The Proper Place for Praying: Of Windows and Valleys
Understanding Aggada
Yeshivat Har Etzion
Shiur
#13b
The Proper Place
for Praying:
Of Windows and Valleys
By Rav Yitzchak Blau
Rabbi Chiya bar Abba
said in the name of Rabbi Yochanan: "A person should only pray in a house with
windows, as it says: 'And the windows of his upper chamber were open toward
Jerusalem' (Daniel 6:11)." Rav Kahana says: "A person who prays in a valley is
brazen."
(Berakhot 34b)
Although one might have
thought that the above statements are purely aggadic, they are both cited in
halakhic literature. Rabbi Yosef
Karo codifies in his Shulchan Arukh (O.C. 90:4-5) both that a shul should
have windows and that one should not pray in an open area. Of course, this still leaves us with the
aggadic question regarding the theological significance of these two
ideas.
Why should one pray in a
house with windows? Talmidei Rabbeinu Yona maintain that the visual component
enables a person to focus his or her attention toward Jerusalem. Thanks to the windows, Jerusalem is not
just an abstract idea, but a concrete entity towards which ones eyes can
turn. On the other hand, Rashi
suggests that looking out at the heavens and seeing the grandeur of the created
order subdues the heart to God; praying in an open area, however, can inspire
feelings of total freedom and arrogance, while the enclosed structure of a
building reminds the praying individual of restrictions and subjection to the
Divine. According to Rashi, the
twin statements reflect an attempt to inspire, without losing the sense of
subjugation.
Rav Kook (Ein
Aya) offers a different interpretation. Prayer essentially occurs in the
heart and mind of the individual praying. In prayer, an individual stands before
the King, affirms basic Jewish beliefs and commitments, sings hymns of praise
and pours out his heart in supplication. All of the above can generate a very
powerful religious experience. However, that power also creates the
danger of the praying individual losing himself or herself in a flight of
devotional rapture and forgetting about the worth and significance of the
outside world. Ideally, the
inspiration gained through prayer should lead to a renewed commitment to realize
the broader arena of human endeavors. Thus, the windows remind the person
praying both not to reject the outside world and that ultimately the worth of
the tefilla will be determined according to its ability to act as the
catalyst for sanctifying the totality of human life.
How should we understand
the problem with praying in an open valley? Rav Kook takes the analysis in another
direction, but I would like to build upon Rav Kook's first point to explain this
issue as well. When we fully
internalize the need for windows, the possibility of an opposing danger emerges:
we might become so enamored of the broader playing field that we would refuse to
see any value in ever receding from that broadness in the interest of seclusion
and narrowness of focus. Those who
pray out in the wide expanse of the open valley may indeed have arrived at this
mistaken conclusion. On the other
hand, those inside the structure of a building understand that sometimes, a
person does have to leave the world behind in order to stand alone before his
Maker.
This fine balance
between narrowness and broadness extends beyond the question of prayer: I would
say that it applies quite powerfully to learning in a yeshiva. Yeshiva life involves a certain intensity
of focus on a personal, particular religious goal. This in itself is quite valuable, but it
should come with the understanding that the inside of the beit midrash
must have a positive impact on the outside. The windows of our batei midrash
remind us that our learning should enable us to bring knowledge, ethical
excellence and sanctity to the working world, to our families and to the entire
community.
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