"שעשה לי כל צרכי

By: Zahava Hoffman

מעמקי הלב- רב טברסקי

We say this ברכה every day of our lives, but what is its true essence? What are we actually thanking ה' for?

Rav Kook explains that the key word in this ברכה is “"שעשה that everything we need in this world ה' has created, He has already made. It’s a matter of whether we do the right actions; make the right choices in order to obtain them. It is all out there ready for us- all our needs and desires; however it is up to us to attain them.

The מהר"ל explains that this ברכה is referring to tying our shoes. When we say this ברכה we are thanking ה' for the essentials- the things in life that we need and ה' has granted us.

Rabbi Elie Munk in The World of Prayer expands upon this notion of shoes by bringing Rav Hirsch who discusses the larger concept of shoes. Rav Hirsch explains that putting on shoes is the external signal of our being set to take on self reliant activity. By contrast we see all those in תנ"ך who walk on holy ground are commanded to take off their shoes- what could this mean? This symbolizes their relinquishing of all self-determination and their absolute dependence on ה'. Rav Munk derives from this that this ברכה acknowledges that all human achievement stems only from ה' –who has granted us all our needs.

Rav Pincus in נפש שמשון views the idea of shoes differently. Rav Pincus explains that shoes are all inclusive- we are thanking ה' for everything until the very shoes on our feet. We often don’t realize how much we actually have in our lives to be thankful for. We have all our belongings in our homes, in closets, in shelves, etcetera and so we don’t notice the quantity of items we have- whether indispensable or superfluous.

The עץ יוסף understands this ברכה as שבח to ה' who gave us shoes so we can go and do what we need to do.

In תפילה כהלכתא we see some of the guidelines for this ברכה. One should say the ברכה even if not wearing regular shoes. Some say that if one is wearing נעלי בית (slippers, casual shoes), then one should not say the ברכהuntil wearing regular shoes. On fast days like יום כיפור and תשעה באב some only say this ברכה at night when wearing regular shoes.

This is the only one of the ברכות השחר that is written in first person. It is coming from a more personal place. “לי” and “צרכי” are tools to help us connect more to ה' and realize that everything in our lives, every shirt we own, every shoe we wear its all from ה'. It is truly difficult to imagine our lives without certain objects- whether necessary or not, so we must really recognize every single morning that it’s all from ה'. Our every step is from ה'. We must strive to do the right actions in order to obtain our needs and wants from ה' and once we have obtained them we need to thank ה' for them too.

To Pray the Jewish Way

At first glance prayer seems to be about whining and begging G-d, “Please heal this person … please bring me my soul-mate … please help my business, etc.” One could mistakenly think that G-d is holding out on us and gets pleasure watching us grovel.

When we are faced with some very serious problems, it is customary to ask others to join together in our prayers. What is that all about? It seems as if we hope to move G-d through force: “G-d, if you don’t respond to my prayers, then I will recruit through the e-mail thousands of others to pray.”

Do we think these strategies really work? What are we actually doing here? If G-d is all knowing then why am I telling Him my problems? He already knows them. If G-d is good then why am I asking for Him to change my situation? Obviously whatever happens to me is for my best and I should just trust G-d.

To appreciate what we are actually doing when we pray, we have to examine what prayer really means. First, we have to understand that in Judaism we do not pray. Prayer is an English word. What Jews do isl’hispallel.

L’hispallel is a unique experience, but as with most Jewish things today, this holy word has been changed into an English word with a western connotation. The word “prayer” actually comes from the Latin word meaning “to beg” — exactly what most people feel prayer is. They imagine a big king in the sky who is getting a big ego boost from watching his subjects beg. This is a terrible image of our selves and of G-d.

L’hispallel has nothing to do with begging G-d to change His mind. L’hitpallel is a reflexive verb and it means to do something to your self, not to G-d. When you are praying, your question should not be, “Is G-d listening to my prayers?” For sure he is. What you should really ask yourself is, “Am I listening to my prayers? Does what I say impact me? Have I changed?”

If you are under the impression that praying is communicating to G-d information that He does not already know, then the whole prayer experience becomes ridiculous. G-d knows that your business is falling apart. G-d knows that you desperately want your soul-mate. G-d knows exactly what is going on in your life.L’hispallel is not about G-d hearing your prayer. It is about you hearing your prayers. You need to say these things to G-d not because He need to hear them but because you need to hear yourself saying them to G-d.

L’hispallel means to do something to your self. Exactly what you are doing is palleling yourself. And what exactly is that? We see the word palel in the story of Jacob and Joseph. When Joseph learns that his father Jacob is nearing his death, he goes to his father for a blessing for his two children. Jacob says, “I neverpalel-ti that I would ever see your face again, and G-d has granted me to even see the face of your children.” What do you think the term means here? I never hoped…? I never imagined…? I never dreamed…? I never anticipated?

