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| Rabbi Akiva's Prayer |
The Talmud in Berachot 31a relates how Rabbi Akiva, the great
first-century sage, would conduct himself in prayer:
Two Levels of Kavanah
From this account we see that there are two levels of
kavanah - proper intent and mental focus in prayer. The
minimal level of kavanah is to concentrate on the
meaning of the words. This is a basic
requirement of prayer [ Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 98:1].
There is, however, a higher level of kavanah, when one's
thoughts are raised upwards, scaling the heights of
profound insights and penetrating revelations. The Shulchan Aruch
describes this lofty kavanah of great tzaddikim:
While every prayer makes an impact on the one praying, the
extent of this impact depends on the kavanah. A prayer
recited with the basic kavanah of concentrating on the
words promotes spiritual advance - but a gradual one, like
the imperceptible growth of the body.
A prayer focused on higher kavanah, on the other hand,
will be the source of more radical transformation. When
Rabbi Akiva was alone, his prayer was not the reserved, dignified
prayer of the community, but an intense and ecstatic
service of God. His vibrant spiritual ascent was
expressed physically, so that when he finished praying, he
would find himself in the opposite corner of the room.
Such great movement during prayer is unusual - the Amidah
prayer is to be recited standing in one place - but Rabbi Akiva
would move across the room "due to his many bows and
prostrations." The more we are aware of God's greatness, the
stronger will be our feelings of submission and
selflessness. As Rabbi Akiva progressively deepened his
awareness of God's greatness, he would express his profound sense of
subservience to God's infinity by bowing and prostrating
himself.
Communal Prayer
Despite the obvious benefits of such an intense prayer, it
is only suitable when one is secluded in
private prayer. But when praying with the congregation, one
should align oneself with their level of prayer. The entire
congregation could never attain the intensity of prayer of
a holy scholar like Rabbi Akiva, so he would pray quickly, content
with the ordinary kavanah of concentrating on the meaning
of the words.
This is the (perhaps unexpected) implication
of Rabbi Akiva's conduct when praying with the
congregation. The importance of joining in communal
prayer outweighs the benefits of private prayer - even a
profoundly intense prayer that reflects one's own
spiritual attainments.
[Adapted from Olat Re'iyah vol. I, p. 28; Ein Eyah vol. I, p. 132]
Copyright © 2006 by Chanan Morrison
"When he was with the congregation, he would pray quickly so as not
to be a burden on those praying with him (who would respectfully wait for him
to finish). But when he prayed alone, one
could leave him in one corner and afterwards find him in
another corner, due to his many bows and prostrations."
"Devout and pious
individuals would seclude themselves, and then they would direct their
thoughts in prayer until they succeeded in divesting
themselves from the physical and enabling the intellect
to dominate. Then they would come close to the
level of prophecy." [ibid]