לזכות אבי מורי ואמי מורתי שיחיו ולרפואת משה בן מלכה בתוך שח"י
1. Three tefillos are obligatory b/c we need them in order to exist in this world. Tikkun Chatzos is optional b/c we are asking for this world to be exchanged for a different Messianic world. We can exist here w/o Tikkun Chatzos. We can’t exist here w/o the three Tefillos. The world can exist in the merit of the 3 Avos who decreed we daven the three tefillos. Above that is Tikkun Chatzos which corresponds to Dovid Hamelech.
2. Imagine someone tests you in all areas of Torah and you know nothing. Then someone else comes along and says – in front of that person - that you are SUCH a Talmid Chochom. You know it ALL. That would be embarrassing!!! You know the truth as does the person who just tested you. Having other people respect you is meaningless if you are not worthy of that respect. Only Hashem knows the truth and it is only His opinion which matters. When we receive false compliments, we should be embarrassed. It is people who don’t know the truth making false assumptions about our positive qualities when Hashem [and we] know the real truth.
3. The Gemara says that we say the praises of האל הגדול הגבור והנורא b/c they are written in the Torah. That means that they are not merely praise but defining the middos with which Hashem runs the world. If we have proper kavana we can’t activate these middos in the world. That would explain why kavana for the first bracha is so critical. It is not just praise but our existence depends on it.
4. Eating before davening: Imagine you had a court case and the judge was to decide whether you will live or die. Would you have an appetite?? Totally NOT! Every day when we daven, our very life hangs in the balance. We shouldn’t even have an appetite. That is the meaning of the drasha in the Gemara – לא תאכלו על הדם – לא תאכלו קודם שתתפללו על דמכם. Don’t eat before you pray for your very life blood.
5. Asher Yatzar and Bentching – Ideally they should be said as soon as possible. If one undergoes a painless operation that a doctor performs for free, it would be chutzpah to talk to other people before thanking the doctor. Similarly, if someone gives you a free meal, it would not be right to talk to others before thanking your benefactor. When Hashem kindly ensures that our internal plumbing system works and also gives us delicious filling food to eat – thanks to Him should not be delayed.
6. It says about Pinchas ותעצר המגפה ויעמוד פנחס ויפלל. Simply taken this means that he davened and the plague stopped. However, Chazal expound this to mean that he made פלילות - judgment, with Hashem. He threw Kozbi and Zimri to the ground and said “for these 2 people 24 thousand people are going to die??” You see that when you daven, if an additional behavior is necessary then it must be carried out, such as the Mesirus Nefesh of Pinchas to speak so sharply to Hashem.
7. The Gemara says that Rebbi Akiva would start davening in corner and would end up in a different corner from all of his bowing. But when he was davening w/ the Tzibbur, he would keep it short and not bow so much. You see that the value of including yourself in the Tzibbur EXCEEDS the value of having kavana. Moreover, when R’ Akiva was sacrificing his higher medreiga for the sake of including himself in the Tzibbur, they thereby were able to tap into and gain from his exalted level. They became part of him.
8. On one hand all of our tfillos are in the plural – לשון רבים. On the other hand, Chazal say that if you daven on behalf of your friend, you are answered first. This implies that there is a vast area of tfilla [שטח גדול] consisting of the entire community in which every Jew has a specific point. The more points that are fixed – the more the area shines. That is the idea of davening in the plural – even though you have to fix your own specific point, the goal has to be to fix the entire community. When you daven for your friend you show that your intention is not to merely fix yourself but the entire “area”. Through this you are fixed and your tfillah is answered.
9. Pokeach Ivrim – The avoda is to use your vision only for Hashem. Avraham Avinu was on that level. That is why he never noticed Sarah’s beauty – הנה נא ידעתי כי אשה יפת מראה את. Only now b/c of the difficult journey [ Rashi] he saw her but never noticed before. Avraham was always focused on the נקודה הפנימית – , the deeper, spiritual soulful view and not the external wrappings. [This would explain his success in Kiruv. He didn’t look at the earings and tattoos but the neshmos]. Only now in an unnatural circumstance he saw Sarah and he was able to see her beauty in a spiritual way as befitting the מחזה אברהם - the Abrahamic view of the world.
