Parashath Pinhas: Some
Helpful Insights Into Tefillah
This
week’s parasha, Pinhas, deals in depth with the various qorbanoth commanded to
us by the Creator, may He be exalted. Parashath
Pinhas, beginning wtih Bamidhbar 28:1 and continuing to the end, stipulates the
regulations, requirements, and limits of the qorbanoth to be offered in the
Mishkan/Beth haMiqdhash. In these
days, when the Miqdhash is not standing, our tefilloth have become our qorbanoth
(cf Hoshe’a 14:2). In this
instance, what can we infer about prayer from the parasha?
The following can be deduced:
Tefilloth are to be said at the appointed time (Bamidhbar 28:2), with an
additional tefilla on Shabath and on Yom Tov (ibid 28:9 ad loc)
Tefilloth should be free of blemish (ibid 28:2 ad loc)
We see from the first discription of qorbanoth that
there are two times at which they must be offered before the Creator, may He be
exalted. These are in the morning
and at twilight (dusk) – i.e. shaharith and minha.
Both shaharith and minha are times deOraitha, as they correspond to the
morning and evening qorbanoth in the Beth haMiqdhash (Bamidhbar 28:4).
We learn from Haz”l (b. Berakhoth 29b) that one who makes his tefilla
(specifically speaking about the shemona asre berakhoth) a prescribed task (one
that is not fixed at the appointed times), their prayer is not accepted.
Abaye b. Avin and R. Hanina b. Avin say that one who makes his prayer a
“prescribed task” is one who does not pray shaharith at sunrise and minha at
sunset.
There are many other conditions that can prevent prayers from being
accepted as well. We will go over a
few of them later on.
We learn from Ramb”m (Yadh haHazaqa, Hilkhoth Tefilla 1:7): “And so
they ammended the number of prayers according to the number of qorbanoth – two
prayers every day reflecting the two tamidhin... the tefilla reflecting the
morning tamidh they called tefillath shaharith; and the tefilla reflecting the
tamidh at twilight they called tefillath minha.”
We also read the
following in the Temani midhrash, Nur al-Salam: “Another item. And
you shall worship the Lord your God
(Shemoth 23:25). They said,
‘Prayer is deOraitha, and its time was fixed to correspond with the daily
sacrifices.’”
Regarding this topic,
the Saadia Gaon zs”l wrote how laziness can ruin the performance of this
miswah:
“Now when a
person is lazy and consequently makes no provision for his sustenance, clothing,
and shelter, the result is that he spends the live-long day in sighing to the
point where his appetites and the claims of his body literally kill him, as
Scripture says: The desire of the slothful kill him for his hands refuse to
labor (Prov 21:25). The consequence is that he becomes remiss in prayer and
fasting and refuses to stand up or move in order to fulfill his religious duties
or perform any useful task. This is the antithesis of righteousness, because the
concept of laziness may also be applied to wickedness. Scripture therefore says:
There is that covet greedily all the day long; but the righteous giveth and
spareth not (Prov 21:26)“1
Just as the objects used in the qorbanoth must be flawless, so must our tefilloth be flawless. It is easy to understand how an object, something which is tangible may be flawless, but how is it possible for an abstract, that is speech and concept, to be flawless? There are two means by which we can demonstrate flawless tefilla. One of which is diction when reciting the tefilloth, the other is the kawana, or intent, in what one is saying. “Da lifne mi ata omadh” – know before Whom you stand. As in the Miqdhash, when one prays, one stands in the Presence of God. It is for this reason that one would not offer a blemished animal – a flagrant violation of Tora – in the miqdhash and why one must insure that their speech and manners are not blemished when one prays in the Beth haKenassath.
The Saadia Gaon zs”l notes insincere intention as the second condition
(out of seven) that may prevent HaShem from accepting a prayer. “An
illustration hereof is presented by the statement of scripture: But they
beguiled Him with their mouth and lied unto Him with their tongue (Ps.
78:36).”
One
must extend the dhalath in the word “ahadh” in the qeriath Shema`’; one
must not confuse alef with ‘ayin; one must not turn a daghash forte into a
daghash rofe and vise versa; one must leave more space btween two words if the
first ends with the same letter as the second begins (Yadh haHazaqa, Hilkhoth
Tefilla weQeriath Shema`’).
Perhaps explaining the ideal type of prayer, the
RMb"M wrote the following in his “Guide for the Perplexed”:
“The
first thing you must begin to do is to keep your thoughts from anything else
when you read the Shema` and when you pray. Do not make do with kavvana during
Shema` for (just) the first verse, or for the first blessing during prayer. When
you become accustomed to this and it is within hyour power for many years, then
begin putting your whole heart and soul into what you hear or read every time
you read the Torah. After this too is within your grasp for some time, accustom
yourself to clear your mind for whatever you read from the other books of the
prophets, even for all of the blessings; mean what you say in them and ascertain
their significance… When these forms of worship become pure for you and you
apply your thought to them when you do them, clear of any thought about worldly
matters… when you are alone with no one else, and when you are awake on your
bed, be very careful not to apply your thoughts to anything else but cognitive
worship during those special times. Namely, to come close to G-D and stand
before Him in the true way I have made known to you. (Morah 3:51)
It should be noted that the RMb"M opts for a more
philosophical Prayer approach in his Guide than he does in the traditional
Rabbinic approach of his Mishnah Torah. Many theories have been advanced about
this. Perhaps what was written in the Guide was considered the ultimate.
Nur al-Salam also has this to say regarding proper tefilla: “Shelomo
haHakham ban Dawidh, alem hashalem, said that tefilla is accepted only from one
who carries out the miswoth. As he
said, he who stops up his ear in order not to hear Tora – his prayer is also
repugnant (Mishle 28:9)” This was also stated by the Saadia Gaon zs”l
as the third of seven conditions that may cause prayers to be rejected by the
Creator, blessed be He. The next condition describes one’s apathy towards the
needy. This, Saadia says, directly
impacts the level of empathy that HaShem maintains towards us.
Here, it should be noted that other great thinkers like the RMb"M,
Bahya and Albo thought more of prayer as “spiritual-focus training, belief
correction/validation and repentance”-- as opposed to a way of influencing
G-D. Although the RMb"M does speak of people (both philosophical and
traditionalists) attaining greater levels hashgacha (divine Providence) based on
intellectual training (shefa). However, this additional Providence is merely a
non-essential bi-product of training—and not the main purpose of prayer. This
is in contrast to Rabbi Yehuda haLewi, who viewed prayer as inseparable from the
highest experience of G-D. 2
It is my hope that,
be’azrath haShem, these few words of Tora will allow you, dear reader, to gain
a little more insight about the importance, purpose and method of
tefillah.
1 The Book of Beliefs and Opinions , Saadia Gaon
zs”l
2 Kavvanna, Seth Kaddish, p.136--146