to say it that is allowed and according to some post that's even preferred why would that be preferred again talking about what we saw earlier the how how talked about the power of the words an composed because of the unique power of those words words if a person stavens in Hebrew even if they don't understand it there is a power to those words and they are y if they prefer to do in a language that they understand they can but it has to be a language that they understand and then the miss the mission even adds that it needs to be a language that the community as a whole generally it needs to be what's considered to be a a language within the society with with with which with which they live okay so a person who feels that English that English that Hebrew is too hard for them they have two options either they can dove in in Hebrew and dve and then that's even if they don't understand it or they can dove in in English as long as they understand what they what they are saying it is C again everyone everyone should do the language they understand I want to finish I want to finish I don't want to yes agreed agreed now the last other thing the last just two other limitations which are important to this to this head there if you decide to do a different language Mr breu points out it should be a temporary solution and this is something that I say to anybody who asks me this question it is okay to rely on English if that is what you are comfortable with but you should not turn that into your permanent solution we should all be striving to understand the Hebrew language we should all be working towards being able to Dove it in Hebrew and improving it and working that it could take a month it could take five years but there should always be in our minds and there the M was very critical of it and he actually uses this he quotes a number of of of pokin that use this that that that um actually are critical of some other groups of Judaism that turn that took that turned the entirely into a different language and this is the m in Source number 11 and as a result they ended up making it what he calls into into a totally different f it no longer resembles the f as we know it and therefore even if a person chooses to use Hebrew that should only chooses to use a different language excuse me in English let's say for our example it should be a temporary solution and you should be striving constantly to Davin in Hebrew so that you can be able to understand it and tap into the special Kusa of of of of Hebrew um all right because of time we're going we're going to stop there's just in conclusion if a person would like does not understand again we s we started with understanding the different uh the different reasons for why we have a set text for and then we moved into the the major question that many of you have asked about whether or not we can do in a different language a person does not ideal is to do in Hebrew a person does not and and to work on understanding it if you don't understand the Hebrew then you are allowed to either Dove it in Hebrew even without understanding it or you could do it in in any language with which you understand realizing that that's meant to be a temporary solution that you should be striving to eventually doing in Hebrew and understanding that Hebrew next week as I mentioned we're going to discuss the second side of the coin which is personal and how kazal allowed and encouraged us to not just have a set text but to incorporate our personal tillo into into that text I'm just going to end but I'm happy to take any any questions just