English translation — ויגש א

Sicha 1<pg>192</pg>

A.

Regarding the law of silent prayer, it is stated in the Zohar on our parshah<sup>1</sup>

: "A person does not need to make his voice heard in his prayer, but rather to pray silently with a voice that is not heard, and this is the prayer that is always accepted,

and your sign is 'and the voice was heard'<sup>2</sup>,

a voice without a vav is heard,

this is the prayer that is in silence, as it is written regarding Hannah<sup>3</sup>

'and her voice was not heard' — this is the prayer that the Holy One, blessed be He, accepts.

When it is done with will and intention and proper arrangement, and to unite the unity of his Master properly every day."

And the commentators wrote<sup>4</sup>,

that from the words of the Zohar it appears,

that this one who does not let his voice be heard means not only that he should not let his voice be heard by others, but "even he himself should not hear his voice".

And so it also implies in the Zohar, Parshat Vayakhel<sup>5</sup>

: "And if that prayer is heard by the ears of a human, there is no one who listens to it above..

And further, that the matter of prayer is attached to the upper world, and the matter of the upper world does not need to be heard".

However, for halachah, it is ruled in the Rambam<sup>6</sup>

(and likewise in the Shulchan Aruch<sup>7</sup>)

"and he makes it audible to his ears in a whisper, and he should not let his voice be heard",

and the Tur wrote<sup>8</sup>

"There are those who say that which they said that he should not let his voice be heard in his prayer, that it must be in a whisper so that it is not heard even by his ears, and they bring a proof from the Tosefta<sup>9</sup>

One might think he may make it audible to his ears<sup>10</sup>

It has already been explained by Chanah: 'and her voice was not heard',

But in our Gemara<sup>11</sup>

it excludes only the making his voice heard, which means he makes his voice heard to others, but to his ears he may make it audible, and so it is explicit in the Yerushalmi<sup>12</sup>

One might think he may raise his voice in his prayer, it has already been explained by Chanah: 'and her voice<sup>13</sup>

was not heard'.

2.

And behold,

Although according to all opinions it is forbidden to make one's voice heard to others,

It is brought in the Yerushalmi¹²

"Rabbi Yonah, when he would pray in the synagogue, he would pray in a whisper, and when he would pray in his house, he would pray in a voice, until the members of his household would learn his prayer from him."

And in the Tur⁸

he learned from this Yerushalmi,

that "if he makes his voice heard..

so that the members of his household will learn from him, it is permitted",

and the commentators explain on this¹⁴,

that according to the Tur, the "<pg>193</pg>

They learn from him the members of his household — that he was doing this for this purpose,

And the explanation of "until" is like "in order that"

(that the members of his house should learn prayer),

But in the Beis Yosef⁸

explains "that he would raise his voice until it would result from this incidentally that the members of his household would learn from him, even though it was taught: one who raises his voice in his prayer — this is one of the false prophets¹⁵

It was stated about it¹⁵

that if he cannot concentrate in a whisper, it is permitted, etc."¹⁶.

And it follows,

that there is a dispute regarding the reason for the permission to let others hear his voice,

that according to the Tur it is permitted to raise his voice even only so that the members of his house should learn to pray,

but not so according to the Beis Yosef: the permission is only when through raising his voice he can concentrate as needed.

3.

And it appears to explain all this with an introduction,

that the source of this law is learned in the Gemara¹¹

from what is said about Chanah —

(as above)

"and her voice was not heard" — "one might think he should make his voice heard in his prayer, it is already explained by Chanah, as it is said, 'and her voice was not heard',"

and further there in the Gemara "how many great halachos can be derived from these verses of Chanah..

and her voice was not heard — from here that it is forbidden to raise one's voice in his prayer."

And we find regarding this several versions: in the Gemara before us,

the version

(as above)

"and her voice was not heard — from here that it is forbidden¹⁷

to raise one's voice in his prayer",

and in the novellae of the Rashba¹⁸

the version "from here for one who prays that he should not make his voice heard in his prayer"

(and along these lines it is in the Rosh¹⁹

and Tur²⁰),

and in the Rif it says²¹

"from here for one who prays that his prayer must be in a whisper"²².

