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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 (Host)
You're listening to Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe from TORCH, the Torah Outreach Resource Center of Houston. This is the Prayer Podcast.
00:09 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Welcome back, my dear friends, to the Prayer Podcast. Today we are going to talk about a very, very special part of our Jewish life, and that is the obligation to recite a hundred blessings every day. So where does this come from? What's the source for this obligation? As the Halacha teaches us to recite a hundred blessings every day, so our sages teach that Hashem commanded us to recite a hundred blessings every day.
00:47
You know the story with Abraham. Abraham is talking to God how am I going to know that I will inherit what you promised me? And they get into a whole conversation and Abraham says, okay, when the temple will be around and we'll bring offerings. So then we know the offerings will be our connection, this will be our bond. But then what's going to be in the time where there is no temple? What's going to be that bond between us, abraham and his descendants, us, the Jewish people, and the Almighty? Hashem says to him you'll recite a hundred blessings and these hundred blessings are going to be our bond. The hundred blessings that we recite every day is the bond between Hashem and the Jewish people, and this is from the verse you can see in Genesis, chapter 11. Sorry, chapter 15, verse number 8. Sages tell us, with the hundred, not with what, but with the hundred blessings that you recite, it'll be known our bond with Hashem we have. The same idea comes up in Deuteronomy, just a few portions ago, where we read in chapter 10, verse number 12.
02:23
Now, israel, what does Hashem, your God, ask of you? Now, israel, what does Hashem, your God, ask of you other than to fear Him and to go in all His ways and to love Him and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul? Our sages tell us the word what is Hashem? With all your soul. Our sages tell us the word Ve'ati Yisrael, mo, hashem. What is Hashem Is the same word. Be'ma Eresheno, don't read it Mem he, but Mem Alef, he Be'me'a With a hundred blessings is how you will have your commitment to Hashem. An amazing Al Tikri Me'a the Gemara says Al-Tikri Ma'a El-Lame'o.
03:11
Interesting that this verse, verse number 12, in chapter 10, of Deuteronomy, has a hundred letters in that verse. It's not a coincidence, a hundred letters in that verse we know. Also, it says Wherever you mention my name, I'm coming to you and I will bless you. God says this wherever you are, which means that the blessings, the hundred blessings that we recite daily are not applicable to any specific place. They're applicable to every place. So you can be in Mexico, you can be in Alaska, you can be in Hong Kong, you can be in Thailand and you can be in Germany, and you can be in London or in Jerusalem, and the same hundred blessings are recited. And it's an amazing connection that we have with the Almighty that every day we have Sheviti Hashem L'Negdi Tamid to have Hashem before us at all times. Sheviti Hashem L'Negdi Tamid, always to have Hashem's presence in front of us.
04:26
Also, interestingly, is anybody familiar with the language of At-Bash? We know that there's Gematria, which is numerology Aleph is one, bez is two, gimel is three, dalet is four, hey is five, etc. Etc. But there's another way. There are many ways, but one of them is atbash. Aleph equals taf, which is the last letter, the first and the last letter. Interchangeable Bet and shin, gimel and resh, dalet and kuf, hey and sadik. If you take the word ma, two letters of mem and hey in atbash is ninety and he in at-baash is 90 and 10, is 100. It's not me saying this, this is the tosefot in tractate menachot. An amazing thing.
05:17
All of the signs that we have 100 blessings that we're required to recite a day. We're going to talk about them in a second. Where is this really? Where is this instituted as a daily practice? So we know this came from King David. What happened? There was a plague. And King David, in King David's generation, there was a plague that every day, 100 people were dying. 100 people were dying and they instituted that every person, every Jewish person, should recite a hundred blessings every day, and that will stop the plague, and indeed it stopped the plague.
05:55
So let me ask you a question why don't they do a hundred fast days? Why don't they do a hundred mitzvahs, a hundred something? Why, specifically, a hundred blessingszvahs a hundred something. Why specifically a hundred blessings? Why, sages tell us, because they realized that when you don't have proper appreciation for the things that God gifts us with, then you distance yourself. It's a sign of distance. The only way to stop the plague is to bring closeness, and you distance yourself. It's a sign of distance. The only way to stop the plague is to bring closeness in the greatest way by internally recognizing every day for the goodness that Hashem bestows upon us. When we recite those blessings, we're internalizing the message.
