W 2.1 - 6
EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCE
Tefilla is avoda sh’blev not shel ha moach. The heart and brain have two different functions. The brain deals with cold intelligence so we tend to think if someone does have kavanah in tefilla he is thinking about tefilla and that he is engaged intellectually in what he is saying, And if he doesn’t have kavanah he is not thinking about what he is saying and his mind is wandering. But that’s not really the problem when one doesn’t have kavanah in their tefilla. Because tefilla is not avodah sh’b’moach, it is not an intellectual exercise, it is avodah sh’b’lev which means it’s an emotional experience. There is an intellectual part of it also, the lev has the power of understanding things too, but the lev brings in the emotional aspect of what we are doing. When we say his heart is not in it, we mean he is not emotionally involved. Tefilla should be an emotional experience. Our objective in understanding the siddur is to help bring us to experience our tefilla as that EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCE. When we internalize what we are saying and realize how much Hashem wants to listen to us we can get emotionally involved in our davening. But emotions don’t come quickly, a true emotion has to be developed and you have to give yourself time to feel the emotion. An intellectual idea can be fleeting – its in and its out. Tefilla is not meant to be a fleeting experience. You don’t have to daven slow, whatever speed works for you, but you should give yourself the proper time to get engaged emotionally – take the proper time to achieve this. This is another fundamental part of
tefilla – one should not be rushed, should not feel he has to catch up with the tzibur or has to be somewhere else, he should try to be settled and focused on what he is doing. Because to get emotionally involved in what you are doing, you have to be settled, you have to feel you have time and are not rushed or stressed. This is why it is SO important to be on time to davening to have the time to get emotionally involved. Not necessarily to daven slowly but to daven properly, to give yourself the time you need to get emotionally involved in tefila. If you are rushing and hurrying and don’t have the peace of mind, you will not be able to get emotionally involved. You may have time to read all the words and understand what you are saying but thats not avodah sh’blev, not an emotional experience. When we give ourselves the proper amount of time and a little bit of effort tefilla can become a true avoda sh’blev and an enjoyable experience, an emotional experience, a REAL conversation with Hakodesh Boruch Hu!
SUMMARY
Kavanah is not just understanding the words, we need to internalize what we are saying and feel that Hashem is listening. An intellectual idea can be fleeting but an emotional involvement takes time - if we are late or hurried in davening we cannot achieve an emotional tefila. Don’t need to daven slowly but need the menuchas hanefesh to get emotionally involved and experience an avoda sh’b’lev, a real convesation with Hashem.
NOTE/SIMAN
INTERNALIZE WORDS TO ACHIEVE EMOTIONAL CONVERSATION W/ HASHEM
AUDIO LINK
https://open.spotify.com/episode/0d2aoKFjd2gk9bEYjkGAZE?si=0fb4427c94864bf9
EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCE
Tefilla is avoda sh’blev not shel ha moach. The heart and brain have two different functions. The brain deals with cold intelligence so we tend to think if someone does have kavanah in tefilla he is thinking about tefilla and that he is engaged intellectually in what he is saying, And if he doesn’t have kavanah he is not thinking about what he is saying and his mind is wandering. But that’s not really the problem when one doesn’t have kavanah in their tefilla. Because tefilla is not avodah sh’b’moach, it is not an intellectual exercise, it is avodah sh’b’lev which means it’s an emotional experience. There is an intellectual part of it also, the lev has the power of understanding things too, but the lev brings in the emotional aspect of what we are doing. When we say his heart is not in it, we mean he is not emotionally involved. Tefilla should be an emotional experience. Our objective in understanding the siddur is to help bring us to experience our tefilla as that EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCE. When we internalize what we are saying and realize how much Hashem wants to listen to us we can get emotionally involved in our davening. But emotions don’t come quickly, a true emotion has to be developed and you have to give yourself time to feel the emotion. An intellectual idea can be fleeting – its in and its out. Tefilla is not meant to be a fleeting experience. You don’t have to daven slow, whatever speed works for you, but you should give yourself the proper time to get engaged emotionally – take the proper time to achieve this. This is another fundamental part of
tefilla – one should not be rushed, should not feel he has to catch up with the tzibur or has to be somewhere else, he should try to be settled and focused on what he is doing. Because to get emotionally involved in what you are doing, you have to be settled, you have to feel you have time and are not rushed or stressed. This is why it is SO important to be on time to davening to have the time to get emotionally involved. Not necessarily to daven slowly but to daven properly, to give yourself the time you need to get emotionally involved in tefila. If you are rushing and hurrying and don’t have the peace of mind, you will not be able to get emotionally involved. You may have time to read all the words and understand what you are saying but thats not avodah sh’blev, not an emotional experience. When we give ourselves the proper amount of time and a little bit of effort tefilla can become a true avoda sh’blev and an enjoyable experience, an emotional experience, a REAL conversation with Hakodesh Boruch Hu!
SUMMARY
Kavanah is not just understanding the words, we need to internalize what we are saying and feel that Hashem is listening. An intellectual idea can be fleeting but an emotional involvement takes time - if we are late or hurried in davening we cannot achieve an emotional tefila. Don’t need to daven slowly but need the menuchas hanefesh to get emotionally involved and experience an avoda sh’b’lev, a real convesation with Hashem.
NOTE/SIMAN
INTERNALIZE WORDS TO ACHIEVE EMOTIONAL CONVERSATION W/ HASHEM
AUDIO LINK
https://open.spotify.com/episode/0d2aoKFjd2gk9bEYjkGAZE?si=0fb4427c94864bf9
PDF FILE
WEEK 2 FOR PRINTING