Rabbi Aaron Goldsheider: Prayer in Time of War and Distress

[music] [singing] [music] [music and singing] [singing] >> All right, good evening everyone. Erev tov and a big thank you to our host in and the Yibaneh Center here in Yerushalayim for hosting hosting this year. The topic of the sheer tonight is the topic of prayer of tfila and especially at a time of war, at a time of distress. And I thought that this would be an appropriate topic for all of us to think about and and uh and to learn about and to connect with. >> Could be more timely. >> And yes, especially at this time. So I want to share with you. We'll look at a three or four different ideas that are based in the the teachings of Rav Kook, Rav Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook. And let's begin with the following story. It's a story that's told in the Talmud. It's Daf Lamed Dalet in Brachot and it tells the following story of Rebbe Yochanan ben Zakkai. is the great leader of the generation and he has a student by the name of Rebbe Chanina ben Dosa. The Gemara says Rebbe Chanina ben Dosa comes to the home of Rebbe Yochanan ben Zakkai to study with him. They're studying Torah together. They're spending a number a number of days studying together and during that time the son, the child of Rebbe Yochanan ben Zakkai becomes ill. Very seriously ill. So Rebbe Yochanan ben Zakkai turns to his student Rabbi Hanina ben Dosa and says Rabbi Hanina ben Dosa, I would like you to pray on behalf of my child. Now, just take note of that. In other words, he turned to his student and said to his student that I'd like you if you could pray on behalf of my child. And the Gamara says that he prays bikesh alav rachamim vechaya that he prayed for his son and his son was healed. What's interesting is what happens next in the Gamara. So, you see that that's that's that's striking. That he turns to his student to to pray. His prayers were effective. And now the wife of Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai steps in and asks the following question. It's kind of an obvious question. That is, why did you not pray for our child? Why did you turn to Rabbi Hanina ben Dosa? And he says the following. He says that Rabbi Hanina ben Dosa that he is like an eved before a king. He is like a servant before the king. And I am like a sar. I am like an officer before the king. And God answers the eved before he would answer a sar, an officer, a cabinet member. That's what the Gamara says. Now, the question is how do understand that? How to interpret that? And that's actually a surprising formulation or surprising answer. Now, think about the following. If you have a cabinet member, an officer, and a king. So, who does the who does the king want to hear from? From >> The higher up. >> What? >> The regular higher up. >> [clears throat] >> The higher That's right, the higher up in rank, right? He's He has him as a cabinet member because he respects his opinion. He wants to dialogue with him. He wants to He wants to get his perspective. And the eved, who is the eved? The eved is somebody that's just kind of coming in the room, maybe providing coffee, Um, know, cleaning the room. That's the eved. But here the Gemara says that God answers the eved, and that's why I turned to Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa, because he is like an eved, he is like a servant before the king, and I am like an officer before the king. Okay, so that is the That's the Gemara. Now, let me share with you the explanation that's given by Rav Kook. Rav Kook says the following. Let me read to you one line from Rav Kook. This is from his Ein Ayah, from his beautiful commentary on the Gemara on Gemara Brachot in this case. He writes, Al kein avsha avodat ha-sechel na'aleh hi me-avodat ha-regesh, that intellect is considered to be on a higher rung than avodat ha-regesh, the uh the service of emotion. Ke-shem she-ha-sechel hu ko'ah yoter na'aleh me-ha-regesh, the intellect is considered to be higher than regesh, than emotion. Le-romem ruho u-shvihut si'ah ve-hargashat ha-netiyot ha-tiviyot, le-davka ba-Shem Elokim hayim, but it's actually considered to be greater when it comes to relationship with God, and when it comes to prayer, that you relate to God as an eved, as a servant to God. Now again, what is the officer doing in the relationship, officer or cabinet member, with the king? So, there's going to be dialogue, there's going to be kind of getting the perspective of that uh the the the cabinet member. That's why you hire that person. But Rav Kook says, and here's the key point, when it comes to davening, when it comes to prayer, it's not a time for intellect. We should put our mind to the side, and it's a time just to be in service to God. Right? The pashuti eved, right? Just to just to be an eved la-Shem. So, the rabbi said, that was his response, were I to pray, could be that he would have prayed and God would have answered his prayer. But he said that I'm like an officer. Maybe I'm a little bit too intellectual when it comes to prayer. But Rabbi Hanina ben Dosa, what's special about Rabbi Hanina ben Dosa's relationship that he has with God? And here Rav Kook points out something very, very important about prayer, and really the first lesson that I want to share with you this evening, is that when we pray, and we can think about the times that we're in, a time of war, a time of distress, that it's very important that when we when we are in the presence presence of God, when we're praying to God, that we're praying like an eved. It's not a time for intellect. It's not a time for cheshbonot. It's not a time to figure things out on an intellectual level. Now, by the way, there may be a time for that as well. There is what's called iyun tefillah, which is where we study about tefillah. We could have a class in tefillah, a little bit of what we're doing right now. That's