How Do We Enter Shul? - Rav Bendavid, Kehillat Shivtei Yisrael Parshat Balak 5786

How we enter a space often determines what we experience once we are inside.

Think about the difference between walking into your living room, entering a gym, a shiva house, or stepping into a hospital room. Each space evokes a different mindset, different expectations, and different behavior.

What about when we walk into shul?

Do we consciously transition from the outside world into a holy space, or do we simply carry the noise, distractions, conversations, and concerns of daily life straight through the doors with us?

Perhaps this is precisely why Chazal instituted a special tefillah to be recited when entering the Beit Knesset, inspired by Bilaam's blessing in this week's parsha.

Already in the Siddur of Rav Amram Gaon, we find the custom of reciting:

מַה טֹּבוּ אֹהָלֶיךָ יַעֲקֹב, מִשְׁכְּנֹתֶיךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל

"How good are your tents, O Jacob, your dwelling places, O Israel."

The Gemara understands these "tents" and "dwelling places" to refer to our batei knesset and batei midrash. Yet Mah Tovu is much more than a beautiful opening verse. It helps us make the transition from the busyness of everyday life to standing before Hashem in tefillah.

This transition is not simple. Many of us arrive at shul directly from work, family responsibilities, or after checking our phones moments before entering. We do not automatically become different people simply because we have crossed the doorway.

And yet a Beit Knesset is not a living room, a social club, or a football stadium. It is a mikdash me'at. We should think differently, speak differently, and act differently in shul.

Perhaps we need to recover the practice of pausing for a brief moment before entering.

To stop.

To put aside the distractions of the outside world.

To say Mah Tovu deliberately.

To remind ourselves where we are entering and before Whom we are about to stand.

Following Mah Tovu, we recite four additional pesukim, each expressing a different spiritual posture with which to enter shul. Together, they capture the range of emotions we aspire to feel as we prepare ourselves for tefillah.

1. Yirat Shamayim

וַאֲנִי בְּרֹב חַסְדְּךָ אָבוֹא בֵיתֶךָ, אֶשְׁתַּחֲוֶה אֶל הֵיכַל קָדְשְׁךָ בְּיִרְאָתֶךָ

"Through Your abundant kindness I enter Your House; I bow toward Your holy sanctuary in awe of You."

The first feeling with which we enter shul is one of awe and reverence.

2. Ahavat Hashem

ה' אָהַבְתִּי מְעוֹן בֵּיתֶךָ וּמְקוֹם מִשְׁכַּן כְּבוֹדֶךָ

"Hashem, I love the dwelling of Your House and the place where Your glory resides."

Shul is not only a place of obligation. It is a place where we cultivate Ahavat Hashem, Ahavat Torah, and Ahavat Am Yisrael.

3. Hakarat HaTov (Gratitude)

וַאֲנִי אֶשְׁתַּחֲוֶה וְאֶכְרָעָה, אֶבְרְכָה לִפְנֵי ה' עֹשִׂי

"I bow and kneel; I bless Hashem, my Maker."

Tefillah begins with gratitude and recognition of all that Hashem has given us.

4. Dependence on Hashem

וַאֲנִי תְפִלָּתִי לְךָ ה', עֵת רָצוֹן. אֱלֹהִים, בְּרָב חַסְדֶּךָ, עֲנֵנִי בֶּאֱמֶת יִשְׁעֶךָ

"May my prayer come before You at a favorable time. God, in Your abundant kindness, answer me with the truth of Your salvation."

Ultimately, we come to shul because we recognize that we need Hashem's help and salvation.

Mah Tovu teaches us that the quality of our davening is impacted by how we enter shul, even before we open a siddur.

May we all merit to enter our tent, Kehillat Shivtei Yisrael, with the awareness that we are entering a mikdash me'at, and may we feel Hashem's presence in our lives.

Shabbat Shalom!