Every Shabbos, one of the senior members of our synagogue comes to Shul and prays with the intensity and love of someone half her age. She sits near the front, and from her side of the mechitza, she makes her displeasure known if the person repeating the Mussaf Shemona Esrei isn't singing enough. 

I would cheer her on if it wouldn't bring undue stares in my direction.

When people come to a synagogue to pray, all come with their own approach and their own goal. Connecting with prayer is extremely difficult, even for the most religious, frum-from-birth Jew. There are so many factors - understanding the words, pronouncing them right, helping the rest of the congregation to understand, and equally important, the intangible "getting into it."

How do we "Get into it" when we're davening? It's especially difficult on Shabbos when we're not making requests, we're just thanking Hashem for giving us this day of rest and reviewing the sacrifices we would be bringing if we had our Beis Hamikdash (Holy Temple). If you know what every word means, great. That still doesn't mean you're getting into it. If you pray in English, good for you. That still doesn't get you there, either. 

Some people need to meditate on it for a few minutes in order to build their enthusiasm. Some need to shuckle with their whole body and transfer that energy into their words. 

Others, dare I say most, need to SING.

Singin' ain't easy. When you've been saying the same prayers over and over again for years, it's awfully tempting to hide behind the halachic idea of "Tircha D'Tzibura" (not imposing an excessively long wait on the congregation) and rush through it so you can go eat lunch. That Shabbos lunch is something special. You can almost smell the Cholent, the smoked turkey, the potato kugel... it's all beckoning you away, whispering in your ear, "Daven faster! We need to be eaten and you and the rest of the congregation are hungry!"

It's not the food talking. It's your Yatzer Hara (evil inclination).

We need to sing... especially during the Mussaf Shemona Esrei, when Shull is almost over. It's been a long morning and our energy is waning. Singing brings that energy back. It joins the congregation together spiritually and physically.

Physically? Yep. Ever heard the song, "What do you do with a drunken sailor?" It's a "Sea Shanty." It has a repetitive refrain of "Hoo-ra and up she rises, Hoo-ra and up she rises!" What's the point? The point of Sea Shanties was to give sailors something to sing while they worked that would keep them in the same Rhythm. When they were all on the same beat, the sails and the rigging worked a lot faster and the boat ran perfectly. The same thing applies to a Shul. When we're all singing together in the repetition of the Mussaf Shemona Esrei, our sails are at full mast and it's full speed ahead.

Want to take a stop watch and time a singing Mussaf Shemona Esrei versus a non-singing one? Guess what. You can't use a stop watch on Shabbos. However, I guarantee you that you can count the minutes on one hand and have fingers left over. Want to call that an imposition on the congregation?

So, if you're on the short list of people who get the opportunity to lead the Mussaf service, and you hear the voice of a sweet, aged women in your left ear telling you to SING, how about if you go ahead and SING?! You know what? Soon enough you'll hear everyone joining in behind you. Keep it going through your repetition, and suddenly you'll be at the helm of a ship powerful enough to sail straight to Gan Eden.

Or don't sing, and get to lunch a minute faster. Just make sure you wake up the rest of the congregants on your way out.