more of like an intellectual um investigation of what tefillah is. There is a time for that investigation, for that analysis, but not when you're praying. Not when you're praying. When you're praying, that is a time that you should just be like the eved before the king. And what does an eved do? An eved doesn't ask any questions, right? The servant, right, is in service of God. Whatever it is that the the master says, the service the servant responds to in a positive way. So, I think that's lesson number one. And by the way, as somebody that kind of comes from the world of uh I studied at Yeshiva University, in the world of the Lithuanian style of learning, there's a lot of emphasis on on the intellectual study, on understanding. And prayer is not a time for that. It's interesting, there is a uh a little bit of uh I guess a humorous line that you have during the you have the the you have the Amidah, and then the Amidah is is repeated by the chazzan, by the one who's leading the davening. So, that's called chazarat ha shatz, right? The repetition of the shatz is abbreviation shliach tzibbur. But somebody said, I don't know as a joke, that's that you could call that a a chazarat hashas. Now, what does that mean? That you're reviewing shas. What happens a lot What are a lot of people doing during the repetition of the Amidah? What are they doing? They're reviewing shas. I mean, not necessarily shas. It means go out They're taking out a safer. In other words, while that's happening, they're learning something. So, maybe that's a positive in some way that they're trying to use their time constructively and in a good way, but that's not really what prayer is supposed to be. That should really be a time not that you're learning, not that you're analyzing, and not that you're you know, not that you're looking [clears throat] at a piece of Gemara or a piece of learning. It's a time to be in the presence of God, to surrender to God, to be in service to God. Avodah shebalev, that's the word that's the term that's used in the Gemara. Avodah that you are a servant to God. There um there is a line that's quoted from Rabbi Salanter is quoted from a number of people, but I saw that Rabbi Wein quoted from Rabbi Salanter. He said that he was in a home for Shabbos, Rabbi Salanter, the founder of the Mussar movement, and he said that he learned three things from the baby in the house that Shabbos. So, he learned number one that a baby can just sit and be happy, be content. Right? Just sitting there in the chair in the high chair. They don't always sit there that long being happy and content, but he said we need to learn from that as well for no other reason than just that you are breathing and that you're alive and that you're here just to be content in life. He said I that I saw something else with the baby over Shabbos and that is that the baby was always like holding on to something and and always like fidgeting and and involved in in some matter. And he said, "That's true for us as well. We should never never be lazy about things. We should always be This is like a Mussar lesson." Right? We should always be involved in something. Uh we should always be always be engaged in something. This idea of just kind of relaxing and that's not really a Jewish way. And he said one other thing and this is the the point that I want to share related to tfilah. He said that I saw from the baby that when the baby needed something that the baby cried for his mother. And he cried and cried until his mother responded. And he says that's what it means to daven. So to daven is to be like the baby. To daven is to be like the eved. It's not And interestingly, the Gemara says you would think that the sar, right, that the officer is the one that should approach God. And yet Rebbi Yochanan ben Zakkai said, "I'm like the sar. I'm a little bit too intellectual. And what we need is a Rebbi Chanina ben Dosa. We need davening like that if we're going to going to save the day, if we're going to save this child." [clears throat] So I think that's one lesson in davening that we come to davening, come to davening during the week, come to davening on Shabbos, that davening is a time just to be dalet l'fnei Melech Ha'Olam. I mean, just to feel that one is in the presence of God. And in a in a naive way, almost like a child childlike way, like an eved. Just to be in service to God and and to connect with God in that way. Okay, so that is that's lesson number one. And I'll just share one other one other interesting point about the term eved. That's again, that's what the Gemara says that Rebbi Chanina ben Dosa was like an eved. The Rambam writes the following. And now I I And I would say that most people do not do this. You'll tell me if this is something that you see people do. The Rambam writes that there's a particular posture that one should have when they are davening. I'll read to you the following. It's from Hilchos Tfilah Perek K. And he writes that one should omed b'tfilah, when you're standing and he's talking about the tfilah the amidah, sarich l'chaven et raglav, that one needs to have their feet in a certain direction, which he is referring to having your feet together. Um the note saying enough Lamata K'ilu hu mabit la'aretz and his eyes should be downward as if he's facing, in other words, direction of your [clears throat] eyes should be downward. That's what he writes. V'libo panui l'ma'ala K'ilu hu omed b'shamayim and your heart should feel that you are looking towards the heaven. This is what he writes. Again, all of that is is really secondary. This is the line that I want to share with you. U'meniyach yadov al libo and you should put your hands on your heart. K'futin hayemani al asmalit that you take your right hand, put it over your left hand. V'omed k'eved lifnei rabo and you should stand like a servant before your master. Do you see