The Long and the Short; the Loud and the  Soft – Approaches to Prayer from the Torah of the Maharal, with Elucidations from the Chofetz Chaim and Pachad Yitzchok

By Eliakim Willner

Eliakim Willner is author of “Nesivos Olam – Nesiv HaTorah: An Appreciation of Torah Study”, a translation with commentary of a work by the Maharal of Prague, published by Artscroll/Mesorah. This article is adapted from his forthcoming continuation of the Nesivos Olam series, “Nesivos Olam – Nesiv HaAvodah: The Philosophy and Practice of Prayer”.

Introduction

The Gemara (Brachos 31a) teaches: 

“Rav Hamnuna said, ‘How many important laws can be learned from these verses relating to Chana! “And Chana spoke in her heart”  – from this we learn that one who prays must concentrate in his heart. “Only her lips moved” – from this we learn that one who prays must form the words with his lips. “And her voice was not heard” – from this we learn that it is forbidden to raise one’s voice when engaged in prayer.’”

Volumes can be, and have been, written about Tefillah; it is a massive subject that is well beyond the scope of a single article. Here we examine some specific issues regarding audibility and length of prayer, as explained by the Maharal, and as explicated by the Chofetz Chaim, Rav Yitzchok Hutner in Pachad Yitzchok, and others.

Why Must Prayer be Spoken?

In Nesiv HaAvodah 2:2 the Maharal writes that man’s uniqueness among the living creatures that inhabit the world is identified with his power of speech. If a person does not verbalize his needs in prayer he has not identified himself as an appropriate “address” to which the prayer fulfillment may be sent. In order to qualify as a “recipient” he has to articulate his desire to have his needs fulfilled. Thus a person must speak out his desire to have his needs fulfilled. If he does so he is asking as a human with a need and this makes him eligible to have his prayer responded to. Man alone qualifies for the relationship of closeness to Hashem that can lead to prayer fulfillment and man alone was elevated with the power of speech, so articulating one’s prayer requests is the equivalent of presenting to Hashem the “documentary evidence” that entitles him to have his prayer accepted.

Only as humans asking as humans, are we able to have our needs fulfilled by the Creator – since, only then, are we humans who are lacking. A person who prays mentally and without verbalizing has failed to present his needs as a human. Even though Hashem certainly knows our thoughts, if we fail to articulate our needs, we fail to qualify ourselves as a valid recipients of Hashem’s response.

In Derech Chaim 2:13 the Maharal, in explaining the Gemara that states that prayer must be in the form on an entreaty, notes that not only the attitude of the prayer, but also its spoken wording, must be in the form of an entreaty. He explains that speech turns a thought into an action – the action of speaking – and that positioning oneself as subservient to Hashem via acts is a much more powerful expression of subservience than merely having those thoughts. And the Maharal explains in Nesiv HaAvodah, prayer is speech-centric.

This is why we must express ourselves verbally when we pray. Speaking identifies us as humans. A person who prays mentally and without verbalizing has failed to present his needs as a human.

As a corollary to this rule, a person must articulate his requests precisely, when he prays, and not be careless with his words on the assumption that Hashem will understand what he wants even if he misspeaks. In Gur Aryeh, Bamidbar 22:11, with respect to the wording of Bil’am’s request of Hashem for permission to curse Yisroel, the Maharal writes, “Do not think that Hashem will act on the basis of His knowledge of a person’s intent when he makes a request. Rather, Hashem responds only on the basis of what a person actually says”.

The Maharal makes a similar point in Nesiv HaTorah chapter 4 about the need to verbalize the study of Torah. Speech, he writes, is identified with life and the Torah is called the source and extender of life. By verbalizing Torah study one connects life (the power of speech) with the source of life (Torah). This allows the Torah’s life-giving power to take effect. That connection does not take place when Torah study is confined to the mind and not verbalized. For this reason, adds the Maharal, one does not make the Torah study blessings if the study is not verbalized. See Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 47:4.

