Reaching out to G-d should not be like a bus schedule
I enter the shul at 6:02 and don my tefillin, and precisely at 6:10, the shaliach tzibbur begins with the morning brachos. If I am even 90 seconds late, I am left hopelessly behind. At 6:22, we will arrive at Barechu; at 6:26, the Shema; at 6:33, we all begin the Shemoneh Esreh together. After Kedushah and Tachanun and post-Shemoneh Esreh tefillos, we arrive at Aleinu and the Psalm for the Day precisely at 6:56. The schedule is like clockwork, precise and exact. Good morning, have a nice day, see you tomorrow, b’ezras Hashem.
I leave the shul, satisfied that I davened with a minyan, answered Amen to Kaddish, said Barechu, recited Modim with the minyan, and — in Israel — heard Bircas Kohanim. I have done my morning duty as a Jew.
But have I really?
The bus schedule and the davening schedule are analogous in their precision: dependable, reliable, predictable. And it is precisely this strict punctiliousness that gives me some unease.
Because reaching out to G-d should not be like a bus schedule. Spontaneity, freshness, kavanah, awareness of G-d’s Presence, and subservience to a Higher Power — these are the indispensable keys to prayer, over and above the required regularity.
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