Sunday, November 1, 2015

Preparations For Davening

קודם התפילה יטבול ב' פעמים, א' להעביר רוח הטומאה, ב' להמשיך קדושה וטהרה, וליזהר בנקיות גופו ולא לעבור על בל תשקצו, ובפרט קודם התפילה, ולהתפלל בגוף נקי ולא בגוף משוקץ, ובפרט מכוח זה באים לידי מחשבות זרות. 

[מאור עינים הנהגות ישרות]

Before tfilla one should immerse himself twice, a] to remove the spirit of impurity, b] to draw upon oneself holiness and purity. One must be careful about the cleanliness of his body and not transgress Bal Tishaktzu [the prohibition of "holding it in"], and specifically before davening and to daven with a clean body and not with a dirty body, and particularly because it causes impure thoughts.

We may add to the words of the holy Maor Einayim the gemara in Brachos [8] that says that one must first enter an amount of "שני פתחים"-  two openings, and only then daven. This can mean that the first opening is the removal of the spirit of impurity and the second opening is that one must draw upon himself a spirit of holines and purity.