And it requires examination into the reason for the differences of the versions.

And one may say regarding this:

In the category of making one's voice heard in prayer, there are in general two laws,

the law of the prohibition of making one's voice heard in his prayer

[and according to what is said in the baraita above¹⁵

there "one who makes his voice heard in his prayer, this one is of small faith",

"one who raises his voice in his prayer, this one is of the false prophets"],

and the law of the mitzvah of prayer in a whisper from the perspective of the essence of the category of prayer,

And regarding this law itself, one may say in two ways: a)

that the law is from the perspective of the category of speech of prayer,

that prayer must be in a whisper,

b)

that it is a law in the intention of prayer,

that from the perspective of the essence of prayer, which is "service of the heart", prayer must be specifically in a whisper.

And it can be said that the three manners mentioned above are emphasized in the variant readings in the lesson from the prayer of Channah: according to the reading before us "From here that it is forbidden to raise one's voice in his prayer,"

the lesson is

(as the plain meaning of the language)

the prohibition to raise the voice,

which is like a side prohibition; according to the reading of the Rashba and the Rosh "From here for one who prays^*22

that he should not make his voice heard in his prayer,"

this pertains to the essence of the matter of prayer,

but in relation to the speech of prayer,

that the manner of speech must be that he should not make his voice heard; while according to the reading of the Rif "that one's prayer must be in a whisper,"

which is written in a positive language,

this is because whispered prayer is from the very essence of the object of prayer, the service of the heart.

And it can be said,

that in this also the Rambam and the Shulchan Aruch disagree.

For behold the Rambam⁶

writes "He should not raise his voice in his prayer and he should not pray in his heart, but rather he should articulate the words with his lips and make them audible to his ears in a whisper, and he should not make his voice heard, unless he was sick or unable to concentrate his heart until he makes his voice heard, this is permitted,"

and in the Shulchan Aruch⁷

the author writes "And he should not pray in his heart alone, but rather he should articulate the words with his lips and make them audible to his ears in a whisper, and he should not make his voice heard, and if he cannot concentrate in a whisper, it is permitted to raise his voice etc."

And behold, although in general the language of the Shulchan Aruch is like the language of the Rambam,

nevertheless there is a fundamental change in the order of the matters,

for in the Rambam he begins "One should not raise his voice in his prayer" and afterwards he continues "And one should not pray in his heart but rather articulate the words etc.",

whereas in the Shulchan Aruch he begins "And one should not pray in his heart alone but rather articulate etc."

And it seems to me,

that both according to the Rambam and according to the Beis Yosef the prohibition of making one's voice heard in prayer is from the aspect of the essential definition of prayer,

except that according to the Rambam it is a law in the speech of prayer,

and according to the opinion of the Beis Yosef the law of prayer in a whisper is from the essence of the object of prayer,

for from the aspect of its definition of prayer,

service of the heart,

it must be specifically in a whisper.

And therefore the Rambam, when he comes to define "the equalizing of the voice how"²³

begins "He should not raise his voice in his prayer,"

and only afterwards writes "And he should not pray in his heart, but rather articulate the words with his lips and make them audible to his ears in a whisper,"

to emphasize that the subject is speech of prayer which is the essence of the commandment of prayer; but in the Shulchan Aruch the section begins "One who prays must concentrate etc." and continues in the following paragraph "And he should not pray in his heart alone, but rather articulate the words with his lips and make them audible to his ears in a whisper,"

that from the very definition of prayer,

service

(concentration)

of the heart,

there would be room that he should pray in his heart alone²⁴,

and therefore it begins that "he should not pray in his heart alone but<pg>194</pg>

etc.",

and therefore also that he makes it audible to his ears in a whisper is because prayer is in the heart.

4.

Explanation of the matter:

It is known that regarding prayer there are two matters: a)

requesting one's needs,

as the simple meaning of the matter,

b)

service of the heart,

as they learned from "and to serve Him with all your hearts"²⁵,

"Which is the service that is in the heart..

this is prayer"²⁶.

