ה׳ שפתי תפתח. בפסוק (בראשית כט:ב) 'והאבן גדולה ע״פ הבאר', והו״ל אבן גדולה, ויתכן לרמוז כי האבן מכשול שהוא היצר הרע הוא נמצא בכל מקום, אבל עפ״י הבאר הוא גדול ביותר, והוא שאינו מניח לפתוח הפה בתפילה שהיא עבודה שבלב שהוא בחינת הבאר תורה שבע״פ שהיא תפילה וע״ז מבקשין ה׳ שפתי תפתח וכל מגמת היצר הרע לעכב תפילה כידוע לכל עובד ה׳, וכדאיתא (תקוני זוהר)... והאמת כי אין עצה להתפלה, רק כפי עבודת האדם בכל מעשיו כך הוא יכול לפתוח פה בתפלה, לכן קראוה עבודה שבלב שתלוי בהשתוקקות הלב בכל יום בכל מעשיו, וזה הרמז (בראשית כט:נ) ״ונאספו שמה כל העדרים", שזה תכלית הנולד מכל העבודות.
?Mission #1: What do these words mean to you
:Mission #2: Context: Read Chapter 51 of Tehillim in its entirety
?What do you think is the central passuk which captures the spirit of this psalm
?What is the connection of the "vibe" of this psalm to the beginning of our Amida
(א) לַמְנַצֵּ֗חַ מִזְמ֥וֹר לְדָוִֽד׃ (ב) בְּֽבוֹא־אֵ֭לָיו נָתָ֣ן הַנָּבִ֑יא כַּֽאֲשֶׁר־בָּ֝֗א אֶל־בַּת־שָֽׁבַע׃ (ג) חָנֵּ֣נִי אֱלֹקִ֣ים כְּחַסְדֶּ֑ךָ כְּרֹ֥ב רַ֝חֲמֶ֗יךָ מְחֵ֣ה פְשָׁעָֽי׃ (ד) הרבה [הֶ֭רֶב] כַּבְּסֵ֣נִי מֵעֲוֺנִ֑י וּֽמֵחַטָּאתִ֥י טַהֲרֵֽנִי׃ (ה) כִּֽי־פְ֭שָׁעַי אֲנִ֣י אֵדָ֑ע וְחַטָּאתִ֖י נֶגְדִּ֣י תָמִֽיד׃ ...(יב) לֵ֣ב טָ֭הוֹר בְּרָא־לִ֣י אֱלֹקִ֑ים וְר֥וּחַ נָ֝כ֗וֹן חַדֵּ֥שׁ בְּקִרְבִּֽי׃ (יג) אַל־תַּשְׁלִיכֵ֥נִי מִלְּפָנֶ֑יךָ וְר֥וּחַ קָ֝דְשְׁךָ֗ אַל־תִּקַּ֥ח מִמֶּֽנִּי׃ (יז) אדו- שְׂפָתַ֣י תִּפְתָּ֑ח וּ֝פִ֗י יַגִּ֥יד תְּהִלָּתֶֽךָ׃ (יח) כִּ֤י ׀ לֹא־תַחְפֹּ֣ץ זֶ֣בַח וְאֶתֵּ֑נָה ע֝וֹלָ֗ה לֹ֣א תִרְצֶֽה׃ (כא) אָ֤ז תַּחְפֹּ֣ץ זִבְחֵי־צֶ֭דֶק עוֹלָ֣ה וְכָלִ֑יל אָ֤ז יַעֲל֖וּ עַל־מִזְבַּחֲךָ֣ פָרִֽים׃
(1) For the leader. A psalm of David, (2) when Nathan the prophet came to him after he had come to Bathsheba. (3) Have mercy upon me, O God, as befits Your faithfulness; in keeping with Your abundant compassion, blot out my transgressions. (4) Wash me thoroughly of my iniquity, and purify me of my sin; (5) for I recognize my transgressions, and am ever conscious of my sin. (6) Against You alone have I sinned, and done what is evil in Your sight; so You are just in Your sentence, and right in Your judgment. (7) Indeed I was born with iniquity; with sin my mother conceived me. (8) Indeed You desire truth about that which is hidden; teach me wisdom about secret things. (9) Purge me with hyssop till I am pure; wash me till I am whiter than snow. (10) Let me hear tidings of joy and gladness; let the bones You have crushed exult. (11) Hide Your face from my sins; blot out all my iniquities. (12) Fashion a pure heart for me, O God; create in me a steadfast spirit. (13) Do not cast me out of Your presence, or take Your holy spirit away from me. (14) Let me again rejoice in Your help; let a vigorous spirit sustain me. (15) I will teach transgressors Your ways, that sinners may return to You. (16) Save me from bloodguilt, O God, God, my deliverer, that I may sing forth Your beneficence. (17) O Lord, open my lips, and let my mouth declare Your praise. (18) You do not want me to bring sacrifices; You do not desire burnt offerings; (19) True sacrifice to God is a contrite spirit; God, You will not despise a contrite and crushed heart. (20) May it please You to make Zion prosper; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. (21) Then You will want sacrifices offered in righteousness, burnt and whole offerings; then bulls will be offered on Your altar.
