Halakhah sobre Salmos 2:15
Shulchan Shel Arba
A third blessing is “boray peri ha-gafen” – “Who created the fruit of the vine.” One cannot say that blessing the bread exempts one from saying it, because wine “attaches” a blessing to itself.79An expression used by the Tosafot on b.Berakhot 44a. It would seem preferable for us to say “boray peri ha-etz” – “Who created the fruit of the tree” – but because of the high status of wine, they specified the name of the tree, that is, “the grapevine” [ha-gafen]. For had they not wanted to specify the name “the grapevine” because of wine’s importance, they could have fixed the blessing to say “boray peri ha-anavim” – “Who created the fruit of the grapes” because grapes themselves are the fruit of the grapevine, and wine is the fruit which comes from grapes, just as oil is the fruit that comes from olives. Accordingly, they fixed the blessing “boray peri ha-gafen” even though truthfully, grapes are the fruit of the vine, still, the drink which is pressed from the grapes is the fruit of the grapes themselves, and this is because it is considered more important than grapes, just as oil is considered more important than olives. And the Tosafists z”l went back and forth on this topic a lot, and they proved that wine is not called “fruit”, as it is taught in Massekhet Bikkurim:80Chavel says this tradition appears in b.Hullin 102b, not in the Mishnah Bikkurim. “’from the first of every fruit of the earth:’ the fruit which you bring as first fruit offerings, and you do not bring drinks as first fruit offerings; therefore wine is not a fruit.” However, they brought these matters up again at the end, and said that wine is called “fruit” by gezerah shavah,81Verbal analogy, one of the classic forms of Talmudic hermeneutics. since in another context, the word “fruit,” namely “fruit of orlah”82Orlah is the term for fruit that grows from a tree in the first three years after it was planted; it is forbidden to eat or profit from it (Lev.19:23). refers to wine, in Massekhet Orlah:83Likewise Chavel found the source not here, but elsewhere in the Talmud. “They absorb the forty because of orlah only for what comes out of grapes and olives, namely, wine and oil.” And hear from this that just as in regard to orlah wine is called “fruit,” so in regard to blessings it is called “fruit.” The drinks that come from them are like them. And so from this one ought to say the blessing over wine with the expression “boray peri ha-gafen,” and thus to specify the name “gafen” by saying “peri ha-gafen.” And so our sages z”l explained it for us when they said in Massekhet Berakhot, “From where do we get that you only say a song over wine, as it is said, ‘But the vine replied, ‘Have I stopped yielding my new wine which gladdens God and men?’’84Judges 9:13. If it gladdens men, how does it gladden God? From here you get that you only say a song over wine.85In other words, since God does not actually drink wine, this tradition says that songs inevitably accompany wine-drinking, and must be what gladdens God. And thus an objection was raised among the Tosafists: “But surely it is over several things that we say Hallel, like when they came from battle, as it is said about Jehoshaphat in the Book of Chronicles,862 Chronicles 20:21. or on the Fourteenth of Nisan, when they slaughtered the paschal lamb!” They answered and explained thus, “From where do we get that a song is said over nothing that has to do with the sacrificial altar, such as the flinging of blood, the burning of incense, the water libation, and the rest of the activities of the altar – except for the wine libation, as it is said, ‘But the vine replied to them, ‘Have I stopped yielding my new wine [tiroshi]?’’87Judges 9:13. And they said in the Aggadah: “Nine hundred twenty-six kinds of grapes were created in the world, the numerical equivalent of the letters of the word tiroshi – “my new wine,” but all of them were stricken when Adam sinned, and only one remained for us.”88Chavel says he could not find the source for this midrash. The status of the grapevine is further enhanced in the way the prophets would always compare the community of Israel to a grapevine, and this is what Scripture meant when it said, “You plucked up a grapevine from Egypt.”89Ps. 80:9. And there are still other weightier reasons, but it is not necessary to go into them at length here. Know that the point of human wine-drinking ought to be only in service of food for health reasons alone, so that the food and drink will be mixed internally in a moderate manner, and that one direct the way he conducts his drinking to overcome his hunger and thirst.
