Halakhah su Salmi 111:78

Before you say the “Birkat Hagomel”[the Blessing of those who overcome a danger] you say the verse (Psalms 111, 1) : “I praise the Lord with all my heart in the assembled congregation of the upright”, and afterwards you bless by saying “Blessed Thou Lord, King of the Universe, showing goodness to us beyond our merits and bestowing favour upon me” , the congregation responds: “May God who has been gracious to you, continue to be gracious to you selah”, and he says after them: “Amen, may this be God’s will.”

It is already many years since I placed my heart to the investigation of the commandment of "Techelet", which in our many iniquities was withheld from us. And this is one of the goodly matters withheld from us in our exile, in our man wanderings, and was forsaken from our good soul, and we are not able to arise up and see, and bow down to G-d in the temple, in the House of our chosenness. For this indeed is the main suffering of the exile, as we mention in our prayers. And as Isaiah the prophet said (chapter 63), "Lord, why hast Thou made us to stray from Thy ways, and hardened our heart from Thy fear". And this also refers to the "Techelet", as is written in tractate Menachot 43b, "Rabbi Eliezer ben Yakov said, whosoever has "Tephillin" on his head, the "Tephillin" on his arm, the "Tzitzith" on his garment, and the "Mezuzah" on his doorpost, is in absolute security against sinning, etc." And it is also said there (Menachot 44a), "His four 'Tzitzith' came and grabbed him by the face," see there. This means that what we learnt in the Braitha (ibid 43b), "'That you may look upon it and remember (all the commandments of the Lord) and do them'; seeing brings to remembering, and remembering brings to doing," etc, see there. And the essence of the remembering of "Tzitzith" is brought by the "Techelet", which is likened to the Throne of Glory, as we have said (ibid 43b), "How is Techelet different from all other dyes? It is because Techelet is like unto the sea, and the sea is like unto the sky, and the sky to the Throne of Glory." And Rashi, of blessed memory, explained, "And through the Techelet one is reminded of the One who sits upon the throne," see there. And see also the Midrash in Bamidbar Rabbah (Nasso 14 regarding the Prince of he children of Ephraim) and Talmud Yerushalmi Brachot (Chapter 1 law 2) and as it is written in the Holy Zohar (volume 3, page 175b), "(And this Techelet is) one string that is imprinted with a dye, and the dye comes from a fish which can be found in the Sea of Galilee (Kinneret) and is called "Kinneret". There was a Kinnor (lyre) which hung over the bed of King David. For sure, this Kinneret (the fish from which the Techelet is extracted) is actually the Kinnor (lyre) of King David which played of its own accord in praise of the Most High King. Therefore, the color of Techelet reaches unto the firmament, and from the firmament unto the Heavenly Throne. And in this conjunction (i.e. the Techelet) the word "Commandment" is used. This is as it is written (Kings 2, chapter 18), 'It is the command of the King, why do your transgress the command of the King? For it is the command of the King (ie. the Schinah)'. And we have learnt, that the foundation and the root are encrowned together in the Kingdom. This is the memory, the crown, and the entrance way to all the other crowns, as it is written (Psalm 118), 'Open up for me, the Gates of Righteousness,' and it is written (ibid), 'This is the Gate for G-d,' and regarding this it is written (Numbers 15), ' And you will see Him, (Hebrew "OHTOH" can be translated it or him), and remember all of the commandments of he Lord.' And to include in this One all the other crowns, "etc, see there. It is also known that the first gate to all the gates is fear and awe. And through it do the righteous come to all the gates, as it is written (Psalm 111), "The beginning of wisdom is fear of G-d."

It is also a mitzvah for every person to buy other sacred books for learning purposes, such as Tenach (Bible), the Mishnah, the Talmud, and codes of law, to study from them and to lend them to others. If a person does not have the means to buy both a Seifer Torah and other books for study, then the books for study have preference. Our Rabbis of blessed memory stated: ["It is written], "And his righteousness endures forever,"²Psalms 111:3. this refers to the person who writes (or buys) [sacred] books and lends them to others."³Kesuvos 50a.

Whoever has had a miracle occur for them, and all the more so the inhabitants of a city, can establish, by popular agreement, for themselves and those who come after them to make that day into a “Purim”. And it seems to me that the meal which they make to commemorate the miracle is considered at the level of a seudat mitzvah [meal with halachic weight] ... So, too, do we practice regarding the miracle which was performed for us in the year 5564, the night of the 16th of Kislev. There was death in the courtyard in which I live because of a conflagration which started from gunpowder. Several houses in the courtyard fell, including one house that was mine. In the room where my whole family was located, two half-walls and one beam fell ... Not a single one (i.e. member of the family) did not shed at least some drops of blood. G-d in His mercy and kindness considered for us the blood like a sacrifice to atone, and saved us, and all of us remained alive. Even though I suffered a great loss of several hundred adumim (a currency), G-d in His kindness substituted blood for money [lit. damim for damim]. Aside from us, there were killed, in our many sins, in my courtyard, 31 people ... And in order to tell of the wonders of G-d, as it is written (Tehillim 111:4) “He created a memorial for His wonders”, I have accepted upon myself and my descendants, without vowing, on the 16th of Kislev, since in our land it is already a day of fasting in many communities for the chevra Kadisha who do kindness, to devote at least half of it for G-d, and whoever can should fast. And on the following night, immediately after Maariv they should gather and light candles like on Yom Tov and sing the Shir HaYichud slowly and pleasantly, and the Shir HaKavod with song, and afterwards [recite] chapters of Psalms slowly ... And after this to make a meal for those who learn Torah and to give charity in accordance with the blessing of G-d, as much as one can afford.

If you see three generations or more, one after the other, all scholars, but then their children are illiterate, do not say that the words of the scholars are voided because they said, “‘Thy words shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed’ (Isa. 59:21), thereafter Torah will no longer cease from among them.” ¹Baba Metziah 85a. Behold they have become wedded to a family whose destiny is not to have scholars in its midst,²Midrash Rabbah, ed. Horeb, Ecclesiastes, Chapter IV, p. 91. and our rabbis said, “Most children resemble the mother’s brother therefore their sons are illiterate.” This likewise applies to the God-fearing and the pious, for it written, “and a threefold cord is not quickly broken” (Eccl. 4:12). And if you see that in the fourth generation the God-fearing and pious cease, it is then apparent that they intermarried with those to whom they were not suited, for instance he is not God-fearing or pious, therefore the generation is such. Therefore let a man seek favor each day for himself, his children and grandchildren, that they be joined to a partner who is God-fearing, possesses Torah and deeds of loving kindness,³These three virtues correspond to the “three fold chord” of the verse. for it is said concerning these three “and the threefold cord is not quickly broken.” For the three words, Torah, fearing and loving kindness are all equal numerically, (fear is equal to Torah, and Torah is equal to loving kindness)⁴Although found in the text it is repetitive, nevertheless we left it but in parenthesis. for concerning “fear” it is written “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all they that do thereafter” (Ps. 111:10). It is not said “to all who study”⁵Berakoth 17b. but “all they that practice it,” as it is written, “Oh that they had had such a heart as this always, to fear Me” (Deut. 5:26), and it is written, “What doth the Lord, thy God, require of thee but to fear the Lord thy God” (Deut. 10:12). Behold “fear” is prior to “all they that do thereafter” i.e., “The fear” of God and “love …” “to walk in all His ways” (Deut. 10:12). “A good understanding have all they that do thereafter” (Ps. 111:10), “That ye may make all that ye do to prosper” (Deut. 29:8).