Stop campaigning against talking in shul

Many shul rabbis spend significant time thinking about ways to eliminate noise in shul (see my previous post here). Wise people have written lengthy articles deconstructing the “talking in shul” phenomenon, explaining why people do it and how they might be motivated to stop.

I have heard that rabbis have taken all sorts of creative steps, including:
*Anonymous letters to congregants (I wonder if they use ransom-note style cut-out letters to avoid forensic analysis);
*Long speeches and dedicated divrei torah ("I'll keep talking until you stop talking");
*Special tefilot on behalf of people who stop talking (maybe they should be davening on behalf of the talkers?);
*Eliminating Chazarat haShatz;
*Public humiliation of talkers.

Personally, I think we would be better off looking at the positive: How to create a davening-focussed shul experience, an atmosphere which helps people get into the mood of davening.

The approach must include more than posting a דע לפני מי אתה עומד (Know before Whom you stand) motto over the Aron or an אסור לדבר בשעת התפילה (Speech during davening is prohibited) sign on the wall, whether accompanied by a cute graphic or not. “No cell phones” signs are nice, but similarly inadequate. Again: Even if people comply, our goal is not to eliminate noise - it’s to create a good davening atmosphere.

So what can we do?

1) The most obvious answer is to have an existing nucleus of people davening with proper concentration. Nothing increases kavvanah (focus) like standing in a group of people who are already focussed. But what about for those of us who don’t already have such a nucleus?

2) Another good answer is to create pre-davening programming. The mishnah notes an ancient practice of meditating for an hour before Shemoneh Esreih. Our own psukei d’zimra is meant to achieve the same goal, although that requires an understanding of what its passages mean.
The gemara makes this point when it notes that one may not begin davening after studying in-depth Torah. Torah is wonderful - but, for most of people, it will not develop a mood of davening. In fact, even studying the meaning of davening won’t necessarily help. For most people, intellectual study is more about an internal focus than a Divine focus.
Actual meditation, or perhaps a directed session in which people think about their lives and needs, and the lives and needs of those around them, and the wondrous things HaShem does for us at all times, would accomplish far more. Unfortunately, it’s too touchy-feely for most of us (me included, frankly), but that’s too bad - it could really make a difference.

3) A third answer is to make sure that people have an appropriate activity during all points of the davening - including the “down time” when the Torah is circulating, during lengthy “Mi sheBeirach” prayers on behalf of the sick, the local government, the State of Israel, POWs, et cetera, and during Chazarat haShatz (repetition of Shmoneh Esreih).
I am well aware of the halachic rulings prohibiting Torah study during this last period, and I, personally, follow that view. At the same time, if the result is that slack-jawed people’s minds wander, they don’t listen to the chazan and they don’t answer Amen anyway, they might as well be studying. Perhaps shuls could have, in the pews themselves, literature on the davening and literature that encourages people to think about their needs/blessings and their relationship with HaShem. Alternatively, Chazanim could work harder at creating tunes which will draw people into the davening.

4) For the intellectually focussed, we need classes on the meaning of the davening - not just the superficial, but in-depth analysis of Psukei d’Zimra, of the structure of berachos, etc - so that people will understand the genius invested in each tefillah.

There are many more ideas out there, I am sure, but to me, this is the bottom line: We will have a strong davening when we stop deconstructing noise and start constructing a davening atmosphere.

Of Silent Prayer, Synagogue Design, and Tzimtzum

Reb Gil writes here about noise during davening - noise from talking, and noise from other people who are davening.

The former type of noise is not of great interest to me; I think the primary reason for talking during davening is not sinfulness but rather thoughtless synagogue design, cramming people close to each other for 90 to 150 minutes during which they are supposed to be unnaturally focussed only on prayer and not at all on each other.

The latter, though - noisy davening - is something I’ve been contemplating lately.

The gemara actually presents four different reasons to recite Shemoneh Esreih silently:
1) Chanah prayed silently (Berachot 31a)
2) Silent prayer shows faith in Divine omniscience (Berachot 24b)
3) Loud prayer would embarrass sinners who wished to admit their sins (Sotah 32b)
4) Loud prayer would distract others (Berachot 24b)

It is also noteworthy that the Aruch haShulchan (Orach Chaim 101:8) adds a fifth factor: A hushed demeanor is appropriately respectful when standing before royalty.

(Note that there are also reasons to daven aloud; see Biur haGra Orach Chaim 101 להגביה and Aruch haShulchan Orach Chaim 101:7-8.)