06:45
I want to share with you a story that I know you will think I pulled out of a hat, but I didn't. I saw it two times today. No-transcript decisors in our Jewish law. He says the following story he says that he was once coming to synagogue in the morning, early in the morning, and he sees somebody who was sitting at the stairs of the synagogue early in the morning. Now, what did he do? He was also part of the burial society, part of the Hever Kadisha.
07:23
He looks at this man and he sees he's wearing a crown of flowers and a crown of different types of spices around his head. He says who are you Sitting at the steps of the synagogue? See, he says I'm so-and-so. He says wait, wait, wait, wait. You look familiar. I remember preparing you for burial. I remember putting the shrouds on you. He says yeah, look, you see what I'm wearing. You see it's torn over here. When you were dealing with me and cleaning my body during the ritual cleansing process before you buried me, you remember my shirt sleeve of the shroud got stuck on something and it tore. You remember that I'm still wearing these shrouds.
08:16
He's like what's going on here? He says tell me what's going on, what's going on in that world? I remember we buried you not long ago. But why are you back? What's going on? He says you know, I'm a very simple man.
08:30
I wasn't a righteous person, I wasn't a holy scholar, I wasn't. But when I came up to heaven, they saw that the blessings that I recited every day was this beautiful melody, and I would sing the sweet thanks to Hashem every day with love. I'm on the highest level you can imagine. He says so what are you doing here? He says I came to inform you that you should let people know the power of the blessings, of the hundred blessings. He says and what's with this? Get up on your head. What do you have over here? He said they gave it to me so that when I come down to this world to share this information with you, the that when I come down to this world to share this information with you, the stench and the smell of this world doesn't affect me. This is my protector. And then he disappears.
09:32
This is not a tale from some novel. This is written in the Orzorua. You can find it. I can show it to you. I saw it twice this morning in preparation for today the power of reciting a thank you to Hashem with clarity. We have a hundred opportunities to do so a day, not obligations, privileges, privileges to give thanks to Hashem directly. It's an amazing thing.
10:06
If we look at the end of the book of Exodus, the Torah tells us about the building of the tabernacle and it had 100 posts for the foundations, 100 silver posts. They're called Adonim, 100 silver Adonim. Our sages tell us these beams, these posts, 100 of them are referring to the shame, hashem, to the name of Hashem, ado and Noi. It's called Adonim, but we say Adonoi as the name of Hashem. Sadists tell us this is a hint where the Torah is telling us the hundred posts is really the hundred blessings you're supposed to recite Because, just like it was a foundation to the tabernacle to have a hundred posts, it's the foundation to a Jewish life to have the hundred blessings. This is your foundation when you use those Adonim, meaning the name of Hashem that you praise as your beams, as your support. This is the blessing of a Jewish life.
11:22
When we have the ability to thank the Master of the Universe. We know we're commanded to remember Hashem every moment of the day, to make yourself a dwelling place for Hashem, where we become a vessel, where Hashem can dwell in our midst. So why blessings, like we mentioned earlier? Why not fasts? Why not recite a hundred Psalms? Because blessings brings us closer. Just saying a few words of thanks to Hashem brings you closer than all the fasts and all the Psalms, just saying thank you to Hashem a hundred times a day. If there are two people in a fight, you know what will bring them closer when one of them is able to muster up the strength to go over and shine a countenance, give them a smile, say hello. You know what happens. Eventually it turns the tide. It changes everything. The whole dynamics changes. You see, if we're God forbid distance from the Almighty you know what changes that tide.
12:41
We start thanking Hashem, and it's with small things. You drink your coffee every morning. You enjoy it, hashem. Thank you A hundred blessings a day. To realize that what a blessing really is is recognizing that you are blessed. Blessing really is is recognizing that you are blessed. Hashem, thank you for showering me with blessings, giving me this delicious coffee, giving me this delicious food, giving me the ability to relieve myself in the bathroom. You know how painful it would be if you couldn't.
13:22
You know what a blessing it is that we can the ability to see the ability to stand upright, the ability for us to not be drowned by the waters of the ocean. Rokah Aritzal Amayim, we're standing on terra firma, we're standing on earth. The world is three quarters water. You don't think we can just like with one little wave we're all gone. No, hashem says no, no, no, no. I put you on this earth so that you can serve me. If you were drowning in water, you won't be able to serve me. We thank Hashem for that. Mal b'sharumim having clothes, garments, so we can walk around with dignity, so we can be warm, every one of these blessings that we thank Hashem. What we're doing is Hashem doesn't need our thanks. By the way, hashem is not saying oh, steve didn't thank me today, let me shed a tear. No, but on the opposite is true.
