QUESTION:
When I daven in shul with a minyan, I feel like everyone’s analyzing me. I look up from my siddur during Chazaras HaShatz and I see several pairs of eyes staring at me, and how people are looking at everyone else and focusing their gaze on them, trying to figure out who certain people are and trying to read into them and just analyzing them in general. When people are looking at me, I feel like they’re judging me. This bothers me and I find it very unpleasant, to the point that I don’t like to daven with a minyan. How can I overcome this unpleasant feeling of people staring at me and analyzing me in shul?
ANSWER:
Enter deeply into yourself, and don’t be busy with what’s going in your surroundings.
QUESTION
(2) Also, there are times where I don’t daven with a minyan because of this fear that I have, and then I don’t end up davening at all because I feel like my davening is worthless to Hashem. Should I just force myself to daven then, and if yes, how?
ANSWER
(2) You need to balance out your emotions in general. You need to balance your emotions with the power of the intellect, which is attained through in-depth Torah learning, and you also need to balance your emotions by doing actions [so that you aren’t living only in your thoughts and feelings]
QUESTION
(2) Also, there are times where I don’t daven with a minyan because of this fear that I have, and then I don’t end up davening at all because I feel like my davening is worthless to Hashem. Should I just force myself to daven then, and if yes, how?
ANSWER
(2) You need to balance out your emotions in general. You need to balance your emotions with the power of the intellect, which is attained through in-depth Torah learning, and you also need to balance your emotions by doing actions [so that you aren’t living only in your thoughts and feelings]
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