But let’s look at this on a more abstract level. Certainly, silence is of practical value - סיג לחכמה שתיקה as well as נצור לשונך מרע - but silence is also an expression of spiritual depth.

Consider Avraham’s silence at the instruction to slaughter his son Yitzchak, and the accolades he earns for his unquestioning loyalty.

Consider Aharon’s silence at the death of Nadav and Avihu, and the praise heaped upon him for his articulate inexpression.

Consider Chanah’s silent plea for a child. Despite the fact that the gemara reads all manner of imprecation into her non-words, the plain presentation is of a servant of Gd, nobly stoic in her suffering.

Consider the Davidic counsel of דום לה' והתחולל לו, Pray silently for Gd and tremble (Ibn Ezra's translation) for Him .

And, finally but most significantly, consider the contrast between Eliyahu’s thundering rage and the Divine קול דממה דקה with which Gd rebukes him, a sound so thin as to be nearly inaudible, and yet deep enough to contain the majesty of the Creator of All.

This is a silence of presence, of pent-up power, of tzimtzum, of a Being who surely can thunder like Eliyahu but who chooses the containment of Chanah.

To me, the silence of Shemoneh Esreih is an attempt to capture this noble state of expressive restraint.

And yet, the Rambam (Hilchot Tefilah 5:9) and Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 101:2-3) do not choose this route, but instead opt for the prosaic, if socially praiseworthy, concern of distracting others. Oh, well. There's a lesson in that, too.

Daf: Sotah 31-32

Some interesting points here, both in terms of gemara approach and in terms of philosophy. Enjoy, preferably with a gemara in front of you.

31a
The gemara debates whether to read Yeshayah 63:9 as בכל צרתם לא צר or as בכל צרתם לו צר, whether Gd is troubled, or not troubled, when are are troubled. Why doesn’t the gemara point out that the word itself is subject to קרי and כתיב variation in the Masoretic text? We know that קרי and כתיב variants are employed throughout the gemara.

Also: It’s odd that the gemara here omits from the לא-לו discussion the most famous such variant, from Vayyikra 25:30. That variant is discussed in the gemara, just not here.

The gemara here seems to shift gears in its translation of יראה – at first it refers to fear of punishment, but then it seems to shift to awe of Gd. See the Torah Temimah to Devarim 7:10, note טו; he is adamant that יראה as used in this context refers not to fear of punishment, but to awe of Gd.

31b
It seems odd that we would believe a single witness here, particularly one who has an axe to grind. I would remind the reader, though, that this is a case of רגלים לדבר, the equivalent of a driver pulled over for erratic driving, with an open beer in the car. Even before the breathalyzer, there is a circumstantial-evidence argument to support the contention that he was driving drunk. Here, too, קינוי and subsequent סתירה establish a suspicious fact pattern before we ever arrive at the single witness to a sexual act.

32a
Although one may be able to fulfill certain obligatory prayers in English, that’s only fine for the first time or the second – one should still work to learn to daven in the original!

32b
Note that Rashi (at the top) has a different text in our gemara, using the pasuk of ואמר אל האשה.

Rashi here, on ארמי אובד אבי, varies from his commentary on the Torah. On the Torah he assumes that אבי is Yaakov, but here he says it is Lavan who is “my father”! Of course, in his commentary to the Torah he is citing the Sifri and explaining it, and the Sifri varies from our gemara, but I still find his version here very interesting and worth further analysis.

Our gemara here provides one reason for the silent Amidah; the more famous reason is in Berachot 33 or so, from Chanah.

Note that Chullin makes it clear that an observer in the Beit haMikdash will still know which korban a person is bringing, despite the fact that the location for חטאת and עולה are the same. We still try to provide whatever concealment is possible.

Here, once again, we find the tension between public acknowledgement of sin and concealment of error. Yehudah was praised earlier in Sotah for publicly acknowledging error (הודה ולא בוש), but as we have pointed out in earlier Daf comments (such as here), we also say אשרי נשוי פשע כסוי חטאה, better not to admit sin aloud, if the sin is not already commonly known, lest that admission de-sensitize people to wrongdoing.

Class: Angels, Part II - Praying to Malachim

This morning I taught the second part of my two-part class on Angels; here's the source sheet, along with some bibliographic references for those who are interested.

We discussed the long history of addressing angels, and even beseeching their assistance, in Judaism - from Yaakov's request for an angelic blessing, to Rabbi Yochanan's apparent request for angelic assistance in Sanhedrin 44b, to Hitkabdu Mechubadai to Machnisei Rachamim to Barchuni l'Shalom. Then we looked at three reasons why this is a problem - the question of why angelic intercession would be needed, the concern for idolatry, and the concern for mystical danger in mixing with angels.

