Shaliach Tzibur - Learning To Lead Responsibilities of a Prayer Leader

What does it mean to pray?

What does it mean to lead others in prayer?

What are your responsibilities?

What does it mean to be a שליח צבור?

From Iyyun.com

Prayer is likened to the ladder in the dream of Yaakov. As the Book of Genesis relates (28:12), in his dream, Yaakov saw “a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven.”

The Hebrew word for “ladder”—sulam סלם—is comprised of three Hebrew letters totaling 130: samach equaling 60; lamed equaling 30; and mem equaling 40. This is the same numerical value as that of the word Sinai סיני: samach equaling 60; yud equaling 10; nun equaling 50; and yud equaling 10. This implies that the peak or ultimate experience of prayer is mystical union with Hashem, such the Jewish people achieved at Mt. Sinai.

If the word sulam סולם is spelled with an additional letter vav (equaling 6) its numerical value is 136, which is the same as kol קול meaning “voice.” This suggests that the means of travel on the ladder of prayer is through the vocalization of our prayers. We need to include all levels of our being on this inner journey of prayer, most importantly our humanness, which is distinguished by our ability to speak, an ability not shared by any other creatures.

The Midrash Tanchuma says that there were four steps to Yaakov’s ladder, and the Zohar teaches that these four rugs parallel the four main stages of morning prayer, beginning with earthly reality and slowly moving upward and inward to a higher, deeper level of connection and unity with Hashem. At the outset of prayer, we begin by standing on the first rung, and through the course of the prayer service, we climb the ladder toward spiritual perfection and elevation.

The four stages of morning prayer are as follows:

1) Morning Blessings (Birchot Hashchar) which reflect our dawn of our awareness.2) Verses of Praise (Pesukei DeZimrah) which cut away any negativity and awaken our emotions.3) Reading of the Shema (Keriat Shema) which internalizes our emotions.4) The Silent Standing Prayer (Amidah also known as the Shemonei Esrei) which is a deep encounter with the Divine in a quite space of union, ultimately reaching a place of oneness.

The stages of prayer parallel the worlds of creation as well as the levels of our soul:

1) the world of action (asiyah) and the soul level of physical/functional consciousness (nefesh)2) the world of formation (yetzirah) and the soul level of emotional consciousness (ruach)3) the world of creation/context (beriah) and the soul level of intellectual/cognitive ability (neshamah)4) the world of unity (atzilus) and the soul level of transcendental consciousness (chayah) which is reflected as our inner most deepest will and desire.

What is the journey you hope to lead others on in being a shaliach tzibur?

How would you describe the steps, the rungs on your prayer ladder?

How do we prepare ourselves and others to pray?

Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, Davening: A Guide to Meaningful Jewish Prayer“The awareness that we stand in the presence of the Living God is one of the most important realizations we can install in our operative consciousness. God is always present. The question is, how present are we? We want to stand in that Presence without opacity. Our work is to penetrate, in meditation and in action, to the very heart of being nokhach penei ha-Shem (Lamentations 2:19), of being truly present before God.”

“Great is the power of prayer. For to worship is to expand the presence of God in the world. God is transcendent, but our worship makes God immanent.”

What is your connection between prayer and the Divine?

Before whom do you and your community stand?

There once was a king who loved music; he directed musicians to play for him every morning.The musicians performed to obey, but also because they loved and respected the king, they valued the chance to be in his presence. Every morning they played for the king with enthusiasm and delight. For many years, things went well. The musicians enjoyed playing, the king enjoyed listening. The musicians eventually passed away, their sons sought to take their place; but they had not mastered the art, nor kept the instruments in proper condition. They no longer loved the king so much. They blindly followed their fathers' custom of arriving each morning to perform, but the harsh sounds were so offensive to king he stopped listening.

A little with kavanah (focus, intention) is better than a lot without.

God doesn't count the number of words you say, God counts the time you spend with the Divine.

If you haven't yet tasted prayer that is completely cleaned from asking your needs, if you haven't yet cried as you describe the greatness of the Holy One, and if you haven't extended yourself to the point that you feel that your words are from G!d to G!d, and if you haven't pushed yourself to the point that your heart and mind uncover G!dliness to the point that you know you can't understand or comprehend... then, all the crying that you cry at the time when you ask for your needs are seen in Heaven as child's play, as a child cries and begs for toys and sweets. This is what you have to do: go out, for one or two hours, abandon the world and its tumult, and all its requests and clever manipulations that are in you, and be alone, by yourself, and if possible, go walking in the woods, and see yourself as a simple and honest creation among G!d's creations. Become one with the sun and the moon, the birds and all the trees, and sing before the Holy One. You just came to uncover and fill all the world with the greatness of the Holy One.

Begin, please, for example, to announce/proclaim "Adon Olam, etc" or "Yedid Nefesh, etc" and see if your soul doesn't expand itself in its glory, outwards, to meet your soul's sovereign and maker, who is [also] approaching you, as it were, to pay attention and listen to the voice of your song. And a fire from above will burn inside you, that can only be washed away with tears, [they are what] rescues and calm you.

And then you can understand the request of Moshe Rabeinu that prayed, when he was close to die, to become like the birds in the sky: to tell and sing the song of G!d, in front of G!d - that desire.