10. We say Korbanos before davening to show that just as an animal is a physical being whose highest, ultimate purpose is to be used to a spiritual act, so our bodies are only here for their ultimate spiritual task. If we realize this, then when our bodies go into the grave and rot, they will eventually rise again in a physical form at tchiyas hameisim.
11. והעושר והכבוד מלפניך - Wealth and honor are in front of You. All of the wealth and honor we see in the world are coming from where Hashem ruled they should go. They all have a stamp and address written by the Almighty. When we realize this, then we become worthy of dipping into that wealth and honor ourselves. Our kavana must be to use the עושר and כבוד only לשם שמים which makes passing it on to us an easy transition.
12. לעושה אורים גדולים כי לעולם חסדו – Usually the purpose of light is to shine in a dark place. The sun is many times the size of the earth. That shows that the purpose of the sun is not merely to service the earth but the opposite – we on earth have to make ourselves secondary to the sun and imbibe its rays. The sun, according to Chazal, symbolizes the light of truth in the world to come. That is what we have to connect with.
5. Asher Yatzar and Bentching – Ideally they should be said as soon as possible. If one undergoes a painless operation that a doctor performs for free, it would be chutzpah to talk to other people before thanking the doctor. Similarly, if someone gives you a free meal, it would not be right to talk to others before thanking your benefactor. When Hashem kindly ensures that our internal plumbing system works and also gives us delicious filling food to eat – thanks to Him should not be delayed.
6. It says about Pinchas ותעצר המגפה ויעמוד פנחס ויפלל. Simply taken this means that he davened and the plague stopped. However, Chazal expound this to mean that he made פלילות - judgment, with Hashem. He threw Kozbi and Zimri to the ground and said “for these 2 people 24 thousand people are going to die??” You see that when you daven, if an additional behavior is necessary then it must be carried out, such as the Mesirus Nefesh of Pinchas to speak so sharply to Hashem.
7. The Gemara says that Rebbi Akiva would start davening in corner and would end up in a different corner from all of his bowing. But when he was davening w/ the Tzibbur, he would keep it short and not bow so much. You see that the value of including yourself in the Tzibbur EXCEEDS the value of having kavana. Moreover, when R’ Akiva was sacrificing his higher medreiga for the sake of including himself in the Tzibbur, they thereby were able to tap into and gain from his exalted level. They became part of him.
8. On one hand all of our tfillos are in the plural – לשון רבים. On the other hand, Chazal say that if you daven on behalf of your friend, you are answered first. This implies that there is a vast area of tfilla [שטח גדול] consisting of the entire community in which every Jew has a specific point. The more points that are fixed – the more the area shines. That is the idea of davening in the plural – even though you have to fix your own specific point, the goal has to be to fix the entire community. When you daven for your friend you show that your intention is not to merely fix yourself but the entire “area”. Through this you are fixed and your tfillah is answered.
9. Pokeach Ivrim – The avoda is to use your vision only for Hashem. Avraham Avinu was on that level. That is why he never noticed Sarah’s beauty – הנה נא ידעתי כי אשה יפת מראה את. Only now b/c of the difficult journey [ Rashi] he saw her but never noticed before. Avraham was always focused on the נקודה הפנימית – , the deeper, spiritual soulful view and not the external wrappings. [This would explain his success in Kiruv. He didn’t look at the earings and tattoos but the neshmos]. Only now in an unnatural circumstance he saw Sarah and he was able to see her beauty in a spiritual way as befitting the מחזה אברהם - the Abrahamic view of the world.
10. We say Korbanos before davening to show that just as an animal is a physical being whose highest, ultimate purpose is to be used to a spiritual act, so our bodies are only here for their ultimate spiritual task. If we realize this, then when our bodies go into the grave and rot, they will eventually rise again in a physical form at tchiyas hameisim.
11. והעושר והכבוד מלפניך - Wealth and honor are in front of You. All of the wealth and honor we see in the world are coming from where Hashem ruled they should go. They all have a stamp and address written by the Almighty. When we realize this, then we become worthy of dipping into that wealth and honor ourselves. Our kavana must be to use the עושר and כבוד only לשם שמים which makes passing it on to us an easy transition.