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Shulchan Shel Arba
If the wine is changed, one must say a blessing, because even though he has already said “boray peri ha-gafen” when he was about to drink in the beginning, he is required to say a blessing for this change of wine, and this is the blessing “ha-tov ve-ha-metiv.”94B.Berakhot 59b; Tur and Orah Hayim 175:1. So why did they say this for a change a wine, and not for a change of loaf or other things? For many reasons: (1) The crucial component for rejoicing at a meal is none other than wine. The way of kings is to change their wine, but not their loaf, and the people Israel are “the sons of kings.”95B. Shabbat 67a. (2) Every table onto which they bring wine after wine is an expression of the multiplication of joy, but a person should not multiply his joy too much in this world, as it is said, “Our mouths shall be filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. They shall say among the nations, ‘The Lord has done great things for them!’”96Ps 126:2: Az yimalay s’hok pinu ulshonenu rinah az yomru ba-goyim. Higdil Adonai la’asot im eleh,” from Shir Ha-ma’a lot that we recite on holidays and Shabbat before birkat ha-mazon.Our rabbis taught in a midrash,97B.Berakhot 31a. “When ‘will our mouths be filled with laughter’? When the nations (i.e., the Gentiles) say, ‘The Lord has done great things for them.’ Another verse completes this thought, “They will rejoice with trembling.”98Ps. 2:11 They said, “In a place of rejoicing there will be trembling.” The explanation is that even in a place where there is rejoicing and joy from doing a mitzvah, there it is necessary that there be some trembling, too, to remember how the world is subject to the evil inclination and is shaken by it, so that it should not be shaken by our joy. Therefore it is a custom in a few Jewish communities at life cycle celebrations and meals celebrating a mitzvah to break there a vessel of glass or “flagons of grapes”99Assisay ‘anavim, from Hos. 3:1– variously translated as “cups of the grapes” (JSB); “flagons of grapes (KJB); or even “cakes of raisins.” (RSV). to sadden those rejoicing, so that the simhah be mixed a little bit with trembling. And there is no greater simhah than Israel’s rejoicing at receiving the Torah [Simhat Ha-Torah] on Mt. Sinai, in the presence of the Holy One, about which it is written “like the Mahanayim dance,”100Song of Songs 7:1. Mahana’im (lit., “two camps”) is the dual form of the word for “camp” – mahaneh. When Israel “married God” as it were at Mt. Sinai, the dancing at that “wedding,” that is the joy they expressed then, was like no other joy experienced on earth. Even the angels came down from heaven to celebrate and dance with them! This is an allusion to a midrash that applies this verse to Ex. 19:17 (M. Tanhuma Titzaveh 11), which R. Bahya brings in his Commentary on the Torah to Ex. 19:17: “Moses led the people out of the camp [mahaneh] toward God.” He says there
Our rabbis taught in a midrash, “600,000 ministering angels descended there corresponding to the 600,000 Israelites. And about them Jacob hinted, “He named that place Mahana’im.” (Gen 32:3), for there were two camps, one next to the other. And it is about this that King Solomon (peace be upon him) was talking when he said “like the Mahanai’m dance.” (S.S. 7:1). It was because the Israelites have been enslaved to four empires, and each one of them says that the Israelites should turn from their own faith and believe in them, which is why the verse in Song of Songs (7:1) repeats the imperative “turn” four times. And we today are subject to the fourth empire, who says, “Turn and let us seek out from among you” [nehezeh bakh], that is, “Let us make some of you political authorities, and give you all kinds of ruling power,” with the expression “nehezeh bakh” [literally, “let us gaze upon you”] having the same connotation a similar phrase has in Ex. 18:21: “You shall seek out from among all the people – tehezeh mikol ha-‘am – [all the capable men … to set them over the people as chiefs of thousands, hundreds, etc.”]. And our rabbis also taught this midrash (Song of Songs Rabbah 7:1): “’The Shulammite’ –is ha-ummah she-shalom ha-olamim dar be-tokhah– the people within whom the peace of the world resides [i.e., the Israelites], and she replies, ‘What would you ‘seek out’ [for leaders] from the Shulammite? [Mah tehezah ba-Shulamit?], that is, “What ruling power, status, and glory could you give to the Shulammite that you could ever find comparable to the state of joy the Israelites experienced at Mt. Sinai. This is “like the Mahanai’m dance:” two camps that would go out one before the other. And they compared the pleasure of the experience they achieved at the revelation there to a dance. To the same point our rabbis z”l taught, “In the future the Holy One Blessed be He will arrange a dance for the righteous in the Garden of Eden, so that I will never be able to turn to your [Gentile] faith, because I remember this dance – that is, like the one at Mt. Sinai. (Chavel, 2:173).
