A vort of the Rebbe for this week's parshah, Parshat Beshalach. In Parshat Beshalach, we learned that in the beginning when the Yidden left Mitzrayim, Paroh and his army were chasing them, and the Yidden were scared. And the pasuk says that the Yidden, וישאו בני ישראל את עיניהם והנה מצרים נסע אחריהם, they picked up their eyes, they saw Mitzrayim, the Egyptians, following them, chasing them. וייראו מאד, they got scared, ויצעקו בני ישראל אל ה׳, the Yidden screamed to Hashem. What does it mean they screamed to Hashem? They davened to Hashem. And Rashi uses the term תפסו אומנות אבותם. They grabbed onto the trade of their parents. Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov davened to Hashem, and they also davened to Hashem. But the interesting thing is that Rashi refers to davening as an omanut, as a trade. A trade means a job, it's a thing, a livelihood that you make. Why is that davening called an omanut? Why is it called a trade? Davening is something that you ask Hashem for your needs, בקשת צרכיו, you ask Hashem to give us what what I need. That's the inyan of davening. So why would that be referred to as a trade? A trade is something that you're involved in constantly. You work on that. That's your trade, that brings you your your parnasah, it brings you your livelihood, etc., etc. Why is it called a trade?

So the Rebbe says that the truth is that this is one part of davening is asking Hashem, but there is a deeper part in davening. Davening is called avodat Hashem. It's serving Hashem. The Gemara says on the פסוק ועבדתם את ה׳ אלקיכם, you shall serve your God, Hashem, so the Gemara says איזו היא עבודה שבלב, it says you should serve ה׳ בכל לבבכם, with your heart. What's a service of the heart? זו תפילה, it's davening. So davening is not just asking Hashem for your needs. That's the connection you have to Hashem, which the truth is that the word tefilah, besides asking and requesting, has another meaning, comes from the word connecting. Davening is a time when a Yid connects to Hashem.

That's why it says in Zohar, when Yaakov Avinu saw in his dream a ladder standing on the floor going up to Shamayim, the Zohar says סולם דא צלותא. The סולם is davening, and davening is a time when you go up on a ladder, getting closer to Hashem. So it's a time when you connect to Hashem. And that's not something that is just if you need something you ask Hashem. That's something that that should be where a person is always at. That should be the trade of the person. And that's why Rashi refers to davening as an אומנות, as a trade. It's a type of life, that's what it means. And this is what the Yidden did, that when they davened to Hashem by this time is because this is the אומנות, Rashi says. This is what the Avot did. They davened to Hashem not only when they needed something, they always davened to Hashem. And the Yidden also, at this time, automatically, this is part of their life. You connect yourself to Hashem. So when a Yid has a problem, not only you're asking Him to help you from your problem, you connect yourself to Hashem. And that's why Rashi uses the word אומנות. And that's a lesson for all of us, that our davening should not be just we need something, so we ask Hashem, but the davening should be a feeling that we have that we're serving Hashem, which means we're doing everything within our heart to connect ourselves to Hashem.