With gratitude to Rabbi Lazer Brody and his blog, Lazer Beams:
A week doesn’t go by without three or four people asking me what to do about the chatter in the synagogue, especially among the “big wigs”. Since it’s easier to correct ourselves than it is to correct someone else, I tell people not to get into arguments with the chatterboxes, but to work on their deep concentration in praying until they don’t hear or feel anything that’s going on in the periphery.
Image, left: A Big Wig
Folks chatter in the synagogue because they don’t believe that Hashem is right there with them. If they knew that The King was there, they’d freeze! If a person chattered to his buddy in the solemn court of a flesh-and-blood king, he’d get the guillotine.
The more we develop our emuna, the greater our spiritual sensitivity becomes. The greater our spiritual sensitivity becomes, the more we feel Hashem. The more we feel Hashem, the better we pray. The better we pray, the less we chatter in the synagogue.
Our dear friend from London, gifted musician and songwriter David Dome, wrote the following witty song about the big wigs that run their mouths off in the synagogue:
The Big Wig
words and music by David Dome
Well I’ve got plenty to say, In the shul everyday.
I’m such a big wig in here, No one else can come near.
You see I open my mouth, My big “north and south”.
And I break all of the rules, About talking in shul.
Instead of saying Amen, I’m gonna talk to my friend.
And when the Rabbi turns round, I won’t make a sound.
But when he turns round to pray, I still have more to say.
About the traffic that lay, On the road yesterday.
Someday when I realise, I’ll shut my mouth and open my eyes.
Such a twittering bird, I know I’m quite absurd.
Ah, but what can I do? I’m more important than you.
I speak of whiskey and wine, The Financial Times.
And what’s happening in, The shul I haven’t yet been.
I’m a twittering bird, With what’s overheard.
But when I’m outside the door, I won’t say anymore.
I got plenty to say, In the shul everyday.
I’m a big wig in here, No one else can come near.
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The Big Wig, by David Dome
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