In which tone should Shmoneh Esreh be recited?
Answer:
Here is a quote from the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch (OCH 101:2):
“One should not pray in his heart alone. Rather, he should articulate the words with his lips and whisper them audibly [the literal translation of the original would be: “make them heard by his ears”]. He should not, however, make his voice heard (by someone standing more than four cubits away), as it is written [regarding Chanh in I Shmuel 1:13] , “Only her lips were moving, but her voice was not heard.” A person who projects his voice during Shemoneh Esreh is one of those whose faith is meager — as if the Holy One, blessed be He, would not hear a whispered prayer. (The Sages ordained that Shemoneh Esreh should be uttered in an absolute whisper, i.e., it should be heard by one’s own ears alone, so as not to embarrass transgressors who confess their sins when praying.)
Now, the Zoher and some Mekubalim (referenced in Likkutei Sichos vol. 35 in the Sicha (1) for Parshas Vayigash) hold that although one must verbalize his words, it should still be done completely quietly that even one himself shouldn’t hear himself. (This is because uncording to Kabbalah Shemoneh Esreh is an expression of the highest level of Bittul where one’s entire being is completely nullified, thus his voice isn’t heard).
I have yet to find any reliable source which says that in this case we should follow the mekubalim, and there are Poskim (also brought by the Rebbe in that Sicha) who write that this instruction of the Arizal was a horoah l’yochid, and wasn’t directed to the public.
Therefore one should follow what is written in Shulchan Aruch.
Sources:
במה ששאל אודות מה שראה בספר שמירת מצוות היום (להר’ גדסי שי’) עמוד 150 והערה 33 שכתב כדעת הזוהר והמקובלים שהובאו בלקו”ש חל”ה שיחה א’ לפרשת ויגש (הודפס גם בשערי הלכה ומנהג ח”א סימן סח), שאין להשמיע לאזניו את תפילת שמו”ע, הנה ראה בהערה 37 באותו שיחה שמציין כ”ק אד”ש למחזיק ברכה סקמ”א סק”ב שכותב “שהנהגה זו שלא ישמיע לאזנו אינה לההמון עם”. וראה שם עוד.
וראה גם עטרת צבי לזהר ויקהל רב, א. שלחן הטהור קאמארנא קא סק״ד. אגרא דפרקא אות קנו.
#359
