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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.
00:09 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
All right, welcome back, my dear friends, to the Prayer Podcast. Today we're going to do something very, very important. On Shabbos, I was sitting praying in an unusual way. I don't tell people this, but I have inside my tefillin bag and inside my Shabbos talis bag I have earplugs, and I try to do it at least once a week. I put earplugs into my ear under my talis, so people don't think I'm a lunatic. I put earplugs in my ear and I just ignore everything going on around me and I just pray with total focus. I don't see anything except for my prayer book and just try to talk to Hashem in the most real way. And I came up to something in my prayer book. I was using a new prayer book, I was using the Breslov Siddur, and it's a fascinating, fascinating prayer that I want to share with you today.
01:14
So first, it starts with three different things. The first is Hareni mekabel olay mitzvah sasei shel ve'ahavt el re'echa komocha ani yashem. This is a commandment in the Torah. To start your day in the morning with such a declaration means that we're ready to live a life that is beyond ourselves, to love every person as ourselves, and we know that we love ourselves a whole lot. We know a lot about ourselves. We take care of ourselves, hopefully. We know when we're tired, we know when we're thirsty, we know when we're hungry. But do we know that about our neighbor? Are we in tuned to other people? Here we're saying we accept upon ourselves. In the morning you're starting your day Just rubbing your eyes. Of course we wash our hands first, say Hashem, I'm accepting upon myself to love my fellow human beings, everyone, everyone I come in contact with Very special way to begin your day. Then we say something even more special. I hereby intend that, from this moment, every detail of my actions, my speech and my thoughts during this entire day, until tomorrow, at this time, shall be for the sake of the revelation of the unity of the blessed Holy One and His indwelling presence.
03:21
L'shem Yichud Kutcheb Rikhu Yishchintei B'Shem Kol Yisroel, in the name of all of Israel, in order to tip the scale of justice to the side of merit for all of humanity, for all the people of Israel and for the entire world. That means we're just trying to push the scale one little drop. Today I'm going to have intention that everything be for your sake, hashem. That means even when I eat, even when I enjoy worldly, physical, materialistic pleasures in this world. Hashem, it's to be closer to you. It's to bring and to reveal your pleasures in this world. Hashem, it's to be closer to you. It's to bring and to reveal your presence in this world. I don't know about you, but this is a transformational way to start our day. One more thing Listen to this prayer, and I intend that from this moment until tomorrow, at this time, that every time that I mention the four-letter name of Hashem, that every mention that I make of the holy four-letter name of Hashem should apply equally to its written form of Yud-Heh and Vav-Heh, which alludes to his transcendence above and beyond time.
05:13
He was, he is and he will be, as well as to its spoken form of Adonai, which alludes to his being the master over all creation. And then, similarly, listen to this amazing. And when we say another name of Hashem, which is Elohim, every time I make mention of that name, I intend that he is the omnipotent power, the singular master of all powers and cause of all causes and originator of all effects and the ruler of all the worlds. This intention suffices for all instances, except for the first verse in the Shema, the first verse of Shema. You can't say well, this morning I set out the guidelines. I'm going to have intention, even if I don't, every time I say the name. This is what I mean During the Shema.
06:30
We actually have to think that and we're going to see what this means. What a powerful, beautiful prayer. We're saying Hashem. I may not have clarity when I'm reciting a certain blessing, when I'm praying a hundred. We spoke last week of a hundred blessings that we need to say. That means a hundred times a day. I need to think Master of the Universe, you're the all-powerful, you were, you are and you will be. Hashem, you're the only power in this world, the cause of all causes, the master of all powers, the originator of all effects. We have to think that, but are we able to think that every single time? So we know that every time we say the name of Hashem, what we're doing is we're bringing godliness into our lives. So we have to have a proper focus, a proper intention when we're doing so, so again, so, so again.
07:38
As an introduction, we need to remember that we don't say Hashem's name in vain, which is why we say Hashem, which means the name. We don't actually say the name unless there is a purpose. It shouldn't be pronounced unnecessarily. Okay, here in our class we're learning, so we're learning how to properly pronounce, but even then, there's a proper way to say things. For example, the Yud, the hey, and the Vav and the hey.
