Repeating of a Devotional Sentence

Repeating of a Devotional Sentence Yitzchak Buxbaum writes in his book, Jewish Spiritual Practices, "The value of a repeated sentence is that the repetition, if persisted in for a period of time easily establishes itself as a habit and becomes almost automatic. As a result, the mind is aided in its concentration on God and holiness by the steady and continuous flow of the sound of the repeated sentence. There is the further benefit that once the repetition becomes habitual, the mind is led back to it even after a break or interruption. It is like a compass-you can hold the needle for a while, but when it is released, it once again points to the North. If there is some simple and appropriate tune available for the verse you want to repeat. so that it can be chanted, that will also help with the facility of the repetition ... During the period of my Davvenen apprenticeship in Yeshiva, one of the first practices was to memorize some holy words, such as a chapter of the book from the Tanya and to prepare for morning Davvenen by repeating the words over and over again. I was instructed to start for a period of three minutes and to build my concentration. The Davvenen was always a lot sweeter and flowed much smoother after sitting quietly for a few minutes with my mind occupied with these holy words. Instead of the Davvenen being mostly flat and monotonous, different parts of the prayers sprang to life, each taking on a character of their own after this simple, short exercise. That is not to say that each part of the Davvenen became fascinating-usually, only one part of the prayer service attained that quality, while others were of different qualities, one curious, another heart opening and, yes, another of them might have been a little flat, even in the same Davvenen . But this practice definitely expanded the prayer set as a whole, giving it perspective and contour which it mostly didn't have when entered cold, without preparation. The verses on the following page and the Hassidic Devekut Contemplations on page 12 and 13 are offered as a suggestion for the beginning of your pre-Davvenen practice, that is-they are intended as a filter for the mind, a mask to put on for a few minutes before the prayer session starts. \rJ as a.h,va.ys 1rV)(V)e('SeJ 1Y\ JJve.kJJ 1~u\ OY\ei (t)arochat'V)at')Q) asa.