And yet, even at this peak of joy, there was the breaking of the tablets, like the breaking of the glass now to temper the pure joy at weddings. yet you know that even there, the tablets of the covenant were broken. And if you would think hard and lift up your eyes to “ever since God created human beings on the earth,”101Dt. 4:32. you will find in the Holy One Blessed Be He His boundless joy: “May the Glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works!”102Ps. 104:31.But His joy has a limit with respect to the human race, “because he too is flesh.”103Gen 6:3. That is, humans are mortal. That is what is written about Him when it says: “And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and His heart was saddened.”104Ibid. 6:6. Even in the Mishkan, which was a microcosm of the world, on the eight day of the priests’ assigned service, which was the day of the New Moon for the month of Nisan, on that very day there was nothing like it in its degree of joy, its intensity multiplied tenfold, to what our sages z”l referred when they said, “On that very day they got ten crowns”105Sifra Shemini. – you already knew what happened, and to what end that joy came. On that very day Nadab and Abihu died, like whom, after Moses and Aaron, there were none among the Israelites to compare. And this is what Scripture meant when it said, “Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy elders of Israel ascended.”106Ex 24:9. I.e., in that order was their “ascendence,” their status, relative to one another. And see also what Ecclesiastes says about the joy of this world: “Of revelry I said, ‘It is mad!’ Of joy (simhah), ‘What good is that?’”107Eccl 2:2. And the explanation of this statement is that because joy and sorrow are brothers attached to one another like day is attached to night, just as a person is sure in the day that night will come after it, and as sure at night that the day will come after it, so is he sure that joy will come after sorrow, and likewise sorrow after joy. And so he said, “The heart may ache even in laughter, and joy may end in grief,”108Prov 14:13. to explain about sorrow after joy, and he said, “From all grief there is some gain,”109Prov 14:23. “Grief” (‘etzev) here and “sorrow” (‘itzavon) in 14:13 come from the same Hebrew root. to explain about joy after sorrow. From this you learn that the joy of this world can never be complete, but rather any good in it and contentment with it is “futile and pursuit of the wind,”110Eccl 1:14. all glory in it is to be mocked,111An allusion to Ps 4:3. its “glorious beauty is but wilted flowers.112Is 28:1, referring specifically to the fleeting pleasures of the table: “Ah the proud crowns of the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is but wilted flowers on the heads of men bloated with rich food, who are overcome by wine!” For right at the moment when a person’s hopes are highest in the midst of joy, it stops, flickers out, and goes away. For this reason they ruled that the blessing over a change in wine should be “ha-tov ve-ha-metiv” (“Who is good and Who does good”), the same blessing they added to the grace after meals to remember the martyrs of Beitar when they were permitted to bury them.113B. Berakhot 48b. The battle at Beitar was the Bar Kochba revolt’s unsuccessful “last stand” against the Romans in 135 CE. The explanation: Ha-tov – “Who is good” – because He didn’t let the bodies putrefy; ha-metiv – “Who did good” – by letting the bodies be buried.114Ibid. And all this is to make human beings feel sadness, being fashioned from clay, composed of natural elements which are dead bodies, sunken in the desires of our senses – so that we’re brought back from a surfeit of joy to the middle way.
