(ט) אָמַר רַבִּי אַבָּהוּ בְּשֵׁם רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן, כְּשֶׁנָּתַן הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא אֶת הַתּוֹרָה, צִפּוֹר לֹא צָוַח, עוֹף לֹא פָּרַח, שׁוֹר לֹא גָּעָה, אוֹפַנִּים לֹא עָפוּ, שְׂרָפִים לֹא אָמְרוּ קָדוֹשׁ קָדוֹשׁ, הַיָּם לֹא נִזְדַּעֲזָע, הַבְּרִיּוֹת לֹא דִּבְּרוּ, אֶלָּא הָעוֹלָם שׁוֹתֵק וּמַחֲרִישׁ, וְיָצָא הַקּוֹל: אָנֹכִי ה' אֱלֹהֶיךָ.
(9) Rabbi Abbahu said in the name of Rabbi Yoḥanan: When the Holy One blessed be He gave the Torah, no bird tweeted, no fowl flew, no bull lowed, the wheels Of the Divine Chariot did not fly, seraphs did not say: “Holy, holy” (see Isaiah 6:3), the sea did not quake, and people did not speak. Rather, the entire world was quiet and silent and then the voice emerged: “I am the Lord your God.”
אָמַר רַב הַמְנוּנָא: כַּמָּה הִלְכְתָא גִּבָּרָווֹתָא אִיכָּא לְמִשְׁמַע מֵהָנֵי קְרָאֵי דְחַנָּה. ״וְחַנָּה הִיא מְדַבֶּרֶת עַל לִבָּהּ״ — מִכָּאן לַמִּתְפַּלֵּל צָרִיךְ שֶׁיְּכַוֵּין לִבּוֹ. ״רַק שְׂפָתֶיהָ נָּעוֹת״ — מִכָּאן לַמִּתְפַּלֵּל שֶׁיַּחְתּוֹךְ בִּשְׂפָתָיו.
כת"י אשכנז
״וְקוֹלָהּ לֹא יִשָּׁמֵעַ״ — מִכָּאן שֶׁאָסוּר לְהַגְבִּיהַּ קוֹלוֹ בִּתְפִלָּתוֹ.
כת"י ספרד
״וְקוֹלָהּ לֹא יִשָּׁמֵעַ״ — מִכָּאן שֶׁאָסוּר לְהַשמיע קוֹלוֹ בִּתְפִלָּתוֹ.
Rav Hamnuna said: How many significant halakhot can be derived from these verses of the prayer of Hannah? As it says: “And Hannah spoke in her heart, only her lips moved and her voice could not be heard, so Eli thought her to be drunk” (I Samuel 1:13)...
Ashkenaz Manuscripts
From that which is written here: “And her voice could not be heard,” we learn that one is forbidden to raise their voice in prayer.
Spanish Manuscripts
From that which is written here: “And her voice could not be heard,” we learn that it is forbidden to make one's voice heard in prayer.
(א) הוֹצִיאוּ לוֹ אֶת הַכַּף וְאֶת הַמַּחְתָּה, וְחָפַן מְלֹא חָפְנָיו וְנָתַן לְתוֹךְ הַכַּף, הַגָּדוֹל לְפִי גָדְלוֹ, וְהַקָּטָן לְפִי קָטְנוֹ, וְכָךְ הָיְתָה מִדָּתָהּ. נָטַל אֶת הַמַּחְתָּה בִּימִינוֹ וְאֶת הַכַּף בִּשְׂמֹאלוֹ. הָיָה מְהַלֵּךְ בַּהֵיכָל, עַד שֶׁמַּגִּיעַ לְבֵין שְׁתֵּי הַפָּרֹכוֹת הַמַּבְדִּילוֹת בֵּין הַקֹּדֶשׁ וּבֵין קֹדֶשׁ הַקָּדָשִׁים, וּבֵינֵיהֶן אַמָּה. רַבִּי יוֹסֵי אוֹמֵר, לֹא הָיְתָה שָׁם אֶלָּא פָרֹכֶת אַחַת בִּלְבָד, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (שמות כו), וְהִבְדִּילָה הַפָּרֹכֶת לָכֶם בֵּין הַקֹּדֶשׁ וּבֵין קֹדֶשׁ הַקָּדָשִׁים. הַחִיצוֹנָה הָיְתָה פְרוּפָה מִן הַדָּרוֹם, וְהַפְּנִימִית מִן הַצָּפוֹן. מְהַלֵּךְ בֵּינֵיהֶן, עַד שֶׁמַּגִּיעַ לַצָּפוֹן. הִגִּיעַ לַצָּפוֹן, הוֹפֵךְ פָּנָיו לַדָּרוֹם, מְהַלֵּךְ לִשְׂמֹאלוֹ עִם הַפָּרֹכֶת עַד שֶׁהוּא מַגִּיעַ לָאָרוֹן. הִגִּיעַ לָאָרוֹן. נוֹתֵן אֶת הַמַּחְתָּה בֵּין שְׁנֵי הַבַּדִּים. צָבַר אֶת הַקְּטֹרֶת עַל גַּבֵּי גֶחָלִים, וְנִתְמַלֵּא כָל הַבַּיִת כֻּלּוֹ עָשָׁן. יָצָא וּבָא לוֹ בְדֶרֶךְ בֵּית כְּנִיסָתוֹ, וּמִתְפַּלֵּל תְּפִלָּה קְצָרָה בַּבַּיִת הַחִיצוֹן, וְלֹא הָיָה מַאֲרִיךְ בִּתְפִלָּתוֹ, שֶׁלֹּא לְהַבְעִית אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל:
(ב) מִשֶּׁנִּטַּל הָאָרוֹן, אֶבֶן הָיְתָה שָׁם מִימוֹת נְבִיאִים רִאשׁוֹנִים, וּשְׁתִיָּה הָיְתָה נִקְרֵאת, גְּבוֹהָה מִן הָאָרֶץ שָׁלשׁ אֶצְבָּעוֹת, וְעָלֶיהָ הָיָה נוֹתֵן:
1) They brought out to him the ladle and the pan and he took two hands full [of incense] and put it into the ladle, a large [high priest] according to his size, a small one according to his size and thus was its measure. He took the pan in his right hand and the ladle in his left hand. He walked through the Hechal until he came to the place between the two curtains which separated the Holy from the Holy of Holies; between them was [a space of] one cubit. Rabbi Yose says: there was but one curtain, as it is said: “And the curtain shall serve you as a partition between the Holy and the Holy of Holies” (Exodus 26:33). The outer curtain was looped on the south side and the inner curtain on the north side. He walked along between them until he reached the north side. When he reached the north side he turned round to the south and went on along the curtain, to his left, until he reached the Ark. When he reached the Ark he put the pan of burning coals between the two poles. He heaped up the incense upon the coals and the whole house became full with smoke. He came out by the way he entered and in the outer house he uttered a short prayer. He did not make the prayer long so as not to frighten Israel.
