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The Prayer Podcast is an attempt to make prayer meaningful, elevating and real in our day-to-day lives for every individual regardless of background.
This Podcast Series is Generously Underwritten by Dr. Leonard & June Goldberg
00:00 - Intro (Announcement)
You're listening to Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe from TORCH, the Torah Outreach Resource Center of Houston. This is the Prayer Podcast.
00:10 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Welcome back, everybody to the Prayer Podcast. It is so wonderful to be here today.
00:14
Today we are going to begin our second installment of the morning blessings, the morning prayers. Last week we talked about moda'ani. Moda'ani is the first words we say, the first words we utter as we wake up. We're giving thanks to Hashem. Now, if you noticed, in those 12 words of moda'ani we do not say Hashem's name. When we say the second part of these wake up prayers, that's where we start saying Hashem's name, which means that we should begin with washing our hands. We wash our hands because we do not say Hashem's name until we have washed our hands. Our sages tell us that because our soul has been taken while we were sleeping. God cleanses it, god removes all of its sins. It removes all of its sins, it removes all of the complications and now returns it within us. So we're a new soul, we're a new creation. We have to wash our hands and remove the impurities of what was left when we were just a body without a soul.
01:25
Now I want to give a disclaimer before we begin, because it's very difficult to find commentaries on this little, these seven verses that we're going to talk about today. There are very few commentaries unless you go to each one's source in the Torah or in Psalms or wherever it is is and look into what its meaning is. However, I haven't yet been able to find why they're placed in our Siddur. There's a selection of verses that were just taken and put into our prayer book. Now, not all prayer books have it. By the way, it's not universal In many, many customs. I've looked through probably 30 or 40 different prayer books, different sedurim, and they don't have it. A vast majority of them don't even have it. Most of the commentaries that explain every word of prayer don't explain these words because it's not in their prayer books. They didn't explain it. So for me personally, I love this prayer and that's why I want to spend a little bit of time today trying to get a grasp to what these words are. So first let's read it. We'll translate it and for those of you who are joining us online, we will have in the description the link so that you can join us and print the paper that has the worksheet that has these words so you can read it with us Shabbat Shalom.
03:34
So these seven verses are from Psalms, from Deuteronomy, from Proverbs, and we're going to go through them now. Explain them in English. The beginning of wisdom is fear of Hashem. Good understanding to all who perform His commandments. His praise endures forever. Blessed is the name of His glorious kingdom for all eternity. The Torah that Moshe commanded us is an inheritance for the congregation of Jacob, my son. Heed the discipline of your father and do not forsake the instruction of your mother. Torah be my occupation, and God be my helper. And you who cling to Hashem, your God, you are all alive today. For your salvation do I long, o Hashem. So these seven verses are really phenomenal ways to declare our recognition of Hashem. The first thing we do after thanking Hashem for restoring our soul within us is we say I will try to see Hashem as I go through my day. Hashem is the ultimate cause of everything that happens to me. He only does what is best for me and it's all good. That's what we're trying to declare here in this prayer.
05:06
So if we go through verse by verse, let's begin with Reishishachma, the beginning of all wisdom. Our sages tell us that we start with Reishishachma. Listen to this, the Zohar. The Zohar states that the first word in the Torah is Bireishis, bireishit. In the beginning, it contains an allusion to the first and foremost mitzvah to fear Hashem, as it includes the word Reishis, referring to Reishis Chachma, denoting fear of God.
05:46
The first principle if you want to be close to Hashem, you have to have fear of Hashem. This is the beginning of the Torah. The beginning, the first words of the Torah is so, too, the beginning of our prayers in the morning is, and it is the beginning of our everyday, to awaken and immediately draw fear and awe of Hashem. This is the optimal way to start our day. You know, if we talk about this in our classes, about happiness, in our Jewish Inspiration podcast, what is happiness? Happiness is when we have no worries, when we have no concerns, when we have no doubts. That can only result from someone having a relationship with God, when someone knows my Father in Heaven will take care of everything for me. I have nothing to fear. I have nothing to worry of everything. For me. I have nothing to fear. I have nothing to worry. Fear of Hashem means that I have clarity of Hashem, that I have an understanding of what my relationship with Hashem is.
06:56
Reishis chokhmah yiras Hashem, the beginning of all wisdom, the highest level of wisdom is fear of Hashem. When you understand that everything is from Hashem, that fear of Hashem, when you understand that everything is from Hashem, that he takes care of everything for you. Today, a brand new day, tuesday morning Do you know who's going to take care of your problems today, hashem? You know who's going to take care of your worries today, hashem? Do you know who's going to take care of your meals today, hashem? You know that person that you don't want to meet and you don't know what you're going to tell them. You're embarrassed to say something to them, or you don't want to meet them because you have some old history. You know who's going to handle that for you, hashem. He'll put the right words in your mouth or no words in your mouth, I don't know. Words in your mouth, I don't know.
