Tefillah….just words or thought provoking meaning!

Chovos Hatalmidim – Week 8

By Harav Y Reuven Rubin Shlita

“So, which tefilah do you feel closest to?” It’s was an innocent question that just spilled out of my brain some weeks ago. It was addressed to a very sweet bochur freshly Bar Mitzvahed, who never misses a day davening. His look told me a sad truth, he stared at me with innocent eyes and whispered he never thought of davening in that way. Now it was my turn to stare, I mumbled something about learning tefilah in school, to which I was presented with yet another blank look and then a soft murmur that there had been a few lessons some time ago.

This was a few weeks ago, since then I have presented my question to a large number of young bochurim, I am no longer surprised by blank looks, nor do I bother asking if their school covers the subject beyond just a few cursory lessons. What breaks my heart is that all these young enthusiastic youngsters are regular attendees to early morning minyanim. They have true mesiras nefesh, yet they have no idea what they are meant to be gaining. In a way, it’s a sort of abuse we have inflicted on them, they must attend shul, yet truthfully speaking, they have no true connection to what they are saying. It’s no wonder the speed of these minyanim veers on olympic record breaking.  If you don’t know what you’re saying, you might as well say it fast and be done with it.

Davening is so much more than just spewing forth words that have no heart.

Sadly some of this comes from parents, caring holy neshomahs who run each morning at the break of day and go thru the actions that have been part of the DNA of yiddishkiet. They fill our shuls with vibrancy and dedication, yet, ask them my question and be prepared for that blank look.

The Rebbe Ztl talks constantly about the power of prayer and how vital it is for all of us. He tells his young readership:

“Accustom your heart and soul to pouring themselves out to Hashem, both in your own words and through organised davening. There are young people, and even older ones, if they are small minded, who think that the essence of tfilah is to daven for our concerns and troubles, much in the same way that a pauper asks wealthy people for charity.”

The Rebbe then goes further:

“The truth is that tefilah is in and of itself a vehicle for the heart to approach Hashem and for the soul to express its innermost feelings, and that is the essence of davening.”

Davening is so much more than just spewing forth words that have no heart. We should never put a time clock on our prayers, nor teach our young to speed read with no understanding.

Have you ever noticed how the yetza hora gets very busy when it comes to talking by Davening? He will let us learn, keep kosher, honour Shabbos, all this and more, but when it comes to davening, there he is, front and centre, getting us to talk, signal, gaze at our phones, anything but pray.

Our young have no idea what their closest tefilah is because we haven’t given them a sense of respect to the meaning of their words. Youngsters should know that shul is about expressing their feelings. Yes, bar mitzvah boys have feelings, aspirations, hurts and hopes. They need to learn that the structure of davening is not a straight jacket that must be gotten thru at speed. Rather, they should be given the keys to successful tefilah.

I personally don’t believe that such understanding can come from any specific sefer, or series of lectures. Rather, they should see parents that daven, hear Gutta Yidden pray, experience the soaking in of an atmosphere where davening is tinged with warmth and love. Explaining that Hashem awaits their prayers with anticipation is important, but such words are the stuff of what they hear all day. One living example, one meaningful Shemonah Esrei and all the words will gel into a new reality.

When it comes to aspects of the spirit, the soul needs more than logic, it needs the sights and sounds of emotional connection. Every Yiddisha soul has the ability to ignite into a lava flow of passion for Hashem. The Rebbe felt it is never too young to show youngsters this aspect of their life. He wrote to their souls and wanted to excite their young selves with a leibidika sense of Jewishness.

Ours is a generation that needs this spiritual energy. Our youngsters are becoming flooded with extraneous noise and visions that threaten the shred their yiddisha sensitivities to pieces. In this time and place, they need more than ever the ability to converse with Hashem with a full heart. Giving them the tool of true davening will allow them to grow spiritually despite all the thundering pandemonium that surrounds them.

Let them enter their shtiebles and shuls with a sense of promise. Let their words to Hashem be blessed with a deep love and yearning. The connection is there awaiting their approach, and we, the whole of Klall Yisroel await their tefilahs with the heartfelt anticipation for our long awaited Redemption.

The Rebbe explored ways to lead his young readership towards energised Yiddishkiet, we owe our kids nothing less.