Halakhah zu Tehillim 35:78

Many people are accustomed to “shuckling” (swaying) while reciting the Amida. Rema writes (§48; MB 95:7) that this is the proper way to practice le-khatḥila, as it expresses the excitement and trepidation of the prayer experience, and in order to involve one’s whole body in the service of prayer, as the verse states: “All my bones will say: ‘God, who is like You?’” (Tehilim 35:10). In contrast, Shlah states that one should not sway during prayer. On the contrary, standing motionless strengthens one’s kavana. Furthermore, it says it is not respectful to sway. If one were to come before a human king and begin to shake his whole body, the king would dismiss him immediately. If so, one should certainly not act that way in prayer. Shlah explains that the recommendation to sway applies specifically to Torah study or to singing songs and praise. However, during the intense and inward-focused Amida, in which we stand before the King, it is not proper to move at all; only one’s lips may move (Shlah, Masekhet Tamid, Ner Mitzva). Since each custom has opinions on which to rely, every person may practice in the manner that allows her to concentrate the best (MA, MB 48:5; and see Kaf Ha-ḥayim 48:7-9).

If there is some excrement on the body, even if it is covered with clothing it is forbidden to speak about sacred things as it is said: "All my bones shall say, Hashem who is like You?"⁵Psalms 35:10. Therefore the entire body must be clean. Some authorities are lenient in this matter, but it is proper to follow the stricter opinion. If there is even the slightest bit of excrement on the edge of the anus, even if it is covered, according to all opinions it is of no avail, because in its original place it is more loathsome. In the case of one ill with hemorrhoids, see Magen Avroham 76: 8 who quotes from the Responsa of Radvaz, Volume III 315. The Magen Avraham concludes that such a person is not required to do anything [in order to pray.]⁶As long as there is no odor. This is true only if the hemorrhoids are external and without pus. If they are internal and there is constant seepage of internal, odorous matter, one must not pray or utter sacred words.

[Gloss: And we say the section of the daily offering. And there are those who say the order of the woodpile (Yoma 33a) and "Master of the World, You commanded us", etc. And if it is not possible to say with the congregation, one can say it in one's house and come back to read the section of the daily offering on one's own with the congregation [i.e. in its presence]. And the second time, one should intend it like reading in the Torah (Tur)] On Shabbat we say the verses of the additional offering of Shabbat instead of the section of the daily offering, but not on Rosh Chodesh or Yom Tov because we read the verses of the additional offering in the Torah. [Gloss: And there are those who also mention the additional offering of Rosh Chodesh - and so we practice in order to publicize that it is Rosh Chodesh, and so it is below in Siman 421 (Tur). And those who are exacting have practiced to shake at the time that we read the Torah as an illustration of the Torah that was given with trembling, and so too at the time that we pray, because of "all my bones will say to you, Lord who is like You?" (Abudarham)

“For line by line” (Isa. 28:10), the Holy One, blessed be He, may His name and His fame be blessed, recompenses measure for measure,¹Nedarim 32a. both reward for good and punishment for evil. How so? A man sins because of monetary matters, or because of his honor, or physical pleasures, woe to the sinner, for they (heavenly powers) will punish him for the sin that he commits. Similarly, if he merits and remains unconcerned with the pleasures of his body, wealth, or honor, they (heavenly powers) reward him with the very matter which he foregoes. For the king Solomon did not ask for his own perfection either in matters of wealth or ambition, but only in wisdom and understanding, to do his Creator’s will,²I Kings 3:11. and the Holy One, blessed be He, gave him both, even that for which he did not ask. Behold, everyone who does the will of the Creator and is unconcerned with personal advancement, profit or ambition, at that time when he is able to engage in his own advancement, the Holy One, blessed be He, provides for him.³Erubin 54b. Go and learn from Moses our teacher to whom the Holy One, blessed be He, said, “Now therefore let Me alone, that My wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them and I will make of thee a great nation” (Exod. 32:10). But Moses showed no interest except to rescue Israel, therefore was fulfilled “but the sons of Rehabiah were very many” (I Chron. 23:17) and exceeded the 600,000 souls.