In a town not far from Premishlam there lived a wealthy man of violent disposition who got it into his head that he should be chosen to be the chazzan for the High Holidays. None of the townspeople were pleased with the idea, but on the other hand they were afraid of what might happen to them if they were to defy his will. So they put their troubled heads together and decided to send a delegation to ask the great Reb Meir of Premishlam for some wise counsel. The tzaddik replied that seeing as the custom was that all chazzanim from the surrounding area would pay a visit to him before the High Holidays he was sure their self-appointed chazzan would want to follow suit. He would take that opportunity to speak to him.
When in due course all of the chazzanim of the district came to Reb Meir to receive his blessing before undertaking the weighty responsibility of leading their brethren in prayer – the wealthy but forceful chazzan came along too. In due time it was the turn of the pretentious boor to have his private audience with the great sage.
“As you know,” began Reb Meir, “the Torah speaks of three kinds of prayer. There is “tefila le’Moshe” – the prayer of Moses, who although was ‘heavy of mouth and heavy of tongue’, but he was the father of the prophets and the teacher of Torah to the Jewish Nation. There is “Tefila Le’Dovid” – the prayer of King David, who is called ‘the sweet singer of Israel’. And there is “tefila le’ani” – the prayer of the pauper, whose heart is humble and we know that, “a broken and contrite heart, O G-d, You will not despise”.
“Now the chazzanim of our days who lead their congregations in prayer likewise fall into these same three categories. There are those who are not very musical, but they are righteous – so their prayers are accepted like ‘the prayer of Moshe’. Then there are those who are perhaps not quite so righteous but in their melodiousness they ‘exalt G-d through their throats’ so their prayers are accepted like ‘the prayer of David’. Finally, there are those who are neither righteous nor musical, but since they are poor and their hearts are humble, their prayers are accepted like ‘the prayer of the pauper’”
“Now as for you” concluded the tzaddik, “we cannot say that you are especially righteous; nor can we say that you are musical; and neither – thank G-d – are you a pauper. So if you want to lead your townsmen in prayer on Rosh Hashanah, I will have to pray that you now attain one of these three levels. There is no need for me to explain how vain the prayer would be, to ask Heaven to suddenly make you a tzaddik or a great singer. The only way I can help you, therefore, is by asking heaven to make you poor, and then at least your prayer will be “the prayer of a pauper’….”
“No, Rebbe!” exclaimed the man in alarm. “I definitely don’t want to lead the prayers anymore!”
These three tracks taken from the three opening words to three chapters of Psalms that are available for prayer, don’t just apply to a chazzan, they apply to each and every one of us. But just like in the story, not everyone can claim to be steeped in Torah like Moshe, or to be as melodious as King David. But the path of being a pauper in front of the Master of the World, this is the track that is universal to all of mankind and therefore must be the one for us to follow. No matter who we are, in front of Hashem we should feel like a pauper. As we have said every morning this week in Selichos “like the poor and needy we knock at Your gates”.
The Zohar discusses these three modes of prayer and asks which one is the most sublime, and potent? The prayer of the pauper! Why is this the special form of prayer? Because he has a broken heart and it says, “Hashem is close to the broken hearted”, concludes the Zohar.
A prayer uttered with feelings of puniness is the one that Hashem is close to. The RaMBam rules that it is forbidden to display anger or shout at an impoverished beggar because his spirits have already been shattered, and the verse says, “a heart broken and crushed, O G-d, You despise not”.
As we approach Rosh Hashanah a day of Kingship, where we are supposed to stand before Hashem and crown Him as the King, let us remember that the highest type of prayer is that of the pauper. To feel completely at the hands of the rich man who can give us a new lease of life. If we can conjure up our davening this year to be that of “the prayer of a pauper”, then in accordance with the RaMBaM Hashem will spare us any shouting or anger.
Good Shabbos, Yaakov