Our rabbis taught in a midrash, “600,000 ministering angels descended there corresponding to the 600,000 Israelites. And about them Jacob hinted, “He named that place Mahana’im.” (Gen 32:3), for there were two camps, one next to the other. And it is about this that King Solomon (peace be upon him) was talking when he said “like the Mahanai’m dance.” (S.S. 7:1). It was because the Israelites have been enslaved to four empires, and each one of them says that the Israelites should turn from their own faith and believe in them, which is why the verse in Song of Songs (7:1) repeats the imperative “turn” four times. And we today are subject to the fourth empire, who says, “Turn and let us seek out from among you” [nehezeh bakh], that is, “Let us make some of you political authorities, and give you all kinds of ruling power,” with the expression “nehezeh bakh” [literally, “let us gaze upon you”] having the same connotation a similar phrase has in Ex. 18:21: “You shall seek out from among all the people – tehezeh mikol ha-‘am – [all the capable men … to set them over the people as chiefs of thousands, hundreds, etc.”]. And our rabbis also taught this midrash (Song of Songs Rabbah 7:1): “’The Shulammite’ –is ha-ummah she-shalom ha-olamim dar be-tokhah– the people within whom the peace of the world resides [i.e., the Israelites], and she replies, ‘What would you ‘seek out’ [for leaders] from the Shulammite? [Mah tehezah ba-Shulamit?], that is, “What ruling power, status, and glory could you give to the Shulammite that you could ever find comparable to the state of joy the Israelites experienced at Mt. Sinai. This is “like the Mahanai’m dance:” two camps that would go out one before the other. And they compared the pleasure of the experience they achieved at the revelation there to a dance. To the same point our rabbis z”l taught, “In the future the Holy One Blessed be He will arrange a dance for the righteous in the Garden of Eden, so that I will never be able to turn to your [Gentile] faith, because I remember this dance – that is, like the one at Mt. Sinai. (Chavel, 2:173).
And yet, even at this peak of joy, there was the breaking of the tablets, like the breaking of the glass now to temper the pure joy at weddings. yet you know that even there, the tablets of the covenant were broken. And if you would think hard and lift up your eyes to “ever since God created human beings on the earth,”101Dt. 4:32. you will find in the Holy One Blessed Be He His boundless joy: “May the Glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works!”102Ps. 104:31.But His joy has a limit with respect to the human race, “because he too is flesh.”103Gen 6:3. That is, humans are mortal. That is what is written about Him when it says: “And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and His heart was saddened.”104Ibid. 6:6. Even in the Mishkan, which was a microcosm of the world, on the eight day of the priests’ assigned service, which was the day of the New Moon for the month of Nisan, on that very day there was nothing like it in its degree of joy, its intensity multiplied tenfold, to what our sages z”l referred when they said, “On that very day they got ten crowns”105Sifra Shemini. – you already knew what happened, and to what end that joy came. On that very day Nadab and Abihu died, like whom, after Moses and Aaron, there were none among the Israelites to compare. And this is what Scripture meant when it said, “Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy elders of Israel ascended.”106Ex 24:9. I.e., in that order was their “ascendence,” their status, relative to one another. And see also what Ecclesiastes says about the joy of this world: “Of revelry I said, ‘It is mad!’ Of joy (simhah), ‘What good is that?’”107Eccl 2:2. And the explanation of this statement is that because joy and sorrow are brothers attached to one another like day is attached to night, just as a person is sure in the day that night will come after it, and as sure at night that the day will come after it, so is he sure that joy will come after sorrow, and likewise sorrow after joy. And so he said, “The heart may ache even in laughter, and joy may end in grief,”108Prov 14:13. to explain about sorrow after joy, and he said, “From all grief there is some gain,”109Prov 14:23. “Grief” (‘etzev) here and “sorrow” (‘itzavon) in 14:13 come from the same Hebrew root. to explain about joy after sorrow. From this you learn that the joy of this world can never be complete, but rather any good in it and contentment with it is “futile and pursuit of the wind,”110Eccl 1:14. all glory in it is to be mocked,111An allusion to Ps 4:3. its “glorious beauty is but wilted flowers.112Is 28:1, referring specifically to the fleeting pleasures of the table: “Ah the proud crowns of the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is but wilted flowers on the heads of men bloated with rich food, who are overcome by wine!” For right at the moment when a person’s hopes are highest in the midst of joy, it stops, flickers out, and goes away. For this reason they ruled that the blessing over a change in wine should be “ha-tov ve-ha-metiv” (“Who is good and Who does good”), the same blessing they added to the grace after meals to remember the martyrs of Beitar when they were permitted to bury them.113B. Berakhot 48b. The battle at Beitar was the Bar Kochba revolt’s unsuccessful “last stand” against the Romans in 135 CE. The explanation: Ha-tov – “Who is good” – because He didn’t let the bodies putrefy; ha-metiv – “Who did good” – by letting the bodies be buried.114Ibid. And all this is to make human beings feel sadness, being fashioned from clay, composed of natural elements which are dead bodies, sunken in the desires of our senses – so that we’re brought back from a surfeit of joy to the middle way.