people doing this during the Amidah? Interesting. A lot of people do not do it. If If you look around, it's not what's done. For whatever reason, this this is What's that? A lot of right. Very often people are holding a siddur, that's correct. If you're holding a siddur, you're >> supposed to do it. >> That's correct. Okay, good. Yeah, good No, it's a good point. A lot of people are holding a siddur. Not everybody gets the stander. There's only two or three in shul. If you're zocheh to the one that has the stander, um but you're right, a lot of times people are holding a siddur, so it doesn't really give a person that option. But it seems, at least according to the Rambam, that that's the ideal way to daven. Maybe you find a place to put your siddur. And uh or you buy your a stander, you put it put it in a place that you can daven. And he said, "This is the appropriate way." Even though again, it's interesting to note that the Jewish people they don't they haven't really adopted this uh this uh this custom of of the Rambam. But interesting, he says that this is how you're supposed to daven. You place your hand right hand over your left hand on your heart, and you bend over, and this is the way to say the Amidah. And you say the Amidah, and he says like an eved, like a servant before the king. And what does it mean like a servant before the king? In this beautiful explanation of Rav Kook, it means that you're not there to intellectualize. You're there just to accept. You're there just to be in the presence of God, and and connect and to connect with Hashem. Okay, good. So, that is that's lesson lesson number one from Rav Kook about tefillah, and I think saying that we can again, it's something I think I'm guilty of, and kind of like the world of learning that I come from, they're always like and we're reading like the, you know, all the comments in the bottom, and we're thinking about this and thinking about that. Maybe that's not the time, you know, maybe prayer is not the time to be doing that. Prayer is something that should really be uh much much more natural, organic, and uh a sense of just being the presence of God and service to God, and to pray in that way. Okay. That is [clears throat] uh lesson number one. Lesson number two. And here I uh I want to begin with a teaching that comes from Rabbi Soloveitchik, and we'll make our way into uh into Rav Kook. And actually, we're going to look at another Rambam, and a very simple question that Rabbi Soloveitchik asked about the following Rambam. Now, the Soloveitchik family was famous for their love of the Mishneh Torah, of the Halachot of the Rambam. Um interesting that you have the world of the Lithuanian learning of Rabbi Soloveitchik, and you have really a very different world, and that's the world of Lubavitch and their learning. They share one thing together, maybe more than one, but at least in learning, they both love the Rambam. Lubavitcher Rebbe loved the Rambam, the Mishneh Torah, and they actually that's one of the customs of Chabad Chassidim is that they study Rambam every day. And from the world in the world of Lithua- Lithuanian learning, you also have that as well. So, it's interesting. Everybody Everybody is on board with the Rambam. Everybody agrees that that is that's the text that we should all be that we should all be studying. So, one of the things that the Soloveitchik family, what they do in their analysis, is to kind of see where the Rambam places laws as well. It's a very very intricate, you know, study of the Rambam, not only what he says, but how he codifies and where he places things. So, he has laws of t'filah, laws of prayer, which is really relate to the Amidah, but the three prayers a day, and he also has the laws of brachot, and he also has the laws of the blessings that we make. Those are two separate sections of the Rambam. But, in the section of t'filah, he writes the following. He says, "K'she-tiknu chachamim divrei t'filot elu, he says, "When the rabbis um when they codified or the law of prayer, tiknu brachot acherot l'varech otam b'chol hayom, they also instituted blessings that are recited every day." And he writes, "Chayav adam l'varech me'ah brachot bein hayom v'halailah, that every single day a person needs to recite 100 blessings." That's what the Rambam codifies. Now, the question that Rabbi Soloveitchik asks is why does he put this law about making blessings in the section of hilchot t'filah? It should not be in the section of t'filah, it should be in the section of brachot, of blessings. So, this is what he writes, and I read one line from from Rabbi Soloveitchik's writings, or there's a collection of his teachings in what's called the Kovetz Mesorah. V'nireh d'chiyuv me'ah brachot, that this obligation of making 100 blessings hu chelek m'chiyuv t'filah, is actually a part of or an extension of the obligation to pray every day. Yesh chiyuv d'gimel gimel t'filot, there's obligation to pray three times a day that the and you have to complete that obligation of prayer shall may bracha. So he says the following. He says that those 100 blessings that we say throughout the day are really an extension of the beginning of tfila. We should not see tfila as something that is confined just to those moments of tfila. Right? Just to shacharit, to mincha and maariv, but we should see that that throughout the day the blessings that we are reciting are part of that experience of tfila. And the way that I understand that is and we'll see a line right now where a couple lines from from Rav Kook [clears throat] is how to bring prayer into the day. There is often we separate the two, that there's a time for prayer, right? There's a prayer book, there's a siddur, there's the obligation to say the following and to say the amidah and then we close the book and we're done and that we have completed our prayers for the day. But Rav