10 Feb MISHPATIM: SPEAKING IN SHUL

The Tzlach writes,
“There is no greater
rebellion against the
King of the world
than to speak in his
heichel, in His presence.
He is making the holy
air tamei, similar to
the Yevanim who
made the mizbeiach
tamei. Speaking during
davening is like placing
an idol in the heichel.”
Yesh Nochlin,
written by the Shlah
HaKadosh’s father, writes, “I swear, from
all sins I saw, I never saw anything as bad,
because what does one gain by speaking?

For all other sins, such as theft, adultery, non-
kosher foods, and the like, the yetzer hara is

strong, and it sometimes pulls the person to
sin because a person desires pleasures. But
no yetzer hara pulls him to speak during
davening? Furthermore, one never performs
this aveirah by himself. There has to be at
least two people. So, he is Choteh U’machti,
sinning and causing others to sin with him.
The aveiros of many will be because of
him. The worst part is that he is disgracing
Hashem’s honor in public, in the midst of the

community, at the same holy time designated
for praising Hashem…”
The Chasam Sofer (Drashos vol.2, 309:) said,
“Hakadosh Baruch Hu with His immense
mercy left us over a Mikdash Me’at. They
are the batei knesiyos and batei midrashos. If
we treat them with holiness, they will move
to Eretz Yisrael… Even now, they have the
kedushah of Eretz Yisrael. Tefillos go up from
there to the gateways of heaven. However, if
people disrespect the beis medresh and speak
idle talk there, the Sar (the malach) from
chutz le’aretz comes and becomes the head
of the beis medresh, rachmana litzlan…”
Have Your Tefillos Answered
Another problem that arises from speaking in
the middle of the tefillah is that it prevents
the tefillos of the congregation from going
up. One should therefore be very cautious,
and avoid speaking in the beis medresh,
because he may be ruining the tefillah for
everyone present.
The Chida zy’a writes that if one knows that
he is going to speak during the tefillah, he’d
be better off davening at home because his
speaking prevents the tefillos from going up
to heaven.
The Zohar (Vayakhel 205) teaches that

speaking during the tefillah on Shabbos is
an even greater violation. The Kaf HaChaim
(151:8) explains that this is because speaking
in the shul banishes the Shechinah. The
Shechinah is more present in the shul on
Shabbos; therefore, speaking on Shabbos
during the tefillah is an even greater sin.
One of the miracles in the Beis HaMikdash
was that the smoke from the mizbeiach rose
in a straight line. The winds didn’t scatter
that pillar of smoke as it rose straight to
heaven. As it states (Avos 5:5), the wind
didn’t disperse the column of smoke that
came forth from the mizbeiach.
The Avodas Yisrael writes, “The explanation
is, the Beis HaMikdash of the earth is directly
opposite the Beis HaMikdash in heaven.
When the smoke of the mizbeiach rose to the
Beis HaMikdash above, it was received with
love by the Creator, bringing down bounty to
all worlds. This couldn’t have occurred had
the wind dispersed the pillar of smoke. Now
behold…. Every beis medresh definitely
has a corresponding beis medresh in heaven
opposite it. The tefillos go up to the beis
medresh in heaven. Therefore, one must be
cautious never to speak in the beis medresh,
other than words of tefillah, because when
one speaks idle talk there, it’s like he is in

the middle of conversing with the king and
he says, ‘I can’t speak to you now’ and then
he speaks to others. This pushes away the
Shechinah, chas veshalom. And also, it is
possible that the tefillos of those who are
davening in the beis medresh with kavanah
will not be answered because of the sins
of those speaking during the tefillah. Even
worse is when one speaks during Chazaras
HaShatz and Kriyas HaTorah because Kriyas
HaTorah is like Moshe Rabbeinu standing
on Har Sinai, repeating the Torah from
Hashem’s mouth to the Jewish nation.”