The Liminal Moment between Prayers

The Gemara (B Berachos 30b) raises the question of how long one must pause between back-to-back prayers in order to compose oneself. 

It records a dispute:

כַּמָּה יִשְׁהֶה בֵּין תְּפִלָּה לִתְפִלָּה? רַב הוּנָא וְרַב חִסְדָּא, חַד אָמַר כְּדֵי שֶׁתִּתְחוֹנֵן דַּעְתּוֹ עָלָיו, וְחַד אָמַר כְּדֵי שֶׁתִּתְחוֹלֵל דַּעְתּוֹ עָלָיו.

How long should one wait between one prayer and another?” Rav Huna and Rav Chisda [disagree]: — One said: “Long enough for his mind to become softened (תתחונן) upon him.” — And one said: “Long enough for his mind to become stirred (תתחולל) upon him.

The Gemara continues that each opinion is grounded in a verse describing prayer:

מַאן דְּאָמַר כְּדֵי שֶׁתִּתְחוֹנֵן דַּעְתּוֹ עָלָיו, דִּכְתִיב: ״וָאֶתְחַנַּן אֶל ה׳ ״ (דברים ג׳:כ״ג), וּמַאן דְּאָמַר כְּדֵי שֶׁתִּתְחוֹלֵל דַּעְתּוֹ עָלָיו, דִּכְתִיב: ״וַיְחַל מֹשֶׁה״ (שמות ל״ב:י״א).

The one who said: ‘[He must wait] until his mind becomes softened,’ it is as it is written: ‘And I pleaded with the Lord’ (Deuteronomy 3:23); and the one who said: ‘[He must wait] until his mind becomes anguished,’ it is as it is written: ‘And Moses implored the Lord’ (Exodus 32:11).

Why are these particular terms and pesukim chosen to demonstrate the pause between prayers?

Perhaps the following may be suggested:

In both contexts, Chazal highlight the intensity and extent of Moshe’s respective prayers.

In Shemos, in the aftermath of the Eigel debacle, the Gemara (B Berachos 32a) states:

״וַיְחַל מֹשֶׁה אֶת פְּנֵי ה׳ ״ (שמות ל״ב:י״א), אֲמַר רִבִּי אֶלְעָזָר: מְלַמֵּד שֶׁעָמַד מֹשֶׁה בַּתְּפִלָּה לִפְנֵי הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא עַד שֶׁהִחְלָהוּ.

Rabbi Elazar said: This teaches that Moshe stood in prayer before the Holy One, blessed be He, until it made him ill. 

I think it reasonable to assume that it wasn't one long uninterrupted prayer but rather many consecutive attempts (especially if one maintains that it refers to the forty days of prayer - see Chizkuni ad loc.). 

And in Devarim, when recounting how he attempted to get the decree of non-entry into Israel annulled, the Midrash (Devarim Rabbah 11:10) comments:

וּמִנַּיִן שֶׁהִתְפַּלֵּל משֶׁה בְּאוֹתוֹ הַפֶּרֶק חֲמֵשׁ מֵאוֹת וַחֲמִשָּׁה עָשָׂר פְּעָמִים, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (דברים ג, כג): וָאֶתְחַנַּן אֶל ה' בָּעֵת הַהִוא לֵאמֹר, וָאֶתְחַנַּן בְּגִימַטְרִיָּא הָכֵי הֲוֵי.

From where is it known that Moshe prayed at that time five hundred and fifteen times? As it is said: וָאֶתְחַנַּן אֶל ה׳ — and the word וָאֶתְחַנַּן has a gematria of 515.

So these are episodes in which Chazal assert that Moshe engaged in multiple prayers.

That being so, they are the perfect cases to illustrate the type of mental state one must be in for prayer — and by extension, the pause necessary to collect oneself between prayers.

All the prayers Moshe offered are framed in terms of חנן and חלל. 

This suggests that the Gemara did not merely choose these pesukim for their verbal form, but because they derive from the Torah’s most intense scenes of repeated prayer — and are thus most suited to frame the halachic requirement to pause until one’s mind is suitably engaged for tefillah.

(After penning this I noticed that the Oz Vhadar gemara cites this idea from R Naftali HaKohen's Kedusha ubracha, see here. He sharpens the question in that there isn't necessarily any proof from the state of mind required prior to initially engaging in tefilah to what is necessary when one is already in the zone)