Yesterday's Daily Bitachon
It’s the day after Shavuot, and it would seem that it’s over and we just go on as before. But as we have said in the past, a holiday is only the beginning of our work. We have to keep the holiday of Shavuot going. Therefore, I’m going to share a thought from the sefer HaMaspik L’Ovdei Hashem, which means Enough for a Servant of God, written by Rabbenu Abraham, the only son of the Rambam. Aside from the classic work that’s he’s known for, there are other parts that weren’t printed in the regular mussar sefer. Someone recently gifted me with some of those other works, where he writes the following…
What does it mean Na’aseh V’Nishma?
We know that this the battle cry of the Jewish people. This was their greatness, that they said, “We will do and we will listen.”
He explains that Naaseh means we do it externally. Nishma, we will listen, means an internal act of the heart. He discusses the importance of having kavana when you make a beracha. We have to appreciate exactly what the beracha is telling us.
B’Ezrat Hashem, we will devote a few classes to this topic, but first, as an introduction of sorts, I would like to discuss the importance of Berachot and their relevance to our topic of Bitachon.
When it says that Hashem says, “What does Hashem want from you,” the Gemara says that the word מה Mah can be read as Me’ah 100, which means that He wants 100 blessings from us, because 100 blessings is what brings us to our Yirat Hashem/fear of Hashem, Emuna Bitachon. It all starts from 100 blessings.
These 100 blessings are our Pnimiyut, our internals, or, put another way, our Hovot Halevavot, our heart responsibilities.
It’s quite apropos that after Shavuot, when we accept the Torah and say Naaseh VNishma, let us do and let us hear, we should let the words of the Torah penetrate us.
Rabbi David Cohen, the Rosh Yeshiva of Hebron says that it says Nishma/Hear because we don’t “learn” Torah, we “hear” it,
because when you hear something it penetrates and goes inside of you. Rabbenu Avraham says that if you say a beracha, and you think about it, that will bring you to Yirat Hashem, love of Hashem and serving Him. Then, he says, you’ll be a pious man. He quotes the Gemara in Bava Kama (30a) that says that, “To be a pious man, be careful with your berachot.”
Previously, I had always understood this to mean that if you want to be a pious man, make sure that you know which Beracha to say on what. Know the berachot properly, because if you don’t make the proper beracha, you are stealing from God.
But he gives a different explanation, which, to me, was a hiddush. When he says, “If you want to become pious, fulfill the Berachot,” it means saying your berachot with the proper intention and feelings. Understand what you’re saying.
I would like to dedicate as long as it takes, based on the sefer’s Berachot, to explain them. The purpose of this will be to enhance our Nishma.
Na’aseh V’Nishma we will do and we will listen… We will let the words penetrate us, not just give God the external act, like putting on the Tefilin. We will work on the internal, to feel it.
It said in the haftara this week, “ I will betroth you,“ three times. When we put on our tefilin, the three rings correspond to wedding rings- as if God is marrying the Jewish people. Putting on Tefilin is the Na’aseh, but the Nishma is actually thinking about it. Do we actually think about it as a wedding, with God as the groom, and we as the bride, getting the ring on our finger? I don’t think about it that way.
We have the Na’aseh , but the ultimate is the Nishma, letting it penetrate us.
Have a wonderful day.