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Sefer Chasidim
It is written, “Serve the Lord with gladness” (Ps. 100:2)1Berakoth 31a. and “Serve the Lord with fear” (Ps. 2:11), but how so? 2The Midrash on Psalms, trans. William Braude (2 Vols.; New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1959), II, 147.(both fear and gladness?) If a man is over-joyful, let him recall the day of death,3Berakoth 31a. this is fear. If he is sad, let him rejoice his heart with matters of the Law,4Shabbath 30b. as it is written, “The precepts of the Lord are right rejoicing the heart” (Ps. 19:9).
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Sefer Chasidim
1The first three of the eighteen verses dealing with God-fearing are missing. The Perush suggests that the following verses be included: ( 1 ) The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge (Prov. 1:7). (2) And did not choose the fear of the Lord (Prov. 1:29). (3) Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord (Prov. 2:5). “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil, pride, arrogancy and the evil way, and the forward mouth, do I hate” (Prov. 8:13). “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the All-holy is understanding” (Prov. 9:10). “The fear of the Lord prolongeth days, but the years of the wicked shall be shortened” (Prov. 10:27). “He that walketh in his uprightness feareth the Lord, but he that is perverse in his ways despiseth Him” (Prov. 14:2). “In the fear of the Lord a man hath strong confidence and his children shall have a place of refuge” (Prov. 14:26). “The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death” (Prov. 14:27). “Better is a little with fear of the Lord, than great treasure and turmoil therewith” (Prov. 5:16). “The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom and before honor goeth humility” (Prov. 5:33). “By mercy and truth iniquity is expiated and by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil” (Prov. 16:6). “The fear of the Lord tendeth to life and he that hath it shall abide satisfied, He shall not be visited with evil” (Prov. 19:23). “The reward of humility is the fear of the Lord, even riches, and honour, and life” (Prov. 22:4). “Let not thy heart envy sinners, but be in the fear of the Lord all the day” (Prov. 23:17). “Be not wise in thine own eyes; fear the Lord, and depart from evil” (Prov. 3:7). “My son, fear thou the Lord and the king, and meddle not with them that are given to change” (Prov. 24:21). “Grace is deceitful, and beauty is vain; but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised” (Prov. 31:30). Behold there are eighteen forms of “fear” corresponding to the eighteen forms of Trefa.2Hullin 42a. Terefah, Lit., torn. The term signifies flesh of clean beasts rendered unfit for food as a result of either being mauled or killed by beasts of prey, injured, found defective or unskillfully slaughtered although in valid fashion. This is to say, even if they take the life of an individual let him not rebel against Him who gives life and sends death.3Berakoth 61b. If you lose your life because of Him, He will resurrect you and if you remain alive in a situation where you are obliged (by law) to part with your life and be sanctified by His name, He will take your life, and who (none) will rescue you from His hand. And because life is dependent upon eighteen points in the body man is called “living”4Numerical value of the Hebrew word “living” is eighteen. for as long as there is no injury to them (eighteen points) he is able to live. Moreover, “eighteen fears” correspond to the eighteen points5Hullin 42a. upon which life is dependent, for if you fear the Holy One, blessed be He, He will guard your life and this is as it is said, “The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death” (Prov. 14:27). When Abraham wished to take the life of his son Isaac, he was then called God-fearing, for it is said, “for now I know that Thou art a God-fearing man, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son” (Gen. 22:12). The “eighteen fears” correspond to the Eighteen Benedictions of the Silent Prayer. And if you say, what of the verse, “A wise man feareth and departeth from evil but the fool behaveth overbearingly and is confident” (Prov. 14:16) where the blessing of the Lord does not occur, there is, however, the blessing against the heretics.6“Fear” in Proverbs stands in apposition to the blessing against the heretics in the “Eighteen Benedictions.” This makes for Nineteen Benedictions! See Daily Prayer Book, ed. Hertz, p. 143. (And if you ask what of the verse) “Who so despiseth the word shall suffer thereby; But he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded” (Prov. 13:13), (it is) in apposition to the first blessing of the Eighteen Benedictions which commences with “Blessed be He.” Why are these “eighteen fears” made to correspond with the Eighteen Benedictions, for when a man prays, he must stand in fear,7Berakoth 30b.