Soloveitchik based on this Rambam says that's not the way that we should think about prayer. We should think about prayer as we are extending prayer, that we should become more prayerful in our lives throughout the day. The things that we see, right? The things that we come across, moments that we can turn to God in prayer, that we should do that. Let me read to you the following from from from Rav Kook. Rav Kook wrote a commentary to the siddur. He didn't complete it, his son completed it with other from other writings. It's a very beautiful two volume set called Olat Re'iyah, but he begins the siddur with the following a few different thoughts about prayer and the name of the section, which is just the you know, the very beginning, the introduction is hatfila hamatmedet shel haneshama. The prayer that is the ongoing prayer of the neshama. Meaning the the the soul is always praying. A person is always praying. Now, there are times that we set aside for formal prayer, but we're always praying to God. And we should always sense that prayer and the opportunities to pray to God. Let me read you this a translation of this just one one paragraph. Proper prayer, this is Rav Kook in translation. Proper prayer results only from the thought that in truth the soul is constantly praying. She longs for and flies to her beloved without cease. Only that during the actual hour of prayer the constant soul prayer is revealed indeed. In other words, yes, we take that time to pray, 20 minutes, whatever that is, an hour in the morning, mincha, maariv, but this that those are like the formal moments of prayer, but the soul is always turning to God, is always is always trying to communicate with God. Is looking for opportunities or or or naturally organically wants to connect with God through prayer. This is the delicacy and love and loveliness of prayer. She is likened to a rose who opens her beautiful petals to receive the dew of the sun's light rays. Therefore, and here he quotes from the Gemara a famous line that's in Gemara Brachot, "Halavai she yitpalel adam kol hayom kulam." The Gemara says, "If only we could pray all day long." That's really what we want to do. Right? We don't want to do anything else. We just want to be praying to God. We just want to be speaking to God. And the soul is always yearning for that, and the soul is always always doing that. Do we have the formal times for prayer? Yes. But to recognize that prayer is ongoing. And the idea that I want to share, which is again to relate to the time that we're in, and uh this challenging time, a time of war, um is that we can turn to pray we should turn to God in prayer, not only in those formal times of prayer, but throughout the day. Our post dimension to me on Shabbos that when he heard the siren it was Shabbos through in the night, he said the first thing that he did was pray. But that's that that's a moment of of opening your heart, opening your soul to prayer. I saw something very interesting that it was going on on a on a rabbinic WhatsApp group, kind of like sharing, you know, people rabbi sharing different ideas and different things that that they've come across. There's one of the good do- one of the goodolim in the world today is Rabbi Yitzchak Zilberstein. Um shlita, he's I think he's in his 90s, considered to be one of the great poskim. He's an expert in ethic in in health issues, um ethical issues around health issues as well. Uh in COVID there were a lot of piskei halacha that were that were coming from him. He became one of the important voices at that time. So somebody was share the following, sort of this I don't know if it's it's not a psak per se, but more of a of uh kind of giving direction to to parents who have children in going into the going into a mamad, going into a miklat. So he said that somebody came to him and told him that that there were psychologists, whatever it may be, that suggested that that they should have like candy or treats like in the mamad, so when the kids come, they can kind of like, you know, share share that with them, with the children, and uh kind of make it, you know, much lighter and a happier atmosphere for them. Now that that that sounds like it makes a lot of sense. But Rabbi Zilberstein said that he prefers something else. He said that he prefers that when the children come into the mamad, when they come to the miklat, again, you know, every child and based on the age and but he said in general, it's a time to teach the children that we should turn to God in prayer at that time. And he quotes a famous Rambam that the Rambam says that in a time of a time of war, a time of difficulty, that that is like a moment to turn to Hashem. And he And he thought that that was really the chinuch. That was That's the direction that we should really give to our children at that time. And he said to sing with them, sing acheinu, sing ani ma'amin, to say tehillim, to say that we turn to Hashem, we're afraid right now. And this is what we do. And we we we turn to God in prayer. We feel the embrace of God, that God is protecting us and protecting Am Yisrael. And I thought that was really a very very interesting idea. I'm not sure maybe you could do both, maybe you could have some candy there also. But he said he wasn't so into the candy idea, but he likes this idea, that this is really the Jewish way and this is how that we should respond. And I thought of this as another example of of what it means to to pray all the time, what what Rav Kook speaks about that the soul is always praying. And opportunities for prayer I happen to have a a friend of mine works at the OU. He has cancer unfortunately, and he's struggling with it. There's a WhatsApp group every day of of hundreds, thousands of people that are that are davening for him. And every so often I I write him a note, maybe I should write more often just on WhatsApp, thinking