A new Kavanah Kard format is in production and Mrs. Levine is gearing up to have them widely available before Rosh Hashanah. “This goes far beyond the outcome for the individual,” explains Mrs. Levine. “The more of us who connect with Hashem, the greater the cumulative impact — the closer Hashem becomes to us individually and to Klal Yisrael. It reflects the idea that we should each feel as if the world’s scale is perfectly balanced and our every act could tip it to the good or the other way. This is such a critical time, when every one of us can make the difference.”

The Weekly Tefillah Focus

How can a young man in his late 20s, who learns every available moment, comment that he has “zero” kavanah during tefillah? “When I heard this remark, made by someone I highly respect as a masmid, I was baffled,” says Eliezer Szrolovits, a Queens balabos. “My initial thought was, if even he has so much difficulty with kavanah, it must be true for so many others as well.”

Mr. Szrolovits started interviewing people from various segments of Klal Yisrael, asking them if they felt challenged with kavanah during davening and, if so, what they felt were the most prominent causes for their struggles. “What I ended up understanding was that many people show up to do their davening duty but lack the spiritual and emotional connection with Hashem that’s so essential in tefillah.”

So what exactly could be done to help people improve their kavanah? Mr. Szrolovits sought guidance from Rav Mordechai Finkelman, mashgiach ruchani of Yeshivas Ohr Hachaim, who passed along advice he had heard from Rav Avrohom Pam ztz”l. The result of that conversation was the creation of Weekly Tefilah Focus, a program that places extra focus on one phrase/pasuk/brachah weekly.

“The thought and process behind this practical step-by-step program is simple but so effective,” contends Mr. Szrolovits. “It requires an investment of focus and effort but only a few minutes of time each week. While there are many commentaries to choose from for any given segment, we look specifically for those that are focused on building and nurturing emunah and increasing our yearning to come closer to Hashem.

“Since we’re all davening in any case,” continues Mr. Szrolovits, “we have the opportunity all week to review, think more deeply about, and adapt the concepts set forth in the current weekly focus segment. This daily review for an entire week is the heart of the program and the key to steady and consistent success, building one segment after another until you ‘own’ that section of tefillah and cannot wait to say it each day because you feel such a strong connection as you say it. “Like all first steps, it’s hard to believe that you’ll ever get there — but it does work,” adds Mr. Szrolovits. “I have experienced a transformation, personally, and we have heard from others who have likewise experienced favorable results. It’s never too little, never too late. Like all other areas of growth, ‘slow and steady’ is what’s needed. When you look back after a few months, you’ll be amazed at your progress and growth.”

Feeling The Blessings

If a person felt he was praying for his life, he wouldn’t have trouble praying with focus and sincerity. For Rabbi Heshy Kleinman, author of the best seller, Praying With Fire (ArtScroll/Mesorah), the essential challenge in inspiring people to pray with kavanah is to get them to not only understand, but to feel that they are indeed praying for blessings in their lives every time they pray. 

“It’s apparent, however, that this has never been an easy concept for people to integrate,” says Rabbi Kleinman. “The Gemara (Berachos 32b) says that tefillah is one of four things that require strengthening. There are several reasons for this. Among them are habit, a lack of joy and excitement, and a lack of clarity as to the main purpose of tefillah. Even a commitment to daven with kavanah only works when there’s a clear understanding that the change will truly improve our lives.” This was the conclusion reached by Rabbi Kleinman and his good friend and chavrusa, Reb Mordechai Gelber, a cofounder of Hakhel, when they would discuss ways to inject more inspiration into people’s daily avodas Hashem. They were convinced that something had to be done to bring tefillah to life. But when they brought their idea of having shuls develop a tefillah program to rabbanim they knew, no one seemed hopeful that anything could be done to inspire real change. 

That’s when Rabbi Kleinman decided that he’d try to write a book that would be practical, in that it would take only five minutes a day to learn over 89 days (to be reviewed three times a year). It would be inspirational, include well-written stories and anecdotes, and would be written on a level that would be relevant to and understandable by every shul member — men, women, and young adults. He hoped that by clearly explaining the fundamental concepts and discussing the true power of tefillah, the lessons would move the hearts of people who had, thus far, not found their connection to tefillah. 

Part of the problem with kavanah, explains Rabbi Kleinman, is that the abundant blessings most people experience every day obscure the fact that it all comes anew each minute from Hashem. “It’s like turning on a flashlight in a well-lit room. You know you’ve turned it on, but you don’t feel the full benefit of the flashlight’s light. When you have everything you need, it’s like shining a flashlight in a well-lit room. We may know about the good we receive from Hashem, but because we live in a comfortable world, do we really feel it?” 

