ונסתם ואין רודף אתכם… (בחוקתי כו:יז)

Rabbi Elchonon Wasserman Ztz”l HY”D (may HaShem avenge his blood), the Rosh Yeshiva in Baranovitch, was once unwell, and he requested that a Minyan should be formed in his home so he could still Daven with a Minyan.  When his Talmidim (students) came from Yeshiva to Daven Ma’ariv, one of them – a recently arrived Bochur, was tasked with leading the prayers.  This boy was used to Daven with the workers’ Minyan – unlike the way it was done in Yeshiva.  A Yeshivisha Davening means concentrating on the meaning of every word, which naturally took much longer than our regular Tefillah.  This boy finished the Davening quickly, speeding through it as if robbers were pursuing him…

During the Davening, the Rosh Yeshiva repeatedly looked at him with a stern look, but the Chazzan continued on . . .  When Davening was over, Reb Elchonon called the boy, smiling: You should know that the Torah already talked about your Davening.  When we read in the Tochacha, “ונסתם ואין רודף” – and you will run away with no one chasing after you – this might allude to the way some people do their prayers; they just mumble the words but do not think about the meaning of what they are Davening.  This is precisely how HaShem views such Davening . . .