Bilvavi.On.Tefillah.1-45.Pdf
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on Tefillah 1 | Bilvavi on Tefillah 1 Editor’s Introduction __________________________________________________________________ 3 001 | Before Shemoneh Esrei ___________________________________________________________ 4 002 | Having Something and Missing Something ___________________________________________ 9 003 | Hashem, Open My Lips __________________________________________________________ 15 004 | The Beginning and End of Shemoneh Esrei __________________________________________ 19 005 | Revealing Hashem _____________________________________________________________ 24 006 | Bowing in Shemoneh Esrei _______________________________________________________ 28 007 | You, Hashem __________________________________________________________________ 33 008 | Standing in Front of the King _____________________________________________________ 35 009 } My G-d _______________________________________________________________________ 38 010 | What Our Matriarchs Revealed ___________________________________________________ 41 011 | Giving Myself Up For Hashem’s Will _______________________________________________ 46 012 | Integrating The Mind With The Heart ______________________________________________ 50 013 | Yitzchok Avinu’s Path ___________________________________________________________ 54 014 | Balanced Compassion ___________________________________________________________ 58 015 | Inheritance From The Avos & Dovid HaMelech _______________________________________ 60 016 | True Aspirations _______________________________________________________________ 64 017 | Living With Clarity _____________________________________________________________ 67 018 | To Live In A Perfect Place ________________________________________________________ 69 019 | Revealing Oneness _____________________________________________________________ 73 020 | The Longing For A Smile _________________________________________________________ 80 021 } Inner Love _____________________________________________________________________ 88 022 } Becoming Connected ____________________________________________________________ 91 023 | Owning This World Vs. Borrowing This World _______________________________________ 95 024 | Emulating Our Forefathers _______________________________________________________ 98 025 | The Avodah of The Era Preceding Moshiach ________________________________________ 101 026 | Tisha B’Av: Crying From Within __________________________________________________ 104 027 | Our King, And Our Companion ___________________________________________________ 108 028 | Real Life _____________________________________________________________________ 111 029 | True Salvation ________________________________________________________________ 114 030 | Surviving The Scariest Time In History _____________________________________________ 117 031 | The Intent In Giving Tzedakah ___________________________________________________ 121 032 } Our Middos Enable Hashem’s Middos______________________________________________ 124 033 | The Final Judgment ____________________________________________________________ 127 034 | Revival of the Living ____________________________________________________________ 131 2 | Bilvavi on Tefillah 1 035 | Yearning For The Future ________________________________________________________ 136 036 | A Generation of Abundance _____________________________________________________ 140 037 | The Danger In Going Out To Work ________________________________________________ 144 038 | Rising From Failure ____________________________________________________________ 148 039 | Before We Get Sick ____________________________________________________________ 152 040 | Escaping The Self-Imposed Prison _________________________________________________ 155 041 | Believing In Resurrection ________________________________________________________ 161 042 | What It Means To Have Good Middos _____________________________________________ 166 043 | Finding Renewal ______________________________________________________________ 172 044 | Redemption Unfolding and The Decree on Torah ____________________________________ 179 045 | To Yearn For A Pure World ______________________________________________________ 184 3 | Bilvavi on Tefillah 1 Editor’s Introduction Many wonderful commentaries are available on Shemoneh Esrei (the silent prayer), which explain the meaning of the words and what to have in mind. This is certainly necessary to understand what we are saying when we daven. But we can still be left with a void after we daven, wondering why we don’t feel connected to the prayers, even though we know the meaning of the words well. And we can also get caught up in trying to concentrate and not space out when we daven, which