Rabbi Kleinman is adamant in his belief that “we must always forge ahead to keep on strengthening tefillah.” To that end, he recently wrote another five-minute daily-lesson book, Praying with Meaning (which will be available right before Rosh Hashanah), to inspire readers to improve their kavanah. While Praying with Fire addressed the concepts of tefillah, Praying with Meaning deals with the actual tefillos. 

“It has a stimulating format that creates emotional connections to key words in our tefillos,” says Rabbi Kleinman. “It calls into play the senses as well as the intellect which helps one connect with Hashem while he’s davening, which is really the main purpose of tefillah. 

“The idea is that when a person comes to one of these key words in his daily prayers, his heart will be stirred,” Rabbi Kleinman continues. “My goal is to help people develop a true emotional connection to tefillah and to Hashem, and to feel that they’re doing something special for their lives when they daven.”

The Tefillah Revolution

Chaya Sara Lefkowitz constantly davens to Hashem for everything in her life – whether it’s asking Hashem’s for help with the cakes she bakes for widows and orphans, or for a refuah sheleimah for those she visits in a hospital, as well as for her own continued wellbeing.

A psychotherapist who believes she’s a shaliach of Hashem, Mrs. Lefkowitz davens for each of her clients throughout their treatment and beyond, in addition to asking Hashem to give her the koach and ability to help her help His people.

“I spend the whole time praying; it’s just not with a siddur,” says Mrs. Lefkowitz, a native Londoner living in Yerushalayim. She’s made it her mission to help people daven better, freely sharing her tools with students of all ages, principals, and teachers in Eretz Yisrael, England, and America.

“I started writing my book The Tefillah Revolution about 30 years ago. I chose this title because there is a revolution going on and it’s not blaring in the streets; it’s in the quiet and heartfelt tefillos with kavanah that are transforming our world, one prayer at a time.”

What inspired Mrs. Lefkowitz to write her book? As a teacher, she’d come into class in the morning and daven with the students. It was upsetting to her that so many of them were not davening properly. Then she realized, ‘How can I expect them to know something they’ve never learned?!’ She decided to start each morning with preparations for tefillah by telling her class stories and parables and practicing “kavanah drills” with them.

“I tell the girls to imagine that the queen invited us to her palace,” explains Mrs. Lefkowitz. “How would you feel? You’d get so excited, you’d start packing immediately. The preparations for tefillah are like that excitement. The minute we open our siddurim, it’s like an invitation from Hashem. He’s saying, ‘Come, please, please come. I want to hear you.’

“I love davening and it helps me feel so close to Hashem,” continues Mrs. Lefkowitz. “I felt that so many people don’t have it — they learn how to play music, how to dance, all kinds of things, but no one learns how to daven properly. It is something so, so special, so beautiful — there’s this gorgeous diamond present that Hashem gave us: the ability to daven and get close to Him.”

The purpose of the drills is to get the girls to know in their minds and hearts what they’re saying. “For every tefillah, my approach has been: What am I supposed to feel when I say it, and what am I supposed to think?” explains Mrs. Lefkowitz. One way she creates an atmosphere conducive to kavanah is to have her students close their eyes (or they sit in a dark room) and she tells them to imagine a light-blue bird. Then she begins to weave a narrative about this fluttering bird.

At the end, she says to the girls, “Now, open your eyes and tell me how you felt about this drill and what you thought of during this time.” They usually respond that they felt relaxed but they didn’t think of anything else except for the bird. “I tell them, ‘Well, that’s kavanah!’ says Mrs. Lefkowitz. 

To stay-at-home moms who feel frustrated that they can’t find the time to daven daily, or regret that they weren’t inspired or able to concentrate and have enough kavanah in their tefillos, Mrs. Lefkowitz says, “I have news for you — you can daven anytime during the day and anywhere. You can daven without a siddur. You can daven in your own language. It’s your heart that counts. Just take one tefillah — not the whole Shacharis — and use that one tefillah every day, whether it is Modeh Ani or Shema Yisrael. The one tefillah that you really feel you can do with kavanah with all your heart, is fine.

“I also tell busy mothers,” she continues, “if you’re diapering the baby, thank Hashem you have a baby. If you’re cleaning the house, baruch Hashem. No matter what’s going on, pour out your heart to your Father in Heaven. He is waiting to hear you. As with Rochel Imeinu, every time she davened to Hashem for a child, somewhere in the world someone else was blessed with a baby. In the same way, remember that someone somewhere out there can benefit from every single one of your tefillos. It’s a worthwhile investment! It’s your connection to your Maker and Creator, the path to becoming refined and humbled, pushing aside your personal interests to do what Hashem wants from you.”