/8/ Ibid., 29b. for it is said “Serve the Lord with fear, And rejoice with trembling” (Ps. 2:11), and it is written “They shall fear Thee while the sun endureth” (Ps. 72:5), which our Rabbis explained (to mean) “pray at the setting of the sun.” Moreover, why as against (in apposition to) “Fear of the Lord” does it state “Blessed is the Lord,” (it is to say) that he should not run in prayer as if (to show) he is happy that he is finished. But with every word and everything that he says let him concentrate to put devotedness into his heart. One should consider, if there is a matter to entreat and ask for of a king of flesh and blood, would he favor you or countenance you if you hurry your words before him? Let alone would he not do your bidding, but he will say that you can mean only to mock, and he would drive you away. Do not regard the Crowner of kings less than the kings who are beneath Him. If you come to praise and adore Him, consider this for a moment, if you were to hear a sweet voice and song of praise rushed and hurried without intonation, how acceptable would it be? Therefore it (prayer) is not to be done hurriedly, but with deliberation and a sweet and loud voice, for it is said “And many shouted aloud for joy” (Ezra 3:12). It is said9J. T. Berakoth 1:1. that when they walked in the temple court they walked heel to toe so that the worship of the Lord not appear as a burden. Concerning this it is said “And their course is evil and their force is not right” (Jer. 23:10). Therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, created the cock’s crowing that we learn a lesson from him, for it is said, “And maketh us wiser than the fowls of heaven” (Job 35:11). You would not be proper if you spoke before a king of flesh and blood, and your words were hurried, and if you sang for your pleasure you would prolong your voice, how then can you hurry before the supreme King of kings. You should therefore bless Him with your voice, and not make it as a chore that issues from your mouth. It is only right that when you utter words of supplication you say them in an entreating manner, for it is said “The poor useth entreaties” (Prov. 18:23). When a man entreats a ruler he does not hurry his words but on each matter he concentrates so as not to be mistaken with his words. Before he entreats a ruler or king he sets forth his petition orderly10Rosh ha-Shanah 35a. that he not falter nor forget nor skip a letter. So should you do, for it is written, “Will thy riches avail, that are without stint” (Job 36:19), and he says further, “Take with you words” (Hos. 14:3). When you recite blessings and praises, make it as though you stand before a king and he says to you, “Let me hear your voice.” Do not hurry your words and do not be anxious to speak. If you need sustenance, do not put your heart only to that blessing such as the blessing of “years.”11Daily Prayer Book, ed. Hertz, p. 141. If you have an illness do not set your heart only to the blessing for “illness,”12Ibid., p. 140. because they (will) say about you on high, “This individual imagines that he has need only of this.”13Erubin 65a. Therefore let him (a person) be devoted in all the blessings. For behold the “eighteen fears of God” should be before him and he should be reverent of all the blessings. Do not direct your thoughts only to the supplications, for the essence of devotion is for the blessings and praises. They therefore said,14Berakoth 34b. let him direct his heart toward all of them. If it is impossible let him direct himself to the blessing of Ovos or toward the blessing of “thanksgiving.”15Daily Prayer Book, ed. Hertz, p. 148. For if you direct yourself only to the (personal) entreaties there will be a hindrance from above,16Sanhedrin 44b. it will be said that it is not proper to accept his prayer, for with the honor of the Lord he is not concerned to seek Him with devotedness and with supplication. How can we do his will if he is concerned only with his own welfare and not in adoration. Therefore it is good to pray and to direct oneself with joy and honor to the Holy One, blessed be He, to pray with devotion and not to speak to anyone before completing the service but recite those things that initially subdue the heart with mercy. And when you pray add in each and every blessing your request in keeping with the nature of the prayer 17Berakoth 29b. for they do best to prepare the heart. If you cannot add because the congregation already finished (the prayer), add in only one or two in order that you do not hurry in another blessing. You may add as we have outlined in the Order of Supplication.18See S. H. Bologna, Section 171. If you cannot add, search out for yourself other melodies and when you pray recite them (the prayers) in that melody which is pleasing and sweet in your eyes, in that melody recite your prayers and recite your prayers with devotion and let your heart be drawn after that which comes out of your mouth. For a matter of request and entreaty select a melody which prepares the heart. For praise, a melody which rejoices the heart, in order that your mouth brims with love and joy for Him who sees your heart. And you are to praise Him with broad love and rejoicing. All of those things prepare the heart.