⁴Berakoth 7a. Therefore they established first the blessings “Favorest … with knowledge” and “Cause us to return,” and “Forgive us,” which reflect the will of the Holy One, blessed be He. It is written in Psalms, “but as for Me when they were sick My clothing was sack cloth” etc…. (Ps. 35:13) all are commanded to join in the grief of another,⁵Taanith 11a. to be troubled in his distress and to pray for him, as it is written, “far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you” (I Sam. 12:23). It is written, “Behold, He putteth no trust in his servants” (Job 4:11). Moses said, “all the difficult matters let them bring to me” (Deut. 1:17). He was punished for this in that he did not know how to answer the daughters of Zelophehad.⁶Sanhedrin 8a. Samuel also said, “I am the seer,” (I Sam. 9:19) and he was punished when he annointed David as king, not knowing which one he was of the seven sons of Jesse.⁷Sifre, Deuteronomy 1:17. And so let a man not pride himself because people praise him, for if they do praise him, of what benefit is it to man who is here today and tomorrow in the grave, today alive and tomorrow a worm.⁸Berakoth 28b. Of all the virtues humility is the most praiseworthy,⁹J. T. Shabbath 1:3. and so he says, “Now the man Moses was very meek” (Num. 12:3). Let a man not bear himself haughtily, or with a bare head for the Divine Glory is above his head, therefore he should go bent that His fear be upon him. Everyone who goes with a proud carriage, is regarded as robbing the Lord, rebuffing Him, and showing no reverence.¹⁰Berakoth 43b. Neither let him walk with arrogance because of the fear of the Divine Glory which is opposite him. Take a lesson from those who guard a king of flesh and blood or one of his chamberlains, he does not raise his eyes because of fear of the king or the chamberlain who is before him; all the more we who stand before the Divine Glory which is constantly before us, should not lift up our eyes. Rather (let) this be the custom, (let one) lower the eyelids to the extent that he does not see what is coming against the orb of his eyes, in French, brunelsh.¹¹The French term prunelle means pupil of the eye or eyeball. Meekness instills favor and reverence when a man lowers his eyes and bearing and does not go with a bare head because of reverence for the Shekhina.¹²Kiddushin 31a. Therefore let him always regard (remember) his Creator as being before him.

“Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name” (Ps. 103:1). The insides of a man, even his intestines need to bless the Lord.¹Berakoth 25a. Therefore he must examine himself well when he sets to pray,²Ibid., 23a.
/3/ The Zohar, ed. Soncino, V, 326; also Shabbath 104a. because it is not fit to bless Him while bringing a belly filled with excrement before the Holy One, blessed be He. He needs to shake his entire body during prayer, as it is written, “All mine bones shall sing, Lord, Who is like unto Thee” (Ps. 35:10). It is written, “Guard thy foot when thou goest to the house of God” (Eccl. 4:17), that your feet be not soiled.⁴Berakoth 23a. And it is written “prepare to meet thy God O Israel” (Amos 4:12).⁵Ibid., 15a. When a man appears before a king of flesh and blood he does not come attired as he would for the street, he covers himself, and stands before him with awe, fear and dignity; we who go before the Lord of all the earth, blessed be His name, all the more do we need to cover ourselves and stand before Him with awe and fear.⁶Shabbath 10a. Woe to those who delay covering themselves but from Sabbath to Sabbath so that people not laugh at them.⁷They go uncovered during the week. They do not consider that perhaps they might die and be unable to give honor to Him who gave His own garment, concerning which it is written, “His raiment was as white snow” (Dan. 7:9). Concerning these people and those similar to them it is said, the wicked may prepare it but the righteous shall put it on. (Job 27:17)

The beginning of wisdom is fear of God.¹(Perush.) This is the preferred sequence. In the original text the first verse “the beginning of wisdom” appears later. This is the foundation for God-fearing men. When you set out to do anything think (of it as) if another person were doing it and asked for your advice: what would you say to him? So did the rabbis say, “That which also honors him in the sight of mankind.” ²Aboth 2:1.As you advise others so do for yourself. The beginning of wisdom is to acquire wisdom. When your son reaches the age of learning, acquire for him a teacher who is a scholar, and God-fearing, for it is written “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (Prov. 1:7). This is to introduce him to the fear of the Lord. In addition, from all firstlings give Him, “The first of all the first fruits of everything, and every heave offering of everything” (Ezek. 44:30). So too, give Him the beginning of the day and night (in which) to bless Him for that which man enjoys day and night.