We talked about the historical elements of the issue of angelic intercession, and we concluded by looking at three different ways to handle angel-seeking liturgy: (1) Delete/Edit, (2) Accept that angels do have some power, and we may seek their help within that sphere, and (3) Modify our understanding of these prayers.

Here is the source sheet:
1. Talmud, Berachot 60b
One who enters the bathroom says: “Be honored, honored ones, sacred ones, servants of Above. Give honor to the Gd of Israel! Leave me until I go and do my desire, and then I will return to you.

2. Machnisei Rachamim
Angels of mercy, bring our plea for compassion before the Presence of the Lord of mercy. … Intercede for us and amplify supplication and entreaty before the King, Almighty, Who is exalted and uplifted.

3. Shoshan Sodot 412
Remember, always, to see at every molad and tekufah under which star they fell, and from the star you will know which angel is appointed thereupon, and from the angel you will know which emanation, and the name which emerges therefrom… And you will first be mashbia the star of the tekufah with its sacred angels, and then the star of the month and its angels…

4. Shalom Aleichem, third verse
Bless me for peace, angels of peace, angels of Above, from the King of kings of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He.

5. Psalms 91:11, 121:8
For He will instruct His angels for you, to guard you upon all of your ways.
HaShem will guard your departure and arrival, from now and forever.

6. Exodus 23:20
Behold, I send an angel before you, to guard you upon the way and to bring you to the land I have prepared.

7. Talmud, Shabbat 119b
Rabbi Yosi bar Yehudah said: Two ministering angels escort a person on Friday from the synagogue to his home, one of them good and one of them bad.
When they come to his home and find the lamp lit and the table set and the bed arranged, the good angel says, ‘May it be the Will that next Shabbat will be like this.’ And the bad angel is forced to answer ‘Amen.’
If not, the bad angel says, ‘May it be the Will that next Shabbat will be like this.’ And the good angel is forced to answer ‘Amen.’

8. Midrash Tanchuma (Warsaw edition), Vayyakhel 1
Rabbi Meir said: For every mitzvah a person performs, he is given an angel to guard him. If he performs one mitzvah, he is given one angel. If he performs many mitzvot, he is given many angels. It is written, ‘For He will instruct His angels for you, to guard you upon all of your ways.’

9. Talmud, Shabbat 12b
Rabbi Yochanan said: One who prays in Aramaic will not be helped by the ministering angels, for the ministering angels do not know Aramaic.

10. Genesis 32:27
And he said, ‘Send me away, for the morning has come.’
And he said, ‘No, unless you bless me.’

11. Talmud, Sanhedrin 44b
Rabbi Yochanan said: One should always ask for mercy that all should strengthen him, and that he should have no foes above.

12. Talmud Yerushalmi, Berachot 9:12
Rabbi Yudin said: A human being has a patron. If he encounters trouble, he does not approach the patron suddenly, but rather he stands at the door of the patron’s home and calls the patron’s servant or family member and says… But Gd is not so. If a person encounters trouble, he should not cry out to Michael or Gavriel, but rather to Me he should cry out, and I will answer him immediately.

13. Maimonides, Commentary to Mishnah, Introduction to the 10th chapter in Sanhedrin
…That it is suitable to worship Gd, to exalt Him, and to publicize His greatness. We do not do this to anything beneath Him, among the angels and stars and spheres…and we do not make them intermediaries through which to reach Him…

14. Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Idolatry 2:1
The essential instruction regarding idolatry is that we should not worship one of the creatures, no angel or sphere or star or any of the four foundations or anything created therefrom. Even if the worshipper knows that HaShem is Gd, and he worships this creation as Enosh and his generation did at first, this is still idolatry.

15. R’ Yehudah haChasid, Sefer Chasidim 205
It is not good for a person to pray other than to Gd. One who goes out on the road should not be mashbia angels to guard him on the road, but rather he should pray to Gd for all of his needs…

16. Rama, Code of Jewish Law Yoreh Deah 179:16
Regarding hashba’ah, in which one is mashbia them with names, some permit this altogether, but most who involve themselves with this do not leave it in peace. Therefore, one who would guard his life should distance himself from them.

17. Genesis 19:21
And the angel said to Lot: Behold, I have shown favor to you even in this, not to overturn the city, as you spoke.

