Ensuring Respect
In the summer of תקפ"ג (1823), the community of Paritch asked the Mitteler Rebbe to visit them for a few weeks during the upcoming winter, as was the custom. He replied by letter that although he was not in perfect health, he would fulfill their request, on condition that they resolve an issue about which he was extremely bitter – talking in shul. In his letter, he recalled the numerous warnings given by his father, the Alter Rebbe, but unfortunately had gone unheeded.
He then wrote: "Therefore let it be known in my name, in every town and minyan, that they should make a firm resolve, enforced by a vow, not to speak during davening, from the moment that the sheliach tzibbur stands before the amud. They should also appoint a trustworthy supervisor who will favor no one, and who will be willing to disgrace any person who violates the vow. This will literally revive me from the intense pain that this matter is causing me."
The Mitteler Rebbe then went on to explain how, in his view, the many tragedies that had befallen the Yidden during that time resulted from the habit of conversing in shul. He added that due to the talking, even the tefilos of the other mispalelim in that shul are not accepted Above. He concluded that he was waiting for the townsmen of Paritch to notify him that they had begun to implement the above-mentioned proposals, and then he would visit them.
(אג"ק אדהאמ"צ ח"א ע' רעא)
Reb Eliezer Papo writes in his famous work Peleh Yoetz: Some people, who would prefer not to converse in shul, feel intimidated by others who might mock their "excessive holiness." So they respond to the talkers, until they too become insensitive to small talk in shul. Now, how would the same people react if they were threatened by a robber or a murderer, r"l? They would raise a commotion, regardless of embarrassment. So here, too, without being bashful, they should state, "Sorry, I don't speak during davening."
(פלא יועץ ערך ביהכ"נ)
A Serious Matter
The Rebbe once said: "If a person chooses to talk during davening, that's his business. Let him go into another room and observe his 'minhag' of talking during davening. But why should I be forced to daven in a minyan in which there is talking?!"
On another occasion the Rebbe said that it was not the children that needed to be silenced, but the adults. "A child knows that he comes to shul to daven to HaShem, and if he did not see adults talking there, he would not learn to do the same..."
(תשורה סיום הרמב"ם כפ"ח תשנ"ו, התוועדויות תשמ"ג ח"ב ע' 1131)
The Rebbe once related that at one time he had challenged the rov of a certain shul in which people would walk around before davening was over, disturbing those who were still davening. To this the rov replied: "Is that the only problem that we have?!" The Rebbe was not impressed, and made it clear that the matter must be resolved.
(שיחו"ק תשמ"א ח"א ע' 463)
In the shul of the Sfas Emes of Ger, there were two daily minyanim for Shacharis, one after the other. While the second minyan began to daven, the mispalelim from the first would stay to talk. When word of this reached the Sfas Emes, he rescheduled the minyanim so that the first group would finish socializing before the second minyan began...
(שיח שרפי קודש ח"ב ע' לב)
The Alter Rebbe records in Shulchan Aruch that young children should be trained to stand in shul with reverence and awe. Those children who run around in shul should not be brought at all. The Chida adds that if someone converses during davening, it would be better that he not come at all, because he is sinning and also causing others to sin.
(שו"ע אדה"ז סי' קכד ס"י, פתח עינים להחיד"א)
Powerful Effect
Eliyahu HaNavi was once seen together with 4000 laden camels. When he was asked what they were loaded with, he replied, “With fury and wrath.” “Why?” the people questioned. “To wreak fury and wrath upon those who converse between Amen, yehei shmei rabba and yisbareich."
(שו"ע אדה"ז סי' נו ס"ז)
It is related that a certain Yid dreamt of his deceased friend, whose face appeared to be jaundiced. He asked him why he was being punished so, and he answered, “Because I used to talk when the sheliach tzibbur was saying Kaddish and did not listen.”
(שו"ע אדה"ז סי' רסח סי"ז)
After the widespread massacres during the years ת"ח ות"ט (1648-1649), when tens of thousands of Yidden across Poland and the Ukraine were killed, the author of Tosafos Yom-Tov fasted and davened so that he be told why this had occurred. In a dream it was revealed to him that it was due to idle conversation during davening, for this deleted the letter ו from the word דבור (dibbur – "speech"), leaving דבר (dever – "plague"). The Tosafos Yom-Tov then composed a special Mi SheBeirach to be recited every Shabbos for all those who refrain from talking during davening, blessing them with health, with all the brachos listed in the Tanach, and plentiful nachas from their children.
(שי למורא ע' כה)
In the late 5730s (1970s), when a number of tragedies occurred in Crown Heights, many residents were left wondering what lesson they should take to heart. When Reb Yitzchok Ushpal, the head of the Chevrah Kaddisha at the time, asked the Rebbe what in particular should be changed, the Rebbe told him that the issue that needed correcting was the talking in shul during davening.
(מפי הרחשד"ב ליפסקר – גבאי חברה קדישא)
The Zohar teaches that one of the last obstacles delaying the Geula is conversation in shul, for this banishes the Shechina. By keeping a shul quiet, we invite the Shechina and hasten the coming of Moshiach.
(אגה"ק סי' כג)
Consider
Why should one disgrace those talking during davening? Is that the way to influence another person?! Would all these tragedies that occurred as a result of talking during davening have happened if people had not davened at all?