The Power of Speech and the Power of Torah – The Potency of Spirituality (Chofetz Chaim)

In Nesiv HaLashon chapter 5 the Maharal refers to the power of speech as that which gives man his tzurah, his form – that is, it is man’s defining feature. Tzurah is identified with ruchnius – with man’s intellect and spirituality. Torah, of course, is also identified with ruchnius.

In that light, the Chofetz Chaim, in Shmiras HaLoshon, Shaar HaZechira 1, citing a Yerushalmi in Peah 1, writes that just as the reward for Torah learning is of equal weight to the reward for all the other commandments combined, so is the punishment for loshon horah, defamatory speech, of equal weight to the punishment for all the other prohibitions combined. The positive commandment of  Torah learning and the negative commandment of loshon horah are at opposite ends of the Torah’s spectrum; Torah learning is at the height and loshon horah is at the nadir.

The basis for the special status of these commandments lies in their relative detachment from the physical and their association with the spiritual. Torah study utilizes the intellect. Loshon horah utilizes the power of speech. Both are more spiritual than physical in nature and therefore both are far more potent in terms of the affect that they have in the spiritual realm than the other commandments, both positive and negative, since those all involve physical actions of the body.

An analogy from the material world: Of the four elements that comprise this world – fire, water, earth and air – the two non-physical elements, fire and air, have far wider-reaching consequences than the others and are capable of wreaking significantly greater havoc than the others. Similarly, the two commandments that are most detached from the physical body, loshon horah in the negative sense, and Torah study in the positive sense, have the most significant spiritual consequences. And since the spiritual consequences of the commandments directly affect the physical world, as the Nefesh HaChaim details, these two commandments have a major impact on the physical quality of our lives; on our security and well-being.

All the commandments effect the spiritual and physical realms, but Torah and loshon horah, because of their spiritual nature, have the most dramatic effect. That is why the reward for Torah study is so magnified that it outweighs that of all the other commandments together. And it is why the punishment for loshon horah is so magnified that it outweighs that of all the other negative commandments together.

The Relationship of Thought and Speech in Prayer

In Beraishis 48:22 Yaakov bequeaths the city of Schem to Yosef as a reward for Yosef’s undertaking to return the body of Yaakov to the Meoras HaMachpela burial cave in Israel for internment. He describes Schem as the city that he took from the Emorites “with my sword and my bow”. Rashi explains that as a meaning “with my wisdom and my prayer”. The efficacy of prayer is compared to that of bow and arrow weaponry.

Rabbi Yehoshua Dovid Hartman, in his commentary on the Maharal in Gur Aryeh on this verse, cites the Maharal’s explanation of prayer in Beer Hagolah 4. There the Maharal explains that the Hebrew word for prayer, tefilla, comes from the root pallal, which means “thought”. Prayer at its core is a will; a desire, that takes form as thought, that Hashem should fulfill the needs that he is praying for. Without that crucial thought, the words of prayer are devoid of meaning and cannot properly be called prayer at all.

In that light we can understand, Rabbi Hartman, explains, the appropriateness of the bow and arrow metaphor to prayer. A bow provides the force that propels the arrow. It is the arrow that strikes the target but it is the force of the bow that creates the effect of the strike. With respect to prayer, the thought, the will, like the bow, provides the “force” that propels; in this case, it is the spoken words of prayer that are being propelled. The analog to the “arrow” that carries the force are the words of the prayer, that articulate and “carry” the thought/will that constitute the core of the prayer itself.

Why is the force – the thought – itself not sufficient? Why is a “carrier” needed in the form of the spoken words of prayer? In the terminology of the Maharal here, the answer is that since speech is man’s signature characteristic, and since man’s sole entitlement to having his prayers responded to by Hashem is his status as man, he needs to stamp his prayers with man’s exclusive imprimatur – that is, he needs to “package” them in speech – in order to establish that he has a “right” to having his prayers answered. The thought, like the bow, indeed supplies the force. But without the “arrow” of the spoken word, the thought alone would be as impotent as a bow without an arrow.

