The Last Davening in Polonnoye
On 3 Av 5408, Rav Shimshon went into the shul with three hundred talmidim, wrapped in talleisim and shrouds.
It is told that when the Cossacks and Tartars advanced on the fortified city of Polonnoye, Jews from the surrounding towns had fled inside its walls, believing the city to be safe. On the 3rd of Av 5408, the attackers broke in.
Rav Shimshon was in the city. Rav Nosson Nota Hanover writes that when the enemy surrounded Polonnoye, Rav Shimshon went into the shul with three hundred men of great learning.
They had prepared as for their final day. Each man was wrapped in his tallis and wore a shroud. There, in the house of Hashem, they began to daven, and they did not stop.
The invaders went directly to the shul. Chassidim relate that the three hundred stood in prayer until the end, giving their lives al Kiddush Hashem in the midst of tefillah. Rav Shimshon, then about forty-eight years old, was among them. His life as a mekubal ended in the same posture in which he had lived it, standing before Hashem.
Source: Rav Nosson Nota Hanover, Yeven Metzulah (Venice, 1653), the account of Polonnoye; in English in Abyss of Despair (tr. Abraham J. Mesch).
Today, choose one tefillah, perhaps Modeh Ani in the morning or a brief prayer before a meal, and say it as though it matters, because it does. Stand still, put down your phone, and say the words slowly. If your mind wanders, simply return to the first word. Rav Shimshon and his companions met their last day in prayer. You are not asked to give so much, only to offer a few quiet moments of yourself to Hashem each day.