Mitzvah 5; To Serve HaShem

The Rambam writes “The fifth mitzvah is to serve HaShem as the Torah states ‘serve HaShem with all your heart’ the type of service that is done by the heart is prayer.”

Behold, the organ of the body that is instructed to perform the mitzvah of prayer is the heart! On one level this makes perfect sense since prayer without intention is meaningless. However, we know that prayer without speaking is not prayer at all. If one were to think all his prayers without ever uttering a word he would not have fulfilled his mitzvah of prayer. How then do we associate the heart as the organ that performs the mitzvah?

Let us look at other mitzvos such as the mitzvah of eating matzo on Pesach, or sitting in the Succah on Succot or blowing shofar on Rosh Hashanah. Every one of these mitzvos is performed by the physical body of the person. We also know that every mitzvah should be performed with the expressed intention of doing it for the sake of HaShem. We can therefore say that there are two parts to the mitzvah; one part is the performance of the mitzvah, the second is the intention of the mitzvah. The first is done by the body and the second is done by the heart.

With prayer the reverse is true. The mitzvah is to be performed by the heart; to serve HaShem with the heart. The mechanism which the heart will use to execute this mitzvah is the mouth. The actual articulation of prayer is the heart carrying out its responsibility by using the mouth.

What needs to be developed is appreciating the nature of serving. How does one serve G.D? Furthermore, if the responsibility of the heart is to serve G.D, why do we fill our prayers with so many requests? Do we serve our boss by making requests and asking for favors for ourselves?

To address this question properly we must get the translation of ‘la-avod’, which means to serve. The root of the word is ‘eved’ which means servant. The connection is obvious; the servant is the one who serves the master.

Let us now find the meaning of serving with your heart. Throughout the Torah the heart is recognized as the organ of understanding and insight. One clear example of this when the Torah states the following mitzvah “You shall know today that HaShem is the Sovereign and bring it to your heart”. The Torah is instructing us to take what we already know on the surface and incorporate it into our very psyche, into our core consciousness. That consciousness is housed in the heart.

This would seem to indicate that when the Torah instructs us to serve HaShem with our heart, the Torah is summoning the heart, the home of our consciousness, to serve HaShem. How is that done?

The way my heart serves HaShem is by incorporating the notion that I am but a servant of HaShem into my core consciousness. The very knowing, on that inner level, that I am HaShem’s servant is the way the heart serves HaShem. When the heart does its job in the service of HaShem this is what occurs the result is this awareness.

Now let us look at the prayer that our Sages composed and see if we can uncover this principle. While there are many parts of our liturgy, the central prayer is the Amidah. This unique prayer is the only prayer that must be recited in a meditative mode in standing position. Our Sages teach us that when one recites the Amidah, the Shechinah (the Presence of G.D) stands directly in front of him. Therefore one must stand with full awareness that he is currently addressing the Shechinah.

The Amidah is composed of three parts. The first part serves as an introduction in which we recite the praises of HaShem. The last part serves as a conclusion in which we express our acknowledgement and gratitude for all the HaShem is to us and all the He bestows upon us. The middle part which is the main body of the Amidah consists of 13 requests that we make of HaShem. Some are personal requests and some are national requests.

Through contemplating and reciting the praises of HaShem in the first part as well as acknowledging the goodness we receive from HaShem in the third part we will certainly gain the consciousness that we are but servants of HaShem. The question is how do we achieve this consciousness through the 13 requests?

When you ask a favor from someone it is implicit in your request that you recognize that the person you are addressing has the wherewithal to provide you with that request. You would not ask a high school student to please lend you $100,000 for a business endeavor. Yet you would ask him to help you with moving your furniture.

The function of articulating these 13 requests is to impress upon ourselves how it is HaShem Who can provide us with these needs. The requests take the lessons of our praise and thanks to a practical level. I recognize that I am the servants of HaShem and I therefore ask HaShem to please help me that I maintain my job and that my deal goes through as hoped for and that my toe infection goes away and that Israel won’t suffer any terrorist attacks and that HaShem will rebuild Jerusalem and establish the throne of David in its appropriate place and so on. We review these requests constantly to remind ourselves that our every need can be addressed by HaShem – by nobody else.

There is no greater exercise Man can do to instill in himself the notion that I am but a servant of HaShem.