12. לעושה אורים גדולים כי לעולם חסדו – Usually the purpose of light is to shine in a dark place. The sun is many times the size of the earth. That shows that the purpose of the sun is not merely to service the earth but the opposite – we on earth have to make ourselves secondary to the sun and imbibe its rays. The sun, according to Chazal, symbolizes the light of truth in the world to come. That is what we have to connect with.
13. We say first הבוחר בעמו ישראל באהבה - - Hashem chooses Am Yisrael with love. Then we say ואהבת את השם א-להיך – You must love Hashem. The pasuk says that as far as heaven is from earth, so Hashem’s thoughts are above ours – כגבה שמים מארץ כן גבהו מחשבותי ממחשבותיכם. Hashem’s love for us faaaaaaarrrrrr exceeds any love we can possibly conjure up for Him. First we connect to the infinite love that Hashem has for us – הבוחר בעמו ישראל באהבה , and then we try to reflect it back – ואהבת את השם א-להיך.
14. Akeidas Yitzchak. The Sfarim ask what was special about Avraham’s willingness to sacrifice Yitzchak above and beyond all of the Mesrius Nefesh of the Jews for all the generations. One answer is that Avraham was commanded to sacrifice Yitzchak as a Korban Olah. Yitzchak’s status as a Korban was so genuine that Chazal tell us that Avraham asked Hashem where there is a Kohen. Hashem answered that YOU are the Kohen. Then when the angel told Avraham not to sacrifice Yitzchak, it says that Avraham took a ram and brought it as a Korban "תחת בנו" – literally in place of Yitzchak. One Korban replacing another. There is a level of people who are [in Chazal’s terminology] ערומים בדעת ומשימים עצמם כבהמה - very clever but make themselves inept as an animal. THAT was what Yitzchak did when he was to replace the normal animal offering and that was what Avraham did when he disregarded the logical contradiction in the words of Hashem who told him to sacrifice the son from whom generations were supposed to be born.
15. Avraham was told to take his only son Yitzchak and put him on the Mizbeach etc. The words only son “"בנך יחידך reveal the great sacrifice Avraham was making. The word “יצחק“ alludes to the middah of Yitzchak “Gevurah” - strength. What was the Gevurah? Hashem didn’t really want Yitzchak to be sacrificed so it took great strength on Avraham’s part to go against the true will of the Creator and place him on the Mizbeach. This is called in Kabbala “מיתוק חסדים לגבורות” - the sweetening of גבורה [of Yitzchak] with חסד [of Avraham].
16. ויקרא מלאך השם אל הגר מן השמים – An angel appeared to Hagar. How does this coincide with the fact that Hagar was banished from the house of Avraham?? The answer is that this shows the Kedusha of Yitzchak. Hagar was banished b/c Hashem told Avraham to listen to Sarah, who was superior to Avraham in prophecy, and in fact Yishmael will not inherit Avraham. "כל אשר תאמר שרה שמע בקולה כי ביצחק יקרא לך זרע”. On Avraham’s level there was room for a fulfillment of his prayer “לו ישמעאל יחיה לפניך” – If only Yishmael would live before you and He, not Yitzchak, would continue the chain of Avraham. Only on the superior level of Sarah, we see the subtle but clear distinction between Yitzchak and Yishmael. So it wasn’t a “no contest” between Yishmael and Yitzchak but required a great level of Kedusha, discernible only to Sarah and not to Avraham, that made Yitzchak the continuation of Avraham. That is why Hagar merited having an angel reveal himself to her.
17. ישמח ה' במעשיו – This refers to the simcha that Hashem will have in the future when the purpose of humankind will have been fulfilled. When the Egyptians drowned, the angels wanted to sing but were silenced by Hashem who said “My handiwork is drowning in the sea and you are singing??” There is pain in Shomayim when people don’t fulfill their purpose in life and have to be terminated. If this is true about Egyptians, how much more true is it abt. Jews!! The positive is always more powerful than the negative. Imagine the incredible joy in Shomayim when we DO accomplish the purpose for which we were created. That will happen in the future. ישמח ה' במעשיו. We have to connect to that simcha already now. It should ALSO be a catalyst to try to make it happen!
