“For millions of years mankind lived just like the animals
Then something happened which unleashed the power of our imagination
We learned to talk
There’s a silence surrounding me
I can’t seem to think straight
I’ll sit in the corner
No one can bother me
I think I should speak now
Why won’t you talk to me
I can’t seem to speak now
You never talk to me”
-Pink Floyd, Keep Talking
There are people who see the world and say, if it exists it must have been created. If it was created there must be an active creator. If there is an active creator there must be purpose and if there is purpose it must be not talking during davening. The philosophical steps of reasoning behind those cards are overwhelming.
What I don’t understand is the inconsistency, we praise Avraham Avinu for leaving the Shechinah to greet three strangers, yet if I stop davening to greet my friends I am shunned. When Moshe Rabainu was coming down with the Luchos, he allowed himself to break the Luchos based on a Kal VaChomer. In order to save one couple G-d allows his name to be erased in the case of a Sotah, surely he can break the Luchos to save all of Klal Yisroel. The amount of comradery created by talking in the back of shul is undeniable, why are people getting so bent out of shape?
But still, the annoying guy in the back of shul (seriously dude, if it bothers you so much move up to the front) is still not convinced, he sshhhhs you to no end, and lately he’s even been handing you those cards. At one point in time, people knew how to be jerks all are their own, now they need to make tools for them. When sshher guy comes prepared, he may even mention how it is forbidden to talk during davening, he may even have a brochure of sources (of which he’s never seen inside). So let’s take a look at what our case is halachicly;
The Tzizt Eliezer was asked if one should make sure not to walk Daled Amos in front of one who is davening, as is the halacha. He answered that one need not be careful based on a Rambam. The Halacha is, if one did not have proper intentions during Avos, the first Bracha of Shemone Esri, he did not fulfil a halachik davening and must repeat Shemone Esri. The Rambam rules that in our days, one should not repeat Shemone Esri because he won’t have the proper intentions the second time around either. Based on this the Tzizt Eliezer rules, that it can be assumed that someone davening is not actually fulfilling a Halachik davening, and the rules of what can be done around him do not apply. The obvious next step to this ruling is our answer to Sshher guy, while he may have a nicely designed brochure of sources of why it is forbidden to talk during davening, that is applicable to a Halchik davening, but as we can assume that no one around is actuallydoing that, his well-designed list of sources fall flat.
As can be expected, when presenting this argument, I was faced with a counter. One rabbi I told this to responded, “Surely the Tzizit Eliezer was referring to the people you are often faced with walking in front of who are davening in middle of an isle but how can you say that about the general public?”
Ok, two can play at this game, in for a penny in for a pound. Brachos 29b, the gemara rules that one who is traveling should not say the whole Shemone Esri, but rather an abridged version called Havienu, that’s about three lines. The Aruch Hashulchan (and many others) note that we do not say Havienu in our times, rather we say the full Shemone Esri, and the reason given is because in the times of the Gemara where people actually had concentration while davening it made sense to establish Havienu while traveling, now that no one has concentration any way, Havienu would be pointless.
So, I responded to the rabbi, if you in fact were ready to tell your elite little group up in the front of the shul who are truly having concentration while they are davening, that when they travel all they have to say is Havienu, then I can accept your response. But, so long that you are telling them that they still need to say the whole Shemone Esri While traveling, you are by default acknowledging that they are not having the proper concentration. In which case, we would apply the Tzizit Eliezers ruling, and Sshher guy still has no merit.
So, next time you’re in the back of shul, and that annoying guy starts up, remind him, Pink Floyd said to keep talking, but all he heard was we don’t need no education.
Babylonian Fools 