17 Jan A POTPOURRI ABOUT PRAYER

We have a popular phrase,
‘Food For Thought.’ The
Kuzari says that prayer
is ‘Food for the Soul.’
He elaborates that just as
we meet the needs of the
body by eating three meals
(breakfast, lunch, and supper) so too our
neshamas have similar needs to meet. And
so, on a spiritual level, Shacharis, Mincha,
and Maariv are the ‘food’ equivalents of
three meals a day. The Avudrahan backs
this up with an interesting gematria. He
points out that each Shemone Esrei has
nineteen brachos. Therefore, in a full

day of prayer, we get a total of fifty-
seven blessings. The Hebrew word zan

(nourishment) also equals fifty-seven,
further directing our attention to prayer as
the sustenance of the neshama.
Indeed, the Zohar also describes prayer
as spiritual food. The Kuzari develops
the thought adding that when one hasn’t
davened for a while, his neshama weakens
in a manner similar to the weakening of
the body that comes about through fasting.
Perhaps this is one of the reasons why
many great people such as the Chazon
Ish used to daven Mincha as soon as one
is allowed, in order that there should not
be such a big gap between Shacharis and
Mincha. Following this pattern, we find
that most yeshivas daven Mincha in the
early afternoon. (Of course, there are other
reasons such as davening Mincha near
the time of the afternoon Tamid offering,
which Mincha commemorates.)
The Shala”h HaKodesh, basing his
remarks on a Rashb”a, comments that
the three daily prayers correspond to the
three phases of human life; namely, the
years of growth, the stationery years, and
the years of decline. Viewed in this way,
Shacharis corresponds to the time periods
of childhood, adolescence, and budding
maturity. Mincha relates to the years of
middle-age, and Maariv focuses on one’s
golden years. Thus, while davening, it
would be proper to focus on one’s children
and grandchildren during Shacharis, and
upon elderly parents and grandparents
during Maariv.
Furthermore, since the majority of one’s
mature years fall within the middle-age
bracket, it explains to us why the tefilla of
Mincha is described as being so important.
As the Gemora in Brachos says, “Great
is the prayer of Mincha for Eliyahu was
only answered during the Mincha prayer.”
Indeed, a middle-aged businessman who
finds it difficult, especially during the

winter months, to leave the office smack
in the middle of the day in order to catch
Mincha, should be alerted to the fact that
Mincha is the most critical prayer for the
middle-aged man.
The Zohar Chadash shares a fascinating
piece of information with us. It teaches
that the angel which brings up our morning
prayer is Michoel. The Mincha prayer is
delivered by Gavriel, while the Maariv
prayer is presented by the malach, Nuriel.
Interestingly, the word magein – shield,
that is mentioned so prominently in the
beginning of our prayers (when we thank
Hashem for being MaGeN Avraham), is an
acronym of Michoel, Gavriel, Nuriel. This
is very fitting since indeed the true shield
of our people is the power of our prayer.
As it says, “Ha kol kol Yaakov, v’hayadaim
yadei Eisav.” While Eisav uses the power
of his hands and muscles, we wield the
power of our mouths in prayer and Limud
HaTorah. So also the legendary Magen
Dovid, the six-sided Star of David which
was Dovid HaMelech’s emblem when he
went to war, signifies the realization that it
wasn’t Dovid’s military might or strategic
genius which won the battle, but rather the
defense of the One Above Who is in all six
directions, above and below and to all four
sides. Thus, this star represents the great
power of praying to He Who rules over all.
It is interesting to note that many of our
prayer customs are directly related to the
fact that nowadays, tefilla is a substitute for
korbonos (sacrifices). Thus, for example,
we daven standing, as the Avoda in the Beis
HaMikdash had to be done while standing.
We daven in a Makom K’vuah, a fixed
place, similar to the sacrifices which had
to be slaughtered and sprinkled at fixed
places by the Altar. We try to pray in the
Synagogue just like the sacrifices had to be
offered in the Temple. We wear dignified
clothing (Chassidim even add the gartel as
a special garment for prayer similar to the
Kohanim who donned the bigdei Kehuna).
We wash our hands just like the Kohein
sanctified his hands from the kiyor (laver).
We word our prayers in the plural since they
correspond to the community offerings.
We try not to have any untoward thoughts
during davening for by sacrifices certain
untoward thoughts render the korban pigul
and therefore unusable. We try to utilize
prayer to bring ourselves closer to Hashem
similar to the korban whose very root,
korav, means to come near. All our prayers
incorporate a plea for help to repent and a
request for forgiveness and pardon. For
many of the sacrifices were for the express
purpose of atonement.

