Shlomo Hamelech gives us a taste of what life is really about
Here we have a reference to Chana the prophetess, with her unique insight into the power and value of tefillah.
“Kirvas Elokim li tov,”(Tehillim 73:28) says Dovid Hamelech, characterizing the ultimate goodness as closeness to Hashem, which can be achieved with attention to our tefillah.
As we see with Chana, Hashem orchestrates our circumstances to generate specific needs, which in turn elicits heartfelt tefillos to inspire this closeness. The goal of tefillah, then, is not as much to get what we desire, but to achieve connection with Hashem.
Chazal derive a number of halachos of tefillah from the manner in which Chana davened. “V’Chana hi medaberes al libah — but Chana, she was speaking in her heart” (Shmuel I 1:13). From here we learn that one must focus one’s heart during tefillah. “Rak s’fasehah na’os — only her lips were moving” teaches us to enunciate the words we say. “V’kolah lo yishamei’a — and her voice was not heard” — tells us that when davening Shemoneh Esreh, we shouldn’t raise our voice.
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