DEC. 14, ‘25 // Questions & Answers from Rabbi Avigdor Miller zt”l’s Thursday Night Lecture Q. Someone who has a nature to come late, what’s an eitzah to improve himself? How to Wake Up on Time Q. What is good advice for a bochur who doesn’t get up on time for davening? A Little Davening With A Lot of Thinking Q. Is it more of a mitzvah to say the whole seder hatefillah every morning or to say part of the davening and think more into the meaning of what I’m saying? A. An alarm clock. A. I won’t tell you my own opinion; I’ll just say what the Tur says: טוב מעט בכוונה מהרבה שלא בכוונה – To say a little bit and to think about what you’re saying is much more valuable than to just speed through the whole davening. It’s very important to utilize the opportunity of the tefillah. The Chovos Halevavos says that the purpose of davening is המחשבה נמשכת אחר הדיבור , that your thoughts should eventually follow your words. And once you accustom yourself to the שירי דוד עבדך , to saying these words of the songs of Dovid Your servant, and reliving a little bit of the great emotions that he expressed in his love of Hashem, then it awakens in us a response and we also gain a little bit of that feeling. And therefore it’s very important to spend some time doing that during pesukei d’zimra. Shemona esrei too. Now, you can’t say the whole shemona esrei with iyun because then it will come time for mincha already and you’re still standing shemona esrei. However, if you’ll take every day a little part of shemona esrei and think into it you’ll be surprised what you’ll discover. It’s like a gold mine. People don’t realize that the Anshei Knesses Hagedolah who composed the shmona esrei were nevi’im and the greatest chachomim. And they were able to concentrate very deep chochma into these words and therefore you’d be surprised how much you’ll get out of it. Now, of course sometimes you might imagine wrong peirushim but the more you think into it, you’ll see more and more how profound are their words. And the purpose of davening with kavana after all, is not merely to say the words, but l’ hispallel, which means ‘to make yourself think.’ Pillel means ‘to think’ and li’ hispallel means ‘to make yourself think.’ And that’s the success that a person gets from proper tefilla. It elevates his mind and brings him to awareness of Hashem and ahavas Hashem. A. First of all, if he comes late because he goes to sleep late and he gets up late, so the first thing is to go to sleep early. He must get enough sleep. You must get sleep! And after a good night’s sleep, have an alarm clock to wake you up. Now, in case it doesn’t help, make a neder. Listen to me; make a neder that the first time you’ll come late will cost you $50 for a yeshivah that you don’t like. Just one time. Not forever. Just that the first time you come late you’ll have to make a $50 donation to the yeshiva. You’ll keep on putting off the first time. You’re getting up in the morning for $50. If chas v’shalom you are oiver, so it costs you $50 that week. Then make another neder. The first time it happens again, another $50. Little by little I guarantee you’ll stop coming late. Reprinted with permission from “Ask Rabbi Miller”, compiled by Avrohom Tikotzky. Copyright 2019, Simchas Hachaim Publishing 718-258-7400 x103 To receive Mr. Tikotsky’s weekly email: tikotzky@gmail.com or www.rmillerqa.com Ask Rabbi Miller
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