In order to be practical and to avoid people giving up right away before they even start to read further on in this sefer, the following idea has been brought up. It’s called – yep, you guessed it, the once a week, Tefilla Bekavana initiative. The idea is simple, yet profound. Most people do NOT have sufficient time to have proper kavana every time they start Shemone Esrei. Too many things are going on. They are in a major rush to get things done. It’s really hard to concentrate. This is a major issue for most people – the [perceived] lack of time.
(May I suggest that at least you daven as long as it takes for the Shliach Tzibur to finish his Chazuras Hashatz. You are anyways in shul for that time, and as we will learn later on, you are פטור from making Kedusha with the tzibur – אונס רחמנא פטריא . So, at least you know that you have until the end of Chazaras Hadshatz. Maariv you don’t have a job to run to, so maybe put more effort into Maariv. For Women I am not sure what to suggest since you are typically so so busy raising Hashem’s soldiers. But if there’s a will there’s a way.)
So, here’s a possible solution. How about starting off with the idea to put in MAJOR effort in having kavana in your Shemone Esrei for JUST ONE Shemone Esrei per week. [Foot note: If you feel it will make it easier then start with a Shabbos Tefilla. Anything is good for starters. Think of the easiest time that may be doable. Obviously Shabbos would be the easiest time. However, I think it’s not a good idea since it doesn’t have brachos that we can relate to properly. However, if you just want to work on for the first 3 brachos and/or the last 3 brachos it would be a great idea to use Shabbos davening as a great place to start to “practice”.]
A working person might try maariv Motzei Shabbos or any Tefilla on Sunday. Some may only have Maariv on Motzei Shabbos as a possible solution. Others may have any maariv as a possible time. You need to pick just one Shemone Esrei a week that you will give it all you got. ALL YOU GOT during that Shemone Esrei. Doing this will of course help you slowly but surely train yourself to be able to have more kavana by other Shemone Esrei as well. But there’s more. Doing this shows Hashem that you ARE trying. You ARE making a sincere effort to improve your Tefillos. You haven’t given up totally. That means a lot to Hashem. And if you feel the whole Shemone Esrei may be too difficult to start off with, then just choose your 3 – 5 favorite brachos to start with. (Besides the first bracha that you always MUST have kavana by). To be done properly, this once-a-week Tefilla needs to be done by setting aside ENOUGH TIME. A lot of time.
It’s a Tefilla that you are going to have to have PATIENCE davening it. You need to focus your mind on the words as much as possible. Just once a week. Think of the best time that works for you. There may not be a “best time” so take the time that is the least difficult time that you have available. Some sacrifice may be necessary for this all-important endeavor. Of course, as you read this sefer, you will keep increasing your desire to daven with more kavana, so this once a week initiative will be a good way to start practicing improving all your Shemone Esrei’s slowly but surely.
Hashem will surely help you get better and better at it. הבא ליטהר מסייעין אותוIf you try – Hashem will help, but you MUST put in serious effort AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK. Please let me know how this works out for you. I want to be able to share the experiences of the people reading this sefer who try to implement this idea. (FOOTNOTE: Idea of putting ONE WORD per every page just for Shemone Esrei.)