Week 3 Think

The Silent Fence

Now we come to week number three of our Elul program. We practiced being quiet, and then we added to that the seiver panim yafos. And now that you’re quiet and happy, your mind is available to accomplish even more. That’s how the Rambam understands the words of our Sages, הָ ̃יƒ ׁ̇¿ ̆ הָמ¿כָחַל ‚ָי¿ס – Silence is a fence for wisdom (Avos 3:13). When a person is prattling, words and words and more words, so his mind can’t function well. But now we can begin applying our minds even more to teshuvah.