Musar for Taanit 3:11

It is accompanied by prayer, תפלה which is עבודה service of the Lord. Our sages have stated that service of the Lord with the heart is none other than prayer (תענית ב). Prayer was instituted as a substitute for animal sacrifice after the destruction of the Holy Temple. צדקה, charity, is also two pronged. It comprises גמילות חסדים, the performance of deeds of loving kindness (with one's body), as well as the performance of charitable deeds (with one's checkbook). This latter category includes gifts given to G–d, i.e. for religious institutions, the Temple Treasury, repair of synagogues, etc. Although all that we own originates with G–d, donating it to G–d or to His representatives is still rated as an act of charity on our part.

But the truth is according to its plain meaning. For in the beginning of the section it is written (Ibid. 13): "and to serve Him with all your heart," concerning which Chazal have said (Ta'anith 2a): "What is service of the heart? Prayer." And, therefore, Scripture states: "Pay heed unto yourselves lest your heart be enticed." That is, lest the yetzer entice you to say: "Why should I study Torah if I already love the L-rd, and, thank G-d, I pray every day? This is enough, and what of it if I do turn away now completely from Torah [study] or if I turn my son away from it? Does he not pray every day?" Therefore, Scripture comes and apprises us that the end of turning away from Torah will be "and you will serve other gods," as we wrote in the beginning, that this is comparable to a fish's being taken from water, in which instance his very life will depart in a short time. So with the Jew who departs from Torah [study] completely and swerves from the path of mussar to a different path. He is not far from the service of other gods. (And this is obvious, for thus is it found in Sifrei on this verse: "lest your heart be enticed, and you turn astray, and you serve, etc." — once a man separates himself from Torah, he immediately cleaves to idolatry. And that is why Scripture says afterwards (Ibid. 18): "And you shall place these, My words, upon your heart." That is, let these words of Mine — that when a man turns aside from Torah [study], he will come, G-d forbid, in the end, to idolatry — enter your heart. And, therefore (Ibid. 19): "You shall teach them to your sons, etc." and not be satisfied with your son's fulfilling the mitzvah of prayer alone. And for this reason, Scripture concludes (Ibid. 21): "So that your days be prolonged and the days of your children on the earth," as Chazal say in Perek Chelek: "The exiles are gathered in only in the merit of Torah."

It is a positive commandment to pray to the Lord, a sub-category of the commandment to serve Him, in this instance by means of one's heart. Prayers offered by individuals are sometimes rejected, not being always considered ריח נחוח, "sweet smelling fragrance" by G–d. Publicly offered prayer, however, converts into a "crown" for G–d's "head," at all times.

The camp of Ephrayim, which faces West, the direction of our prayers, the direction of the שכינה, the Holy of Holies, is the region behind which the angel רפאל is positioned We find an allusion to this in Moses' prayer for Miriam, 12,13, "א-ל נא, רפא נא לה" Prayer corresponds to the letter ו in the Ineffable Name of G–d, because the conditions for successful prayer are 3, i.e. in reality 6. 1) Prayer is called עין ולב, eye and heart. It is called "eye," because Psalms 145,15, says: "all eyes are on You." It is called "heart," since the Torah in Deut 11,13, requires us to serve the Lord "with all your hearts." This demand may appear as a contradiction in terms.