07:42
I've had so many times that I walked into a meeting. I was like I had everything planned of exactly what I'm going to say and for some reason, hashem closed my mouth. I wasn't able to say anything, just kept my mouth shut, and that turned out to be the best, and sometimes the opposite I came in with no plan whatsoever. I see this every day with my classes, by the way. There are times that I prepare and I prepare and I prepare and it's like what a failure. It's like nothing came out the way I wanted it to. I have to re record it, and times I come like I have no idea what I'm going to talk about today. I know I learned a lot of things, I want to share a lot of things, but I have no idea. I have nothing organized and I don't always come with notes prepared, ready to go, and those sometimes are the best classes. People come to me. I say, rabbi, that was the greatest class you've ever taught. You know why? Because Hashem decides what's going to be impactful. Hashem decides what's going to be successful, whether or not we feel that, oh, I got it all prepared. I know what I'm going to say Leave it to Hashem, hashem has got you covered. So the first thing when we start our day, we wake up in the morning, you know what we say Hashem, we're committed to you.
08:57
Reish is Chachma, the beginning of all wisdom. Everything that I'm trying to attain in my life, you, everything that I'm trying to attain in my life, yiras, hashem, it's fear of Hashem. It's also the first time we're saying Hashem's name. Our sages tell us in Ethics of Our Fathers, chapter 3, verse Mishnah 9,. It says that whoever's fear precedes or comes before their wisdom, their wisdom will come to fruition. Meaning someone who just has wisdom but doesn't have proper fear of Hashem. It's wisdom on its own and it doesn't come to life. Okay, so you have wisdom, it's just wisdom, it's raw wisdom, but it doesn't do anything, it doesn't give you life. But when it comes with fear of Hashem, first it's able to nurture your life, it's able to bring greatness into your life.
09:54
And then we say Baruch Hashem Kavod Malchus Olo Olam V'ed. There's six or seven times that we recite this. For example, we say this at the end of Yom Kippur. We recite this after saying Hashem's name. We say it three times, remember. We say the Shema out loud and we say the halacha.
10:19
Tells us that when someone recites Hashem's name, they say for no need. For example, you recite a blessing, you realize, oh, my goodness, I shouldn't have recited that. So before you talk, before you do anything, you set Hashem's name in vain. You say Baruch Hashem K'vod Machus Eloi Olam V'ed. That may Hashem's name, the name of His holy glory and His kingdom be blessed for all eternity, so that the name that I just said shouldn't be in vain, but it should go for this blessing.
10:53
Why it's inserted here, I have no idea. I have no idea why it's inserted here, possibly because right when we wake up we just rub our eyes after washing our hands, because we're not supposed to touch our eyes, our nose, our mouth. We're not supposed to touch it before our hands are clean, after we wash in the morning. So we say we wake up in the morning, we say moda'ani, no names of Hashem. We wash our hands Now we say reshes, chachmo, but we're still a little groggy, we're still a little sleepy. Perhaps we don't have the same proper intention that we should have. Therefore, perhaps we say baruch, hashem K'vod Malchus. So in case the name of Hashem was not pronounced properly, with the right focus, then we say one of the most beautiful verses.
11:36
This is a verse in Deuteronomy 33. Torah Tziva Lanu Moshe. The Torah was commanded to us by Moses, and this is chapter 33 in Deuteronomy, verse 4. So the verse translates as follows the Torah that was commanded to us by Moses is the heritage of the congregation of Jacob.
12:03
Who does the Torah belong to? Does it belong to the rabbis? Does it belong to the rabbis? Does it belong to the scholars? Does it belong to the Orthodox? The answer is no, to nobody. It belongs to every single child of Abraham Isaac and Jacob Morosh, shekeh, heelish, yaakov, particularly Jacob.
12:28
This is our inheritance, it belongs to us, this is ours and we take claim to it. Every single morning, every morning, when we wake up, we say this is my Torah, it belongs to me. I've got to get the most out of it. I've got to get the most out of it. It's our possession, inalienable possession of our people, transmitted from generation to generation. You know the Torah that we're learning right here in our classes right now, in every one of our classes. These words of Torah are the same words of Torah that our ancestors, our grandparents and great-grandparents. They learned the same Torah and our great-great-great-great-great-grandparents learned the same Torah. The same Torah that was given to Moshe and taught by Moshe to the Jewish people, from Hashem to the people, through the hand of Moses, is the same Torah that we have today.
13:32
What is the difference between inheritance and heritage? There's some translations that give it morasha as a heritage and some that it's an inheritance. An inheritance belongs to the ears to use and dispose of as they please. A heritage, however, is the property of generations before and after. It is incumbent upon the heirs to preserve it intact. That's our job, our job.
