The Amidah (Part 28): The Final Paragraph: Personally Speaking
“Prayer is not a miracle. It is a tool, man’s paintbrush in the art of life. Prayer is man’s weapon to defend himself in the struggle of life. It is a reality. A fact of life” (Rabbi Avrahom Chaim Feuer)
There is an intriguing Midrash (Vayikra Rabbah 33:1) that relates how Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel once sent his devoted servant, Tavi, to the marketplace to buy something delicious to eat. Tavi came back with a tongue. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel then sent Tavi back to buy something bad to eat, and this time he came back with a…tongue! When Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel demanded an explanation for how it was possible that exactly the same food can be both good and bad, Tavi, in his wisdom, answered: “When one uses one’s tongue properly, it is the best of things, but, when used improperly, there is nothing worse!”
Tavi’s insight explains why the final paragraph of the Amidah begins with a plea that Hashem will “guard my tongue from evil and my lips from speaking deceitfully.” The sixteenth century Kabbalist, Rabbi Moshe ben Machir from Tzefat, in his seminal work on prayer called Seder Hayom, explains that since we have just used concluded our recitation of the Amidah, we now offer a prayer for Divine assistance to help us use our mouths for the right purpose. The essence of the prayer is that our hearts and our mouths should be united together in serving Hashem to the fullest. However, because it is more than possible that we did not pray with the correct intent and concentration, we turn to Hashem, declaring that any lack of focus was unintentional and was not a rebellion against Him. Interestingly, we begin the Amidah with a request for Hashem to assist us in reciting the Amidah with the correct intent, and we conclude our recitation with a similar entreaty. Why is that? Because it is difficult to remain focused on our relationship with Hashem both when we are involved in both prayer and when we are not.
The Jerusalem Talmud (Brachot chapter 8, Halacha1) describes how Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai used to tell everyone that if it would have been up to him to “design” human beings, he would have created them with two mouths instead of one. One mouth would be dedicated to speaking about holy and spiritual matters, while the other mouth would be used exclusively for mundane issues. However, after giving this idea more thought, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai conceded that this was not a good idea. After all, he said, so many people abuse the one mouth that they have by speaking about all kinds of forbidden subjects and/or speaking in an entirely inappropriate way — imagine how much worse it would be if they could speak with two mouths! Rabbi Simcha Bunim Alter (1898-1992), the sixth Rebbe of Gur, known as the Lev Simcha after the works that he authored, used to say that prayers recited by someone with an unclean mouth will not be heard. Therefore, we entreat Hashem that He accept the Amidah we have just concluded as if it was said with the purest and loftiest intentions.
This is why, writes Rabbi Shimon Schwab, the final paragraph of the Amidah is not a prayer asking that we be able to perform a specific mitzvah. Rather, it is reemphasizing the insidious nature of Lashon Hara (evil speech) and the immense battle that we all have in trying to fight against it.
Rabbi Elazar Azikri (1533-1600) lived in Tzfat and is considered to be one of the most prominent Kabbalists of his generation. He composed the hauntingly beautiful piyut (liturgical poem) Yedid Nefesh, which is sung around the world even nowadays in many Shuls and homes on Shabbat. His most famous work is a book titled Sefer Charedim, which is a Kabbalistic exploration of the 613 mitzvahs according to the limbs of the body and according to time. In chapter 67, Rabbi Azkiri explains that the concluding paragraph of the Amidah is written in the present tense because it is a continuous plea to Hashem to save us from the Yetzer Hara (Evil Inclination).
To be continued...