And one could say,

that the above-mentioned modes

(section 3)

in the category of the law of producing sound depend on what is the essential matter of prayer:

If you say that the essential matter of prayer is requesting one's needs,

then prayer is essentially a commandment of speech,

like a person who requests his needs from the king,

whose request is through speech.

And according to this, there is room to say,

that the speech of prayer must specifically be in a voice audible to others,

for this is the definition of speech,

for the sake of the other.

For although the Holy One, blessed be He, knows the thoughts of man,

nevertheless,

from the side of the person praying,

his request must be in the manner and as one requests from a king of flesh and blood,

and therefore it must specifically be in speech,

and from this it is understood that essentially it must specifically be speech audible to others^*26.

<pg>195</pg>

And this is the reason of the logic that all the prohibition of making one's voice heard in prayer is only a secondary prohibition

("from those of little faith",

"from false prophets"),

for essentially,

from the perspective of the definition of prayer, prayer must specifically be in a voice audible to others,

and only from the concern of "those of little faith" was it prohibited, etc.

And based on this, it can be said that this is the view of the Tur, that it is permitted to raise one's voice so that the members of his household will learn to pray,

since the entire prohibition of raising one's voice is only a secondary prohibition,

and it is permitted even for such a reason.

And it can be said,

that even according to the view of the Rambam, that it is a law regarding the speech of prayer,

he holds that the main essence of prayer is the request of one's needs²⁷

and prayer is a commandment that is in speech,

but nevertheless he holds that the very definition of prayer requires speech specifically in a whisper,

namely, because prayer is a request from the King of kings of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He,

and it must be said with awe and fear,

and therefore prayer must be said specifically in a whisper,

for it is not befitting the honor of a king to speak before him in a loud voice,

that is to say,

speaking in a whisper indicates awe and fear²⁸

when standing before the King of kings of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He.

But not according to the opinion of the Beit Yosef,

the essential matter of prayer is the intention and thought of the heart,

service of the heart,

and this is also the reason that prayer must be specifically in a whisper,

because speech in a loud voice is the opposite of deep intention and inner feeling of the heart²⁹.

And thus,

the very definition of intention necessitates prayer in a whisper.

And this is also the reason that the Beit Yosef holds that it is not permitted to simply raise one's voice so that his household members will learn, etc.,

because speech in a loud voice is the opposite of the definition of prayer,

and all the permission is only in such a case where it is impossible for him to concentrate unless he prays in a loud voice,

then,

the definition of prayer itself

(intention and thought of the heart)

necessitates speech in a loud voice.

5.

Based on all the above, it is necessary to explain the view of the Zohar that prayer in a whisper means that it should not be heard even by one's own ears³⁰.

For behold, based on the inner dimension of the Torah³¹,

Not this<pg>196</pg>

only that the main essence of prayer is the intention and thought of the heart,

but furthermore,

that the silent prayer is the ultimate of attachment in prayer itself,

as is known regarding the matter of the four stages of prayer,

that the silent prayer corresponds to the world of Atzilut,

which is the world of unity,

where there is no existence at all besides Him, blessed be He.

and this is the inner content of the silent prayer,

which is like standing before the king³²,

that this is not only a description of the state of the one praying,

but according to the inwardness of the matters,

this itself is the content of the matter of prayer,

that a person stands before the king with absolute self-nullification.

[And it can be said that this is the inner explanation in the halacha that during prayer one must say "as one standing before the king",

and "even a king of Israel who inquires about his welfare, he should not answer him"&lt;sup&gt;33&lt;/sup&gt;

(unlike in Shema where they permitted returning a greeting out of fear and out of respect&lt;sup&gt;34&lt;/sup&gt;),

that it is not only a law regarding the action,

that the one praying is in a position and state that he hears that they ask about his welfare and discerns who is asking about his welfare, and only in practice does he not answer him because he stands before the king,

but this is the true state of the one praying, that this that he does not answer is because he is nullified in his existence].

