with the intent to....

Kavanah

Last week week in our discussions I mentioned the need for the “proper” kavanah before we could begin to davin - anywhere - and, since there was some confusion - or at lease some misunderstanding of the word, I thought we should discuss it a bit more. So here are some concepts on the word:

KaVaNah or, kah-vah-NAH (Intention or "direction of the heart") is the mindset necessary for Jewish ritual prayers, and mitzvot performed during Shavuot, Rosh Hashanah, other festivals and, in fact, at all times. Kavanah involves thinking about the words, and not merely reciting the sounds. This, as we discussed last week, is a problem in Judaism today, given that Biblical Hebrew is generally a liturgical language, rather than a common language - as many know the sounds, but not the meaning.

"Awareness of symbolic meaning is awareness of a specific idea; kavanah is awareness of an ineffable situation.” - Abraham Joshua Heschel

Some kavanot (the plural form) are used in Kabbalah, as a meditation, as well as in Hasidic Judaism.

As the Baal Shem Tov asks; "What are all kavanot compared to one heartfelt grief?” -

Eons before anybody ever heard of Marion Jones or

Payton Manning, Judaism recognized the importance

of mental focus.

In the case of Judaism, however, the stakes are weightier

than any gold medal.

Ever wonder how those Olympians performed their feats of athletic mastery?

For many of them, it's literally a case of mind over matter. Of course they need the physical prowess. But there's more to it than that. The winning edge, it turns out, is also the result of intense and intricate mental preparation.

As outlined in a story in Newsweek magazine, elite athletes everywhere spend countless hours training themselves to achieve success by actually visualizing it. Whether it's a professional golfer "seeing" the imaginary putt navigate a tricky green and then drop into the cup, or a pole vaulter "sprinting" down the virtual ramp and then clearing the bar at record-setting height, the best athletes are able to block out all distractions and mentally experience top performance -- and then translate that image into reality. In short, their success can be traced, in part, to their ability to focus on what is really important.

In Jewish parlance, you'd say they've developed great kavanah.

Kavanah -- which has been translated variously as focus, concentration, devotion and intention (and, even, “Meditation”) -- is the means by which we cultivate an intimate relationship with G-d in our lives in general and more specifically through the performance of His commandments and the heartfelt recitation of prayer.

Kavanah helps Jews establish their priorities. It helps us focus on what is really important.

Kavanah, in short, helps Jews establish their priorities. It helps us focus on what is really important -- in addition, of course, to the proper technique for heaving a javelin 100 yards.

What is important? The knowledge that G-d is out there and in here, that He is watching over us, and wants us to do His will.

There's a story that illustrates the importance of recognizing those essentials. It involves the Chofetz Chaim, a 19th and early 20th Century rabbi in Eastern Europe who was renowned for his scholarship, piety and modesty. He had a firm grasp of the essentials.

The Chofetz Chaim, it turns out, had hired a wagon driver to take him somewhere. While they were passing a farm, the driver abruptly stopped the wagon and climbed down in order to steal something from the farmer. He left the Chofetz Chaim in the wagon as a lookout. As the driver embarked on his illicit mission, the Chofetz Chaim called out: "He's looking!" The driver raced back to the wagon, spurred the horses to a vigorous gallop and made his getaway, the Chofetz Chaim in tow.

When they had gotten a safe distance away, the wagon driver turned to the Chofetz Chaim and asked, "Who was it that saw me?" The Chofetz Chaim gestured upwards and said, "He sees everything."

In public and in private; in groups and alone. Jews pray loudly and in silence; in Hebrew, English, and any other language you can name. Sometimes Jews even pray without language. Jews pray from the depth of their souls, at the tops of their lungs, and from the quiet of their hearts. It is difficult to point to a specific "Jewish" way of praying.

Talmud teaches that the minimal level of kavanah required is that "one who prays must direct one's heart towards heaven" (Berakhot, 31a). The next higher level of kavanah is to know and understand fully the meanings of the prayers. The level following that is to free one's mind of all extraneous and interfering thoughts. At the highest level, kavanah means to think about the deeper meaning of what one is saying and praying with extraordinary devotion. Should circumstances make it necessary for a person to choose between saying more prayers without kavanah or saying fewer prayers with kavanah, the fewer are preferred. (Shulkhan Arukh, Orah Hayim 1:4)

Tefilah: Prayer

The Hebrew word for prayer is tefilah. It is derived from the root Pe-Lamed-Lamed and the word l'hitpalel, meaning to judge oneself. This surprising word origin provides insight into the purpose of Jewish prayer. The most important part of any Jewish prayer, whether it be a prayer of petition, of thanksgiving, of praise of G-d, or of confession, is the introspection it provides, the moment that we spend looking inside ourselves, seeing our role in the universe and our relationship to G-d.

The Yiddish word meaning "pray" is "daven," which, with some disputation, ultimately comes from the same Latin root as the English word "divine" and emphasizes the One to whom prayer is directed.

Kavanah: The Mindset for Prayer

When you say the same prayers day after day, you might expect that the prayers would become routine and would begin to lose meaning. While this may be true for some people, this is not the intention of Jewish prayer. As I said at the beginning of this discussion, the most important part of prayer is the introspection it provides. Accordingly, the proper frame of mind is vital to prayer.

The mindset for prayer kavanah, which, as I have said, is generally translated as "concentration" or "intent." The minimum level of kavanah is that awareness that we must have when speaking to G-d and an intention to fulfill the obligation to pray. If you do not have this minimal level of kavanah, then you are not praying; you are merely reading. Now we see that in addition to fulfilling your obligation, it is preferred that you have a mind free from other thoughts, concerns, worries, designs and external ‘daily obligations, and that you know and understand what you are praying about and that you think about the meaning of the prayer.

Liturgical melodies are often used as an aid to forming the proper mindset. Many prayers and prayer services have traditional melodies associated with them and these can increase your focus on what you are doing and help you block out extraneous thoughts.

It is also useful to move while praying. Traditional Jews routinely sway back and forth during prayer, apparently a reference to Psalm 35, which says "All my limbs shall declare, 'O L-rd, who is like You?'" Such movement is not required, and many people find it distracting, but many others find that it helps them to concentrate and to focus.

Prayer should be done with the proper mindset,

kavanah

in Hebrew,

and with a group

(Minyan).

Today’s discussion comes from several sources as well as my own readings, ruminations and understandings. While I recognize and ‘tip my kippah’ to the many scholars and their contributions to Jewish thought over the many years; these comments are distilled into what I refer to as the JLCD - the Jewish Lowest Common Denominator; and is that which all Jews (“religious” or “observant”) would agree upon as the definition of, and the observance of, kavanah.