Expanding Time with Mussar: Rabbi's Guide to Transformative Torah Study and Prayer

When the man asked the rabbi that he's only got 15 minutes to study Torah, and what subject of Torah should he study? Should it be Chumish, mishnah, gemara or Halacha? The rabbi answered him should learn Muser, because you'll find that you have a lot more time in your day than just 15 minutes for Torah study. Muser gives us an opening up of our schedules and opening up of our minds. Muser shows us how to see the world the way it's supposed to be seen. Without it we are stuck tied down and unable to see the world as it is and therefore, the more time we can add to our schedules for Muser study, the more reminders and more clarity we will have. And what is ironic is that we all engage in the study of Muser, indeed three times a day we do Because we don't necessarily always dwell on the most important factor of our tefila, which is Muser. See at the end of that most famous essay from the Remban and Suif Parshah's Bo, when the Remban is explained to us the point of Mitzvot, the depth to them and the reasonings behind them. It says there in the Remban that Kavonas Rommas Akhul Bitzvilos. Why do we join together to exalt Hashem and Tefila? The Kavonas brought to Knessios. Why is it that the commandment is to come together to the synagogues and to unite as one community. There's a host to fill us, our rabim zehush. I lebne all the mokim. We should have a spot that we all go to, one prayer house, yisqabsu, to gather the yoydu and to understand and to recognize and to thank L'keil to God, sh'iboram, that God created and creates us, the emtiam, and he is the one that is found, the afarsumu, and it should now be exclaimed, it should be revealed. They have a yoym rule of fun of the entire point of tefila is that we should all exclaim together brio secha anachnu, god, we are your creations. That's Tefila, end quote. The goal is to get to a spot that is such clarity that the entire community will recognize brio secha anachnu, god, you are so large and so infinitely great and I am so minute and miniscule comparison that there simply isn't a comparison. We are your creations. It's a musr session. It's a reminding of the facts. Abiruchim said that this is, in fact, our job during tefila these days, that it's reminders. Every time we take three steps back and take three steps forward, you get to learn musr, not with a separate misilasi ashram under your sitter. But with your sitter, with your shmona esrei, you get to humble yourself and you bow your head in submission, in cheerful obedience, to say God, I am your creation and I am here to fulfill your will. You get to talk to the creator of the world, tefila, at its heart, at its depth. We mustn't get stuck in the small points. We must see the overarching theme of tefila. It is a musr session, a reminding of the facts, a revealing of the truth, for us all to come together in a shul and say brio secha anachnu, god, we are your creations.