08:07
We're not supposed to read it out the way it's spelled. Instead it's Adonai, my master, hashem, creator of heaven and earth, was, is and will be Hayah ho aviyah. Now there are some. They call themselves witnesses. You can say the first name on your own in your mind. You can think about. They're doing exactly what the Torah tells us not to do, which is pronounce Hashem's name In the way it's spelled. It's blasphemy. We're not supposed to say that. We say Hashem. Hashem means the name of Hashem. When the name of Hashem is spelled out with Aleph, dalet, nun, yud, the way it's pronounced, if it's spelled that way, it means also master of all, like an Adon means a master. You call your master. If you were to be a slave, you'd call your master Adon, master.
09:07
When we refer to Hashem as Adonai, we're saying my master, master of the entire universe, master over everything. But then we sometimes use the word Elohim. Now Elohim is used in many, many different ways. Elohim is used for a court. Okay, it's used, for it's used. The same word Elohim is used as a false idol, meaning anything of power. Anything of power can be referred to as Elohim, but there's only one Elohim that we're not supposed to pronounce unless it's part of a prayer, which is when it's referring to Hashem. The Torah uses the word Elohim regarding a court asher yashiya Elohim when the court rules. That's what it's referring to, but we have to know something else from that is that a court only has the ability to rule in the name of Hashem, meaning what's the will of Hashem? Hashem gave us the guidelines in his Torah. We're going to apply those guidelines and fulfill His will. In our judgment, it's not because we just as a bunch of partisans you know, you think of the Supreme Court. It's really a bunch of partisans. They're, you know, either a majority this way, a majority that way, and they just rule. However, they rule Because that's their party ideology, and so on and so forth. In the Torah we don't see that.
10:47
Just an interesting side note all these debates in a presidential election, so you have moderators who have become debaters as well, but you have moderators who have become debaters as well. But you have moderators and they should follow the Jewish style of moderation. How do you do that? How do you choose the judges in a court? Well, maybe it's going to be my next-door neighbor. He's going to have favoritism towards me. Maybe it's going to be a friend. Maybe it's going to be my own rabbi, right, who is he going to pick? The other guy, my opponent in this court, in this lawsuit, in this court case, is there going to be fear to him? You want to make it fear. So what they do is each side picks one judge and those two judges pick a third judge. And I think that that's the way debates should be run Each side should pick their moderator and then those two moderators should pick a third moderator. Like this, it's far more equal, it's far more fair, it's far more balanced than just having, you know, partisans.
12:00
So we have to realize that there is such a thing when we talk about Hashem, hashem, and specifically referring to Elohim, that name of Hashem, its meaning is the one who is all-powerful, the one who is in direct overlordship of the universe, master of all strength, who is able to do anything and take care of us, with divine providence, anytime, anyplace, there's no limitation. The one omniscient God, who is uniquely identified with his chosen people. So there's so much to talk about when we talk about the name of Hashem, because there's so many different names, right? So where do we even start? And the halacha talks about exactly how we should think when we're saying the name of Hashem. So, again, when we, in the beginning of our day, we say this special prayer, so it can have the influence, asking Hashem every time I mention your name, this is the focus I should have had. I might be here, I might be there, I may not be able to focus properly, still have to recite the blessing, but I can't properly think Hashem was, hashem is Hashem, will be Hashem is the master of all, adon hakol. I may not be able to think that the only time that we have to stop and actually focus on these is when, when we recite the Shema.
13:50
Many commentators talk about the exact focus that should be had when we recite the names of Hashem. We know in the Torah we see that certain names of Hashem bring about certain elements of God's mercy, kindness, judgment. So when these names are placed by the men of the Great Assembly, by our sages, in our prayers, it's to invoke these attributes, it's to invoke this power into our prayers. So what is it? When we say, baruch, blessed are you, it's not only I praise you, I bless you, but Hashem. It's an amazing idea.