Lamed, why is this letter called lamed? Because of the verse “That thou mayest learn to fear the Lord thy God always”19The Hebrew word “to learn” shares a common root with the letter Lamed. (Deut. 14:23). For this reason David indicated with the letter lamed the teaching of fear “Come, ye children, harken unto me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord” (Ps. 34:12). Why does he say “children”? Because one who studies in childhood is not like one who learns in his old age. A son whose father led him in good deeds from his early years onward is like one who is accustomed to travel in a wilderness and is trained to find his way to the city. Similarly, he is like one who is accustomed to go by ship on the sea and knows how to direct the ship to the desired harbor. But he who does not know how to go, will go hither and yon, for it is said, “For he knoweth not how to go to the city” (Ecc. 10:15). And again, one who learns in his early years is likened to the sun, moon, stars, and zodiac, for they go in an upright path as it is said, “But they that love Him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might” (Judg. 5:31). And this is as it is said, “But unto you that fear My name shall the sun of righteousness arise with healing in its wings” (Mal. 3:20). Therefore it is said, “Come, ye children, etc.… I will teach you the fear of the Lord” (Ps. 34:12). This is the teaching of the secret of fear. The letter lamed is larger than all the letters,20Height-wise, lamed is taller than all other letters. for the discipline of fear is greater than all, for it is said, “O, that they had such a part as this always, to fear Me etc.…” (Deut. 5:26). Behold before him is the greatest of all, therefore lamed is greater than all the letters and its name is greater than all and it is written, “Happy is the man that feareth the Lord, that delighteth greatly in His commandments” (Ps. 1:12).
/8/ Ibid., 29b. for it is said “Serve the Lord with fear, And rejoice with trembling” (Ps. 2:11), and it is written “They shall fear Thee while the sun endureth” (Ps. 72:5), which our Rabbis explained (to mean) “pray at the setting of the sun.” Moreover, why as against (in apposition to) “Fear of the Lord” does it state “Blessed is the Lord,” (it is to say) that he should not run in prayer as if (to show) he is happy that he is finished. But with every word and everything that he says let him concentrate to put devotedness into his heart. One should consider, if there is a matter to entreat and ask for of a king of flesh and blood, would he favor you or countenance you if you hurry your words before him? Let alone would he not do your bidding, but he will say that you can mean only to mock, and he would drive you away. Do not regard the Crowner of kings less than the kings who are beneath Him. If you come to praise and adore Him, consider this for a moment, if you were to hear a sweet voice and song of praise rushed and hurried without intonation, how acceptable would it be? Therefore it (prayer) is not to be done hurriedly, but with deliberation and a sweet and loud voice, for it is said “And many shouted aloud for joy” (Ezra 3:12). It is said9J. T. Berakoth 1:1. that when they walked in the temple court they walked heel to toe so that the worship of the Lord not appear as a burden. Concerning this it is said “And their course is evil and their force is not right” (Jer. 23:10). Therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, created the cock’s crowing that we learn a lesson from him, for it is said, “And maketh us wiser than the fowls of heaven” (Job 35:11). You would not be proper if you spoke before a king of flesh and blood, and your words were hurried, and if you sang for your pleasure you would prolong your voice, how then can you hurry before the supreme King of kings. You should therefore bless Him with your voice, and not make it as a chore that issues from your mouth. It is only right that when you utter words of supplication you say them in an entreating manner, for it is said “The poor useth entreaties” (Prov. 18:23). When a man entreats a ruler he does not hurry his words but on each matter he concentrates so as not to be mistaken with his words. Before he entreats a ruler or king he sets forth his petition orderly10Rosh ha-Shanah 35a. that he not falter nor forget nor skip a letter. So should you do, for it is written, “Will thy riches avail, that are without stint” (Job 36:19), and he says further, “Take with you words” (Hos. 14:3). When you recite blessings and praises, make it as though you