The mitzvah of tefillah is mentioned in this week's parasha. It states (11:13), ולעבדו בכל לבבכם, referring to davening with all one's whole heart (see Taanis 2.). This is an important lesson. It isn't enough to daven. One must place all his heart and soul into tefillah.
The Baal HaSulam zt'l explains why this is important: A person can bang on a table for many years, and the table won't break. But if he bangs one time with force, the table will break. This is why we must daven בכל לבבכם with all our hearts. One prayer recited wholeheartedly accomplishes more than many half-hearted tefillos.
Chazal (Bereishis Rabba 53:14) say that Hashem listens to an ill person when he davens for himself. The explanation is that the sick person places all of his heart and soul in the prayer, making his tefillah very powerful.
Imagine you were granted the opportunity to stand directly before Hashem's throne, to pray and praise Him. Who wouldn't want to have this privilege? In fact, we all have an even greater privilege than that, because we can praise and pray to Hashem from this lowly world – which is very beloved to Hashem.
The Or HaChaim HaKadosh (Bamidbar 16:22) lists the levels of pleasure Hashem has from His creations when they sing His praises, from the lowest to the highest:
- The praises Hashem receives from the malachim in heaven.
- The next level is the praise of the neshamos of tzaddikim who sing to Hashem in heaven.
- The highest level is the praises of humans who praise and sing to Hashem from this world. This is the highest level because it is harder than all the others. It means recognizing Hashem from this lowly world and overcoming many barriers to praise Hashem. It is the highest form of praise and tefillah.
It states in this week's parasha (10:14), "Behold Hashem, your G-d, has the heaven and the heavens of heaven, the earth, and everything that's in it."
The Highest Praise Rabbi Elimelech Biderman
The Alshich HaKadosh wonders about the order of this pasuk: Is it from the highest level to the lowest, or from the lowest to the highest? If the pasuk is going from lower level to higher level, it should begin with הארץ and then השמים and then שמי השמים. On the other hand, if the pasuk is listing from highest to lowest, it should state שמי השמים first, and then השמים and then הארץ.
The Alshich answers that the pasuk is listing from the lowest level to the highest, because the highest level is הארץ, the earth. In Hashem's eyes, the most beautiful praises are the ones that come from this world.
Moshe Rabbeinu rebukes the nation that because of their sin with the eigel, he had to pray for them for forty days in heaven. And throughout those forty days (9:18), “I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all your sins you had committed."
Why was Moshe upset about that? Didn't Moshe consider it a great privilege and achievement to spend time in heaven with Hashem? The Tiferes Shlomo (Rosh Hashanah) answers, "The purpose of Creation is for man to live in this world where the yetzer hara provokes and entices him to pursue the temptations of this world, and for the person to overcome the yetzer hara do Hashem's will. As it states “Who is attached to Hashem? chayim kulchem hayom, the people who live in this world." The malachim, in higher worlds, aren't as precious to Hashem as human beings. As it states, 'Hashem desires praise from human beings carved out from earth.' Therefore, we should praise Hashem every moment of our lives, because this is Hashem's primary kavod.
Moshe complained that for forty days he was in heaven like a malach. He considered those days less precious, because in heaven there are no physical temptations or the ability to battle the yetzer hara.
It is difficult to daven properly in this world that is full of distractions. One must struggle to have kavanah, which is what makes our tefillos most precious of all.
