Reply To: Yomim Noraim davening

oomis: agreed. As I wrote earlier, R’ Shmuel Berenbaum zt”l told R’ Bender that they needed to sing in Darchei, even though the Mir doesn’t, because people today need tunes to keep them involved in the davening.

That said, you don’t need to sing everything – just certain parts.

One man told me he thought I should have gone slower by Hineni – I didn’t rush it, but he thought I could have slowed it down. Honestly, I don’t think about the pace much when I daven, especially Hineni. Hineni is an intense personal tefillah between the baal tefillah and Hashem. I’ve gone over the text dozens of times so I know exactly what it means, so I don’t need to pause for understanding. I’m speaking with Hashem, and that’s it. When you’re having a conversation, do you really think about how fast you’re talking? It’s natural, you just talk. That’s how I am during Hineni (and some other parts of the davening). I’m just talking to Hashem.