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The following is the text of a tzedakah appeal letter I recently received by e-mail. I do not mean to criticize the tzedakah in any way; I encourage people to give to this worthy cause according to their means. But it brought up an interesting question for me. (The question follows the text).
“Dear [my name],
We believe in the power of prayer. That’s what Rosh Hashanah is all about. We believe in it because every one of us has the power to answer prayers– especially those of widows and orphans– who are praying so hard…for food.
Hundreds of destitute Israeli mothers live in a constant state of panic, because they can’t afford to feed their children.
They are widowed, divorced, abandoned. Hundreds of loving Jewish mothers like Meira who work endless hours just to keep the landlord off their doorstep…hoping there will be enough money left to feed their undernourished children.
But there’s never enough. Especially not now. Especially before Rosh Hashanah and the start of a new school year when the expenses are out of control.
This Rosh Hashanah, before we ask G-d to hear our prayers for continued health and success, we should listen to the desperate, panicked cries of mothers like Meira and answer their prayers first.
Your emergency Rosh Hashanah gift to the 225th annual Colel Chabad Rosh Hashanah Food Campaign will help stock Meira’s pantry for an entire month of Jewish holidays.
This way she can go to synagogue with her children like we all do– and pray for health and success. Because it’s a lot easier to daven when you know you can feed your kids.
Answer Meira’s prayers the way you would want the Almighty to answer yours. Please give now. And please give generously. Thank you.”
My question is regarding the sentence in the penultimate paragraph of the letter: “t’s a lot easier to daven when you know you can feed your kids.” Is this really true? Will Meira be so relieved by the food assistance that she will have better kavanah while davening on Rosh Hashanah? Or if, chas v’shalom, she doesn’t get the help she needs, might her tefillos actually be more sincere and focused because her need is so great?
What do you think: regarding davening, is Meira’s need a distraction or a motivation?
A woman who doesn’t have what to feed her children is herself not eating if you give to the charity to provide food for them she will have the strength to daven with a full kavana.
We were all raised to think that prayer is asking God for a bike when we want a bike. Growing older, the bike becomes a job, a house, and a shidduch.
Prayer is recognizing God’s absolute control over every aspect of the world. Read through Pesukei Dezimrah, and maybe She’arim B’tfillah (by Rav Shimshon Pincus).
Prayer is recognizing…
Thank you, LevAB, for that beautiful sentence.
I’d want to be sitting near you this Rosh Hashana.
Unlikely, though.
May we all be zocheh to be mamlich HKBH over us this Yom Tov.
Amen, golfer. This year in Lev Aryeh, we were told to focus on Pesukei D’zimrah on Rosh Hashana. We spent well over an hour on it, because if you read through it you’ll see that it is completely about God’s control over the universe and man’s futile attempts to be independent.
I remember hearing R’ Elya Svei ??”? repeating over and over, “Di Rebono Shel Olam is der baalabus fun di gantzeh velt!”
It says in my ArtScroll Machzor that you’re not supposed to daven for personal needs on Rosh HaShanah.
I think that when a mother cannot feed her children, there is no room on her mind for much else. Whether or not I would consider improving her kavana to be a reason to feed her is a seperate issue. Why would davening for more things with better kavana be more valuable than davening for food from the depths of her soul? Who says Hashem can’t listen to her prayer for food and read all the rest of her needs? I don’t like the premise, but to answer the question, I would think her needs are a motivation to daven for her kids, but a distraction from davening for other things.
Amen to Golfer’s brocha.
some thoughts. 1- if her children aren’t crying and pulling at her skirts in hunger, she can daven.
2- in a situation as the one described, being supplied with food for a month doesn’t give her any idea where the food will come from in Chesvan or how she will pay the rent, or what to do about her child’s outgrown shoes… There’s enough motivation for prayer even less the worry of hunger for a few weeks. 3- she can go to shul if her kids are fed, as opposed to them not being able to sit in shul, or her needing to spend (part of) her mornings begging or scrounging for food, so there the food would directly contribute to improved tefilla.
To answer the titles question:
going thru a crisis or davening and wishing badly for something for someone else or ur family…..
“It says in my ArtScroll Machzor that you’re not supposed to daven for personal needs on Rosh HaShanah.”
That’s not exactly true:
1- You do say “Elokai Netzor” which is quite personal.
2- One can – and should – ask for spiritual things <i> and anything necessary for spiritual developement.</i>
3- Considering that most people don’t sincerely feel the strong love for HKB”H that precedes wanting to be Mamlich Him, it’s better to have kavanah for something than fake yourself into believing you really want to be Mamlich Hashem (when what you really want probably is at best for the galus to end so you have it easier for whatever reason, whether physical or spiritual).
The HTML tag for italics is < em >, not < i >.
It does say that we knock on Hashem door like paupers. There is certainly truth to the idea that a paupers who have nothing ask from the depths of their heart because they are truly pitiful and are truly desperate.
I wanted to add to Lev Aryeh that Davening is realizing how great Hashem is and how much you lack from not being truly close and intimate with Him and expressing your longing for being locked in a close knit and intimate relationship with him that you always feel His love and kindness regardless of what happens in your day to day life.
LevAryehBoy Thanks!!
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