Mrs. Lefkowitz’s enthusiasm and love for tefillah was instilled in her by her parents, Rabbi Simcha Binem and Rebbetzin Chava Shosha Lieberman a”h. “My mother said she would always remember the way her own mother davened, with such special kavanah, the pages of her siddur were always soaked with tears,” she recalls.

“My parents were Holocaust survivors and were in many concentration camps, including Auschwitz. Throughout all the tortures they always remembered to daven to Hashem, pleading that Hashem should have mercy on them and on Klal Yisrael, yet never forgetting to thank Hashem for His chasadim, kindness.

“No matter where you are or what the situation is,” Mrs. Lefkowitz continues, “you must always feel connected and long for a bond with Hashem. It’s the pipeline through which our Heavenly Father can send blessings.”

For more information,and to obtain Kavanah

Kards, contact the Mishpacha office.

Stay Focused

Practical tips for improving kavanah from Dina Sara Levine:

Set a goal to improve your relationship with Hashem through greater kavanah in davening.

Ask Hashem to help you achieve your goal and sincerely give this struggle over to Hashem.

Use the Kavanah Kard as a “line guide” in your siddur beneath the line you’re reading, and post the businesscard size wherever you make brachos so they can help you focus on the meaning.

Set a reasonable goal with the Kavanah Kard because it can be challenging to change a habit. For example, start by using it with a particular brachah (such as asher yatzar) or with one part of davening, such as Shema and the first paragraph. As you grow more comfortable, add additional brachos and tefillos.

Focus on growth. Look for, celebrate, and thank Hashem for every improvement, no matter how small!

Practical tips for improving kavanah from Rabbi Heshy Kleinman: (taken from Praying with Fire)

Quiet the mind. Pausing to orient yourself and clear your head helps you embark upon tefillah with concentration.

Prepare oneself. Attune yourself to tefillah’s importance by focusing on what you’re trying to accomplish and knowing before Whom you’re standing.

Actively approach prayer. Speaking the words of prayer brings the senses into play, helping generate kavanah.

Feel the need. The sense of pressing need brings heartfelt passion to your prayers by motivating you to reach out and seek a connection with Hashem.

Understand the meaning. A key to kavanah is fully grasping the meaning of the words. 

Pray from a siddur. The printed words help you maintain and even elevate your level of focus. The sharpness of a person’s memory does not mitigate his need for a siddur.

Find joy in prayer. The opportunity to approach Hashem with your needs, along with the recognition of Hashem’s presence and greatness, is the source of the joy you can feel when you pray.

Add personal requests. Personal requests turn prayers from the abstract to the concrete.

Designate a personal place. Praying sincerely in a specific place imbues it with holiness, and that in turn enhances kavanah.

Use visualization. A person can develop a desired behavior or skill by visualizing it. You can improve tefillah by imagining yourself praying with kavanah and overcoming distractions and obstacles.

Practical tips for improving kavanah from Mrs.Chaya Sara Lefkowitz:

Talk to your children about tefillah. Get them accustomed to incorporating tefillah into their daily lives. Train them to see and be grateful for the gifts of life Hashem gives them, 24/7/365.

Don’t despair. When you start to daven and feel the yetzer hara approaching and that you are losing kavanah, don’t get demoralized, feeling you’ll never be able to get close to Hashem. Just the opposite. If you weren’t anywhere near the King, the yetzer hara wouldn’t bother with its attack. So when you realize you don’t have kavanah, that’s when you should try even harder and become more attached and closer to Hashem. He’s waiting to help you.

Take a fresh look. Try to read the tefillos as if seeing them for the first time. We’re so used to saying the words automatically like robots. You might gain a new perspective by reading the words and thinking about them before you daven.

Gaze at the letters. The Baal Shem Tov’s advice is very comforting: Just looking at the letters of the tefillos will instill you with kedushah.

Consider the chain. Think of how your tefillos are now joining those of all your brethren — directly connecting us with the Creator of the Universe.

Feel the pain. There are numerous tragedies afflicting our communities, countless widows and orphans, those afflicted with illness, both physical and spiritual — connect to their hurt, and realize you can help them by pouring out your heart to our Father in Heaven. Then, thank Hashem for what He’s blessed you with.

Ask for help. Last but not least, turn to your Father in Heaven and ask Him, in your own words, to help you with whatever you want, from the most trivial thing to the most important.
(Originally featured in Family First, Issue 458)