Berakhot 15

We are two weeks into this Daf Yomi cycle and I have come to love this community, the support it provides and how it has assisted with democratizing the Talmud. Who would have thought that there was so much to learn from a two week discussion that has been mostly focused on when and how to recite the Shema and that it would have so much relevancy to our modern lives? What I have gleaned from today's reading and the others is that although it is important to pay attention to the rituals that assist with preparing for opening one's heart to prayer and God, what really matters is the opening of the heart itself. ("the significance of the words follows the intention of the heart")