The Sounds of Silence: The Place of Quietude in our Spiritual Lives

(17) Shimon, his son, says: All my days I grew up among the Sages, and I did not find anything good for a body but silence. And the exposition [of Torah] is not what is essential, but the action. And whoever increases words brings sin.

(13) Rabbi Akiva says: Joking and lightheartedness acclimate toward promiscuity. Tradition is a safeguarding fence around Torah. Tithes are a safeguarding fence around wealth. Vows are a safeguarding fence around abstinence. A safeguarding fence around wisdom is silence.

(2) For You silence is praise, God in Zion, and to You the vow is paid.

Since it is a well-known fact that even that knowledge of God which is accessible to man cannot be attained except by negations, and that negations do not convey a true idea of the being to which they refer, all people, both of past and present generations, declared that God cannot be the object of human comprehension, that none but Himself comprehends what He is, and that our knowledge consists in knowing that we are unable truly to comprehend Him. All philosophers say, "He has overpowered us by His grace, and is invisible to us through the intensity of His light," like the sun which cannot be perceived by eyes which are too weak to bear its rays. Much more has been said on this topic, but it is useless to repeat it here. The idea is best expressed in the book of Psalms, "Silence is praise to You" (65:2). It is a very expressive remark on this subject; for whatever we utter with the intention of extolling and of praising Him, contains something that cannot be applied to God, and includes derogatory expressions; it is therefore more becoming to be silent, and to be content with intellectual reflection, as has been recommended by men of the highest culture, in the words "Commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still" (Ps. 4:4).

[One] should not stand up to pray unless s/he is in a serious frame of mind. The original pious ones used to wait one hour and then pray, in order to direct their hearts towards the Omnipresent. [While one is reciting Shemoneh Esrei,] even if the king greets him/her, s/he should not respond to him, and even if a snake wraps around his/her heel, s/he should not interrupt.

"[One] should not stand up to pray unless he is in a serious frame of mind." This means that one should stand with kavannah and awe (yirah), as it is stated "serve YHWH with awe," and the explanation for waiting, or holding off, is to say that one holds off for an hour before prayer in order to settle one's mind and to quiet one's thoughts and [only] then begins to pray..."

"Dwell for one hour." In the place where they came to pray.,"

(2a) Rabbi Elazar said, “My silence has erected the Temple Above, which is Bina, and the Temple below, which is Malchut. Of course, as people say, ‘A word is worth a gold coin’, but silence is worth two.” So the words “a word is worth a gold coin” mean that I spoke and came to regret it. Silence, my silence, is worth twice as much, for the two worlds, Bina and Malchut, were created by this silence. For had I not kept silent, I would not have attained the unity of both worlds.”

Said Rabbi Abahu....in the name of Rabbi Yochanan...When the Holy Blessed One gave the Torah, no bird chirped, no fowl fluttered, no ox lowed, the angels did not fly, the Seraphim did not utter the Kedusha, the sea did not roar, the creatures did not speak; the universe was silent and mute. And the voice came forth “Anochi Adonai Elohecha” (I am the Infinite, your God).