שְׁמַע קולֵנוּ–Shema Koleinu–Hear our prayers

שְׁמַע קולֵנוּ. ה' אֱלהֵינוּ חוּס וְרַחֵם עָלֵינוּ. וְקַבֵּל בְּרַחֲמִים וּבְרָצון אֶת תְּפִלָּתֵנוּ. כִּי אֵל שׁומֵעַ תְּפִלּות וְתַחֲנוּנִים אָתָּה. וּמִלְּפָנֶיךָ מַלְכֵּנוּ. רֵיקָם אַל תְּשִׁיבֵנוּ. כִּי אַתָּה שׁומֵעַ תְּפִלַּת עַמְּךָ יִשרָאֵל בְּרַחֲמִים. בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה', שׁומֵעַ תְּפִלָּה

This tefila is in a sense, a prayer about prayer. We are asking that the prayer that we may not have not fully understood so far to become as perfect as it might have been, just because we have tried.

שְׁמַע – Listen

To listen is deeper than to hear – to listen is to focus attention and feel what is going on, to empathise almost. The contrast is stark – hearing is something external, that travels from the outside in, whereas listening is something internal, drawing something in.

We are asking Hashem to feel for us.

קולֵנוּ – to our voices

The voice is the way in which we say something. There is a story told by R’ Schwab, about a gentleman whose estranged son sent him a letter asking for money. The man went to R’ Schwab and lamented that his son was so detached and rude. R’ Schwab explained that the man had read the letter wrong – it was his son crying out for his father’s aid, and not an ungrateful demand as the man had thought.

The same is true of ourselves – we need to express ourselves in the proper manner to be accepted in the proper manner. If we do not do so, we cannot expect Hashem to accept our requests.

The קולֵ – the voice, is not limited to the words said. There are certain prayers we wish, but cannot put into words. When we say שְׁמַע קולֵנוּ, this is even a request for the things we are not saying at all. This can be a double-edged sword however; we need to be careful that the things we want are all in the right mind.

We are asking Hashem to listen to how we feel.

ה' אֱלהֵינוּ – Hashem our God

We say ה' אֱלהֵינוּ in most brachos. This should seem odd, as they are opposites – ה is an expression of Midas HaRachamim (mercy), whereas אֱלהֵינוּ is an expression of Midas HaDin (judgement). Why do we invoke the name of judgment, when we surely want Hashem’s mercy and kindness?

When the Jews were enslaved in Egypt, they groaned from suffering and desperation, and Hashem heard this. This was an act of mercy. Conversely, when Yishmael was dying of the thirst in the desert, Hashem heard this too, in spite of how he was not righteous, nor have righteous descendants. This was mercy, but with judgment as a result.

Hashem hears us when we need Him.

חוּס וְרַחֵם עָלֵינוּ – take pity and have mercy on us

Our bodies are given to us, and we have a responsibility to Hashem to use it properly, but He does not ever want it back. Not so with our soul; we are entrusted with it, and Hashem does want it back eventually.

The pity we ask for, חוּס , is for our bodies. It is like a defective handmade gift from someone you love; you don’t know what to do with it, and you can’t get rid of it as it was made personally for you.

We are asking for Hashem to have pity on our bodies as our Maker, to guide us.

The mercy we ask for, וְרַחֵם , is for our souls. The soul is dynamic – it constantly and perpetually changes. We are the ones empowered with the ability to effect this change, due to our free will.

We are asking Hashem to have mercy on our souls, as we have not utilised our ability to change it.

וְקַבֵּל בְּרַחֲמִים וּבְרָצון אֶת תְּפִלָּתֵנוּ – And accept our prayers with mercy and wanting

The mercy, בְּרַחֲמִים, we are asking for is that in spite of the fact we don’t deserve it, it should be accepted. If a child tries to draw a picture of a beautiful sunset, and just scribbles some colors, the parent will still hang up the picture and display it. It’s not a good picture, and not actually close to being a picture of anything at all, yet the parent wants and cherishes it. This is how our prayers are – lacking in depth and form, but we are asking that we’ve tried, and hope that this be enough.

The wanting, בְרָצון, is that we ask that each prayer be viewed subjectively. Hashem desires the prayers of tzaddikim; this is בְרָצון as opposed to בְּרַחֲמִים – if our prayer is worthy, we want Hashem to accept it because He wants it, and not out of pity. If someone were to tell a bad joke, the right thing to do would be to laugh so the joke teller doesn’t feel bad. However, if he were to tell a great joke, someone who laughs out of pity didn’t get the joke at all.

We are asking that our prayers be accepted because they are wanted, and if they aren’t, then at least out of mercy.

כִּי אֵל שׁומֵעַ תְּפִלּות וְתַחֲנוּנִים אָתָּה -

תְּפִלּות are the spoken prayers, the words we say and the way formulate them. תַחֲנוּנִים are the emotions we use and how we express them.

We are confirming our belief that Hashem really understands us.

וּמִלְּפָנֶיךָ מַלְכֵּנוּ. רֵיקָם אַל תְּשִׁיבֵנוּ – and before Your Face, our King, don’t send us empty handed.

The answer to prayer can sometimes be “no”. We are asking that the prayers to which we receive such an answer do not go to waste, that they be used for something else. This can be that we find the resolve to accept the thing we are praying for will remain how it is or deteriorate, or that the prayer help someone else. We use the phrase אַל תְּשִׁיבֵנוּ – don’t send us empty handed – we ask that if our prayers aren’t going to help ourselves, then let it help the collective people.

We are asking that our prayers for things that cannot happen do not go to waste, that they instead be utilised for another purpose.

כִּי אַתָּה שׁומֵעַ תְּפִלַּת עַמְּךָ יִשרָאֵל בְּרַחֲמִים -

We use the phrase תְּפִלַּת עַמְּךָ, which is singular, the prayer of your nation, as opposed to the plural תְּפִלּות. This is revealing – the nation is a collective that becomes a singular, and the prayers are united by this to form one body of prayer. This further develops the idea that if one person cannot have his prayers answered in the way he desires, then let the prayer aid someone else in need. This is not a “transfer” – the prayer is part of the collective, as are all the members of the nation, so if one person cannot use the prayer, another can.

We are asking again that our prayers aid our nation.

כִּי אַתָּה שׁומֵעַ….בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה', שׁומֵעַ תְּפִלָּה -

This is our final plea for mercy. Why should Hashem accept our prayers at all? כִּי אַתָּה שׁומֵעַ – because You are the one who hears prayers – there is no one else who can help us.

The process of prayer is that we are lacking something, that G-d is withholding from us. We ask for it, and hopefully, we achieve it. When challenged why we deserve anything at all, our answer is simple – this is what we know how to do, this is what we were told to do. We turn to Hashem because that is what we know – Hashem can hear our prayers.

We must take note that we said שְׁמַע קולֵנוּ, that Hashem should hear us, and וְקַבֵּל בְּרַחֲמִים וּבְרָצון, that our prayers should be accepted; at no point do we mention results. This too is revealing – we must have faith in Hashem that He knows, and moreover, will do, what is right and best for us and Klal Yisrael.