Rashi explains that the tola’as hashani and the moss that purify the metzora allude that the tikkun to his sin is that he should lower himself from his ga’avah like a worm and the moss.
Rav Shimshon Dovid Pincus explained:
As is known, the middah of humility is a necessary condition in the avodah of tefillah, as ruled in Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 98 3): “A person should pray with pleading like a poor man begging at the door.”
The reason for this is that when a person davens with humility, his tefillah is closer to acceptance. When a person stands in tefillah in front of Hashem with pride in his heart, he conveys that he lacks for nothing, and he is asking only for extra luxuries, so why should there be compassion for him from On High? But when he lowers himself and bends himself, he proves that he recognizes that nothing that he has is his, and he needs the support every single step of the way. Such a person’s requests are willingly accepted by Hashem, just like l’havdil, a flesh and blood person would have compassion on him if he saw him in his humble state.
In order to reach this level of humility, Chazal instituted places where we bow in tefillah. These bows were placed in a way that the higher a person’s status is – the more he needs to lower himself, as Chazal say (Brachos 34b) that a regular person bows in Shemoneh Esreh in Birchas Avos and in Modim, at the beginning and the end, the Kohein Gadol bows at the end of each brachah and the king at the beginning and end of each brachah (see Rambam Hilchos Tefillah 5:10).
In light of this, each person needs to make his own reckoning: The higher he feels his status is, the more he has to lower himself when he comes to daven, so that his tefillah should be accepted.
It is therefore so important that we do not capitulate to habit on this important subject, and we should not fulfill the takanah of bowing by rote. We must bow with a feeling and a recognition of the reason we are bowing, and thus we will merit to submit ourselves properly, and then our tefillos will be willingly accepted, with compassion.
Tiferes Shimshon
