As many people start traveling to different places for the summertime, I would like to share an interesting Hizkuni, a Rishon. In this week’s parasha it says,
וַיְהִ֛י בִּנְסֹ֥עַ הָאָרֹ֖ן וַיֹּ֣אמֶר מֹשֶׁ֑ה קוּמָ֣ה ׀ ה׳ וְיָפֻ֙צוּ֙ אֹֽיְבֶ֔יךָ וְיָנֻ֥סוּ מְשַׂנְאֶ֖יךָ מִפָּנֶֽיךָ
When the ark traveled, Moshe would say, “Get up God, and disperse your enemies and let those that hate you flee,
וּבְנֻחֹ֖ה יֹאמַ֑ר שׁוּבָ֣ה ה רִֽבְב֖וֹת אַלְפֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל
And when the ark would dwell, Moshe would say, “Return God, myriads of the thousands of Israel.
We say this when the Sefer Torah comes out.
( Aron literally means ark, but it means the Torah as well)
The Hizkuni says that, “Get up God, and cause your enemies to disperse,” is Tefilat HaDerech, and this is the earliest source for a prayer for when you go on the road.
When it says,
שׁוּבָ֣ה יְהֹוָ֔ה רִֽבְב֖וֹת
Return Hashem, the tens of thousands
The Hizoni explains, in beautiful words,
“Yehi Ratzon/It should be Your will God, That thousands and thousands of people should come back to their place in the original numbers that they left, and no one should be missing.”
What a beautiful prayer that we should be thinking. As we all go off for the summer, it should be God’s will that we all come back healthy and safe. It’s the earliest source for Tefilat HaDerech, here in Parashat Bahalotecha. If we stopped right here, it would be worth it.
And I saw this by chance- I was standing in Landau’s and happened to see this on the front page of one of the leaflets they have there. I never heard it before. Hashem sent it.
What is the source for Tefilat HaDerech in the Gemara?
In Berachot (29b) it says,
Eliyahu Hanavi tells the great Rabbi Yehuda,
“When you go on the road, ask permission from your Creator, then go.
What does that mean? He says it’s Tefilat HaDerech.
This refers to praying before you take a trip.
There are questions about how far the trip has to be, or whether you say it with Hashem’s name or not…we won’t get into the halacha, but it is a Gemara, and as we see, it’s even sourced in the Parasha.
But what does it mean? How do we ask God?
The Noda B’Yehuda says that if we pray, and our prayers come smoothly out of our mouths, then it’s as if God is saying we can go, but if you stumble on your prayers, than not.
However, he says this does not apply to us, because we do not have that guarantee.
But there is an interesting question on the wording of the text. Should we say, “Yehi Ratzon…. that I go in peace…,” or “we go in peace..,”
On the next line of the Gemara it says, “Abaye says, ‘A person should always pray with the Sibur/group.’ Therefore Rashi says that We should say it in the Lashon rabim/plural form and not in the singular.
The Noda B’Yehuda says that since we are not on the level that God will answer whether we should go, our guarantee is the zechut that we are praying for the sibur, in the plural. So when we go away on a trip for the summer, although we may not have God respond to us personally, at least we can have the Zechut HaSibur.
I saw an additional thought in this pamphlet, from another Rishon, Sefer Hamechtam:
He says that when we pray to God, “God should direct me properly,” what we are saying is, “God, if it is not the right thing, stop me. Make some thing happened to me on the way, let me get a flat tire… Do something to cause that I won’t go on the trip.” In this way, we are asking God permission, and saying, “and if You don’t want me to go, please stop me.”
What a beautiful thought, to take with us as we go on trips.
Isn’t it nice to ask God permission first? As we pray, we should thing to ourselves, in our Tefila, “God, Take me on the right road. If You don’t want me to go, I don’t want to go either. Delay the flight.”
Some people get upset or angry when their flights are delayed, but we shouldn’t. Tefilat HaDerech means If I shouldn’t be going, I don’t want to go.
In another zechut haSibur, the people receiving this lesson caused me to be the conduit to bring down this beautiful D’var Torah, which I happened to stumble upon, in a pamphlet at Landau’s.
Have a wonderful day and a Shabbat Shalom.