It's so interesting to me to hear different perspectives on Tefiila b'tzibur vs.davening alone. Clearly, I don't get the liberty of experimenting and choosing my preference. I need to daven with a minyan three times a day, and usually do (the only time I can remember feeling proud of my child's ignorance is when the first time I took my son to shul for shacharit during the week he asked me what the tefilin were). What I have found though on the instances that I have davened b'yichidut is that the experience is polarizing, and my tefilla is either better or worse than usual. To put it another way, the minyan is the great equalizer. The structure and crowd usually give me the ability to reach a minimal, baseline focus that I don't always achieve when davening alone (especially on those occasions that you realize that you hadn't davened maariv until you're already in bed). On the other hand, the minyan pushes me to conform to a certain pace. It also too often lulls me into a routine that is not conducive to the true communication with Hashem that I'm occasionally able to achieve when standing alone in my living room, the only one in the house still awake when the shuffling of the pages of the siddur seems almost deafening.
All that said, I think I would have enjoyed Mrs. Cohen's Kabbalat Shabbat. Moral of the story - if you're looking for a life rich with experiences, head to Israel.
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