For a Purpose

"Why don't you daven? You do everything else that yeshiva guys do, but not daven. Why is that?"

"I don't see a purpose to it. Everything is going fine in my life, so why ask Hashem for stuff if I'm already getting it?"

"Hm, ok, if you don't see a purpose for davening for yourself, how about you daven for someone else. Someone I know who could use your tefillos."

"Ok, tell me about him."

"He's 28 years old. He's married and his shalom bayis isn't great. It's ok, but it could definitely use plenty of help. He has 2 kids with a third on the way. He put in for a raise that he desperately needs, but it doesn't look like he's going to get it. He really needs help from Hashem but he is too busy to daven, working 14 hours day starting from the earliest hours in the morning."

"Wow, sounds like he has a purpose to daven! Ok, I'll daven for him. What's his name?"

"Moshe ben Rivka."

"Uh, Rebbi, that's my name!"

"Yes Moish, it is. That's you in 10 years."


My Rebbi from Israel is in town and this is, basically, a conversation he had with a current student of his a few weeks ago. He told it over at a reunion for former students this past Sunday.

He has many quote-worthy lines, but one of his favorite expressions is: "You have to have the foresight, to have the hindsight, on sight." The idea, from what I understand, is similar to the Gemarah in Tamid which says "איזהו חכם - הרואה את הנולד." -- "Who is called a 'wise man'?” The person who sees the consequence of their action.” (Tamid 32a).

While it's difficult to imagine that there won't always be someone or something to daven for at any given moment, there will always be something to daven for along the road of life. If you can't find a purpose in davening today, for today, there's a purpose to daven today, for tomorrow.

HT to T for the reminder to update this blog.

Oddity in Davening

It's interesting that in the middle brachos of Shmoneh Esrei, some brachos have both elements of praise and request and some only have requests. Ata Chonen has both, but Hashivenu has only request. S'lach Na has both, but T'ka B'shofar has only request. And so on.

No idea what that's about. Do the brachos that have both have something in common that the others don't?

Exhaustion

I'm exhausted at the moment. Davening is about to begin and I'm falling asleep.

As I walked in, and wondered how I was going to daven well, I remembered something R' Shimshon Pinkus writes in his sefer in tefillah.

Simcha. For one to truly daven, he must have complete simcha about davening. How can you not? You're about to have the opportunity to daven in front of Hashem!

Mincha now. Time to daven. Simcha!

Cell Phones

In recent weeks, I've lost track of the battery that my cell phone has immediately before I attend mincha and/or maariv. The first time this happened, it was with a heavy heart that I left my phone at home charging while I went to daven.

Davening with kavanah became so much easier. I didn't have to worry about whether or not my phone was on silent! I didn't have to worry about receiving an email for work that "needs to be addressed immediately." I didn't pull out my phone in between mincha and maariv and instead learned. Fighting the temptation to look at my phone during chazaras hashatz is no longer there!

Now, when I remember, I pull out my cell phone and put it down before I go to shul.

My davening is better because of it.

Welcome

I considered keeping this blog private. Not because I don't want to share my thoughts on davening, but because I didn't want people to think that I was giving them advice, or showing off the importance I give to davening.

I want to improve my own davening, and for me, the best way to reinforce anything I learn about, is by writing it down. Davening, in the words of R' Shimshon Pinkus zt"l and others, is the median through which we receive everything. Without it, we can not receive our needs in life. That's powerful.

I don't expect to write anything that people haven't heard before or hasn't been written before. But for me to improve, I need to write about my own experiences and thoughts. Sharing it with others allows for someone else to better their own davening. Why not share?

What I don't want anyone to think, is that I'm speaking to anyone but myself. This blog is for me to improve my davening. I'm not speaking to anyone. I'm not criticizing anyone. I'm not advising anyone. This blog is for me to improve my davening.

If someone who reads anything I write and can take something away from it, great.