Kedushas Levi, Parshat Vaetchanan:
Originally, we did not need this verse to prepare for prayer - it was added in later to help us prepare us for tfillah.
Approach B: The Perfect Heart
The Kotzker Rebbe:
I have found nothing so perfect and complete as a humble broken heart!
Rav Shlomo Aviner: Tfillat Amcha
We must thank Hashem for giving us the opportunity to come before him,
though according to our spiritual situation we may not deserve it.
כל המספר לשון הרע אמר הקב"ה אין אני והוא יכולין לדור בעולם.
"Sefat is related to the river barrier, Sefat Hanahar, the barrier which confines the river to it’s narrow channel. Rav Mordecai Gifter explains: When man stands in prayer before his Maker, his eternal soul is aroused and it surges until it overflows the restrictive banks of the body."
At the times ordained for prayer the soul may embrace its source.
Prayer is not man speaking to G-d- it is the G-d inside of man is speaking to the G-d outside of man!
Et Ratzon Siddur of Rebbi Natan
When you say “Hashem Sfatay”- nullify yourself completely to him, For now you are found in the sanctuary of the king (Tikkunim 18) and you must get to a place of nullification that you don’t feel or see himself, just nullify yourself to the endless light.
The Schnina speaks through your throat (Likutey Maharan 1:18).
מתני׳ המתפלל וטעה סימן רע לו ואם שליח צבור הוא סימן רע לשולחיו מפני ששלוחו של אדם כמותו אמרו עליו על ר' חנינא בן דוסא שהיה מתפלל על החולים ואומר זה חי וזה מת אמרו לו מנין אתה יודע אמר להם אם שגורה תפלתי בפי יודע אני שהוא מקובל ואם לאו יודע אני שהוא מטורף:
MISHNA: Concluding its discussion of the halakhot of prayer, the mishna discusses less practical aspects of prayer. One who prays and realizes that he erred in his prayer, it is a bad omen for him; it indicates to him that his prayer was not accepted. And if he who erred is the communal prayer leader, it is a bad omen for those who sent him, because a person’s agent has legal status equivalent to his own. On a similar note, they said about Rabbi Ḥanina ben Dosa that he would pray on behalf of the sick and immediately after his prayer he would say: This one shall recover from his illness and live and this one shall die. When they said to him: From where do you know? He said to them: If my prayer is fluent in my mouth as I recite it and there are no errors, I know that my prayer is accepted. And if not, I know that my prayer is rejected.
זימנא חדא סמך גאולה לתפלה ולא פסיק חוכא מפומיה כוליה יומא. היכי מצי סמיך והא א"ר יוחנן בתחלה הוא אומר ה' שפתי תפתח ולבסוף הוא אומר יהיו לרצון אמרי פי וגו' וכיון דקבעוה רבנן בתפלה כתפלה אריכתא דמיא.