about you, davening for you. And um And I was thinking, you know, I kind of write that, but I don't know if I really do daven at that time. I I just kind of like write it, thinking about you, davening for you. But maybe I really need to take that moment and daven. How to bring This is what Rav Kook says, how to bring more prayer into our into our daily life. Rav Nachman of Breslov talks a lot about this as well. Famously these votedus, he says, it's not enough just to like pray, you know, pray shacharis, mincha, maariv. How do we bring more prayer and that relationship and that communicating with God and turning to God, supplicating, thanking God. The joy you feel a joyous moment to turn to God and say thank you, Hashem. What a beautiful bracha this is. That's a mo- moment of prayer. That's a moment of speaking to God. So this is another idea saying that we can perhaps that we can think about and that we can incorporate as we're as as we make it through these these challenging days. Um let me share with you two other two other teachings from Rav Kook. Um This is from a Gemara which is really one of the famous Gemaras about prayer. And that is the the the source for three times a day prayer. So we know that we have the korbanot, the Gemara talks about that. But the Gemara says that the three times a day that we pray is based on the fact that Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov that each of them incorporate prayer. They're the first to pray at those times. And we have a morning prayer, we have an afternoon prayer, and we have a night prayer based on the way that they prayed. This is found in Brachot daf chof [snorts] vav. And it says the following. I'll just read to you just just a few lines. Avraham tiken tfilat shacharit. Avraham is the one to institute the morning prayer. And how do we know that? Vayaschem Avraham baboker that he got up early in the morning. El hamakom asher amat Hashem. And he stood in that place. And the word amat is the first time actually we have the word amidah as prayer. And this is really the source for why we call it the amidah. The amidah is based on the fact that it says in the pasuk that he stood and he prayed in that place. So that is one. Yitzchak tiken tfilat mincha. That Yitzchak institutes the afternoon. Vayeitzei Yitzchak lasuach basadeh that he went out to speak in the field lifnot erev and it was evening. And it was the late in the afternoon. So, we see that that's when he prayed. And the word the Gamara says, the word sia here that he is speaking, it's not just any speaking, that he's speaking to God. And he institutes the prayer. And the third, which I think we're all familiar with, we're familiar with those as well, is Yakov t came to feel that Arabi, that Yakov is the one to institute the evening prayer or the night prayer, Shinar by Yifka by Makom. And he came to that place, by Yalan sham ki va ha shamesh. The sun had gone down, and he came to that place, by Yifkan. The word paga, according to the Gamara, the ain't piga, this is the contact that he made. And it's what contact? It was contact with God, that he's praying to God. So, here we have Cook, and this is I would say it's one of like the classic uh classic teachings of Rav Cook. And to kind of see the way that Rav Cook is is so midactic, how careful he is with every word. So, he says, now by the way, we have here three different prayers. And you know, often when I when I pray, let's say Mincha Maariv, Davening Mincha Maariv back to back, I always find that like difficult. In other words, you just finished an Amida, and now you're just saying another Amida like within a few minutes. It's it's you know, it's not that easy like to to have the proper kavana, especially after you just said it, and now you're within a few minutes you're saying that same Amida again. We kind of feel that the prayers, like all of our prayers, are the same, that kind of we're repeating them again and again, and we are. We're repeating prayers again and again. Now, the question is how to sort of appreciate the uniqueness of all the prayers, and to kind of bring a particular kavana to each of our prayers. That Shacharit is different from Mincha, Mincha is different from Maariv. And Rav Cook points out that if you look at the words, there's a different word that's used for each of the prayers. What do we say? That Avraham, it says that Amad, Amida, that he was standing. It says by Yitzhak, it says Suach La Siach, that he was speaking. And it says for Yaakov, Va Yifka Paga, that he came in contact with God in that place. So, we're not talking about the same I mean it's the same prayer to some degree, but there's something else going on. There's a a different characteristic to each of the prayers. So, what is the word Amida? So, Rav Kook says the following, Amida is the way that we start the day. What does the word Amida mean? It means stand. It means that we are rooted, that we're firm, that we stand like the way that we use the term in in English in a phrase, that we stand strong. So, what is that prayer? Rav Kook says we start the day with that prayer because that gives us the the spiritual confidence, that strengthen strengthens us. We're rooted, it gives us it gives us a strength now to to enter the day. So, that's that's a way of thinking about the morning prayer, the Shacharit, as we start the day, that is something that grounds us, Amida, that we're standing. We're going to have we're going to have Nisyonos, we're going to have challenges, there're going to be trials. Abraham is the man of trials, right? The 10 Nisyonos of Abraham. And he's able to overcome each one. And how does how does he do that? He does that with Amida, that he stands strong. And that's what a Jew, we stand strong through our trials. In these days also, challenging days, we stand strong with all the sirens and the difficulties and suffering of the