14:53
Hashem strengthens his relationship with the world. When we say, baruch, blessed are you, hashem? There's another way to think about this Blessed are we because Hashem strengthens His relationship with the world through whatever it is that we're about to praise Hashem. You thank Hashem for your body. We have a prayer for this that we say every time we leave the restroom, every time we're gifted with using our bodies properly and that our body functions and gets rid of all of the toxins from our body. It gets rid of everything that isn't supposed to be in our body. We thank Hashem. Thank you, hashem, for giving us a functioning body. But you know what else we're saying. Not only praise you and bless you, hashem. Thank you, hashem, for giving us a functioning body. But you know what else we're saying. Not only praise you and bless you, hashem. We're saying, hashem, you're strengthening your relationship with your creation.
15:57
And we see this from Yishmael Kohen Gadol, where God says bless me, borchei me. The Talmud says. And what does he say? It should be your will me, barcheini, the Talmud says. And what does he say? It should be your will that your mercy come on to the world and that you should be revealed to your creations. Meaning that every time we praise Hashem, the objective is that Hashem now is being revealed to the world on a whole new level. Hashem is being revealed to us on a whole new level. So if it's just through a food that we're reciting a blessing on, it's not just Hashem. Thank you, hashem, I praise you. No, no, no, no. Hashem, you're revealing yourself to me in a whole new way through this food. It's a whole nother idea.
16:55
Now others say that it's recognition that Hashem is the source of all my blessings. When I say Baruch, what I'm saying is Hashem. I recognize that all blessing comes from you, everything, you're the source for everything. You're the source of my blessing. But then we say Atah. What is Atah? Atah means you. So when I talk to someone and I say you, I understand that they are listening to me. Now let's put that into perspective here. That means that when we say ata to the Almighty, what we're saying is we're giving testimony that Hashem hears every word. We say Baruch, ata, I'm talking to you, hashem, hashem. I know I'm saying, I'm declaring, by reciting this blessing, that you are right here in front of me, listening to my every word. We're talking directly to you, you're standing in front of me and you're listening.
18:12
Now we see sometimes that occasionally a blessing because we're saying atah in first person, we're saying it directly to Hashem, and then sometimes we'll say a third person ending to the blessing Go al Yisrael, the Redeemer of Israel. No, you redeem us directly. Why do we change the tense of how we relate to Hashem? In the same blessing, one is saying Baruch Atov, blessed, are you talking to Hashem? In the same blessing, one is saying Baruch Ata, blessed, are you talking to Hashem?
18:51
And then we change it and our sages explain that while Hashem may be visible by his actions, his essence is hidden from us. Meaning, why do I say Atah? Because I see Hashem's miracle in front of my eyes, but there are certain things, like our redemption, that we don't always see it in front of our eyes, like there are little bits and little pieces that come together that make a whole redemption. We don't see the whole picture. We see the micro. We don't see the whole picture. We see the micro, we don't see the macro. Therefore, sometimes the blessing will zoom out to 30,000 foot height and it says God, we don't know the exact way in which your hand is playing here. We know it's taking care of everything, we know that you're handling it.
19:51
We don't yet understand how and this is a very, very important thing for us to remember that, while Hashem may be visible by His actions, his essence is hidden. His actions, his essence is hidden, the deep, underlying connection to Hashem. We don't even have a concept of Hashem. We're humans, we're limited, we're mortal, we're finite. Hashem is infinite. Finite cannot understand infinite.
20:33
So, my dear friends, there's a lot to talk about when we talk about the names of Hashem and we need to dig deeper into this. We need to get further into understanding the names of Hashem, but I don't want to go too far into this. We need to get further into understanding the names of Hashem, but I don't want to go too far into this, because we're just trying to get a basic understanding with the words that are most frequent, the names of Hashem that are most frequently used in our prayers. Hashem should bless us all that every day of our lives we should merit to talk and communicate to. Hashem should bless us all that every day of our lives, we should merit to talk and communicate to Hashem directly, with no limitations, with no barriers, with complete clarity, and understand that everything that goes on in our world is Hashem guiding and directing us every single minute. And the more we're able to internalize this and the more we're able to internalize this idea, the more we're able to take our relationship with Hashem to the next level. Have a terrific day.
21:36 - Intro (Announcement)
You've been listening to Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe on a podcast produced by TORCH, the Torah Outreach Resource Center of Houston. Please help sponsor an episode so we can continue to produce more quality Jewish content for our listeners around the globe. Please visit torchweb.org to donate and partner with us on this incredible endeavor.