Prayer in the Parashah תְּפִלָּה
The instructions for the תֵּבָה (teivah, ark) include this building detail (Bereishit 6:16):
צֹהַר תַּעֲשֶׂה לַתֵּבָה
Make a window for the teivah
This window probably helped Noah and his family figure out what time of day it was, since they didn’t have clocks.
Can you think of other reasons it might have been important for God to command that the teivah have a window during the מַבּוּל (mabul, flood)?
Windows are also important in Jewish prayer.
אָמַר רַבִּי חִיָּא בַּר אַבָּא: לְעוֹלָם יִתְפַּלֵּל אָדָם בְּבַיִת שֶׁיֵּשׁ בּוֹ חַלּוֹנוֹת.
R. Hiyyah bar Abba said: A person should only pray in a house with windows.
There are a lot of reasons why windows can add to our tefillah:
- Rashi says looking outside at the sky reminds us that we are speaking to God
- Rambam says it helps us imagine we are closer to Yerushalayim
- The students of Rabbeinu Yonah think that sunlight helps calm our minds so we have better כַּוָּנָה (kavvanah, inner focus in prayer)
- The Prisha says that fresh air helps (maybe to keep our tefillot fresh, too!)
- Maharsha says that an open window can help us imagine that our prayers are not closed off from going up to heaven and being heard by God
Can you think of other reasons that being near a window could improve your tefillah?
Try it out! The next time you pray, try standing near a window and thinking about some of the ideas here. What do you notice about your tefillah when you do this?
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