13:59
Our sages tell us what is morasha mi'urasa? It's like we're married to the Torah, we're married to the Torah, we are the groom and the Torah is the bride. It's just like Shabbos. We say the Shabbos, we stand up when we welcome the Shabbos queen in. We all stand up. Just like the bride Walks in Heading to the canopy, heading to the chuppah, everyone stands up and faces the bride. So too, every Friday night, the entire congregation stands up and faces the bride as she walks in. The Shabbos queen walks in. Who's the groom? Sages tell us we are the groom. The Jewish people. It's a marriage where we are inseparable.
14:47
These are the words of Torah Tzivalonu Moshe. But we need to know something else. The Talmud tells us that it is an obligation for every father to teach his child Torah. It's a biblical commandment to teach your child Torah. L'dah ber bam. Teach them to speak the words of Torah. The Talmud says that their first words should be Torah Tziva Lanu Moshe. They're just saying Abba, abba, abba. They're just saying a few words, little infant becoming a toddler, soon starting to speak. They're saying a few words. Teach them Torah Tziva Lanu Moshe.
15:31
The Torah was commanded to us by Moshe. It's a heritage for the congregation of Jacob, an inheritance for each and every one of us. Instill that emunah, instill that recognition, that knowledge of Hashem's world that he created for us. Instilling this into our consciousness every single morning is vital, not only for our children but for ourselves To reinvigorate ourselves with this responsibility that we are a link in the chain and we need to continue to disseminate the Torah to our children and to our future generations. That's what it means. You're obligated to teach them, torah. What is it referring to? To that verse, torah Tziva Lanu Moshe? That when our children learn and understand what that means, they will hopefully nurture a life that's committed to its teachings.
16:31
And then we bring a verse from Proverbs my son, heed the discipline of your father and do not forsake the instruction of your mother. This makes a lot of sense on the heels of the previous verse. Where does our wisdom come from? It's passed from on high, from our parents, from our grandparents. Heed the discipline of your father and do not forsake the instruction of your mother. We all take so much in from our parents when we're children. We take their customs, we take their philosophy. We take a lot from them. Don't push it aside. It's precious. This is your heritage, and what every single school child is saying in a Jewish day school when they read these words is I'm going to remain committed to the teachings of my father and my mother. How important is that? That our children don't find God forbid some cult out there to follow, that they don't find some crazy new agenda to the values, that they stay firm to the morals, to the ethics that are given through our Torah, through our heritage. There are different things that we learn from our father and different things we learn from our mother. They're not the same. They're very different.
18:06
If I may share, I asked my grandfather many, many years ago. I said Saba, how did you become such a great man? So the first thing he said is like I'm not so great, I'm a nobody. I haven't accomplished anything in my life. He was very, very humble, truly humble. But then he said if I amounted to anything in my life, it's because every morning my mother would whisper in my ear go learn Torah, go be a righteous Jew, grow in your connection with Hashem. And I'll tell you, she wasn't a religious woman. His father was not religious. My grandfather grew up in a very secular home in Berlin, germany, but he said that those prayers every morning that his mother instilled into his consciousness and subconsciousness, they have a very strong impact.
19:04
That emunah, that knowledge of Hashem that we are able to instill in our children from their youth, from their toddler stage, goes a very, very long way to guide them in a path of closeness with Hashem. So to all the parents out there and the grandparents out there, use this opportunity to pray with your children and grandchildren, or pray for them. Use it as an opportunity to pray with your children and grandchildren or pray for them. Use it as an opportunity to imbue the knowledge of Hashem, the Emunah, into their essence. And then we say and this isn't even a verse, it comes there's a source for it from the Rokach, one of the great early commentators from the 1100s Torah.
19:56
Be my occupation, not only emunah but umnosi. It should be my occupation, it should be my essence of my life. An umon is a tradesman. You ask a shoemaker about shoes, he'll tell you everything about shoes. He knows everything. He gets all the magazines about boots and about shoes, and about soles and about heels, and about this and about that, everything. He's completely immersed in that trade, in that industry. You know what we ask for. You know what we want our industry to be the industry of emunah, the industry of closeness to Hashem and you know what we ask for.
20:37
Right after that, hashem, we're going to be committed to you. Ve'el shadai, be'ezor si, and Hashem, be my helper. Show me that you're right there, at my side. Show me that you're right there, you side. Show me that you're right there, you're there with me. And I'll tell you what. When we talk to Hashem like that, we say Hashem, I know you're there, just show me, give me a smile, give me a kiss. Show me that you're right there. Hashem delivers in the most incredible ways, in the most incredible ways. I want to share with you a delicious kiss that Hashem gave me. Yesterday I got a text message from my daughter.
