“Mike’le,” asked the aged rabbi, “Why don’t
you come to shul and daven with the minyan?”
“You know, Rebbe,” he replied, “I
have a few daughters. And so I believe
it’s important for me to daven at home.
That way they’ll have the opportunity to see how a Jew davens with
tallis and tefillin. If I were to go to
daily minyan, when would they ever see these integral prayer items?”
“Really?” Reb Zundel responded with
a sigh, “did you ever consider bringing your little girls with you to shul?”
Rabbi Natan says: How do we know
that the Holy One, blessed be He, does not reject the prayers of the
congregation? For it is said, ‘Behold, Hashem despises not the mighty.’
The Holy One, blessed be He, says:
If a man occupies himself with the study of the Torah and with works of charity
and prays with the congregation, I account it to him as if he had redeemed Me
and My children from among the nations of the world.
Resh Lakish taught: Whoever has a synagogue
in his town and does not go there to pray is called a bad neighbour.
Davening in
shul versus davening at home is incomparable.
When you daven at home, you’re davening all alone, not just physically,
but also spiritually. When you daven by
yourself, the Almighty looks at you and says, “Let’s see, Chaim Yankel is
asking for all these things. Does he
really deserve them?” And He turns to
the angelic accounting department for an income and expenditure report.
What
happens when you daven at shul? Hashem
looks at the crowd and says, “You know what?
On the whole, they’re a pretty decent bunch. I’m going to give them what they’re asking
for.” That’s the meaning of Rabbi
Natan’s teaching. While He might not
heed the prayers of an individual, the prayers of a congregation are never
rejected.
The Mishnah
in Pirkei Avos teaches, “The world stands on three things: on Torah, on prayer,
and on acts of charity.” True, these three are the pillars that uphold the
world. But our Gemara takes it a step
further. If you want to do more than
simply maintain the status quo, if you want to actually redeem the hidden
sparks of the Divine that have been scattered across the globe, you need to act
cooperatively. When you learn Torah,
engage in charitable work, and pray together with a community, you transform
the universe. Why? Because it takes much more energy to
coordinate your efforts with other people.
It takes patience and flexibility.
It takes compromise and goodwill.
When you learn to work with others for the greater good, you make this
world a better place for everyone, even for the Almighty Himself!
And that’s
why an individual who has a shul in the area and chooses to daven at home is
considered a bad neighbour. Yes, they’re
praying. And they could be the most
meritorious person on Earth. But if
they’re not willing to share some of that merit with the rest of the community,
it means they’re not interested in making this world a better place.
If you want
your prayers to go directly to Heaven, you need to go directly to shul! Don’t worry if your merits are less than
perfect, you will ride the wave of congregational goodwill as the Almighty looks
down upon you with favour. May you always
be a good neighbour and make this world a better place!
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