In the sefer Keser Shem Tov (Siman 136), the Baal Shem Tov gives us a powerful tool we can use to help push forward when we have a hard time davening. He writes:
“It can happen that a person needs to do many preparations for davening, and come up with all kinds of strategies so that, with great effort, maybe he will be able to daven properly. Kulei hai, vi’ulai, all this (effort), and maybe!” Nevertheless, one should not give up, thinking that he is wasting his time (by davening without heart and passion). Rather, he should pay attention to the fact that he has the ability to connect to many people, who are considered limbs of the Shechinah, and can elevate them and lift them up with him.”
Rav Naftali Erlinger in the sefer of his Shiurim on Keser Shem Tov, explains this cryptic Baal Shem Tov in a truly mind-blowing way.
Davening is avodah shebilev, a time to attach ourselves to the Creator of the world. If a Yid finds his heart to be cold and completely disconnected from a passionate tefillah, it can be very difficult to daven. The yetzer hara presents his argument: the entire purpose of davening is to have a connection and attachment to Hashem, so if you can’t have that now, your davening is like a “body without a soul.” What’s the purpose of such a davening? Close your siddur and try again tomorrow!
The Baal Shem Tov tells us not to give up on the opportunity that exists at such a moment, and teaches us an incredibly powerful perspective we can use to push ourselves to daven as best as we can, even if we don’t feel a connection.
There are neshamos that descend to this world at a moment of particular hester, concealment of the Divine Presence. Because they were born at moments of concealment, they may carry signs of such concealment of Hashem, in the form of physical or emotional flaws. The reason for this is because the neshamos of Yidden are ‘limbs of the Shechinah.” We are literally made up of the Divine Presence, chelek Elokai Memal, so if the Shechinah is concealed in a very strong way, a Yid born at that moment will carry signs of this pain of the Shechinah.
Such Yidden literally carry, in their very essence, the tzaar haShechinah, and they will be rewarded greatly for this.
This does not only apply to Yidden who are born with health issues, but is also true for tinokos she’nishbu – Yidden who are born and raised in a secular environment. Such a neshamah goes through enormous pain, living in a way that it is disconnected from its Source. Such Yidden also carry the tzaar haShechinah – they are literally a physical manifestation of the concealment of the Divine Presence in exile.
When a Yid is trying to daven and is unable to connect, he is experiencing hester panim, Hashem’s concealment. At that moment, he has just forged a connection to all those neshamos who live with hester panim their entire lives, whose very identity is a manifestation of hester panim.
It can be hard to feel the pain of neshamos who are disconnected from Hashem, but if you really want to connect to Hashem by davening, and you are unable to, at that moment you experience a small taste of that pain, and with that you forge a connection to those souls.
With that connection, a window of hope is opened to these neshamos. If you can push yourself to try as hard as you can, to keep davening, despite the difficulty in doing so, you are awakening, illuminating, strengthening, elevating, and bringing a tikkun to those neshamos that live in a constant state of hester panim.
This is part of the purpose of why Hashem orchestrates these moments when we find it nearly impossible to connect to Hashem with our heart and soul. Hashem is challenging us to find the inner strength to push forward anyway, to do the mitzvah, to say another line, another paragraph of davening, even if we feel nothing. By meeting these moments, we can do the greatest chessed in the world for the neshamos of our brothers and sisters who are living in a state of concealment.
Take It To Go:
The Baal Shem Tov teaches us the proper perspective on why some Yidden are born with physical or spiritual flaws, the compassion and love we should have for those neshamos, why we experience moments where connecting to Hashem is nearly impossible, and what the mission of such moments are all about.
At times that we experience hester panim, and find it difficult to daven and connect to Hashem, we are, in fact, being given a unique opportunity to help neshamos of Yidden who live in a state of hester panim their entire lives. By pushing ourselves to daven even though we don’t feel a connection, we are connecting with those neshamos and elevating them along with us.
This article was found in Nekuda Tova Issue 32.