To Pray, Lehitpallel, to Judge Oneself

In conversations and in various blog posts, people are yearning to get better "kavanna" in their prayers. "Kavanna" means "intention," or spiritual depth. We just finished our two-day Rosh Hashannah holiday, the Jewish "new year." We spent it praying and feasting.

I don't like the focus some put on the food. Even though we live only a minute's walk from the synagogue, I don't leave the "services" to rush home periodically to make sure all will be ready when we return. That would be a distraction from my "kavannah." Our Ezrat Nashim, Women's seating area, is quiet. There's no reason to talk, not like down where the men sit and have important things to discuss, like who will get which honors. We don't discuss fashion, either. Our minds aren't focused on new clothes and neighborhood gossip. There's an additional section downstairs with room for baby-carriages and playing toddlers. Yes, some may consider us a bit old and stodgy, but many of us enjoy the lack of distractions. It's hard enough to pray properly.

What does it mean to "pray properly?" Good question. Let's get back to the Hebrew, להתפלל. As I tell my students, first let's look at the most superficial, how the word looks. It's a combination of two parts, the root, פלל, and the prefix, הת, which shows that the verb is "reflexive," meaning: A reflexive verb is a verb whose agent performs an action that is directed at itself. It characteristically takes a reflexive pronoun as its object.

Now, what is פלל?
פלל verb (Hithpael imperfect 3fs): “pray, intercede”
How did the reflective of that become "converted" into "praying to G-d?"

Being a reflective verb means that the burden is on us, not G-d. Looking at it linguistically, does it mean that we're actually supposed to pray to ourselves? This reminds me of the crucial scene in the Wizard of Oz when Dorothy discovers that she, herself, has had the power to return to Kansas all along.

Many years ago at an NCSY National Convention (probably 1967) I heard a lecture about the verb and concept להתפלל. I'm not sure who gave it but the general message has stayed with me all these years.

We were told that פלל means to judge, so להתפלל means to judge ourselves. True prayer in the Jewish sense is a very intense self-reflection. Due to that shiur, lesson, I became more and more convinced that one can only pray properly in a language one understands. If the words in the siddur, prayerbook, are just meaningless gibberish, who can we use them as the inspiration, spring-board to judge ourselves?

Yes, we do need the standard siddur prayers to pray properly. Without them we will tend to just concentrate on our narrow self-interests. It would be like when I conduct my own exercise sessions. I find myself having a great time, but it's only when I've attended a class taught by someone else when I realize that I haven't challenged my weakest muscles at all. The siddur has evolved over the centuries and includes a wide variety of prayers for each Holiday and event. While we can add personal things, it's best not to delete.

It's impossible for anyone to hold a high level of concentration, reflection for every word and prayer, especially for two days in a row. The tunes of the Chazzan or Baal Tefilah, the one who conducts the prayers, frequently reach parts of our souls too deep for the words alone. Modern teaching methods stress the importance of utilizing all of the senses, and that is what we get when the dovening (praying) is good.

Many also stress the importance of a "makom kavua," regular place to pray in. For many even moving one seat over can causunnecessaryry distractions of disorientation. It's interesting that mourners customarily sit in a different seat until their period of mourning is over. It's to provide a kinestetic reminder of how temporary the material life is.

Rosh Hashannah is preceded by the month of Ellul, the month especially devoted to Tshuvarepentancece. This intensifies through Rosh Hashannah and culminates on Yom Kippur.

Tshuva should be the result of להתפלל, praying. Because if we reflect on ourselves, we will find something that needs improvement. Those feelings and conclusions are communicated to G-d in our prayers.

May G-d forgive us for all sins.
Gmar Chatima Tovah