Not Too Loud!

Although one must verbalize prayer, it is important that prayer not be too loud (as the Gemara with which we began derives from the prayer of Chana).

Ideally, writes the Mishnah Brurah in Orach Chaim 101:2, one should pray so quietly that even the person standing next to him should not hear him. This is to avoid disturbing the prayers of others.

But there is another, deeper reason for keeping the volume down when praying. The Maharal in Nesiv HaAvodah 2:3 quotes the Gemara in Brachos 24b.: “The braiso taught, ‘One who prays so that it can be hear is among those of little faith. One who raises his voice in prayer is counted among the false prophets.” The Gemara explains that the prophets of the idol Baal screamed to him for a response so one who prays loudly is compared to them.

The Maharal writes that such prayer indicates “little faith” because prayer is an expression of faith that Hashem will fulfill the supplicant’s requests, and this faith is indicative of an attachment to an exalted and hidden plane. This faith goes back to the very origins of the world when Hashem willed the world into existence from nothing. He therefore controls every last detail of the world’s operation and it is in His sole power to fulfill prayer requests. One who prays with the knowledge that Hashem and only Hashem can help him thus attaches himself to this lofty and primordial plane of existence. Loud prayer flies in the face of this kind of prayer.

(We should add that the Mishnah Brurah 95:2 writes that, aside from prayer decibel level, it is inappropriate to make unusual movements or sounds of any kind when praying publicly.)

 

When a Shorter Prayer is Better (Pachad Yitzchok)

In Nesiv HaAvodah 6:7 the Maharal speaks of the benefits of a long prayer, as long as the pronunciation of the words is not artificially elongated and the person praying is not fixated on his expectation of a positive response. However, there are occasions when a shorter, albeit complete prayer, is better.

With the Egyptians gaining on them from behind and the Red Sea blocking their way in front, and with no salvation in sight, Moshe cried out to Hashem in prayer, as the Torah relates in Shmos 14:16. Rashi explains that Moshe intended to pray at length but Hashem told him that when Yisroel is in distress, it is not the time for extended prayer. Hashem said, “Why do you cry out to me? Speak to Yisroel and have them travel”.

The Maharal in Gur Aryeh on that verse writes that the reason a long prayer was not appropriate at that juncture was that no prayer response could be forthcoming until the prayer ended. The salvation would have to be deferred until the prayer was completed. To avoid prolonging Yisroel’s distress, then, Hashem told Moshe to pray briefly, so as to accelerate the salvation.

Why, though, was it necessary to defer the salvation until the completion of the prayer? Why could Hashem not have alleviated the distress of Yisroel even while Moshe continued his prayer? To answer this question we turn to Rav Yitzchok Hutner’s Pachad Yitzchok, Pesach Maamar 14. He cites the Medrash (Shmos Rabbah 21:5) which asks, why did Hashem wait until Yisroel was literally cornered before delivering His salvation? The answer, says the Medrash, is that Hashem yearned for their prayers and thus brought about a situation that compelled prayer. In other words, Rav Hutner explains, although ordinarily a predicament is cause for prayer, there are times when Hashem’s desire for prayer is cause for a predicament.

On those occasions – and the crisis at the Red Sea was one of those occasions – it is impossible for the salvation to be delivered mid-prayer. That would defeat the purpose of the predicament, which was to engender the very prayer that would be cut short by a premature salvation. In such cases the prayer is not a means to an end, but is the end itself, and preserving its integrity is paramount.

That is why Hashem told Moshe to complete his prayer before delivering the salvation. When the prayer was complete, the objective of the predicament – to engender the prayer – was accomplished, and the salvation could be delivered without further delay.

But there is more, Rav Hutner continues. Ordinarily, after being rescued from disaster, the prevailing attitude is deep gratitude for the salvation. The salvation is the focus. After the miraculous events at the Red Sea, however, Yisroel’s focus was not so much on the salvation itself, as it was on the knowledge that their prayers had found a ready ear, as it were, in Hashem. They gloried in this demonstration that Hashem is attuned to their prayers. The rescue itself? That was but a means, whose end was this great realization.

