Sunday, September 5, 2010

The goal of praying silently

Hi,

"Why did they enact silent prayer? So as not to embarrass those who have sinned [and are admitting it in their prayer], just as the Torah did not assign separate locations for those who bring sin-offerings and burnt-offerings [so as not to explicitly identify those who bring sin-offerings for atonement in the Beit haMikdash]."

(Talmud, Sotah 32b)

May we be inscribed and sealed for a great year,
Mordechai

2 comments:

  1. it is very important to pray pronaucing words of the tfila so you can hear your own voice. human being accept sounds as something more real then thought-so such way helps to concentrate on tfila and to have better kavanah like the resalt.

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  2. Hello Sheila,

    Thanks for commenting.

    Agreed, the gemara elsewhere (Berachos 31) makes the point that one must be able to hear the words personally. The problem is when one's neighbor can hear them.

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