14:35
We have the privilege and the opportunity to feel blessed, because it's so easy for us to forget how blessed we are. It's so easy I say this in my marriage class. We learn from these hundred blessings that a man needs to thank and appreciate and say I love you to his wife every seven minutes. You know why? Because women remember everything. You know they say that men should forget their mistakes because there's no use in two people remembering the same thing. There's no need. There's one thing that a woman forgets how much she's loved, and it's exactly like these blessings. We forget how much we are loved by the Almighty. Hashem says a hundred times a day how many hours are we awake? 16, 18 hours a day. So it's about every seven to eight minutes that we ought to recite another blessing. We need another reminder of how blessed we are, another reminder of how much Hashem loves us. Another reminder the same thing we should do for our spouse Remind them again and again and again.
15:46
We say you know I love you. Why are you saying I love you? You told me that earlier this morning. No one ever said that, ever. No one ever said that. No, because this is another expression. Said that no, because this is another expression.
16:04
The way we express our gratitude to Hashem for giving us the bounty, for giving us all of the incredible gifts that we have in our lives. We have the opportunity. Our sages give us a commandment for it, so we get a mitzvah every time. We do it as well. By the way, you want to be really happy in life? No anxiety, medication, no stress, no worries. Be thankful to Hashem. When you thank Hashem for everything you have, you lack nothing. You have no stress. You know Hashem gives me everything. Everything is from Hashem. When we realize that Hashem is there with me, he's going to take care of me. Nothing to worry, nothing to be afraid of, nothing to get anxious about. I know he's going to take care of it for me. You know, one of the challenges that people have with blessings is that we're too arrogant. Everything is me. Like we mentioned in our Parsha podcast, everything is me. Bikurim. Give your first gifts to the Almighty. Remember that it's not all you. Everything is from Hashem.
17:24
Start your day off with a blessing. Our sages tell us that these hundred blessings are a protection. It's there to protect us. You know how to not fall into depression. Be grateful. You know how to not fall into challenge in life. You're always thankful to Hashem because you're looking at the positive. It's not that you're being oblivious to the realities of life. On the contrary, you're being conscious of the realities of life. And because you're conscious of the realities of life and because you're conscious of the realities of life, you don't stop thanking. You say thank you Hashem and thank you Hashem and thank you Hashem. The Zohar tells us that every single soul that descends to this earth promises to the Almighty. The Zohar promises promises to the Almighty that he will observe the entire Torah. Do you know what Hashem says? Lech lecha, go, lech lecha, go to your world, go, accomplish your things, va'avar echecha, and I will bless you. The numerical value of lech lecha is 30, 20, 30, 20, 100. Our sages tell us Hashem gives us these hundred blessings so that, avarechecha, I will give you more blessing, because when you're grateful, when you're thankful, hashem says I'm going to shower you with more blessings.
19:13
I want to share with you a story. You know, the greatest place to learn about life is in a cab in Jerusalem. So I remember I was in yeshiva. I was a young, 18-year-old yeshiva student and the cab driver was a friend of mine. It's a funny story. I'll just give you some of the background of the story. So I used to teach late at night. I was 18 years old, but I would teach students who were 17 years old, 16 years old. Some of them were even older than me, 18 or 19 years old. I would go every Thursday night to a yeshiva in a city, in an area, in a neighborhood in Jerusalem, katamon. I would take a cab out there at 12 o'clock at night Thursday night. That's when they would finish partying in town and these boys were not from traditional yeshiva life but they became traditional very quickly. So it was really an amazing experience and I'd go out there and I'd learn with these boys One time.
20:20
It's 2, 3 o'clock in the morning. I walk out to the street trying to get back to my yeshiva. It's about an hour and a half walk to the yeshiva, to my place. I'm going to try to find a cab. So I see a cab driver. I see a cab down the road. I hail him down.
20:37
He says what are you doing at 3.30 in the morning? You're a yeshiva student. You don't hang out, you don't go clubbing, you're not. What are you doing, like what are you're teaching Torah Thursday night? He says do me a favor, take down my phone number Every Thursday night when you're done. I want you to call me. I want to take you, I want to take you to the yeshiva and I want to take you back. Okay, and it was an amazing thing. I called him, if he was available. He picked me up from the yeshiva, took me to where I was teaching and then two hours, three hours, four hours later, whenever I was done, I'd call him and he would take me back.