Jew that we stand strong through it. How do we do that? That prayer gives us prayer in the morning, especially that morning prayer. Okay, good. And then Rav Kook talks about Siach. So, what does Siach mean? Siach means like a Sicha, means to speak. But it's interesting interesting Rav Kook points out that the Pasuk says La Suach Ba Sadeh. Where was Yitzhak when he davened that prayer? He was in a field. and the word suach or siach, which means speech, also means branches. That's another term for or another translation of the word siach, not speech, but the branch out, something that grows. Lasuach. So, he says, "What does prayer do for us?" Prayer allows us to grow and to flourish. It brings out the best within us. As we're praying, we're inspired by the words of the prayer. It's interesting, Rabbi Soloveitchik says that when we read all the brachot in the morning, where it says, "Thank you, God, for allowing me to see. Thank you, God, for allowing me to stand. Thank you, God, for providing me with all with clothing, with shoes, with" So, he says, "All of those are not so much to thank God, but they're really lessons for a person. They're inspiration, what we need to do in our own lives, to provide for others, those that are in need, to help others." Those are the halachot we're referring to the blessings that God gives us that we are to emulate God and to do those same things for others. So, lasuach basadeh means that we open up, that we flourish. It's It's developing. It's growth. That's what prayer does for us, as well. And he says that towards the end of the day, as we kind of like finish our work day and the routine, that we can kind of like open up, that we open up to Hashem, and we kind of open ourselves up, as well. And that's That he says is another aspect of prayer. So, prayer is the strength that we get from prayer. Prayer is also something that helps our nishamot and helps our character, our personalities to grow, to flourish. The what we take from prayer, what we learn from the words of prayer. And then there's one other, and this to me is really the most the most interesting, to some degree, and that is pigia. That's That's what the Gemara is That's what the Gemara says, based on the pasuk, that Yaakov came to that place, vayifga bamakom. And he came in contact with that place. By the way, the word Makom has two meanings. Makom means place. And what else does Makom mean? Like we say, unfortunately, at a Shiva, "Hamakom Yenachem Mitchem." Right? Makom is a name of God. "Vayifga bamakom" that he came in contact with God. So, Rav Kook says, "What happens during the night prayer?" Now, this is the prayer of night. And he says, "The night is a time And here he says that a person can reach a level that is beyond this world." He writes, "Even maybe a little bit of Ruach Hakodesh, maybe even a prophetic level." That what prayer allows us to do is to kind of leave the mundane world, like the the dalet amot that we're in, and to experience experience something that is really beyond the natural. Now, I'm not sure if that's something that that that that is easy or common, but he says that that is a goal of prayer. Prayer is an ecstatic or potentially an ecstatic experience of feeling something, of experiencing something beyond this world. Right? Beyond the the dalet amot, the four the four cubits of of the world that we're in, that we kind of like lift ourselves to a place that we feel a a closeness with God, a connection with God, and even to have possibly uh visions or ideas, thoughts that are kind of like breakout from our from our routine, from our from our daily daily way of thinking. So, these This, says Rav Kook, is what prayer is about. It touches on all these different elements. And this is what the Gemara is alluding to, Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, and these three types of prayer, and to kind of think about these ideas in all of our prayers, how prayer grounds us, it um it gives us roots, it gives us the strength, it gives us the fortitude, determination. That's what prayer does. When we pray, when we're grounded. Again, he equates that with the idea of the morning, and I think that's very much a very appropriate as we start the day, that we're kind of grounded in in in our Judaism, in our faith. And the idea that that through prayer we we open up, right? That's la'suach ba'sadeh, if we're out in a field, the openness, that we can experience things, that we can see things, that we can think about things, um and develop in a way to kind of bring out the very best in us through prayer. And then there is this area this this uh this element of ruach hakodesh, where we can kind of reach a level where we can experience and maybe intuit a uh ideas and visions that are that are that are beyond, that take us out of the uh the dalet amot that we uh that we are in. Okay, good. So, that is uh that is another aspect of prayer. And um I'll add one more one more aspect of prayer from Rav Kook. >> [clears throat and cough] >> And I think this is in in general, this is a very beautiful idea, but especially especially at this time. So, the Gemara says the following. There's a Gemara in Brachot, daf hey. And here's the statement of the Gemara. The Gemara says, um Tanya Abba binyamin omer. So, we have a teaching from Abba binyamin, who says the following. Shnayim she'nichnesu l'hitpallel, two people enter a place, a shul, enter a place of davening. V'kadam echad mehem, one of them finishes their davening first, they complete their davening. V'lo himtin l'chavero, and the person does not wait for the other person who's standing there in the back and still davening, he doesn't wait for him, I'm done with my davening, I'm ready to leave, so I leave. And what happens? What is God's reaction to that person who has just left? Torfin lo t'filato b'fanav. Quite a harsh statement the Gamara. That