וְעַל כֻּלָּם יִתְבָּרַךְ וְיִתְרומַם שִׁמְךָ מַלְכֵּנוּ תָּמִיד לְעולָם וָעֶד: וְכל הַחַיִּים יודוּךָ סֶּלָה. וִיהַלְלוּ אֶת שִׁמְךָ בֶּאֱמֶת. הָאֵל יְשׁוּעָתֵנוּ וְעֶזְרָתֵנוּ סֶלָה. בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה', הַטּוב שִׁמְךָ וּלְךָ נָאֶה לְהודות:
וְעַל כֻּלָּם יִתְבָּרַךְ וְיִתְרומַם שִׁמְךָ מַלְכֵּנוּ תָּמִיד לְעולָם וָעֶד -
When something does what it was supposed to, the act expressed appreciation for the command and the person who gave it. In this way the entire Creation demonstrates it’s thanks to Hashem. The Creation being put to work fulfills it’s purpose, and is it’s way of expressing gratitude to Hashem. All of nature reflects this – when a tree grows, it’s leaves change colour, fall, and bloom again, it is working the way a tree works, and it is what trees were created to do. It is fulfilling it’s function.
The same is true of ourselves – each of us is put on earth to fulfill a particular mission, and we are built with everything we need to perform our mission. For example – Yishmael’s name is a portmanteau of the words ישמע אל – God will listen. Yishmael’s role was to introduce prayer to the world. He did not do this by being a holy person. He became a murderer. Nonetheless, his existence had a purpose, to introduce prayer to the world. When his mother, Hagar, was sent away with Yishmael, they found themselves in a desert, and Yishmael was dying of the thirst. His mother could not bear to see her son die, so abandoned him.
The pasuk says: וַיִּשְׁמַע אֱ־לֹהִים אֶת קוֹל הַנַּעַר וַיִּקְרָא מַלְאַךְ אֱ־לֹהִים אֶל הָגָר מִן הַשָּׁמַיִם וַיֹּאמֶר לָהּ מַה לָּךְ הָגָר אַל תִּירְאִי כִּי שָׁמַע אֱ־לֹהִים אֶל קוֹל הַנַּעַר בַּאֲשֶׁר הוּא שָׁם - And God heard the lad's voice, and an angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, and said to her, "What is troubling you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the lad's voice in the place where he is”. (Bereishis 21:17)
He brought prayer into this world, even if he had not tried to.
The same is true of Yishmael’s descendants. They can either be holy people who pray, or they can choose not to, and every terror attack, gunfight and war causes others to pray. (What is frightening is when Yishmael prays and fights, as we say today). But there must be prayer in the world instigated by Yishmael. The Creation must fulfill it’s purpose. It is worth noting that the use of the bechira – the free will, is to go against this purpose, but that the natural course would be to fulfill the mission the correct way. When a machine is perfect at serving a function, the right thing to do would be to switch it on, although we can choose not to.
This is why we say that everything will thank Hashem forever. The Creation “wants” to fulfill it’s purpose and is geared towards doing so. This is the ultimate expression of thanks.
וְכל הַחַיִּים יודוּךָ סֶּלָה – gggg
We can understand “הַחַיִּים” in three ways, and they are not mutually exclusive.
The first way is that we thank Hashem for every breath we take. Every breath sustains life, and life is a gift worth thanking Hashem for, whether in good times or bad times. We thank Hashem for חַיִּים.
The second is that a person is meant to pray with life – that is, with their entire body. (This is the source of swaying or shaking during prayer). We thank Hashem with חַיִּים.
The third is that all living things thank and praise Hashem, ie Perek Shira goes through all the praises for each animal . There are two ways to understand this; that the animals noises are the thanks they give; or that when we see the beauty of the animals, the praise we say is for the animal. Or in other words, everything that is חַיִּים thanks Hashem.
וִיהַלְלוּ אֶת שִׁמְךָ בֶּאֱמֶת – and they will praise Your Name with truth
The way to praise Hashem is with באמת. This is commonly translated as “Truth”, but is better translated as “reality”. We say that קרוב ה’ לכל קוראיו, יקראוהו באמת – Hashem is close to those who call him with reality. If a person calls out to Hashem with their entire being, that becomes their reality. This is how to pray. This is also the way to praise Hashem, that the persons reality should be consumed with the need to praise Hashem.
We are saying that the way to praise Hashem is with our very being.
הָאֵל יְשׁוּעָתֵנוּ וְעֶזְרָתֵנוּ סֶלָה -
Why do we say that Hashem both saves us and helps us? There are several ways to explain why Hashem is both.
They are different characteristics, used in different situations. This means that Hashem is not both at the same time, but both are His characteristics.
In a different vein, perhaps we are asking that although being saved from a situation is one option, we would prefer to be helped so that we can persevere and grow from such situations.
The third explanation is that the two are parts of the same thing. We can give an analogy of a child learning to ride a bike. At first, the child needs a parent to hold him, and maybe even extra wheels. If the parent lets go, the child will fall and hurt himself. But eventually, the child is comfortable enough to try riding on his own, and once he can, he has learnt to ride a bike.
The same is true of us – Hashem saves us when we are unable to help ourselves. But gradually, Hashem loosens his hold on us, until we are capable of facing adversity without needing direct intervention. When we are capable of doing so, we will have succeeded and passed our test.
This is why we say סֶּלָה - a מסלה is a path. סלו are the people who walk the path. This is סֶּלָה – it is the process of how to praise Hashem. Hashem is always looking to help us in the long term, in order for us to grow and succeed. Once we have grown, He holds back from direct intervention because we are better off – and we can therefore praise Him more for it having grown.
In the bracha נשמת כל חי we say that it is impossible to thank Hashem enough for what He has done for us, because He has done so much. Yet we go on to thank Him anyway, and this should be educative to us. We go on to discuss all the organs Hashem gave us – that is to say that whatever it is we were given must be enough to do what we have to do. So this is not just to praise Hashem, but to tell us that no matter how distant we may feel, Hashem will always hear us because wherever we are, we are fully equipped with all the tools that we need to do what we need to, and if what we need to do is to thank Hashem, we are capable.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה – zzzz
When we say בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה, we bend our knees and bow slightly. There are two ways to recognize someone’s greatness; that whatever you may be, the other person is greater; or that you are nothing in comparison to the other person. This shows our subservience and deference to Hashem – also knows as שפלות האדם.
We straighten up when we say Hashem’s name though. In the morning, we say זוקף כפופים – that Hashem straightens the bent. We recognise that the ability to stand is from Hashem – this is why when we stand, a sign of strength, and therefore possibly arrogance, we only stand at Hashem’s name.
When we bend and stand, we are recognising Hashem’s greatness, and our own insignificance in comparison.
הַטּוב שִׁמְךָ וּלְךָ נָאֶה לְהודות –
When we say וּלְךָ נָאֶה לְהודות – to Hashem it is fitting to praise. It is a wonderful midda to be grateful, but what we are saying is that every kindness that someone shows us is not really theirs – the kindness they showed, and the fact they were kind at all, is from Hashem. Hashem is the source of all kindness; it is good to give thanks to people who are kind, but the only one to whom it is fitting to show thanks, is Hashem. A person’s kindness is a manifestation of Hashems kindness, and one must thank them for choosing to be kind, but we must recognise that Hashem was truly kind and sent the kindness our way.
This is why we say וּלְךָ נָאֶה לְהודות – to You it is fitting to praise.
No comments:
Post a Comment