The Klei Yakar states that when
one davens with passion – his or
her heart aflame with heartfelt
emotion, it corresponds to the
fire on the Altar which consumes
the offering. Rabbeinu Bachya
adds that when one sheds a tear
in prayer, this is symbolic of the
lofty ritual of nisuch hamayim,
the holy water libations that
were done with great pomp and
ceremony during the Succos
festival. Mr. Yitzchak Lowinger
told me in his father’s name, that
we know that every sacrifice was
accompanied with salt, as it states, “Al kol
karboncha takriv melech.” He beautifully
explained that tears contain salt so, when
one cries during a davening, besides the
great effect that it has since the gates of
tears in Heaven are never shut, it also
represents the salt that accompanied every
offering.
One might ask, With all this comparison
to sacrifices, why don’t we pray on elevated
places? After all, the Altar was elevated off
the ground. Indeed, we are taught to pray
at low places, as it says, “Shir Hamalos
Me’mamakim, a Song of Assents from
the Depths.” And the Gemora constantly
refers to the chazan as one who is ‘Yoreid
Lifnei HaTeiva – He who goes down to the
pulpit.’ And in many ancient shuls, and
several contemporary ones as well, we find
that the leader of the prayer services goes
down a step to officiate in prayer!
The answer to this question is taught to
us by Chazal with the lesson, “Ein gavhus
lifnei HaMakom – There is no elevation
before Hashem.” This means that if one
were to climb up ostensibly to get closer
to G-d, it would be akin to a blasphemous
statement that G-d does not fill the entire
world. This is also one of the reasons why
we pray Shemone Esrei silently (thus it is
known as the Silent Devotion) for if we
were to raise our voices, it would imply
that we need to speak up for G-d to hear
us, while in truth Keil Deios Hashem,
G-d knows our minds and is the Yodeia
Machashavos. Of course we also pray
silently so as not to distract others.
There is yet another reason why we
pray silently. The Zohar in Shmos (89)
writes that the one of the angels of prayer
that helps carry our tefillos to Hashem is
called Oznayim, Ears. And he only hear
prayers that are not audible to humans.
(One should note that certain prayers,
especially those said in Lashon Kodesh
and in the presence of a minyan, do not

need any intermediaries, and go straight
to Hashem. Also, we mentioned above
that the angels were Michoel, Gavriel, and
Nuriel (and not Oznayim!). Perhaps this
can be explained by analogy to an internet
connection. Just like with the internet, a
connection is achieved through multiple
substations, so too certain prayers might
involve a network of angels before a prayer
gets to Hashem.
We are taught that one who prays should
daven ‘El Hakosel,’ directly facing a wall.’
Besides the obvious reason, that this helps
to avoid distractions, there is also again the
analogy to korbonos which were applied
against the wall of the Altar. But the
Sefer Shomeia Tefilla offers a fascinating
observation on the word kosel. He points
out that the word kosel is made up of the
Hebrew letters chof and vov, and then the
word teil, which means a mount. Chof-vuv
(26) is the gematria of Hashem’s ineffable
Name, Yud-Kei-Vuv-Kei and thus, when
we are charged to daven to the kosel, we
are being taught to focus on Hashem and
the Mount, namely the Har HaBayis and
the Beis HaMikdash.
In the merit of our sincere prayers, may
we be zoche to good health, happiness, and
everything wonderful.