God takes his prayer and he rips up to rave. He rips up to feel a toe before now he rips it up right in front of him. That is God's reaction to his to his his response to his prayer. Now the question is, you know, how do how do you understand that and and and kind of a very very harsh response to that person's prayer. So this is this is Gamara daf Aleph ben Yamin says two people enter shul. One person finishes their davening. Somebody else is davening and you leave and leave that person, that God takes your prayer and rips up your prayer. Okay, well okay. So here we go. So here I just want it's a short piece from Rav Kook. It's a short piece from Rav Kook and let me just let me just read the words. I always like to share the the language of Rav Kook as well. And again, we'll we'll see something that's I think very very beautiful and very needed especially at this time. So Rav Kook writes and this is in his Eina Ayah Eiravaze. What is being pointed out, what we are to learn from this Gamara, she have mitpalel ein tfilato retzuyakol mashiet kavanto rak hanaat atzmov to alto bitfila. That prayer is ineffective and God is not happy with your prayer if your only if your only concerned with your own prayer. With your own needs. If you're thinking about your own needs in prayer and we often do that and there is a place for that as well. But he says if it's only rak hanaat atzmo, only your benefit bitzo alto bitfila, God is not interested in that kind of prayer. Al kein zesha enu mantinal chavero, therefore that person, if you're not waiting for that friend who oat, that is a sign, shalom some to that have a row a liberal. It means you don't really care about that person. You could so easily and quickly leave the room. That probably means [clears throat] you weren't thinking about the other person in the room while you were doubting either. I'll came to fulfill out to be lotto. I shall says I'm not interested in that kind of feeling. A prayer that you're just praying for yourself, that you don't have the needs of others in mind. That's a prayer that that doesn't interest God according to the that's the Gamara statement. The Gamara should just let me stroll and actually God's presence the Shina leaves. Doesn't want to be in in the presence of people that are not thinking about one another. Shina Shina Shina came out of the ash alone and meet me. The Shina only remains where God feels the peace and love between people. The high new and here will this this line I think is important. The high new she drove call to that have a row that everybody when they pray should be thinking about what the other person needs. Ben A Ruca new out of Ben A Gash new out. Whether that's spiritual or also Gash me. There was not only that we care about somebody's spirit the other person's spiritual needs, but the thing about Gash me whatever that other person is in need of to think about that in prayer. I think that's such a beautiful idea and a beautiful idea especially in these days that prayer often especially as they ask these things that are going on. We're thinking about think about myself, think about my kids, I'm thinking about my family. But how to extend that, right? How every time that we pray to think about the needs of others. And we were learning this on Shabbat morning. Somebody pointed out that this is one of the beautiful things of praying in a shul, praying in a big Knesset, and praying in a minion and with others. That we're standing in a room and that's kind of the description here as well. You're standing in a room and you are to take note of the others in the room. Maybe that's part of what it means to pray together, why it's so important to pray together at together with others. Cuz if we're just davening, we're just praying in our room, in our homes, praying ourselves, I think it's it's more challenging to think about others. But you're standing in a room with another 10 people, 20 people, 30 people, according to the Gemara and the teaching of Rav Kook, think about the people around you. Maybe look around the room for a moment. And what does this person need? And what does this person need? Ruchnius and gashmius. And to think about others in prayer. So I think especially at this time as we're praying to think about think about others. It's think about others during prayer. And then that inspiration of prayer to then, you know, to act on it as well. What can we do? How can how can we help others? And that's the most beautiful prayer and that's where the Shechinah is uh is present. Um I'll just close that um you know, Rav Kook, you know, these were all teachings what we just learned were all uh insights essentially from Rav Kook. Rav Kook himself was a person of of deep prayer. Um there were two great students, many students, but two two two of the most outstanding students of uh Rav Kook. One was known as the Nazir, Rav David HaCohen, Rav David HaCohen. He became he was a modern-day Nazir. He didn't drink wine. He had long hair. You can see the pictures of him. And there was another rabbi by Rabbi by the name of Rabbi Yaakov Moshe Charlap who was the uh he was the Rav in Sha'arei Chesed. His shul was still there. You can It's right across from the Wolfson uh the Wolfson buildings where Wolfson Towers is Beit Midrash. You can see his chair and and very very beautiful. So both of them, the very first time that they met Rav Kook, so one was the Nazir, Rav David HaCohen. He was in Switzerland. And at the time that Rav Kook he got caught outside of Israel, he couldn't get back. You know, whenever I read that I'm like, "What does it mean? Like Rabbi, they couldn't like get back to Israel?" And here we are. Like everybody can't get can't leave, can't get back. Here we are 100 years later and it's the same situation. Can't fly out, you can't fly in. There [clears throat] are times that people are stuck for I have a nephew who's