By Yehuda Hausman, YCT '10

(ונתנה תוקף)
"Repentance, Prayer, and Righteous Giving Remove the Evil of the Decree."

I. Tefilla - Prayer: The Difficulties of Worship

In the third chapter of Eichah, the prophet Jeremiah laments,
איכה ג: מד סַכּוֹתָה בֶעָנָן לָךְ, מֵעֲבוֹר תְּפִלָּה "You have enveloped yourself in a cloud so that no prayer can get through." (Lam 3.44)

Just about anyone who has been to synagogue in the last decade knows that prayer is a difficult thing. Our lips may move but our minds are elsewhere. We lift our eyes heavenward only to find thick clouds obscuring our view.