[Avodah] R Yaakov Kamenetzky on davening in public

[Samuel Svarc]

On Wed, Jan 27, 2010 at 6:12 PM, Yitzchok Levine
<Larry.Levine at stevens.edu> wrote:
> This was sent to me by Rabbi Dr. Daniel Z. Kramer. I think that it is well
> worth disseminating.  YL
>
> "B'Mechitzas Rabbeinu" -Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetzky's hanhagos. See pages 58-59
>
> Here's a loose translation by a friend:
>
> "One student - whose livelihood required him to always be on the road -
> asked R' Yaakov what to do about davening Mincha when he was out on the
> road. R' Yaakov advised him to pull into a highway rest stop or parking lot,
> park his car, and daven the entire mincha while sitting inside his car. R'
> Yaakov emphasized that there was absolutely no reason in such a case to
> stand up and daven in public - or to do anything else that would arouse
> anyone's curiosity. After all, being the subject of everyone else's curious
> looks would surely detract from him ability to concentrate on his prayers.

Agreed. Which is why I concluded in a previous email that it would be
better to daven on an airplane as opposed to in the airport. In fact,
R' Yakkov Kamentzky's son, R' Shmuel, told me that he "does this all
the time".

KT,
MSS