I’D LIKE TO BEGIN BY THANKING REB SIMCHA TAMIR. THIS WEEK MARKS THE BEGINNING OF MY FOURTH YEAR OF WRITING FOR THIS EXCELLENT WEBSITE, www.chesedclub.com. I AM VERY GRATEFUL TO REB SIMCHA TAMIR FOR APPROACHING ME FOUR YEARS AGO AND I HOPE THIS WEBSITE CONTINUES TO INSPIRE MANY PEOPLE FOR MANY YEARS!

In the beginning of this week’s parsha, we learn about the power of prayer. Moshe has been told he is not going to enter Eretz Yisrael, but he thought that G-d might cancel this punishment. Therefore, Moshe begins to daven. Our Sages tell us that he did not only daven once, but he davened 515 prayers to be allowed to go into Eretz Yisrael. Take a close look at this: what did Moshe do to try to overturn the decree against him – he prayed. This is because prayer is extremely powerful, maybe even more powerful than any other mitzvah Moshe could have performed. Moshe felt that by davening, and not by doing anything else, he could be granted entrance into Eretz Yisrael.

The Vilna Gaon makes an amazing statement which also shows the power of prayer. On Shabbos, we are given a Neshama Yeseira, an extra soul. The Gaon states this extra soul comes because we have an extra prayer service on Shabbos: Musaf. Our Neshama is expanded because of a prayer service! It is no other part of Shabbos that brings the extra soul than davening because our soul’s strength comes from prayer.

We see prayers are very important. Therefore, this week, I would like to discuss an important, recent issue regarding our prayers and it is “the cell phone”. I would like o share a few thoughts and ideas on this subject.

Unfortunately, cell phones are a major part of life today and constantly are destroying the peace and quiet in our daily lives. Even more unfortunate, is when they ring in the middle of our prayer services. I recently was at a business meeting at a certain facility and, when I walked in, behind the receptionist’s desk were lockers for people’s cell phones. Everyone was required to leave their cell phone in one of these lockers until the end of the meeting, so the ringing would not disturb the meeting. We had important issues to discuss and did not want to be disturbed. During the meeting, someone mentioned that many facilities have now started doing this. Even certain restaurants do not allow cell phones inside, so people will not be disturbed. I think this is a great idea and more places should start doing this – including our shuls. Nothing is more annoying than hearing the Star Spangled Banner or whatever pop music tune is playing when someone’s cell phone rings.

But what do we do if a shul refuses to have buy lockers for cell phones and someone brings one in? What should we do if someone’s cell phone goes off in the middle of davening? The answer is we should Remain Silent! Cell phones are extremely annoying, but even worse is the multitude of people that scream “SHHH!” to the person that unfortunately left his cell phone on. Most likely, the person left his cell phone on by accidental and it is extremely embarrassing to the person if everyone screams “SHHH!”. The Gemara in Gittin discusses why the second Bais HaMikdash was destroyed and states the story of Kamtza and Bar Kamtza. In this story, Bar Kamtza became extremely embarrassed over a simple mistake on his part, but because of that embarrassment, the Temple was destroyed and we are in this bitter exile. There is no reason to make a person turn white from embarrassment because a little bit of noise came out of his pocket. Of course, if the person’s phone continuously rings, then he should be spoken to, but in private, and probably the Rav of the shul should be the one who speaks to the individual.

Finally, I would like to share a thought from Rav Zecharia Wallerstein. He states that he finds it amazing how many people scream “SHHH!” when a person’s cell phone goes off, but how very few people, if anyone, screams “SHHH!” when someone starts talking to his neighbor during the Repetition of the Shemone Esray. The Shulchan Aruch states talking during davening is one of the worst sins a person can do. Noise coming from a person’s pocket might be annoying, but as far as I can tell, it is not as great of a sin as talking during davening. Yet the same people who scream “SHHH!” when a cell phone goes off then turn around to talk to their neighbor during davening. It is important to minimize the cell phone noises, but it is even much, much more important that we get rid of the talking in shuls.

Prayers are extremely powerful. I recently heard one reason we read Parshas Vaeschanan right after Tisha B’Av is to teach us the key to getting rid of this exile: that we learn about the power of our prayers shown at the beginning of this week’s parsha. To make our prayers be able to reach their ultimate level, we need the proper concentration, which can only come when outside noises are abolished. Therefore, please leave your cell phone at home or if you need it in case of an emergency, please turn it on vibrate. If someone’s phone unfortunately rings, please do not embarrass him. And finally, please only talk to G-d during davening, not your neighbor, because we do not want to mess up another person’s connection with G-d.

Good Shabbos!
-yes
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