³J. T. Yoma 1:1, also Midrash Rabbah, ed. Horeb, Leviticus, Chapter XXVI, p. 69. Thus does he say, “When I behold the heavens the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars which Thou hast established” (Ps. 8:4). It is He who brings on the evening twilight and forms light when you arouse from your sleep and awaken. She⁴“She” refers to Torah. will speak to you, and when you open your eyes put upon your heart your tasks and needs,⁵This is a paraphrase of Proverbs 6:22. but prior to setting yourself aright there is fear of the Lord, as it is written “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (Prov. 1:7). How so? When a man leaves prison he is obliged to thank the Holy One, blessed be He, and inasmuch as there is no greater imprisonment than sleep,⁶Berakoth 60b. he must bless the Holy One, blessed be He, because prior to awakening there was no power to do anything nor mastery over body. Bless Him for every limb with which you perform your work which was previously immobilized but is now useful. And concerning the hands which were initially in a state of uncleanliness with the spirit of uncleanliness prevailing over them,⁷Yoma 77b. in order that you not be harmed, wash your hands. Similarly do not put your hands to your eyes until you wash them. Our scholars instituted blessings for every activity. It happened with a certain pious man who recited a blessing for each and every limb and Scripture supported him “My heart and my flesh sing for joy unto the living God” (Ps. 84:3). And it is written, “All my bones shall say, Lord who is like unto Thee” (Ps. 35:10), and he prayed for all of the limbs that were created part of him that they serve Him who created them for His glory and that they not sin against Him. For the Holy One, blessed be He, puts into the heart of the good that they (do) not sin against Him, nor that sin be brought about through them, for it is said, “There shall no mischief befall the righteous” (Prov. 12:21).⁸Yebamoth 120a. Good and evil inclinations can serve beneficent ends with the righteous. He sees how the wicked with deliberate cunning seek to fulfill their lusts even but for a moment, and because of their appetites they often place their lives in danger for (this) momentary fulfillment, as in the case of robbers, thieves, and adulterers, who do so, all for the sake of questionable results.⁹They don’t know if they will succeed. But I have all the more need to be cunning because of the Holy One, blessed be He, who grants to His loved ones their desires in the hereafter and for eternity supreme joys far beyond the voluptuous indulgences of the wicked.¹⁰This is the preferred reading. (See Mekor Hesed, note 10.) If man’s good inclination overpowers him to do good, as the evil inclination bends him toward the lusts of his flesh and his ambitions, then with ingenious cunning he would seek to fulfill the desires of heaven. That person who has the ability to do everything that his heart desires, and it is possible for him to do it without risk of shame, he need not be so cunning in the matter. But where the power is not within him to do that which the heart desires, because of so and so and because of someone in such a matter, then he must be cunning so as to make the desires of his heart such that this other matter does not harm him. Since all of these matters involve depth of wisdom and great exertions which are found in those who lust, and are jealous and pursue honor, (therefore) he who fears the word of God sees how they search and lurk to fulfill their lusts which are momentary and questionable of achieving, and they hurl their souls from the distance, so much the more (let him apply this tenacity to himself) myself.¹¹“I need to be cunning.” “But I will be hallowed among the children of Israel” (Lev. 22:32) refers to those who are slain in Sanctification of the Name,¹²Sifra, ed. Weiss, p. 99b. for it is said “Nay but for Thy sake are we killed all the day” (Ps. 44:23). Behold, the evil inclination is good for man, for if there is no evil inclination to govern man, of what significance is the reward which he receives for doing good.¹³Baba Kamma 38a. Now that his evil inclination overwhelms him and he subdues it because of the Holy One, blessed be He, he receives the good reward. For those that are evil the good inclination is bad, because if they did not taste the good inclination they would have been able to say we did not know the value of the good inclination. If anything presents itself to you in accord with the will of the Holy One, blessed be He, but because of shame you desist from doing it and the matter seems awkward to you or if your evil inclination overpowers you to transgress or to act,¹⁴Used here in the sense “to act wrongly.” reflect accordingly. If you were living at a time of religious persecution, you would have been visited by all afflictions, even death, for the sake of the Creator, for it is said, “Therefore do the maidens love thee” (Cant. 1:3).¹⁵Midrash Rabbah, ed. Horeb, Song of Songs, Chapter I, p. 11. If they wanted to kill you or inflict punishment upon you to the extent that death would be preferable to life, you would endure them, all the more in this matter which is not so great, where your evil inclination overpowers you. And the person that overwhelms his evil inclination receives greater reward than for a hundred commandments where his evil inclination did not incite, overwhelm or compel him to sin. For they said, there is no reward for meritorious deeds that they shall perform in the hereafter.¹⁶For there is no evil inclinations.