stand before a king and he says to you, “Let me hear your voice.” Do not hurry your words and do not be anxious to speak. If you need sustenance, do not put your heart only to that blessing such as the blessing of “years.”11Daily Prayer Book, ed. Hertz, p. 141. If you have an illness do not set your heart only to the blessing for “illness,”12Ibid., p. 140. because they (will) say about you on high, “This individual imagines that he has need only of this.”13Erubin 65a. Therefore let him (a person) be devoted in all the blessings. For behold the “eighteen fears of God” should be before him and he should be reverent of all the blessings. Do not direct your thoughts only to the supplications, for the essence of devotion is for the blessings and praises. They therefore said,14Berakoth 34b. let him direct his heart toward all of them. If it is impossible let him direct himself to the blessing of Ovos or toward the blessing of “thanksgiving.”15Daily Prayer Book, ed. Hertz, p. 148. For if you direct yourself only to the (personal) entreaties there will be a hindrance from above,16Sanhedrin 44b. it will be said that it is not proper to accept his prayer, for with the honor of the Lord he is not concerned to seek Him with devotedness and with supplication. How can we do his will if he is concerned only with his own welfare and not in adoration. Therefore it is good to pray and to direct oneself with joy and honor to the Holy One, blessed be He, to pray with devotion and not to speak to anyone before completing the service but recite those things that initially subdue the heart with mercy. And when you pray add in each and every blessing your request in keeping with the nature of the prayer 17Berakoth 29b. for they do best to prepare the heart. If you cannot add because the congregation already finished (the prayer), add in only one or two in order that you do not hurry in another blessing. You may add as we have outlined in the Order of Supplication.18See S. H. Bologna, Section 171. If you cannot add, search out for yourself other melodies and when you pray recite them (the prayers) in that melody which is pleasing and sweet in your eyes, in that melody recite your prayers and recite your prayers with devotion and let your heart be drawn after that which comes out of your mouth. For a matter of request and entreaty select a melody which prepares the heart. For praise, a melody which rejoices the heart, in order that your mouth brims with love and joy for Him who sees your heart. And you are to praise Him with broad love and rejoicing. All of those things prepare the heart.
Lamed, why is this letter called lamed? Because of the verse “That thou mayest learn to fear the Lord thy God always”19The Hebrew word “to learn” shares a common root with the letter Lamed. (Deut. 14:23). For this reason David indicated with the letter lamed the teaching of fear “Come, ye children, harken unto me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord” (Ps. 34:12). Why does he say “children”? Because one who studies in childhood is not like one who learns in his old age. A son whose father led him in good deeds from his early years onward is like one who is accustomed to travel in a wilderness and is trained to find his way to the city. Similarly, he is like one who is accustomed to go by ship on the sea and knows how to direct the ship to the desired harbor. But he who does not know how to go, will go hither and yon, for it is said, “For he knoweth not how to go to the city” (Ecc. 10:15). And again, one who learns in his early years is likened to the sun, moon, stars, and zodiac, for they go in an upright path as it is said, “But they that love Him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might” (Judg. 5:31). And this is as it is said, “But unto you that fear My name shall the sun of righteousness arise with healing in its wings” (Mal. 3:20). Therefore it is said, “Come, ye children, etc.… I will teach you the fear of the Lord” (Ps. 34:12). This is the teaching of the secret of fear. The letter lamed is larger than all the letters,20Height-wise, lamed is taller than all other letters. for the discipline of fear is greater than all, for it is said, “O, that they had such a part as this always, to fear Me etc.…” (Deut. 5:26). Behold before him is the greatest of all, therefore lamed is greater than all the letters and its name is greater than all and it is written, “Happy is the man that feareth the Lord, that delighteth greatly in His commandments” (Ps. 1:12).
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