We will start with a quote from the Alter of Kelm, on the difference between a righteous person and a sinner, as quoted in Rav Levinstein's sefer, Sichos Mussar:
"It is the ability to picture things in one's mind as if they were real."
That's solid proof that your imagination can make the difference between a great davening experience and a ho-hum one, or worse.
Your imagination is one of your key weapons against the yetzer hara's davening attacks. And Daven Viz is here to help.
That's short for "visualization". Not that every Viz we will propose will be literally a visualization, but most of them probably will be, and the others can be considered to fit that general theme. They all involve using your imagination, though. Contact us if, after digesting all this, you've got a better term.
Each Viz has:
First, think it over - is it right for you? If so, then look over the instructions and the viznette, and try it out. If it works, then fine. If not, try another.
In certainly helps to be familiar with the prayers, both in saying it in Hebrew and in understanding their translation. Some Vizzes may not buy you much without this. But we leave that for you to decide. At any rate, regardless of whether you are doing the Viz thing or not, you want to be familiar with the prayers. You really do.
When devising or using Vizzes, you need to be careful. While you're saying a bracha in the Shemoneh Esrei, for example, you should be bearing in mind that you are standing before H-shem, and ideally thinking of the meaning of the words you are saying. So you don't want a Viz that contradicts these constraints. But before and in between brachas ought to be fair game, as well as during a bracha if the instructions for doing the Viz don't interfere with the halacha. And Vizzes can be applied in other parts of davening as well.
A Viz wearing out is a real possibility. Which is why you should use more than one. Our recommendation is to have at least 8 in your rotation. Why 8? Well, no one here wants to write up the long answer. So the back-up short answer is that 8 signifies "l'mala min hateva" (above nature). Our nature is to fall back on routine, and it sometimes takes something beyond nature to break us out of our routine. Incidentally, "routine" is one of the tools in the yetzer hara's utility belt. Get the hint?
The Vizzes we have posted here are only a sample of what is possible. Don't let them hold you back -- make up your own, too! The ones you come up with may well be better than any we publish, because they came from you.
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