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The Articulater


Suppose that I could map out all the different issues I have to face. Additionally, I understand that because Yerushalayim itself, and the Bais Hamikdosh specifically, and the Avoda in the Bais Hamikdosh, actually gives me a way to manage everything in front of me. But, don’t suppose because this is the truth! Therefore, if I use the Shmone Esray properly I can figure out a Messila L'elokaynu, a defined path through all the issues I'm dealing with, until I can articulate it well -- which would be The Journey… our journey. This is the Nechama that can come from every time I daven Shmone Esray. The way I articulate in how I express myself is so important in the same way that it is so important when listening to someone to carefully hear how they are phrasing and describing something… until you really understand and therefore can guide them on a path to be able to deal with whatever it is they are feeling. That's what Yerushalayim does. And, that's what the Shmone Esray is supposed to do for us.


 We ask for when we say, “Ado-nai Sifasai Tiftach” -- to give us the means to articulate our issues in such a specifically understandable way and therefore be better equipped to figure out each issue. There have been times when I have asked a parent who's desperately davening for a child, what they are davening for. I get these non-specific answers like, “Oh, just to help her”. And I have to ask, “But how do you want Hashem to help her? What do you want HaShem to do?” But, somehow, some parents cannot articulate the help that they want. They can't even say it. They can't even imagine a path through a situation. Have you ever seen someone so overwhelmed by a problem that they cannot even imagine any way out? 

Part of the Shmoney Esray’s function is to help someone articulate and specify what his or her issues are, and that is the starting point from where to then figure out a path. 


Therefore, what we are asking for when we say “Hashem!”, Sifasay Tiftach” is, "let me open gates!” It is almost like saying, “open this gate!” That is why one of the systems of Kavanos for Davening the amidah is that you picture a bunch of courtyards, and that you go step by step, and open these huge gates. As you open these gates (in Yerushalayim, in your mind) you get closer and closer to the King with each gate through which you pass.


Concepts Shared by Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, n''y

for more see:

https://thefoundationstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Nachamu-Week-3_part-2_FINAL.pdf
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