“Rav Yochanon said: One who wants to accept upon himself the complete yoke of Heaven should relieve himself in the bathroom, wash his hands, put on teffilin, say Shema, and then daven.”
Just like there is a physical process of preparing oneself to say Shema in the morning, the tzaddikim teach us that there is a parallel spiritual preparation that we must do in order to help us reach the upper spiritual worlds during davening. The structure and order of davening that Chazal created were designed to enable us to climb the spiritual ladder, one rung at a time.
The Derech Pekudecha writes that this structure is our way of preparing ourselves to enter the inner chamber of the King. We don’t want to just barge straight into the innermost chamber of the King, because we’d find ourselves unprepared for such an abrupt encounter with Hashem. The contrast between our daily, physical lives and a sudden encounter with the Divine Presence would leave us feeling exposed and ashamed. We don’t want to walk into the King’s room with an untucked shirt, dirty clothes, and out of breath. Therefore, we try to brush ourselves up a bit in the hallway as we head towards the King’s inner chamber.
This preparation is achieved by reading the parshiyos of korbonos with mindful intention, understanding and internalizing the practical pnimius message within each one. We will discover that korbonos are not just “extra credit” parts of davening for those with extra time on their hands, but are, in fact, a crucial component of davening that builds the foundation on which we will stand as we reach up to access a higher world of closeness to Hashem.
Davening is our substitute for bringing korbonos since we have no Beis Hamikdash. The first avodah the Kohen did in the Beis Hamikdash was to wash his hands and feet in the kior, cleansing them from any tumah. Therefore, we start off our recitation of Korbonos with a spiritual cleanse by reading the parshah of the kior. While reading about the kior, our job is to sanctify and cleanse our hands and feet, representing our physical actions, from any impurities they were involved with, or any separation from Hashem that we may have expressed through them. This is the “spiritual version” of “washing your hands” as part of the morning routine to help us accept the yoke of Heaven properly.
Moment of Mindfulness
Before reading the parshah of the kior, bring to mind any actions you have done recently that created a sense of distance before Hashem. Tell Hashem that before you enter His inner chamber, you want to cleanse yourself of these impurities. As you read through the parshah describing how the Kohen would purify himself by washing his hands and feet in the kior, cleanse yourself in your mind of any improper actions you may have done, sanctifying your hands and feet to be purified and ready to enter the King’s inner chamber to serve Hashem.
This article was found in Nekuda Tova Issue 13.