Full and detailed study of Mishnah Berachot 5:1

(Treaty Berachot, Chapter 5, Mishnah 1)

1. Text and context general

Text base:

“One should not pray but from a position of gravity and submission. The pious of the first generations waited an hour before we pray, to direct his heart toward his Father in Heaven.
Although the king you speak, you must not answer him; and though a snake twisting on his heel, you must not interrupt his prayer.”

This mishnah belongs to the fifth chapter of Berachot, which focuses on the laws and the inner attitude of the Amidáalso called Tefillah Shemoné Esrei (“Eighteen blessings”). Is the central prayer of judaism, where the man “comes before God”.
Therefore, this mishnah does not speak of the text of prayer, but of the spiritual and mental required to pray properly.

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2. Key terms

• “It can only pray standing” (omed):
  Implies physical posture and symbolic. To stand and pray means “to stand before the King”, as a subject to his sovereign. This idea is taken from Amos 9:1 and I Kings 8:22, which describes the prophets, and unto Solomon the king, standing in prayer before the Eternal.
• “With earnestness and submission” (koved rosh / כובד ראש):
  It literally means “heavy head”, that is to say, reverence, contemplation, concentration and humility. Contrasts with kalut rosh (“light”, “triviality”).
  Rashi explains that koved rosh implies awewhile Maimonides (Hilchot Tefillah 4:16) translates as autoanulación before the Divine Presence (bitul ha-ani).

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3. The godly generations and the previous preparation

“The pious of the first generations waited an hour before you pray...”

This phrase describes a practice ascetic and meditative:
before you begin the prayer, the chasidim rishonim (devout men of the first generations) they waited an hour in silence in order to achieve the kavanáthe concentration and internal connection with God.

Meaning of waiting

According to the Gemara in Berachot 32bthese men:

• Expected an hour before pray,
• Prayed an hour,
• And they reflected another hour after,
  totalling nine hours a day of spiritual dedication.

The goal was to shed the ego, appease the worldly thoughts and “to prepare the heart”.
The Ritva and the Maharal interpret this preparation as a meditation upon, which seeks to “placing the mind in the Kingdom of Heaven” before you speak.

4. Dimension theological: “before your Father in Heaven”

The Mishnah uses a key expression:

“to direct his heart toward his Father in Heaven.”

This language marks the double aspect of God in prayer:

• “King” (din, justice, authority); and
• “Father” (rachamim, compassion and closeness).

The prayer perfect combination of both: awe and filial love.
The soul of the person praying should not be before a judge for a cold, but to a Parent who listens with love, even though it remains the absolute respect.

5. The test of absolute concentration

“Although the king greets him, should not respond to it; and even if a snake is caught in your heel, you must not interrupt his prayer.”

These hyperboles teach the maximum level of devotion and concentration that should be achieved during the Amidá.

a) The king greets

Responding to the king, even out of respect or fear, it would be a lack of awareness that God is above all earthly power.
The prayer is supposed to be in front of the King of kings (Melech Maljei haMelajim).
Rashi says that if the king is cruel and can kill by receiving no response, yes to interruptbut only real danger (pikuaj nefesh).

(b) the serpent on The heel

Symbolizes the danger and the earthly distraction, sensory.
If it is a snake is not poisonous, is not interrupted; but whether it represents a risk of death, the halachah permits to cut the prayer.
The Mishnah Berurah (104:10) clarifies that the prohibition is against the interruption trivial or impulsivenot against the survival.

The underlying message:
The worshipper should transcend the fear and the human hierarchy when he enters into dialogue with God. Only the Fear of the Sky prevails.

6. Symbolic interpretation and kabbalistic

The Kabbalah seen in this Mishnah a process of devekut (accession mystical):

• “Stand” is equivalent to be in the world of Atzilut, the level of divine emanation where there is no separation.
• “Seriousness and submission” represent the state of bitul ha-yesh (nullification of the ego).
• The “hour of preparation” is associated with the sephiroth lower (To netzaj, Hod, Yesod), the channels that purify the soul before the union with the Divine Presence (Shechinah).

The snake, in this plane, it represents the instinct of evil (yetzer hara) who tries to distract or divert the intention of the person praying.
Thus, the Mishnah teaches that the true prayer is a spiritual ascent that required to overcome the distractions of the body and the material world.

7. In the Halachic practice

The Shulchan Aruch (Orach Jaím 93:1-2) encodes this Mishnah literally:

1. Before you pray, there is that prepare the heart (kavaná).
2. You should pray footwith feet together, as the angels (Ezekiel 1:7).
3. Should be avoided any distraction or interruptionunless life threatening.
4. Not to respond or to human authority or physical discomfort mild during the Amidá.
5. The ideal is an atmosphere of stillness and humility, free trivia.

8. Teaching ethics and spiritual

This Mishnah summarizes the spirit of the jewish prayer:

• It is not a form of words, but a meeting indoor.
• It is not a speech at the sky, but to stand before Him.
• The physical posture and mental health is part of the spiritual act: the body reflects the soul.

The final teaching is that man don't dominate their environment during the prayer:
you must recognize that all power, even the king or the natural fear, submits to the divine sovereignty.

9. Conclusion