Just as, for Hashem, the predicament was a means to extract Yisroel’s prayers, so for Yisroel, was the rescue a means to an appreciation that Hashem is listening to those prayers. As King Dovid expressed it, “I love when Hashem hears my voice in my supplications. For He extended His ear to me…” (Tehillim 116:1-2).

When Even a Deficient Prayer is Effective (Pachad Yitzchok)

Regarding our three daily prayer services, the Gemara in Brachos 26b says:

“Rabbi Yosi son of Rabbi Chaninah said, ‘Our [three] forefathers established the [three] prayer services… There is a braiso supporting Rabbi Chaninah’s position: ‘Avrohom instituted the Shachris morning service, as is written,  “And Avrohom arose early in the morning to the place where he stood  before Hashem” and ‘standing’ can only mean prayer, as is written,  ‘And Pinchas stood and prayed, and the plague was stopped’.

‘Yitzchok instituted the Mincha afternoon service as is written,  “And Yitzchok went out to meditate  in the field towards evening”, and meditate can only mean prayer, as is written, “A prayer for a poor man when he enwraps himself and pours out his meditation before Hashem”.’

‘Yaakov instituted the Maariv evening service as is written,  “And he encountered the place and lodged there because the sun had set”, and encounter can only mean prayer, as is written, “[And you, pray not on behalf of this people,] lift up neither cry nor prayer, and do not encounter me”.

Let us shift our focus to the events of kriyas yam suf. With the Egyptians gaining on them from behind and the Red Sea blocking their way in front, and with no salvation in sight, Yisroel cried out to Hashem in prayer, as the Torah relates in Shmos 14:10. Rashi explains that in so doing, Yisroel clung to the prayer practices of their forefathers. He cites the verses brought in the Gemara in Brachos 26b regarding the prayer services established by each of the forefathers.

The Maharal in Gur Aryeh explains that there was nothing particularly special or meritorious about their prayer; indeed, at the same time they prayed, they complained, and expressed regret on having left Egypt. Rather, they were simply following their forefathers’ prayer tradition. It was a half-hearted, rote effort.

Rav Yitzchok Hutner, in Pachad Yitzchok, Purim Maamar 19:3, explains that it might be thought that Rashi and the Maharal are implying that the deficiency in Yisroel’s prayer at the Red Sea resulted in its inefficacy, but in reality they are describing a singular feature of this prayer; a feature that made this prayer accomplish its intended result notwithstanding its deficiency. Indeed, the result of the prayer was that “Hashem will fight for you, but you will remain silent” (Shmos 14:14).

This prayer did not operate as traditional prayers do, through intense focus, concentration and merit. Rather this prayer was effective because it served as a credential – it identified Yisroel as descendants of the forefathers. We can best understand this concept through a metaphor. A person petitions the King for something and while he is making his case the King cuts him off, telling him, “I do not need to hear your appeal. I am going to grant your request not because of your argument but because I recognize, in the manner of your speaking, your pedigree”. Similarly, when Hashem told Yisroel, “… you will remain silent”, the intent was not to dismiss their prayer, but rather to inform them that through their prayer, He recognized their ancestry, and the merit of that ancestry made prayer in the traditional sense unnecessary, and mooted the inherent deficiency of the prayer.

Yisroel’s prayer at the Red Sea operated on a different basis than traditional prayer. It identified Yisroel as children of the forefathers, and that in itself was an entitlement to salvation. This prayer was a path to deliverance that bypassed the need for traditional prayer.

Conclusion

It is important to articulate our prayers carefully, and, when we add personal entreaties to our prayers, to choose our words carefully. Prayers connect us back to our forefathers and they connect us to Hashem, who awaits them.

Prayers are potent weapons; they have the potential to move worlds, and we must take care that we are moving worlds in the right direction.