(2) After the Ark had been taken away, there was a stone from the days of the earlier prophets, called “shtiyah”, three fingers above the ground, on which he would place [the pan of burning coals].
(מד) הֵיכָלָא שְׁבִיעָאָה,
אֲדֹנָי שְׂפָתַי תִּפְתָּח,
רָזָא דְּרָזִין בִּלְחִישׁוּ, וְלָא אִשְׁתְּמַע קָלָא. הָכָא אִיהוּ רְעוּתָא דְּלִבָּא, לְאִתְכַּוְונָא וּלְסַלְּקָא רְעוּתָא מִתַתָּא לְעֵילָּא, עַד אֵין סוֹף, וּלְקַשְּׁרָא שְׁבִיעָאָה בִּשְׁבִיעָאָה, (וכלא חד בחד)
וּלְבָתַר, מֵעֵילָּא לְתַתָּא, לְאַמְשָׁכָא בִּרְכָאן בְּכֻלְּהוּ עָלְמִין, מִמְּקוֹרָא דְּחַיֵּי, (נ"א דאיהו שביעאה לעלאה) דְּאִיהוּ הֵיכָלָא שְׁבִיעָאָה עִלָּאָה בִּרְעוּתָא דְּלִבָּא, וּבִסְתִימוּ דְּעַיְינִין, דְּרָזָא דְּאַתְוָון דְּשֶׁבַע שְׁמָהָן עִלָּאִין קַדִישִׁין.
Seventh Hall. (Before - Adonai, open my lips)
Mystery of mysteries in a whisper - voice unheard.
This is the place of the hearts desire,
here the longing is given direction, to rise from below upwards into infinity.
Here the seventh connects to the seventh, they all come together.
After this, the movement flows from above downwards to draw blessing into all worlds from the source of life - the supernal seventh hall, with longing heart and closed eyes and the secret letters of the seven holy supernal names.
Note, that when we approach prayer, we do not begin with the Amidah. There is a sequence, beginning with the morning blessings, through the verses of song, Shema and all of its blessings before we get to the Amidah.
This reflects an understanding that a person lives alone, by themselves, and upon approaching prayer they leave that solitude and connect with the blessed Creator.
Every step in the process of prayer is an ascent. In the context of this internal work, “ascent” means a step away from feeling alone towards feeling more and more in conversation with the blessed Creator. At the beginning of the service you may feel relatively separate, but as the prayer service advances you should feel lees and less separate and closer and closer to the blessed Creator, until by the time you reach the Amidah you are in the state of – “like a person talks to a friend”.
You know what this is like? Imagine a person who sees her friend on the other side of the street. She call out to her friend to wait for her. The desire to tell something to this friend is so strong that she does not wait until the friend walks towards her. First, she calls out to the friend to stop so that she realizes that she has something to say. Then as they get closer to each other she continues to talk in a loud voice, so that the friend can hear, but the closer they get the more she can lower her voice. When they are finally together they can speak calmly, even in intimate tones as friends speak to each other.
That is a description of external dynamics. In your inner life, the closer you feel to your Creator, the softer the inner cry of the soul gets, and the quieter your speech becomes until you reach the state of total “delicate sound of silence”.
That is why we do not begin with the Amidah prayer. The holy books teach that in general even if a person is connected to God all day long, prayer time, and particularly the Amidah prayer is the deepest point of connection in the day.
"He who speaks too much brings about sin" (Avot 1:5)
The meaning of this teaching is as follows:
The word sin [het] means deficiency [hisaron].
Even when you speak with others words of Torah wisdom,
Silence is still preferable.
Silent contemplation offers greater possibilities for connection with the Divine than does discussion or speech.
(Translation: Or Rose and Ebn Leader, in "God in All Moments" p. 115)