Being Ashamed to Pray in Front of Others
Question
Topic: Shabbat prayers
Question: How can one deal with feeling ashamed to pray in front of others?
Answer
Shalom and blessings
When a person knows that he is doing the right thing, he is not ashamed.
For example: if you visit an underdeveloped country where people do not have phones, and they see you speaking to a metallic rectangle and think you are talking to yourself, will you be embarrassed? It is reasonable to assume that you will not. On the contrary, you will pity them for not understanding.
Another example: a person with allergies has a dangerous allergic attack in the middle of the street, sits down on the ground and injects himself with an EpiPen to save his life. Many people around do not understand what he is doing and what he is injecting. Will he be ashamed of this? Clearly not.
Why? Because he knows that he is doing something right and beneficial.
In the end, the environment also relates to our actions according to the seriousness with which we ourselves relate to them, and the message that reaches them is: “This is serious and important.”