been here for 2 weeks. He's stuck and even though we say we shouldn't use the word stuck in Israel, but um but people can't get here. So he was Rav Kook was stuck outside of Eretz Yisrael. He wanted to be back in Eretz Yisrael. He was stuck. And this great young Talmid Chacham, the Nazir of David Cohen, went to visit him. And he was really like looking for Rebbe who was struggling a bit with with uh with his belief at the time. He was a great Talmid Chacham, but had questions, philosophical questions. And he went and he spoke with Rav Kook. He set up a meeting with him. They sat for many, many hours. And um he was impressed with him. But he wasn't wasn't taken by Rav Kook per se and all the answers or his approach it didn't necessarily speak to him. He went to bed that night. The next morning he wakes up. He was in a room right next to Rav Kook in Rav Kook's in the home where he was staying. And he got up in the morning and he heard from the other room Rav Kook davening. And in particular he writes, the Nazir of David Cohen, he said, "I heard him reciting the Akedah." Now the Akedah not everybody says that in the morning, speaking about prayers and and prayers of powerful prayers. It's a prayer that many people have the custom to recite Akedah, the story of the Akedah of Yitzchak. It's in the you know in the early part of the of the Siddur. And he heard the way that he was saying the Akedah that morning and the emotion and the passion, every word. He heard this from the other side of the room and he said, "This is the Rebbe for the rest of my life." A man who says the Akedah like that, this is a person that I want to learn from. And he sat at Rav Kook's feet the rest of his life and learned from Rav Kook. And he actually writes a book talking about prayer and Nevuah. He writes a book called Kol HaNevuah. This is the the student of Rav Kook. And the book is about coming back to land of Israel. And he says 2,000 years we have not been able to attain prophecy, but now that we're back in Israel, we can attain prophecy once again. It's a book about how to attain prophecy. If anybody here wants to experience prophecy, that's the book that you want to read. Right? In this book, he talks about how to do it. It's called Kol HaNevua, the voice of prophecy. And interesting Rav Kook is talking about prophecy, the Nazir. And he's talking about in prayer that we have We haven't really talked about I I never heard that again in my training in YU. So even I never heard anybody say prayer is a time of Ruach HaKodesh and prophecy. But Rav Kook is using that language, the Nazir is using that language. And the other student that I mentioned, Rav Yaakov Moshe Charlap, um so he went to visit Rav Kook the very first time that Rav Kook came to Israel. He came to Israel in 1904, and he comes to Yafo. He was hired to be the Rabbi of Yafo and the surrounding settlements. Not an easy thing to do. And uh he was offered, you know, big positions in in Yeshivot in in Eastern Europe. But of course his love for Eretz Israel, he comes to Yafo, little community, and the uh the religious and the secular and trying to trying to make a difference in the amazing uh the amazing impact that he had on Israel and all of us. So he went to see Rav Kook. He heard about Rav Kook. And he went, and it was Shavuos when uh when he went to see him for the very first time. And uh he tells the story that it was the morning of Shavuot. And one of the things that's recited, if you recall, on Shavuot is what's called the Akdamot. That right before the reading of the Aseret HaDibrot, right before that landing, you begin with with the Akdamot. It's a long poem. It's an Aramaic poem. Where people that have stayed up all night, that tends to be the time that people are falling asleep a bit. It's not easy to to stay up at that point. And Rav Kook is called up to recite that Akdamot, this beautiful poem that talks about the beauty of Torah and the giving of the Torah. And Rabbi Charlap, he writes that when I heard him say Akdamot, the way that he prayed those words, I knew that this was the person that that this is going to be my rabbi for the rest of his life. So, it's just fascinating to me that two of the most outstanding, the eminent students of Rav Kook, the Nazir and Rav Charlap, what what drew them to Rav Kook is the way that Rav Kook prayed, the way that he davened. Uh Rav Isser Zalman Meltzer, who was one of the Gedolei Torah, he said about Rav Kook, he said that his uh the way that he davens Mincha on a Wednesday afternoon is the way that I daven Ne'ilah at the end of Yom Kippur. That's his That's his Mincha on a Wednesday afternoon. So, uh these are some of the lessons uh that we can think about um regarding prayer. The idea of bringing prayer into our day, into our daily life, not just, you know, when you open up the siddur, but throughout the day, opportunities to pray. Uh where when we're in the mamad, when we're in the miklat. Um the way that Rav Zilberstein said, not only for our children, but for ourselves, it's a beautiful time to to open up a Tehillim, to sing a song, to sing a song to Hashem, to sing a song of of Ani Ma'amin, to to feel the presence of God. And this idea, this very beautiful idea that we started with of being not like a sar, right? Not It's not a time to be an officer, not a time for intellect when you come to pray. Put aside your mind and open up open up your heart in prayer. And like that child that cries to for his mother, and like the eved that is in service to his master, that's the um that's the way that we should approach God in prayer. All right, so we should all uh we should all be Zohar to have our prayers answered. All of cloudy Israel, all of Am Israel. And Zohar to see only blessing and good things in the coming days. Anybody has any questions or comments? Happy to hear you. >> [music] [music] [music and singing] [music]