Teβillah in our Times
The Ramban says the mitzvah of tefillah daily is d'rabanan, whereas the Rambam says it is a mitzvah d'oraysa. However, they agree that when there is an eis tzarah, a time of distress, the mitzvah of tefillah becomes a d'oraysa, a Torah obligation.
This applies to our times. Klal Yisrael needs a great yeshuah, and we must turn our hearts and eyes to heaven. כי עננו 'ה עננו אנחנו גדולה בצרה. When the Yidden saw the immense sea of the Yam Suf before them, and the Mitzrim were pursuing them from behind, they were terrified. They shouted out to Hashem, as it states (Shemos 14:10) 'ה אל ישראל בני ויצעקו.
The Bartenura teaches that there was a fault in their tefillah. The perfect tefillah is when one knows that only Hashem can help him. A weaker tefillah is when one thinks that possibly he can manage without Hashem's help, but in case he can't, he is turning to Hashem. This is certainly an improper tefilla, but at least he knows he is davening to Hashem! There is an even worse tefillah: when one davens by rote.
The Bartenura (commentary on Rashi) says that Klal Yisrael said this third and weakest form of tefillah this time. They knew from their ancestors, the avos hakedoshim, that when people are in a tzarah, they daven. So, they also said tefillos, but it was more like a custom (this is what you do at such a time) and not that they understood that Hashem is the root of their salvation. The Bartenura says that this is implied in Rashi's words, אבותם אומנות תפסו, "They grabbed onto the ways of the avos," without recognizing that their salvation comes from Hashem, and only from Hashem.
We live in a time when it is an eis ratzon for tefillah. According to all opinions, the obligation of tefillah is from the Torah. So, let us strive to daven properly. Let us recognize that the only one who can help us is Hashem Himself. With that awareness, we will undoubtedly daven properly before Hashem.
During the era of the First World War, a group of women came to the Chofetz Chaim zt'l, and cried that their husbands had gone to the army, and they hadn’t heard from them in a long time. The Chofetz Chaim cried with them and then said, "Why do you cry to me? Go to the beis medresh, open the aron kodesh, and pour out your hearts out before Hakadosh Baruch Hu. He wants to hear your tefillos."
The Chofetz Chaim told them the pasuk (Yeshayah 62:6-7) תתנו ואל לכם דמי אל 'ה את המזכירים לו דמי, "Those who remind Hashem, be not silent. Give Him no rest..."
The women asked which prayer or techinah they should say. The Chofetz Chaim answered, "When a child is hungry, he cries and shouts and expresses himself as best as he can. He doesn't have the right words, but his intention comes through. Do the same with your tefillos. Pour your hearts before Hashem in your own words, and Hashem will answer your tefillos (Sichos Chofetz Chaim, vol.2 p.21)."