18. R’ Shemuel Yaakov Weinberg, Fundamentals and Faith, pg. 59-60
It is a form of idolatry to attribute power or free will to any intermediary. Therefore, believing that one must beg angels to bring his prayers to Gd is idolatry. For this reason, the Maharal and R' Chaim of Volozhin (Keter Rosh #93) forbade the singing of "Barchuni leshalom," since it implies that one is asking the angels to bless him.
Those who do sing this popular prayer on the Sabbath should envision a situation in which the angels will have to bless him. The Talmud (Shabbat 119b) relates that, returning home after the Sabbath services Friday evening, one is accompanied by two angels. If, upon entering one's home, the angels find the table set for the Sabbath meal, they are forced to bless the home with the blessing that this joy and preparation should occur the following week as well. It is for this situation, where the angels must bless him, that one should pray.

19. The First Gerrer Rebbe, Sfat Emet to Rosh haShanah 32bWith every mitzvah the Jewish people perform, an angel is created. In truth, Rosh haShanah and Yom Kippur are holidays, so that there is joy in the hearts of the Jews, but they cannot bring that desire into action, to say Hallel. However: From this great longing, angels are also created.

And here is a partial bibliography:

https://www.yeshiva.org.il/midrash/shiur.asp?id=5248
http://www.netivot-shalom.org.il/parshheb/vayishlach5.php
http://dafyomi.shemayisrael.co.il/sanhedrin/insites/sn-dt-044.htm
http://www.moriya.org.il/shut/indexid.asp?id=4288
http://www.havabooks.co.il/shut/ShutInside.asp?Qid=1618
http://hebrew.grimoar.cz/anonym/sosan_sodot.htm

Chasam Sofer Orach Chaim 166
Yehudah Yaaleh 1: Orach Chaim 21 - I loved what he had to say here.
Igros Moshe Orach Chaim 5:43
Divrei Yatziv Yoreh Deah 191
Tzitz Eliezer 14:48

The Salvation Sprouts: Davening in Yeshiva Day Schools

My older son, who is 8 years old, davens beautifully in Hebrew, but he doesn’t comprehend much of what he is saying. I've been encouraging him to read along the English translation rather than the Hebrew. The English is often too unvernacularish for easy understanding, but it’s better than a total lack of comprehension.

So last week my son was working with some half-plant, half-human figures he had created, and he named them Mr. and Mrs. Salvation Sprout. He had read in his Artscroll Siddur about how salvation sprouts, and he was inspired by their high-minded English to nickname these the Salvation Sprouts.

That incident aside, I am disappointed at how little time many yeshiva day schools spend on teaching children the meaning of davening. I don’t mean the “How To” or when to bow and when to stand and when to sit and how to say the words, I mean the meaning, the sense that Dovid haMelech is talking to me in Psukei d’Zimra, the stern commitment that comes with Shma, the impassioned plea of the Shmoneh Esreih, the gloriously anthemesque Aleinu l’Shabeiach.

There are many reasons why schools don’t spend a lot of time in this: Kids are often too immature to grasp the concepts. It takes a lot of creativity to do this right. There is so much else to teach. The teachers themselves have a hard time with their own kavvanah. No one has yet developed a neat, standardized, Tal Am-esque curriculum for teaching davening.

But it is so necessary. Of all the Judaic lessons our children will learn, how many will be as important, on a daily basis, as davening? Perhaps some basic halachah, but that’s it.

We want our sons to put on tefillin, to daven with kavvanah, to enjoy sitting in shul.
We want our daughters to feel connection in davening, whether we are on the part of the spectrum that sends them to shul or we are on the part of the spectrum that doesn’t encourage female shul attendance.
How’s that going to happen if we don’t teach them to feel the davening?

Perhaps the schools think the parents will teach it, but that’s unlikely. And the result is generation after generation of children who grow up thinking Psukei d’Zimra is twenty repetitive paragraphs of “Praise Gd for this, Praise Gd for that,” who can sing every word of Shma but can’t translate it, who feel Shmoneh Esreih is boring, who live for the days when we skip Tachanun.

One of the reasons kids “flip out” in Israel and come back with a low tolerance for their hometown shuls is that they remember what it was like to grow up in those shuls. They remember that they felt weak or no connections to the davening. They remember people talking. And they contrast that experience with the way they saw davening in yeshiva, they contrast it with the small bits of kavvanah they picked up here and there in Israel, and they don’t want to go back to the schmoozing and the rote recitation.

If we would teach them better in the first place, they would have fonder shul experiences to remember, and they wouldn’t need to fear returning home.

We can do better than this. And if we want our children to love shul, we had better do it.