The Keys To Our Heart

At the end of the Shemonei Esrei we ask Hashem to "Open our hearts to Your torah and may our spirit chase Your mitzvos".

The Maggid of Dubno explained this request with an analogy. When there is a bird trapped in a cage - and you open the cage - you need not offer any additional encouragement to the bird to entice it to leave. It is in this fashion that we wish for Hashem to open our hearts to torah. Not just to make it accesible to us - but to remove any internal barriers we may have - so that we actually chase after it - like a bird fleeing it's confinement.

Another way of approaching this is an alternative reading of the actual phrase; "פתח ליבי בתורתך". While literally meaning "Open my heart to Your torah" we may read it "Open my heart with Your torah". There are many experiences and philosophies out there - each one claiming to have secured a monopoly on it's own little slice of the truth of the human condition. These theories may claim to have profound influence on us and may claim to be the source of experiential wisdom - yet they all strike us as just skin deep compared to the torah.

If we want to understand our hearts and the keys to our emotions - we must search for them in the Manufacturer's instruction manual. If we want to achieve a real self awareness that is prerequisite to serving Hashem - there is no need to look in pop psychology or the current musical hit - these bits of "wisdom" aren't the key to what our hearts truly feel. Only the torah can unlock our self understanding and enable us to wholeheartedly pursue our life.

Hatzlacha !