“Before the evil days come” (Eccl. 12:1). These are the years of old age¹⁷Midrash Rabbah, ed. Horeb, Ecclesiastes, Chapter XII, p. 128. and the weariness of years of which you say, “I have no pleasure in them” (Eccl. 12:1), which are the days of the Messiah which have neither merit nor guilt It is therefore better to do that thing wherein the evil inclination overpowers him¹⁸Baba Metzia 32b. but he subdues his inclination because of the Creator, rather than commandments wherein the evil inclination does not assert itself. You shall not say behold the commandments are of equal weight, the light ones as the more serious ones. He carries greater sin in a hundred commandments where the inclination does not bother him and he transgresses, than in those commandments where the inclination opposes him.¹⁹Menahoth 43b. This is a parable to a king of flesh and blood who commands his servants to go to a certain place. One comes and says to his (the king’s) servant, “do not go to that place where the king sends you, and I will give you a pound of gold,” the servant accepts and does not go. The other does not go because one promises to give to him two pennies. Behold this one accepts but two pennies his punishment is greater, because he voids the will of the king in a small matter. Similarly, this one who sins in a matter where his evil inclination does not overpower him his punishment is greater. Anything that comes to your hand to do and you do not do because of the shame, lest they call you “pious fool,” consider yourself as if living during time of religious persecution; you would (suffer death) over a light transgression even a shoestrap,²⁰Sanhedrin 74a.
/21/ Toseftah, Baba Kamma, Chapter VII. (therefore say) all the more that I will subdue my passion which is given into my hand. If you stole learning it will suffice for you. And if the shame embarrasses you, behold it is for you as an atoning sacrifice.²²Berakoth 12b. Better that you be embarrassed before a hundred and not be embarrassed before tens of thousands after death.²³Kiddushin 81a. And so he who withholds himself from a meritorious deed because of shame whether in a positive commandment or in a prohibitory commandment, he will be shamed publicly after his death in their presence and perhaps even in his lifetime, as with Zedekiah who said, “Lest they deliver me into their hand and they mock me” (Jer. 38:19), he did not submit to the Lord and they blinded him.²⁴II Kings 25:7.
Consider the two letters kof kof, “For every boot stamped …”²⁵The letter appears both in the verse from Isaiah and in the verse from Deuteronomy. The letter kof has two forms, one is a final letter used at the end of a word, the other is for initial and medial use. The kof in the verse from Isaiah begins the quotation and is the initial letter for the word “all.” The kof in medial form appears in the last word which concludes the quotation from Deuteronomy. Here again the word is “all.” (Isa. 9:4) for the entire world is judged measure for measure for it is said, “because thou didst not serve the Lord thy God with joyfulness, and gladness of heart, by reason of the abundance of all things; therefore shalt thou serve thine enemy whom the Lord shall send against thee in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things” (Deut. 28:47). And all who have mercy on the cruel show no mercy to the merciful. A man who is obliged to have mercy upon others, such as his sons, his daughters, his brother and his near ones, and they are in need and he is able to feed them but does not, behold everything that he possesses will come into the hands of others and he will receive for this neither merit nor credit.²⁶i.e., into the hands of his sons, daughters, and relatives. Even if he supports others, but knows that his father, mother and brothers are poor and does not support them, in the end these others that he supports will deal cruelly and mercilessly with him; they will become his enemies and not consider it as a favor the kindness that he did with them. For there is a matter for which a person receives no merit if he does it, but if he does not do it, it is regarded as evil. For instance a man and his wife who love their children and they possess the means for their support and have mercy upon them, behold this is no merit or righteousness²⁷Ketuboth 50a. because out of love they do this for them, as in the case of dogs, bears and all animals who put their lives in danger to bring prey to their offspring.²⁸Ibid., 49a. If parents do not support their children or if they strike them unnecessarily or show no mercy to them or never admonish them and their offspring have nothing, the parent’s transgression is grave. Therefore a father who does favors for some of his children and reviles others and does no good for them, him that he loathes will be his heir.