What do you really need to pray for? TB Berachot 16

Day day There are two aspects of Jewish prayer. Keva is the fixed form, framework, and words of our prayers there found in our siddur. Kavannah are those spontaneous prayers that come from the heart. Both are important to prayer is to be meaningful. That’s why in today’s daf TB Berachot 16 (-17a) shared the personal prayers of rabbis after they have davened the Amidah.

The Gemara describes how after Rabbi Elazar concluded his prayer, he said the following additional prayer:
May it be Your will, Lord our God,
to cause to dwell in our lot love and brotherhood, peace and friendship.
And may You make our borders rich in disciples
and cause us to ultimately succeed, that we will have a good end and hope.
And may You set our portion in the Garden of Eden,
and may You establish for us a good companion and a good inclination in Your world.
And may we rise early and find the aspiration of our hearts to fear Your name,
and may the satisfaction of our souls come before You, i.e., may You hear our prayers that we may have spiritual contentment in this world for the best.

Similarly, the Gemara recounts that after Rabbi Yoḥanan concluded his prayer, he said the following additional prayer:
May it be Your will, Lord our God,
that You look upon our shame and behold our plight,
that You clothe Yourself in Your mercy,
and cover Yourself with Your might,
that You wrap Yourself in Your loving-kindness,
and gird Yourself with Your grace,
and may Your attributes of goodness and humility come before You

Similarly, after Rabbi Zeira concluded his prayers he said the following additional prayer:
May it be Your will, Lord our God,
that we not sin or shame ourselves,
and that we not disgrace ourselves before our forefathers,
in the sense that our actions should not disgrace the actions of our forefathers.

After Rabbi Ḥiyya prayed he said the following:
May it be Your will, Lord our God,
that Your Torah should be our vocation,
and may our heart not become faint nor our eyes dim.

After his prayer, Rav said the following:
May it be Your will, Lord our God,
that You grant us long life, a life of peace,
a life of goodness, a life of blessing,
a life of sustenance, a life of freedom of movement from place to place, where we are not tied to one place,
a life of dread of sin, a life without shame and disgrace,
a life of wealth and honor,
a life in which we have love of Torah and reverence for Heaven,
a life in which You fulfill all the desires of our heart for good.

After his prayer, Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi said the following:
May it be Your will, Lord our God, and God of our forefathers,
that You save us from the arrogant and from arrogance in general,
from a bad man, from a bad mishap,
from an evil instinct, from a bad companion,
from a bad neighbor, from the destructive Satan,
from a harsh trial and from a harsh opponent,
whether he is a member of the covenant, a Jew,
or whether he is not a member of the covenant.

After his prayer, Rav Safra said the following:
May it be Your will, Lord our God, that You establish peacein the heavenly entourage [pamalia] of angels each of whom ministers to a specific nation (see Daniel 10), and whose infighting causes war on earth;
and in the earthly entourage, the Sages,
and among the disciples engaged in the study of Your Torah,
whether they engage in its study for its own sake or not for its own sake.
And all those engaged in Torah study not for its own sake,
may it be Your will that they will come to engage in its study for its own sake.

After his prayer, Rabbi Alexandri said the following:
May it be Your will, Lord our God,
that You station us in a lighted corner and not in a darkened corner,
and do not let our hearts become faint nor our eyes dim.
Some say that this was the prayer that Rav Hamnuna would recite, and that after Rabbi Alexandri prayed, he would say the following:
Master of the Universe, it is revealed and known before You
that our will is to perform Your will, and what prevents us?
On the one hand, the yeast in the dough, the evil inclination that is within every person;
and the subjugation to the kingdoms on the other.
May it be Your will
that You will deliver us from their hands, of both the evil inclination and the foreign kingdoms,
so that we may return to perform the edicts of Your will with a perfect heart.

After his prayer, Rava said the following:
My God, before I was created I was worthless,
and now that I have been created it is as if I had not been created, I am no more significant.
I am dust in life, all the more so in my death.
I am before You as a vessel filled with shame and humiliation.
Therefore, may it be Your will, Lord my God, that I will sin no more,
and that those transgressions that I have committed,
cleanse in Your abundant mercy;
but may this cleansing not be by means of suffering and serious illness, but rather in a manner I will be able to easily endure.
And this is the confession of Rav Hamnuna Zuti on Yom Kippur.

When Mar, son of Ravina, would conclude his prayer, he said the following:
My God, guard my tongue from evil and my lips from speaking deceit.
To those who curse me let my soul be silent
and may my soul be like dust to all.
Open my heart to Your Torah,
and may my soul pursue your mitzvot.
And save me from a bad mishap, from the evil inclination,
from a bad woman, and from all evils that suddenly come upon the world.
And all who plan evil against me,
swiftly thwart their counsel, and frustrate their plans.
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart find favor before You,
Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (sefira.com translation)

I can’t help but notice how different and personal each of these rabbis’ prayers. When we daven today our challenge is twofold. We shouldn’t rush through our prayers just to get them over with and we should add our own spontaneous prayers from the heart each and every time we pray. If the great rabbis Talmud felt the need to pour out their hearts, so can we follow their example and make our own prayers even more meaningful and heartfelt.