The great 11th century Torah commentator Rashi explains the verse to mean, “I never would have filled my heart to think the thought that I would ever see your face again.” Therefore, when we l’hispallel, we are actively, intentionally trying to fill our hearts, to think the thoughts, to dream the dreams of what it is that we want to see and do in this world and then change ourselves in order to make these things happen. It is not G-d whom we are trying to change. It is ourselves and our relationship to G-d we are trying to change through prayer. If we change ourselves, we change our whole situation.

Please do not misunderstand this important principle. L’hispallel does not mean to meditate and talk to yourself as if you could ever make things happen for your self without G-d. Of course, G-d listens to our prayers and answers but we are not trying to change G-d’s mind we are trying to change ourselves.

If you pray in order to change G-d’s mind, then, please for G-d’s sake, don’t pray. We don’t want to change G-d’s mind. And thank G-d we can’t change G-d’s mind because G-d has made up His mind long time ago. G-d only and always loves us and seeks to give us the greatest good. As Psalmist praised, “His compassion (unconditional love) is upon all His creatures.”

Of course, G-d hears our prayers and answers but He is waiting for us to hear our prayers and mean them. Prayer is not passive, it is proactive. Through prayer we must inspire ourselves to take action and make changes within ourselves, our community and the world. When we change ourselves for the good we let G-d’s never-changing love for us and His abundant blessings become manifest in our lives. The more we praise G-d and acknowledge that He is the source of all blessings and truly want those blessings in our lives the more G-d’s blessings flow into our lives.

Prayer is not about changing G-d’s mind. G-d’s mind is steadfast. He only and always loves us and wants to shower us with His blessings. Prayer is about changing our selves. Prayer is about attuning our will to G-d’s will and making our selves receptive to receive His loving presence and blessings into our lives. G-d is waiting to hear from us and invite Him into our lives.

Rabbi David Aaron
Author of Endless Light, Seeing G-d, The Secret Life of G-d, Inviting G-d In, Living A Joyous Life, and The G-d-Powered Life

How dare you?

by Aish HaTorah

How dare you?

How dare you spit on an 8-year-old schoolgirl and terrorize her as she walks to school? Regardless of what she's wearing; spitting, verbal abuse, and threats of violence cannot be tolerated.

How dare you call yourself a Hareidi, God-fearing Jew? Your actions are diametrically opposed to Judaism. Your conduct, in the words of the statement from Agudath Israel of America "is beyond the bounds of decent, moral – Jewish! – behavior."

How dare you put us in a position where we need to state loud and clear that we condemn your loathsome actions. We do not share the same theology; we resent having any association with you that necessitates our stark denunciation.

How dare you wear the garb of a religious Jew and create a massive Chillul Hashem, a desecration of God's name, where uninformed Jews and non-Jews around the world mistakenly believe media distortions that you somehow represent religious Jews in Israel. You are like the kippah-clad thief who dines on pork; he cannot call himself a 'religious' Jew. You refuse to listen to rabbinic leadership and your actions are causing irreparable harm to the Jewish people.

How dare you reject the Torah's way of “love your fellow man” and instead erect barriers of hate and intolerance.

How dare you turn off Jews who are curious to learn about their Jewish heritage.

Click here to receive Aish.com's free weekly email.

How dare you reject the Torah's way of “love your fellow man” and instead erect barriers of hate and intolerance.

I would relish the opportunity to sit down with you and calmly explore the issues and come to a different approach that fulfills the Torah's dictum, "Its ways are ways of pleasantness amd all its paths are peace" (Proverbs 3:17).:

Together we can learn from the following the example of the great Mirrer Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel, of blessed memory, and his rebbetzin..

A non-religious Israeli couple was married for 12 years and could not have children. They were distraught and decided to seek counsel from the renowned Rosh Yeshiva. It was a hot summer day and the couple knocked on the door. The woman was wearing her typical summer attire and was not modestly dressed.

Rebbetzin Finkel opened the door and greeted the couple. "How wonderful that you came to meet my husband!" Then she turned to the wife and warmly said, "You know, my husband is a great scholar – he learns all day. When I go in to speak with him, I wear a shawl out of respect. Why don't you come with me and see if I have one for you, too. I think I even have a perfect piece of jewelry to match. And we'll go in together to speak to him."

They entered his study and told the rabbi why they had come. Rabbi Finkel had great difficulty talking due to the debilitating effects of Parkinson's. He mustered his strength and said to the woman, "You and I have a lot in common. We both know what suffering is." He began to sob, along with Rebbetzin Finkel. Then the couple started crying.

Rabbi Finkel spoke with the couple for a while, offering words of comfort. He then took their names, and vowed to pray for them.

No yelling, no threats, no spitting. Just love, respect and compassion of one Jew for another.

Maimonides writes (Laws of Character Development, 6:7) that the only way to draw people close is through love. That is how the Almighty relates to us, and that is how He wants us to relate to others.

Abandon your hate and choose the Torah's path of warmth and understanding. I dare you.