Kavvanah

("intention" or "direction"). State of wholehearted concentration and spiritual directedness which Judaism deems essential for praying to God. The term is given explicit formulation by the rabbis, although it is implicit in biblical thought, most notably in the fundamental commandment to "love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might" (Deut. 6:5). "Prayer needs kavvanah," stated the rabbis (TJ, Ber. 4:1). It is necessary for reading the Shema (Ber. 16a) and "one must not stand up to recite the Tefillah [Amidah] except in a serious frame of mind" (Ber. 5:1). Any person whose mind is unsettled and who finds himself unable to concentrate should not try to pray; indeed, the pious "used to wait an hour before the Tefillah so as to attune their hearts to the Almighty" (ibid.) and down the ages this custom was widespread. The admonition of Eliezer Ben Hyrcanus to his disciples was especially applicable: "When you pray, know before Whom you stand!" (Ber. 28b).It is in regard to saying the Shema and the Amidah that Maimonides gives the classic definition of praying with kavvanah: "The first thing you must do is turn your thoughts away from everything else while you recite the Shema or Tefillah ... When you have mastered this, accustom yourself to relieving your mind of all other thoughts when you say any benediction ... When engaged in the performance of religious duties, have your mind concentrated entirely on what you are doing" (Guide 3:51). The implication of kavvanah is that praying in a routine fashion is not equivalent to true prayer. As R. Simeon ben Nethanel (1st cent. CE) taught: "Be careful in reciting the Shema and Tefillah; and when you pray, do not treat your prayer as a mechanical obligation but as a plea for mercy and grace before God" (Avot 2:13). Thus prayer without kavvanah is for the sages no prayer at all, and elsewhere Maimonides even states that "if one has prayed without kavvanah, he must pray again with it" (Yad, Tefillah 4:15).The role of kavvanah in fulfilling commandments other than those of prayer is more controversial. While all the sages agree that it is a desirable element in ritual observance, there is much discussion as to whether, for example, a person who hears the blowing of the Shofar on Rosh Ha-Shanah or the reading of the Esther Scroll on Purim, without directing his heart to the performance of the commandment, has in fact fulfilled his religious obligation.The concept of kavvanah has had great significance throughout the long history of Jewish thought and is central to medieval devotional works like Baḥya Ibn Pakuda's Duties of the Heart. It attained especially intense development in Jewish mystical thought, where kavvanah is regarded not only as a means of uplifting the soul of the individual toward closer attachment to the Divine Source of life but also as a means of transforming the higher spiritual realm itself. In kabbalistic practice, kavvanah relates to a special concentration in prayer on certain words and letters so as to release their hidden meaning. Even in everyday observance, a pious Jew closes or covers his eyes as an aid to concentration when reciting the first verse of the Shema. For ḥasidism, kavvanah has special meaning not only in prayer but also as a preliminary to and preparation for it. Certain Ḥasidic formulas of this type---notably "Behold, I am prepared and ready to perform the commandment" before counting the Omerhave found their way into standard Jewish practice.

---

View more Religion & Spirituality videos