And this is also the reason that prayer must be specifically in a whisper,

as the Alter Rebbe explains&lt;sup&gt;35&lt;/sup&gt;

in the elucidation of the aspect of Yehuda&lt;sup&gt;36&lt;/sup&gt;

"that it is the aspect of thanksgiving, it is the aspect of nullification and inclusion..

Therefore prayer is in a whisper and in secret..

the aspect of utter and complete nullification of existence, and that is the aspect of pouring out into the bosom of one's Father actually, to be like nothing and naught actually".

And based on this will also be understood that which according to the inner dimension of Torah&lt;sup&gt;37&lt;/sup&gt;

this that prayer must be in a whisper, namely that it is not heard even to the ears of the one praying&lt;sup&gt;38&lt;/sup&gt;,

for specifically through this is expressed the greatness of the self-nullification of the Amidah prayer,

that his existence is not felt,

until he himself does not hear the sound of his prayer&lt;sup&gt;39&lt;/sup&gt;.

6.

And behold, in Torah Ohr at the end of our portion&lt;sup&gt;40&lt;/sup&gt;

it is stated: "And likewise will be understood the matter of the Shemoneh Esrei prayer&lt;pg&gt;197&lt;/pg&gt;

In a whisper is only at this time that the Nukva is in the aspect of receiver and not bestower,

but in the future when she will be elevated to be in the aspect of bestower like the male himself, then Shemoneh Esrei will be aloud^*40

Loud⁴¹

And it will be a voice that is heard".

And seemingly it is puzzling⁴²,

For since according to the inner dimension of the Torah

(the knowledge of the Zohar)

the matter of prayer in a whisper is due to the nature and essence of prayer,

for it is the expression of the self-nullification that is in prayer, which is the true content of the Amidah prayer⁴³

(corresponding to the world of Atzilut)

— how is it possible that in the future to come the prayer will be aloud,

which is the opposite of self-nullification?

And this can be explained based on what my master and father wrote in his notes to the Zohar there⁴⁴

In explaining the expressions there: "The three expressions: ratzua, kavanah, tikuna, because prayer is in Malchut,

Now, ratzua, will, is Keter of Malchut,

And kavanah, which is in intellect and mochin, is the mochin of Malchut, Chochmah and Binah,

And tikuna is in the emotions of Malchut, from her Daat to her Hod,

[And he continues]

And to unify the unity of the Master,

It is in the womb of Malchut, where the unity is, as understood."

And it can be said,

That this that my master and father is precise in the three expressions "ratzua and kavanah and tikuna" which are connected with all the levels in Malchut,

Is because based on this it is explained that the matter of nullification of existence in prayer is in all the levels,

And this means that the nullification of existence of prayer must be in a manner that not only are all the powers of his soul nullified as if they are not,

But the nullification penetrates all the powers,

The will and the mochin and emotions and even into actual deed,

That is, the nullification must also be from the aspect of their existence,

And the acknowledgment and nullification in deed is a result not only of the nullification of the essence of his soul to G-d,

But from the nullification as it is in all his powers.

And based on this, one can explain that in the future to come, the prayer of the Shemoneh Esrei will be recited aloud:

The ultimate level of self-nullification that can be attained in this time,

even the level of self-nullification in actuality,

even in a manner that penetrates all of his faculties,

from the power of will to the power of action,

this is in a manner that negates the existence of the person,

the nullification of every faculty of his soul.

But in the future to come, when the self-nullification will be in ultimate perfection,

until "And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh together shall see"⁴⁵,

that the flesh of itself will "see" Divinity,

then in all of reality it will be revealed that there is none else⁴⁶,

that they are no existence,

and in Israel it will be revealed that Israel and the Holy One, blessed be He, are all one⁴⁷,

in a manner that their very existence is the Essence, as it were⁴⁸,

and like "Who are the kings? The rabbis"⁴⁹,

that their very existence is the king⁵⁰,

then the superiority of the matter of ultimate self-nullification in prayer will be revealed,

therefore the prayer will be recited aloud,

the meaning of which is — the revelation of the superiority of self-nullification.

(From the talk of Shabbat Parshat Vayigash 5746)