Myśl Żydowska do Psalmów 90:17

Exodus Rabbah 81, says, "had the nations realised the value of the tabernacle, they would have built castles surrounding it." Until that time, the nations heard the voice of G-d, and whenever something occurred that was inexplicable in terms of natural law, they were frightened. Once hashgachah peratit became a fact in the life of Israel, supernatural events no longer automatically caused panic among the nations of the world. Nebuchadnezzar's experience with the three men who were saved from the furnace, and Daniel who was saved from the lions, are examples of this. (Daniel chapter 3) However, as stated, among the gentiles such occurrences are rare and serve exceptional circumstances, whereas among the Jewish people such events became frequent, almost commonplace as long as the Jewish people were loyal to G-d and the Torah. Some Israelites, of course, treat such awareness as being of secondary significance in their daily lives, though they are aware of G-d and His power. Such people do not rate Divine intervention if and when it would be the only thing that can save them. People like that are like village dwellers who know that a king rules in the capital, but who are not even aware of the king's name, status, etc. Such people are no better than the best of the gentiles, except that they are saved from destruction because of the people around them who do not deserve to be destroyed. Another category are those who, while calling on the G-d of Jacob and wishing to know His whereabouts, are still not close to Him and His temple, like city dwellers who while aware of the palace and who it is that resides in it, content themselves to have dealings only with the king's lowest ranking servants. This group does not deserve Divine intervention on its behalf, and would be saved only by a ness nistar, a hidden miracle, which occurs daily and is not credited as proof that the hand of G-d is at work. The third category are those who are fully devoted to the king, who register joyfully to offer him their services. Such people are as if at home in the king's palace, the king knows them and the work they perform for him. It is this kind of person who on occasion rates Divine intervention to protect him, and on whose behalf the king does not hesitate to change the laws temporarily. Such a person, in turn, becomes the instrument by means of which G-d’s omnipotence and awareness of what occurs in each person's life is demonstrated. It is the prayer of Moses in Psalm 90, that Israel's deeds be such that they can merit Divine intervention at all times, (last verse) After that, Moses details various aspects of hashgachah peratit in Psalm 91. First, he refers to those who complain about the hidden nature of Divine manifestations and tells such people not to worry. G-d would protect them even if the person himself will be unaware how this is done. "For He will save you." If you attain a greater degree of closeness, you will even qualify for protection against commonplace dangers "because His angels he will command for you." This is still not the level of nissim geluyim, visible miracles, since such things as stepping on vipers underfoot do not make the headlines when we speak about hashgachah peratit going out of its way. The help experienced by the likes of Daniel, when the scoffers who attributed his survival to the fact that the lions had not been hungry, were thrown into the same pit and consumed by the lions, demonstrated that kind of hashgachah peratit. Darius' letter proclaiming the power of the Almighty and other such examples, testify to the power of G-d. The reason that such miracles occur, is to enhance G-d’s reputation among the gentiles. Moses states in Psalms 91, 14, "for he has clung to Me, therefore I will deliver him, I will elevate him because he knew My name." In Psalm 98,9, we find Moses acknowledging that G-d judges the world in fairness. This in itself is unnatural, since natural law would favour the physically strong over their weaker adversaries. Only the special blessing "and the fear of you and the dread of you will be on all the living creatures of the earth," (Genesis 9, 2) enables physically inferior man to extend his dominion over the more powerful animal kingdom. This blessing, however, is restricted to deserving man. In that Psalm then, homage is paid to the miracle that notwithstanding inferior status, justice prevails over brute force. This is viewed as a manifestation of hashgachah peratit. Israel is as powerful relative to other nations, as animals are to man. The condition in either case is the preservation of the tzelem elokim the Divine image, in accordance with the respective demands made upon either "man" or "Israel." The prophecy concerning "the latter days" in Isaiah chapter eleven, in which powerful animals are described as no longer molesting the weaker species, is the vision of a world when natural law will have ceased to prevail. Since the degree of personal intervention is in direct proportion to the degree of saintliness of the persons concerned, as we have demonstrated, extraordinary examples of such intervention may occur from time to time, testifying to the deserving nature of the person for whose sake they occur. Once we have seen that quality and not quantity governs the value G-d places on human beings, the fact that we are told that G-d selected the Jewish people "not because of your numerical strength" begins to assume some significance. "For you are numerically smallest" (Deut.7,7) means from you I expect what can be expected only from the select few, due to their elevated moral standards G-d’s army is not distinguished by the number of its divisions, but by the excellence of its soldiers. The Exodus from Egypt became possible not due to collective endeavour, but because of the merit of a few select individuals, especially the ones already in their graves, who had been the recipients of G-d’s oath due to their merit. (Abraham)

It is a well known fact that a period of motion is usually followed by a period of rest. The Sabbath at the end of six days of creative activity, during which something had been created out of nothing, was such a period of constructive rest, tachlit. The purpose of all creative activity had been to attain this goal, the Sabbath. Once completed, the universe could be shown to have been a successful creation only, if it were able to function on its own, without constant directives from its Creator. Moving into a new home, living in it, testifies that the building process has been completed successfuly, even though already during the various stages of erecting the structure there may have been many moments of satisfaction, pride, and sense of achievement for the builder.

“I am the woman who stood by you here…” (Shmuel I 1:26) R’ Yehoshua ben Levi said ‘from here we learn that it is forbidden to sit within four cubits of one praying.’ [Berachot 31b]
From the side of the foundation of prayer in the emotions of the heart, it is fit that on seeing one’s fellow moved by the feeling of the beauty (See Tehillim 90:17) of G–d, every upright person be moved as well. Even though one’s intellect does not act upon their fellow unless they themselves set their heart to understand, feeling is a natural force that effects anyone whose heart is right with G–d. It is proper that feeling act upon all who are near and see the Divine service of their friend. And since it is fit that this feeling act upon those close at hand, it is also correct that one not sit when within four cubits of prayer – because to do so is as if to show that the feeling of their friend’s Divine service does not act upon them, a stance not befitting to a heart faithful to G–d. Regarding the benefit which comes to prayer through strengthening the good emotion, this occurs because feelings are closer to actions and thus work more readily upon them than the intellect.⁹¹Most people are familiar with the intimate relationship between physical and emotional being. We have all chopped wood or gone for a walk to ‘blow off steam,’ and many people are familiar with somatic practices that allow healthy access to emotion through physical pathways. There is a path in the work of Torah which sees the embodied soul of the nefesh as the seat for the emotive soul of the ruach, which in turn can serve as a resting place for the intellect soul of the neshama. Ask we bring each level into right alignment, the next comes to rest upon it in a fashion which is more whole and clear. There are disciplines which understand the entire structure of the prayer book, and in particular of the morning service, as a gradual process of awakening and preparing each layer of the soul to receive that which lies above it. The physical work of the offerings, serves as preparation for awakening the heart through the songs of praise. The engaged body and awake heart then allow for an intellectual consciousness which can declare the unity of G–d with clarity. Properly prepared, the Amidah offers access to Chaya, that portion of the soul which is receiving the boundless life-force that pours in from source and enlivens our individuality. And when we fall on our faces in supplication after the silent Amidah, it is in hopes of touching the place of unification, yechida, our point of contact with source of existence itself. Therefore, a standing posture is appropriate - a stance ready for action.