Bilvavi Part 7 - 002 Emunah and Tefillah

Tefillah and Emunah

There is a mitzvah to daven (pray) to Hashem. In a time of distress, all agree that this is a Torah-ordained commandment – that when one is suffering, he must daven to Hashem to change the situation. So we have a mitzvah of Tefillah.[1]

Yet, although we must perfect our power of Tefillah, it is a higher level if we perfect our Emunah.

We find times in which Hashem preferred that we have pure faith in Him, rather than daven to Him. We also find times in which we should daven rather than have Emunah. What is the reason of this?

We Daven When We Don’t Feel Strong Emunah

(First, we will explain when it is preferred that he daven rather than rely on his Emunah.)

When a person is in a dire situation, he desires to come out of it, and this desire in ourselves is essentially our power of Tefillah.

This really reflects a lack of total Emunah in Hashem, because if he would really believe, he would believe that everything that Hashem does is for the best. So when a person is on the level of Tefillah, that essentially translates into not being on the level of Emunah.

Tefillah and Emunah – Two Forces in Creation

There are two places in our soul: one ability in the soul is Emunah, and the other ability in our soul is Tefillah. We need to make use of both.

On one hand, Hashem fills the entire universe, and this represents Emunah. On the other hand, Hashem had to remove some of His light in order to create a space and make way for the creation of the universe; this represents Tefillah, when something is “missing” which we are trying to get. Thus, both emunah and tefillah have their time and place.

When Should We Daven?

When should we daven, and when should we rely on our Emunah that everything is for the best?

There are times in which are Emunah is a bit weak, and this indeed is the will of Hashem that this should happen to us sometimes. There is nothing wrong with us that we are like this; it is the way Hashem made us. In these situations, when we feel our Emunah weaken, our job is to increase our Tefillah.

We live with both Emunah and Tefillah, and the two concepts seemingly contradict each other, but really they are not a contradiction. On one hand, we are attached to the state that was after Hashem made a space in the world – which was the state of emunah. At the same time, we are also attached to the state that was before Creation, which represents Tefillah.

The understanding of this matter is limited to our human point of view, however, and we are only at the “receiving end” of the information, so we cannot fully understand it.

Hashem wants us to desire to leave our dire situations, and this is the role of Tefillah. Tefillah utilizes our willpower. Our willpower is actually our very soul, and our will is expressed through our mouth.

The Disadvantage To Tefillah

However, that is only true when our soul indeed feels a desire to leave the current situation, and thus we daven. But if the soul doesn’t feel a desire to leave the current situation, then the person doesn’t daven because he feels such a strong need to daven, and his whole davening is merely a lip service – “In their lips they honor me, but in their hearts they are far from me.”

A Tefillah Emanating From Emunah

There is a higher kind of Tefillah, however, and that is when we daven not out of personal reasons, but because it is the will of Hashem that we daven.

Then there is an even more subtle kind of Tefillah: when we daven even though we don’t know why we are davening. (This comes from a deep power in our soul called “lo yeda” – to “not know.” It is the essence of our soul that is above knowledge – it is pure faith, beyond any logic.)

In these two higher levels, our Tefillah is not coming from a need for Tefillah, but it is rather stemming from our Emunah; and because we have Emunah, we aren’t obligated to daven, because we don’t feel the stress of the situation. We are davening, but not because we feel scared. Such Tefillah isn’t Tefillah per se, because it is a Tefillah which from Emunah.

From the Viewpoint of Emunah, There Is No Need for Tefillah

When we don’t feel strong Emunah, we are scared, and that obligates us to daven, because Tefillah is an obligation whenever we are in a time of stress. If we wouldn’t feel scared in the first place, we wouldn’t have to daven.

Maybe you will ask: if we don’t feel stressed by the situation (and thus we aren’t obligated to daven because of “Tefillah”, and we are only davening from our Emunah), how can Emunah come and take away our mitzvah to daven in a time of stress?

There are two answers to this.

Emunah – There Is No Danger Here

One answer is that a stressful situation, which is called tzarah, comes from the word tzar – “narrow.” When a person is in a narrow spot, he wants to come out of it. But if a person accepts his situation lovingly and willingly, he doesn’t feel constricted by the situation, and for such a person, it’s not considered a stressful situation!

Emunah Is The Inner Layer of Our Soul, Tefillah Is The Outer Layer of the Soul

A second answer is that there are two layers in our soul – an outer layer and an inner layer. Although the inner layer of our soul has Emunah and is happy with the situation, the outer layer of our soul is still uneasy. The outer layer of our soul, which resembles the body, feels pain at the situation, and thus we find ultimately find ourselves scared, due to the pain that the external layer of our soul is experiencing. Thus, in the end, we are obligated to daven. Since our inner layer and our outer layer are intertwined, we must pacify the outer layer and calm it by davening.

How To Daven Shemoneh Esrei

Until now we only spoke about davening for private reasons, but Shemoneh Esrei was enacted by Chazal for the public, and there are actually two ways to daven Shemoneh Esrei.

One way is through understanding the words – either the simple meaning of the words, or the hidden, esoteric meaning of them.

There is a higher way to daven Shemoneh Esrei. does not involve our mind at all; it is to be connected in our thoughts throughout to the Ein Sof of Hashem.[2]