Don’t Ruin the Rare “Neshama Sighting”!2 min read

You are at the zoo with the family on a lazy summer Sunday. As you enjoy watching the cute little Capuchins perform their antics and marvel at the majesty of the elephants, something catches your eye. You notice a crowd of people crowding around one of the enclosures over by the lions or the bears. Hurrying over, you join the excited group of onlookers who are watching as a brand-new lion cub takes her first shaky steps out of the cave of her birth and into the sunlight. As the mamma lion stands by, encouragingly, the cub slowly emerges from the cave. The group buzzes with delight, the children point their fingers, and the air fills with whispering voices “She is SO cute!” “Oh, how adorable!” “Just look at her! Oh, how SWEET!” This is a rare sight at the zoo and a beautiful one to behold. Everyone feels so fortunate at being able to witness such a raw and natural moment!

Suddenly, one of the children begins to shout and bang on the bars of the enclosure. The cub looks up, startled, and begins to hastily retreat into her cave. The crowd groans, and the mother, frustrated and embarrassed, shushes her child and says “Look what you’ve done! You have to be very quiet or else you will scare the baby lion away!”

Friends, so much has been said about talking in shul. We have all heard how disrespectful it is to Hashem and the sanctity of the Beis Knesses. We all know how disturbing it is for other people around us who are trying to focus. I want to shed light on a different perspective. You see, throughout the drag of daily life as humans in a physical world, the Neshama stays in her cave, deep inside the recesses of the heart. The world is scary for her; dangers abound. She has been mistreated too many times in the past to have much confidence for the future. However, three times a day when we come to shul and set aside time to climb out of the mundanity of our daily schedule and commune with the Master of the world to realign our lives with the mission for which we were sent to this earth, the Neshama slowly begins to emerge from her cave. Step after shaky step, she walks toward the sunlight, yearning to frolic and rejoice in the expanses of our openness in this moment of prayer, in this slice of heaven embodied in time consecrated for a higher purpose.

When we turn to our neighbor and make a joke or strike up a conversation during the time of tefillah, it is as startling to the Neshama as the child’s shouting and banging on the cage was to the lion cub in our little story. Shocked and saddened, her moment stolen, her spotlight extinguished, the Neshama slinks back into her cave, broken into a million pieces. While it is true that talking during davening is disturbing to others around us, more importantly, it is a disturbance to the rare and beautiful process of the revelation of our very own soul.

In our day and age, a “Neshama sighting” is an exceedingly rare event. Our lifestyle so often leaves little room for conscious spirituality and elevated focus. It is only during tefillah that we get the rare chance to witness the most amazing sight, about which Chazal wrote “umafli la’asos” – the emergence of the soul from deep within the caves of our physicality. It is only during certain rare times devoted to focusing on the higher ideals of our lives that our perceptions expand enough for the Neshama to reveal herself and lovingly carry us to the next level. Let us take full stock of the great opportunity afforded to us by our daily tefillos and ensure that we do not ch”v squander that opportunity by scaring the Neshama back into her cave!

Hashem is so proud of our efforts! CHAZAK!