Halakhah sa Mga Awit 84:12: Shulchan Shel Arba, Arukh HaShulchan & Shulchan Arukh, Orach Chayim

You will find also in the words of Moses at the end of the Torah a promise well-known to be about the world to come, which is what is written, “O happy Israel! Who is like you, A people delivered by the Lord.”¹¹⁵Dt 33:29. Because it specified above the destined physical rewards, when it said, “Thus Israel will dwell in safety, untroubled will be Jacob’s abode, in a land of grain and wine, under heavens dripping dew,”¹¹⁶Ibid., 33:28. so it connected it immediately to “O Happy Israel!” to say “don’t think that the only recompense and reward you’ll have for doing the mitzvoth will be in this world.” That’s why it said, “O Happy [ashrekha] Israel,” as our sages taught in a midrash, “‘You shall be happy [ashrekha] and you shall prosper,’¹¹⁷Ps 128:2. ‘You shall be happy’ – in this world, and ‘You shall prosper’ – in the world to come.”¹¹⁸M. Avot 4:1. And afterwards it said, “Who is like you?”¹¹⁹Dt 33:29. that is to say, who among all the nations is like you will be “delivered by the Lord” – which means the salvation [t’shua’at] of the soul in the world of souls, which is why it said, “delivered [nosha’] by the Lord.”¹²⁰Ibid. It’s like the similar expression of the prophet: “Israel has been delivered [nosha’] by the Lord, with salvation [t’shuat] everlasting.”¹²¹Is 45:17: literally “salvation of the worlds” – t’shuat olamim – the plural of which R. Bahya without a doubt understands as an allusion to salvation in both worlds – this world and the world to come. And it said, “your protecting shield”¹²²Dt 33:29. because after it specified the reward of the soul and its salvation in the world of souls, it gave a sign for this and said that Ha-Shem (may He be blessed) is their shield, their protection and their “sword triumphant” [herev ge’utam], ¹²³Ibid., literally, “the sword of your pride.”that is, something they could be proud [le-hitga’ot] about, hence “your protecting shield.”¹²⁴Ibid. And this would even include what midat ha-din above is called – magen – “shield”, because one usually holds a shield in the left hand, and He keeps us safe with it so that by protecting us, we need not be afraid of the enemy overpowering it, and so David said, “You have granted me the shield of Your protection – magen yish’ekha“¹²⁵2 Sam 22:36, or “shield of Your salvation.” – the shield which protects You. And he explained further, “For YHWH God is sun and shield,”¹²⁶Ps 84:12. that is, “the Great Name” [of YHWH], the quality of Jacob, which is called “sun.”¹²⁷E.g., in Joseph’s dream, Gen 37:9, where the sun clearly stands for Jacob. I think R. Bahya means that “sun” is expression for God’s other main attribute, His “right hand” – midat ha-rahamim. Thus, when David referred to “Lord God” as “sun and shield” in Ps 84:12, from a kabbalistic perspective, it’s a reference to God having both midat ha-din and midat ha-rahamim, the attribute of severity and the attribute of compassion. I.e., YHWH (“Lord”) = “sun” = “Jacob” = midat ha-rahamim, while Elohim (“God”) = “shield” = midat ha-din. And so our rabbis z”l taught in a midrash, “Jacob said, ‘Who revealed to him [Joseph] that my name [sh’my] was ‘sun’?”¹²⁸Bereshit Rabba 84:10. Or as R. Bahya interprets it, sh’my= shem Y’, “the great name of YHWH.” And he called the heavenly midat ha-din “shield,” and this what is meant by “For YHWH God is sun and shield;”¹²⁹Ps 84:12. this is why it is specified “Your protecting shield, your sword of pride”¹³⁰Dt 33:29. because of Israel having this eternal success and ultimate victory over all their enemies. So all this is a sign that they are attached to and will be delivered by Ha-Shem in the world of souls. If so, then the account of the things destined for the soul in the Torah are only there by analogy and as a sign, so set your heart to the words of Moses, how he wanted on the day of his death to “seal” his words in the upper world – understand this!

And according to the plain meaning, the reason that we bless the moon more than the stars/planets, although it's smaller than almost all the other planets (excepting Mercury), is because it's closer to the Earth than all the other stars/planets; it's only about 43,000 parasangs away. The moon inspires in us a feeling of the greatness of the Holy Blessed One, since every night its path is perceived, and it orbits the earth every month. For this reason it's called "yareach" [ירח], as it is written "[God] made a moon [ירח] to mark the seasons" (Psalms 104:19) -- since it orbits the earth in every moon of days, and its waxing and waning are perceptible. And Israel, who count [days] by the moon, are compared to the moon; just as the moon has no light of its own, and is illuminated by the sun's light, so too Israel have no light other than the Light of the Holy Blessed One, which shines for us from the midst of the Holy Torah, as it is written "A sun and a shield is Lord God" (Psalms 84:12). And just as the moon darkens and lightens, so too is Israel; just as we say in the blessing "and to the moon They said, 'renew yourself!' - a crown of glory to the womb-borne, for they are destined to renew themselves like it." And just as the moon exists even in the days of its diminishment [waning], when it seems dark on Earth -- it however is light on its other face from above, as is known; so too Israel. And for all of these reasons, Israel accepted this commandment with joy.

We should only bless regarding the moon on motza'ei Shabbat, when one is perfumed and one's clothes are nice. Rema: and this is specifically when motza'ei Shabbat is before the 10th of the Hebrew month, in this case we wait until motza'ei Shabbat. However, if it's after this we don't wait to motza'ei Shabbat, lest there are 2 or 3 or 4 cloudy nights and the moon is invisible, and the time to bless passes. And when we bless the moon during the week, it's good to put on nice clothes (T"H chapter 35). We don't sanctify the moon before Tisha b'Av or before Yom haDin (Maharil), and when Yom Kippur goes out we bless it, since then we exist in a joyful state - but not when Tisha b'Av goes out, or any other fast (my own opinion), and we don't sanctify it on motza'ei Shabbat which falls on Yom Tov (Maharil, laws of Yom Tov). And one fixes their eyes and straightens their legs and blesses (Standing) (Tur) and says three times: "A good sign it will be for all of Israel, Blessed is your Creator etc." Rema: and dances three times towards it, and says "Just as I dance, etc", and says "Fear and terror will fall on them, etc" (Shemot 15:16), and again backwards, "Like a stone they will be, etc" three times, and says to one's friend three times "Peace be upon you" (Hagahot haChadashot), and responding to this greeting is like saying it (Tur). And we are accustomed to say "David, King of Israel, lives and exists", since his kingdom is compared to the moon and will in the future be renewed like it. And the assembly of Israel will return and cleave to her Husband, who is the Holy Blessed One, the image of the moon who is renewed with the moon - as it is said, "A sword and a shield is God" (Tehillim 84:12), and therefore we make joys and dance in the sanctification of the month, which is an image of the joy of a wedding. (Bachya, parshat vayeishev, and my own opinion).