Skip to main content

Thought for the Day: First Priority Is Appreciating the Good

Chazal (Brachos 9b) relate that R' Yose ben Elyakim testifies in the name of the Holy Congregation of Yerushalyim that any one who immediately begins shomne esrei as he concludes the bracha of "ga'al yisrael"/who redeemed Yisrael [from Mitzrayim] (aka, "someich g'ula l't'fila") will not suffer any damages the entire day.  That's a pretty bold statement!  So bold, in fact, the R' Zeira challenged it.  "Really!?", exclaimed a perplexed R' Zeira, "I did that once and I hit with financial damage!"  R' Yose apparently knew what happened and replied, "Hang on... are you talking about the fact that you were forced to deliver a load of myrtle to the king's palace at great personal expense?  Pshaw!  That's not damage... it's worth spending a lot of money to be able to see a king!"

The marshals support from a statement by R' Yochanon: I person should always endeavor to run to see kings of Israel; and not only kings of Israel, but even goyish kings.  Why?  Because when one see the glory and respect given to even a goyish king, he'll have a better appreciation for what it means to be a Jew and the glory to which we are destined in the coming world.

[Aside: in halacha, a king is a ruler who has absolute power over people's lives.  That is, he can sentence someone to death and the sentence will be executed without question nor due process.  By that definition, Queen Elizabeth is not a halachic queen.  I believe, though, that I once saw a real king.  In 1959, Nikita Khrushchev visited the United States and my parents took me to see him.  I was only two, but my father, a"h, told me that he thought is was an important historic occasion, so they took me to the train station and my dad placed me on his shoulders so I could see him.  I've wondered if that glimpse of glory shown to a goyish ruler of such stature was significant in nudging me toward the life I have sought and chosen.]

So even though R' Zeira felt he had suffered a financial loss, Chazal replied that he had suffered no loss at all; in fact, he had received adequate compensation for his expenses by being afforded such a great opportunity.

Yaakov Avinu also saw the goodness what many of us might see as adversity.  When Yaakov Avinu was returning home after 20 years, he is notified that his brother -- still carrying a hatred for Yaakov -- is approaching with an army 400 strong.  Yaakov sends presents, splits his family into two camps to prepare for battle, and then davens: "HaShem -- I feel small compared to the abundance of kindness I have already experienced Your promise of more!  I left home with only the staff in my hand, and now I have two camps!"  Even though Yaakov Avinu had split the camp in preparation for a battle that he hadn't chosen and didn't want, his used that experience to appreciate just how much HaShem had graciously given him over the last two decades.

One detail I decided to leave to the end: Tosafos note that since the halacha is to "someich g'ula l't'fila", it seems a bit odd that it should be rewarded with not suffering any damage the entire day.  Tosefos therefore concludes that the Chazal were actually meant anyone who is someich g'ula to t'fila precisely at sunrise (you know, as the vasikin davened) will not be harmed the entire day.  Just saying.  Actually, I'm not just saying, Tosefos is just saying.  Just saying.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thought for the Day: Pizza, Uncrustables, and Stuff -- What Bracha?

Many years ago (in fact, more than two decades ago), I called R' Fuerst from my desk at work as I sat down to lunch.  I had a piece of (quite delicious) homemade pizza for lunch.  I nearly always eat at my desk as I am working (or writing TftD...), so my lunch at work cannot in any way be considered as sitting down to a formal meal; aka קביעת סעודה.  That being the case, I wasn't sure whether to wash, say ha'motzi, and bentch; or was the pizza downgraded to a m'zonos.  He told if it was a snack, then it's m'zonos; if a meal the ha'motzi.  Which what I have always done since then.  I recently found out how/why that works. The Shulchan Aruch, 168:17 discusses פשטיד''א, which is describes as a baked dough with meat or fish or cheese.  In other words: pizza.  Note: while the dough doesn't not need to be baked together with the meat/fish/cheese, it is  required that they dough was baked with the intention of making this concoction. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Thought for the Day: What Category of Muktzeh are Our Candles?

As discussed in a recent TftD , a p'sak halacha quite surprising to many, that one may -- even לכתחילה -- decorate a birthday cake with (unlit, obviously) birthday candles on Shabbos. That p'sak is predicated on another p'sak halacha; namely, that our candles are muktzeh because they are a כלי שמלאכתו לאיסור and not  מוקצה מחמת גופו/intrinsically set aside from any use on Shabbos. They point there was that using the candle as a decoration qualifies as a need that allows one to utilize a כלי שמלאכתו לאיסור. Today we will discuss the issue of concluding that our candles are , in fact, a כלי שמלאכתו לאיסור and not מוקצה מחמת גופו. Along the way we'll also (again) how important it is to have personal relationship with your rav/posek, the importance of precision in vocabulary, and how to interpret the Mishna Brura.  Buckle up. After reviewing siman 308 and the Mishna Brura there, I concluded that it should be permissible to use birthday candles to decorate a cake on Sha...
Post a Comment
Read more

Thought for the Day: אוושא מילתא Debases Yours Shabbos

My granddaughter came home with a list the girls and phone numbers in her first grade class.  It was cute because they had made it an arts and crafts project by pasting the list to piece of construction paper cut out to look like an old desk phone and a receiver attached by a pipe cleaner.  I realized, though, that the cuteness was entirely lost on her.  She, of course, has never seen a desk phone with a receiver.  When they pretend to talk on the phone, it is on any relatively flat, rectangular object they find.  (In fact, her 18 month old brother turns every  relatively flat, rectangular object into a phone and walks around babbling into it.  Not much different than the rest of us, except his train of thought is not interrupted by someone else babbling into his ear.) I was reminded of that when my chavrusa (who has children my grandchildrens age) and I were learning about אוושא מילתא.  It came up because of a quote from the Shulchan Aru...
Post a Comment
Read more