Growth Through Connection

There’s a sentence we say three times every day that few of us understand. We preface every Shemoneh Esreh with the words of Dovid Hamelech: “Hashem, open my lips, and my mouth will speak your praise.” If you think about it, this is a very peculiar introduction. We begin our tefillah by declaring that we are incapable of davening. We step forward ready to speak to Hashem, only to find our lips sealed shut, and we beseech Him to open them.

Why, as we begin Shemoneh Esreh, are we suddenly rendered speechless? The answer is that in Shemoneh Esreh, we enter Hashem’s world. We look at the universe through the prism of Hashem’s plan for humanity: He remembers the deeds of the Avos and brings a redeemer to their descendants. Then, the resurrection of the dead, and the ultimate revelation of His kedushah. We stand for Shemoneh Esreh, prepared to present Hashem with our well-rehearsed wish list. But when we enter Hashem’s world, we can’t find the words. What say do we have in that lofty world?

We are connected to a world that far transcends our own. We feel this most powerfully in tefillah, but all mitzvos manifest this connection. When we fulfill a mitzvah, we make an impact in the uppermost realms. Every Jew plays a role in the national mission and the fruition of the world’s purpose. This is the depth of our obligation in the mitzvos: Hashem wants us to do our avodah not only for our individual reward, but because it has cosmic significance.

This understanding stands in stark contrast to the notion that the foundation of avodah is “geshmak” — spiritual or intellectual gratification in Torah and mitzvos. In recent years, we have put geshmak on a golden pedestal. The underlying problem is that we’re only willing to exert effort in any area if we feel motivated. How do we feel motivated to do mitzvos all day long? We have temporary bursts of inspiration, but the surest way to stay motivated is to find pleasure in the mitzvos we do. So, meaning well, we constantly search for geshmak, unwittingly teaching ourselves that if the mitzvah isn’t geshmak, it’s not for us.