Once, Rav Beruna juxtaposed redemption and prayer at sunrise, as per the custom of the vatikin (Tosafot), and laughter and joy did not cease from his mouth for the entire day. In practice, the Gemara asks: How is one able to juxtapose redemption and prayer? Didn’t Rabbi Yoḥanan say: At the beginning of prayer, one says: “Lord, open my lips, that my mouth may declare Your glory” (Psalms 51:17), and at the end of prayer one says: “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable before You, Lord, my Rock, and my Redeemer” (Psalms 19:15). If so, the first verse is an interruption between redemption and prayer. Rabbi Elazar said: Let this verse, “Lord, open my lips,” be recited only in the evening prayer but not in the morning prayer. The Gemara asks: Didn’t Rabbi Yoḥanan say: Who is worthy of a place in the World-to-Come? He who juxtaposes redemption of the evening prayer to the evening prayer. Therefore, this verse from Psalms should not be recited before the evening prayer either. Rather, Rabbi Elazar said: Let this verse: “Lord, open my lips,” be recited only before the afternoon prayer. Rav Ashi said another explanation: Even if you say that Rabbi Yoḥanan holds that “Lord, open my lips” is recited before all prayers, including the morning and the evening prayers. Since the Sages instituted this verse, it is considered as an extended prayer; it is an inseparable part of the prayers, and if redemption is juxtaposed to this verse, it is no different than if redemption was juxtaposed to prayer directly.
?What does "Geulah" actually mean
Here's one example
(כה) כִּֽי־יָמ֣וּךְ אָחִ֔יךָ וּמָכַ֖ר מֵאֲחֻזָּת֑וֹ וּבָ֤א גֹֽאֲלוֹ֙ הַקָּרֹ֣ב אֵלָ֔יו וְגָאַ֕ל אֵ֖ת מִמְכַּ֥ר אָחִֽיו׃
(25) If your kinsman is in straits and has to sell part of his holding, his nearest redeemer shall come and redeem what his kinsman has sold.
"The first Blessing of the Amidah has all of the letters of the alphabet, except the letter "hey". And so Chazal added a passuk which has the letter 'Pey' three times (שפתי, תפתח ופי) - to complete that which is missing. And so together with this verse, all of the mouth join together in praising Hashem-and this is why it is called a "tfillah aright"."
עומדים אנו כעת באמצאעיתה של התפילה ושפתותינו פתוחות ודובבות
-ומה ענין בקשה זו?
מכאן ראיה שתפילת העמידה...כאילו נכנסים כעת לעולם אחר.
The Meaning of the word "Ado--nai'
א"ר יוחנן משום ר"ש בן יוחי מיום שברא הקב"ה את העולם לא היה אדם שקראו להקב"ה אדון עד שבא אברהם וקראו אדון שנאמר (בראשית טו, ב) "ויאמר אדו- (אלהים) במה אדע כי אירשנה".
The Torah tells us the cryptic tale in Berieshis 22, 9, where Yaakov Avinu seeks to roll off a great stone which is blocking the waters of the well.
This story alludes to the stumbling block of the Yetzer Hara (evil inclination) which is seeking to hold us back at every moment. We all have a stone which is blocking our soul from being expressed.And even though the well is greater than the stone, but the Yetzer Hara won't let us open up the well, which symbolizes praying to Hashem in Tfillah.
The well symbolizes the Oral Torah, and Tfillah is an expression of that Torah SheBaal Peh. And that's why we must add the Tfillah of 'Hashem Sfatay Tiftach' before we start praying to ask for Hashem's help to daven.
As we know the Yetzer Horo's main job is to hold us back from Tfillah, as every true servant of Hashem knows.
But the truth is that there are no tricks or shortcuts to overcoming the yetzer.
Exactly in proportion to the Service of Hashem in all of our actions, to that extent will we be able to open up our mouths in prayer. That's why tfillah is called 'Service of the Heart', as it is dependant on our yearning of the heart every day, in all of our actions. And this is hinted to in the story, when all of the shepards gather to remove the stone off of the wall, as the consequence of all of our Service of Hashem is the ability to truly daven with dveikus.
Take Aways:
Every Mitzvah Helps open our hearts.
Tfillah if the main Avodah of A Yid's life!
We need to ask for Hashem's help to open up our hearts!