21:18
So one time he asks me, as he's pulling up at my yeshiva to drop me off, he says to me Nusa, how are things going by you? So I said it's not bad. He says so. I said it's not bad. He says not bad. That's the way you answer. Not bad, he says. Never answer like that. He says say it's great. I said why. He says if you say it's not bad, hashem says this is not bad. Let me show you what bad is, he says. But if you say it's great, hashem says you think this is great, let me show you what great is. So it taught me a great lesson always say the positive, because when you have a positive attitude, like the Zohar tells us, when you go with that positive, I'm going to bless you with even more. It's going to be even more of a blessing for you. Go and I will bless you.
22:06
We need to be so careful to protect ourselves from falling into a state of arrogance, of complacency, of it's coming to me my eyes. Why aren't my eyes working? What's wrong? It's my doctor. It must be my medication. Hashem gives you a treasure. Do you appreciate it every day? Sometimes Hashem gives you a treasure. Do you appreciate it every day? Sometimes Hashem gives us a patch so that we start appreciating.
22:35
I remember when I rounded second base on an all grass field and I slipped and fractured my shoulder my left shoulder and I was in the pain. Ten out of ten of pain is an understatement. I was in such pain. Throb of ten of pain is an understatement. I was in such pain, throbbing pain, couldn't move my hand. I had to walk a half a mile, a mile, to get to the emergency room in Jerusalem. And then they take imaging. They say, yeah, you fractured your shoulder, good luck. I said you're going to cast it. They're like how are we going to cast your shoulder? We can't do that. You're just going to have to keep it in a sling. Try not to move it.
23:12
You know what I learned? I learned how important my left hand is. You know I'm a righty. I'm like not a big deal, it's a left hand. Thank God it's not my right hand. No, no, no, no. Try to cut challah Friday night with one hand without having the support of your other hand.
23:30
Try to do anything. Someone shakes your hand and you're like, no, you got to be so careful to be thankful and I remember waking up to this Hashem, I never thanked you for my left hand. I never thanked you for my right hand either, but now I learned the appreciation that we need to have Eyesight. Does anybody want to lose eyesight for one minute? See what it's like to not be able to see something? The gift you know when you're not feeling well and things are imbalanced in your life. It's like you just don't feel right. You just want to be normal. Did I thank Hashem when everything was great? Did I thank Hashem when everything was normal? That's the challenge and that's why we have this precious gift instituted by King David as part of our daily curriculum as Jews to thank Hashem a hundred times a day and to never stop saying thank you, because the more we say thank you, the happier we will be. This is the essence of our prayer.
24:42
We have the Amidah, which is 19 blessings. We say that three times a day. That's almost 60 blessings. Then we have the morning blessings we have 15, plus the Al-Nityas Yadayim and the Asher Yatzar and the blessing on the Torah it's 23. Over there, blessing for Tzitzis, we wash our hands every day. We go to the bathroom, we say Asher Yatzar, we say the blessing after we come out of the bathroom. You eat something, you make a blessing, you recite a blessing before, you recite a blessing after, and if it's after you washed hands on bread, it's four blessings after. It's unbelievable.
25:26
Let me ask you a question now. What do we do on Shabbos? On Shabbos, we don't have the 19 blessings of the Amidah. We have the Musaf, which adds another seven blessings, but still not enough, because the morning Amidah, the afternoon Amidah, the evening Amidah is still short. It's only seven blessings Each. So how are we going to make it up? Still short, it's only seven blessings Each. So how are we going to make it up? Now we know why we have eight people that we call up to the Torah, why we have four more blessings that we recite for the Haftorah, for the reading of the prophets. And our sages tell us each one of those people who come up to recite a blessing on the Torah also recite a blessing after reading the Torah. So you have another eight. So there you go, you have 16.
26:21
Because when they recite the blessing and you say amayin, it includes, as if you said that blessing what many people do on Rosh Hashanah, yom Kippur. They want to make sure that they Yom Kippur, particularly because we don't eat on Yom Kippur. So what do we do? You'll see, someone might walk around the synagogue with a little box of tabak or some type of snuff, so you recite a blessing on that. You can do that 3-4 times during the day, to recite a blessing on what you smell. We don't want to go a single day without thanking Hashem, because the richness of our life, the happiness that we have, is dependent on us being grateful, and the more we're grateful, the more opportunity we have for joy and happiness. My dear friends, hashem should bless us tenfold on our hundred blessings every day, and we should always succeed in having the right intention the right focus with every one of our blessings, amen.
27:45 - Intro (Host)
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