makes us forget the basic essence of prayer- to stand before the King, aware of His presence, and to pray to Him from our heart. In this unique series of derashos, the Rav explains concepts of serving Hashem which can come alive and receive greater meaning, through the words of Shemoneh Esrei that we say. It also draws light on many important issues of hashkafah (Jewish thought) today about current events, which further awaken in us the words we are saying and how they express various issues we face, both on a personal scale as well as on the communal and global scale. The Rav begins each shiur by first explaining the simple meaning of the words, based on Chazal, and then explains a deeper meaning. A discussion about a certain important topic then ensues, and finally the Rav concludes by going back to the words of Shemoneh Esrei and explaining it with the deeper meaning. These derashos are not “what to have in mind” as you are saying the words. Rather, the derashos here serve to awaken our inner world to us through the meaning of the words that we say, thereby enabling us to pray more from our heart and stand before our King with greater awareness. If the lessons here are internalized, you will see changes in your davening – inner changes. And it doesn’t necessarily mean that you will be “shuckling” more or swaying more when you say the words. Rather, you feel the words coming alive in your heart – an inner experience that cannot be described in the written word. There are 170 classes in this series. In this PDF we have included the first 45 classes. 4 | Bilvavi on Tefillah 1 תפילה 001 הקדמה 001 | Before Shemoneh Esrei Tefillah — A Ladder that Ascends to Heaven Tefillah (davening — prayer), in essence, is to ascend to the Heavens. It is something we do here on this Earth, but it reaches Heaven, like we find by the ladder of Yaakov’s dream: “A ladder placed on the ground, and its head reached the Heavens.” We also see this from the statement of the Sages, that tefillah is “a matter that stands at the 1 height of the world.”0F Tefillah is to ascend to the Heavens. This doesn’t mean, though that tefillah is only in Heaven! What it really means is that if one ascends to the Heavens, he will find tefillah there; in other words, just because tefillah is such a lofty matter doesn’t mean that we can’t reach it. We reach tefillah by ascending the “ladder” found even on our physical world, which we will see. The Difference Between Torah and Tefillah We have two major vehicles that bring us close to Hashem — Torah and tefillah. What is the difference between them? The sefer Nefesh HaChaim writes that learning Torah is called “achdus hamochin” (unity of the minds). This means that Torah is all-inclusive, because it is a power that comes and unifies things. Torah is all-inclusive in that it unifies the Heavens with the earth. Tefillah is also all- inclusive — but from a different aspect: it unifies Earth to the Heavens. Tefillah is in essence a ladder that ascends to the Heavens, but it is footed on Earth. Torah was in Heaven, but Hashem brought it down to this world. Tefillah, however, is found on this world — but is ascends to Heaven. Tefillah is like Yaakov Avinu’s ladder: we begin from its foot here on Earth, and we ascend up it, step-by-step — until Heaven. Chazal say that tefillah “stands” at the height of the world — and standing is Amidah, which is another term for the silent Shemoneh Esrei. This doesn’t mean that tefillah stands in Heaven while the person praying remains here in This World. The opposite is true: tefillah is the ladder 1 Berachos 6b. 5 | Bilvavi on Tefillah 1 that a person ascends on — until the person himself reaches Heaven. Through tefillah, a person climbs a ladder toward Heaven, and he is actually standing in Heaven and praying there! This has to be. Only in Heaven can a person be standing “in front of the King.” When a person davens, he is actually standing in Heaven — “in front of the King.” How do we get from Earth to Heaven?! If we are to climb the ladder toward Heaven, through tefillah, then our tefillah cannot just be a lip service we do. There must be a specific path to take through tefillah in order to get to Heaven, and it must be a step-by-step plan. How do we ascend this ladder toward Heaven? Before we get to the top of the ladder — which is the Amidah, the silent Shemoneh Esrei — we have to climb the beginning steps of the ladder. These beginning rungs of the ladder are the first three sections of davening, before we get to Shemoneh Esrei. Our davening (before Shemoneh Esrei) is split into three sections: 1) The morning blessings and recitation of korbonos (sacrifices), 2) Pesukei Dezimrah, 3) Shema and its blessings. The “Actions” in Tefillah There are three parts that make up a person — actions, feelings, and thoughts.