18. כל הנשמה תהלל י-ה – All of the Neshama praises Hashem. We see from this that it is the soul and not the body that praises Hashem. If a person is living according to the dictates of the body, he will not praise Hashem. The body is interested primarily in one thing – the body. The soul is interested in its Source. That is the idea of Dovid dancing before the ark with all of his might. His soul wanted more than anything that the glory of Hashem be revealed. The Mitzvah of Simchas Yom Tov is to awaken the soul in its Simcha.
[מבארו העמוק של הגה"צ רבי דב קוק שליט"א]
14. Akeidas Yitzchak. The Sfarim ask what was special about Avraham’s willingness to sacrifice Yitzchak above and beyond all of the Mesrius Nefesh of the Jews for all the generations. One answer is that Avraham was commanded to sacrifice Yitzchak as a Korban Olah. Yitzchak’s status as a Korban was so genuine that Chazal tell us that Avraham asked Hashem where there is a Kohen. Hashem answered that YOU are the Kohen. Then when the angel told Avraham not to sacrifice Yitzchak, it says that Avraham took a ram and brought it as a Korban "תחת בנו" – literally in place of Yitzchak. One Korban replacing another. There is a level of people who are [in Chazal’s terminology] ערומים בדעת ומשימים עצמם כבהמה - very clever but make themselves inept as an animal. THAT was what Yitzchak did when he was to replace the normal animal offering and that was what Avraham did when he disregarded the logical contradiction in the words of Hashem who told him to sacrifice the son from whom generations were supposed to be born.
15. Avraham was told to take his only son Yitzchak and put him on the Mizbeach etc. The words only son “"בנך יחידך reveal the great sacrifice Avraham was making. The word “יצחק“ alludes to the middah of Yitzchak “Gevurah” - strength. What was the Gevurah? Hashem didn’t really want Yitzchak to be sacrificed so it took great strength on Avraham’s part to go against the true will of the Creator and place him on the Mizbeach. This is called in Kabbala “מיתוק חסדים לגבורות” - the sweetening of גבורה [of Yitzchak] with חסד [of Avraham].
16. ויקרא מלאך השם אל הגר מן השמים – An angel appeared to Hagar. How does this coincide with the fact that Hagar was banished from the house of Avraham?? The answer is that this shows the Kedusha of Yitzchak. Hagar was banished b/c Hashem told Avraham to listen to Sarah, who was superior to Avraham in prophecy, and in fact Yishmael will not inherit Avraham. "כל אשר תאמר שרה שמע בקולה כי ביצחק יקרא לך זרע”. On Avraham’s level there was room for a fulfillment of his prayer “לו ישמעאל יחיה לפניך” – If only Yishmael would live before you and He, not Yitzchak, would continue the chain of Avraham. Only on the superior level of Sarah, we see the subtle but clear distinction between Yitzchak and Yishmael. So it wasn’t a “no contest” between Yishmael and Yitzchak but required a great level of Kedusha, discernible only to Sarah and not to Avraham, that made Yitzchak the continuation of Avraham. That is why Hagar merited having an angel reveal himself to her.
17. ישמח ה' במעשיו – This refers to the simcha that Hashem will have in the future when the purpose of humankind will have been fulfilled. When the Egyptians drowned, the angels wanted to sing but were silenced by Hashem who said “My handiwork is drowning in the sea and you are singing??” There is pain in Shomayim when people don’t fulfill their purpose in life and have to be terminated. If this is true about Egyptians, how much more true is it abt. Jews!! The positive is always more powerful than the negative. Imagine the incredible joy in Shomayim when we DO accomplish the purpose for which we were created. That will happen in the future. ישמח ה' במעשיו. We have to connect to that simcha already now. It should ALSO be a catalyst to try to make it happen!
18. כל הנשמה תהלל י-ה – All of the Neshama praises Hashem. We see from this that it is the soul and not the body that praises Hashem. If a person is living according to the dictates of the body, he will not praise Hashem. The body is interested primarily in one thing – the body. The soul is interested in its Source. That is the idea of Dovid dancing before the ark with all of his might. His soul wanted more than anything that the glory of Hashem be revealed. The Mitzvah of Simchas Yom Tov is to awaken the soul in its Simcha.
[מבארו העמוק של הגה"צ רבי דב קוק שליט"א]