21:18
My daughter, as many of you know, works in a hair salon. She's a sheitelmacher. The sheitel is the wigs that women who cover their hair spend a lot of time making sure that their wigs look exactly like it's real and it's like, but it's not their real hair, it's their wig. So my daughter works in a salon in New Jersey and a woman walks in and she's getting her first wig ever All religious women. It looks like they're wearing their hair. It's not. It's not their real hair. Their hair is covered with a wig. Then they make it beautiful so that it looks like it's real hair and we can get into the question of what's the purpose? What's the point if it looks the same. Sometimes it even looks better than their real hair. That's not the issue. We can get into that a different time Either way.
22:07
So they start asking the woman like, what inspired you to like, start covering your hair? She says, well, my husband was online one day and he found some podcast and we started learning and becoming more observant. And we started learning and becoming more observant and you know, this is one of our steps in becoming more religious and more observant is me covering my hair. So my daughter's boss, who's the wig master, asks her who's this Torah that you're learning online? Who's this from? So she says, oh, some, rabbi Walby from Houston. And my daughter's standing there and says that's my father and they take a picture together. My daughter's teary-eyed. The woman is crying, they take a picture together and they send it to her husband and she's like wait, rabbi Wolbe mentioned on one of his podcasts that his daughter just got engaged.
23:15
She indeed engages this, that daughter, and indeed that's my daughter, my daughter Meira. And if you think about that for a second, this woman could have gone to any hair salon on planet earth. I mean, in New York, new Jersey, you probably have 500 hair salons that you can go to that offer the exact same wigs, the exact same service. She had to come to that one that my daughter is in. Why? Because Hashem is there every single day.
23:53
Be'el Shaddai, be'ezrasi. Hashem is there every day to give you a smile, to give you a kiss and a hug and say Hi, I'm right here. And sometimes it's surreal. You're like nah, that can't be. It's coincidence. There's no coincidence, and this is what we declare every morning in our prayers. There is no coincidence. Hashem is there, guiding us every single day. The El Shaddai, be'ezra Si and God, you are my helper, you're right there with me. That's what we declare every morning. And then we say again from Deuteronomy, but from the beginning of Deuteronomy, chapter 4, verse 4, and you.
24:41
There's a verse in the Torah, moshe, telling the Jewish people you who cling to Hashem, your God, you are all alive today. What does that mean? It's a declaration that we're saying we're making our commitment to cling to Hashem. When we cling to Hashem, that's when we're alive, when we're on our own, we're worried, we're anxious, we're concerned. That's not living. You're not able to enjoy, you're not able to be happy. So we declare it with a loud voice we are living because we put our trust in Hashem and we're clinging to Hashem.
25:30
And then we conclude with three words from the prayer of our patriarch, jacob Jacob, for your salvation do I long, o Hashem. This is in Genesis 49, verse 18. Where, when Jacob is giving a blessing to the tribe of Dan, jacob has a prophecy, and that prophecy is referring to what's going to happen to Samson. Samson's going to be abused by the Philistines. And Samson is begging Hashem, give me the strength one more time to demolish this building and preserve your name and kill all of these Philistines who are desecrating your name. Jacob is giving a blessing for his descendant, hundreds of years later, to have that success.
26:44
Do you know what that tells each and every one of us? It tells us that we need to pray for our descendants too, and we'll see this theme in our morning blessings. We'll see this theme of taking responsibility for our future. For example, when we recite the blessing for the study of Torah, we say that it should be sweet for us and sweet for our descendants, our children, our grandchildren, our great-grandchildren. It's not just us. For your salvation do I long, oh Hashem. Hashem, we want to be close to you. This is the way, imagine, we understand these seven verses, that we say the first seven verses. We say every morning how precious.
27:38
We're declaring our, our reliance only on Hashem, not in our own doing, not in our own capabilities, because everything we have is only a gift from Hashem. We're declaring that Torah is our inheritance. Torah tziva lanu Moshe, this Torah that we have is the Torah that was given to Moses at Mount Sinai and that Moses taught us at Mount Sinai. And Shema ben Imu, musar Avichah recognize that we are a link in the chain, that what we have is from our ancestors and what we give to our children and grandchildren is dependent on us. We're a link in that chain. Our job is to strengthen that chain as much as possible so that they have what to hang on Torah teheamu nasi.
28:30
You know my language. Do you know my comfort? Do you know who I am? It's my Torah. I want to be defined by my Torah, v'atemad vekim b'Hashem. And Moshe reassures us, those of you who cling to Hashem. You're the ones who are living, you're the ones who have no fear and no worry, because Hashem is always there with you that even in your wars, it says Hashem will fight your battles. You keep on plugging away. You do your thing with your commitment to Hashem. Why? Because your salvation is only from Hashem. My dear friends, hashem should bless us all that every morning, we should solidify our commitments with these seven verses and have an amazing day, every single day of our lives. Amen.