I recently had Rabbi Shimon Galai, from Bnei B’rak in my home, and he shared a beautiful thought from the Gemara in Masechet Sandrin ( daf 42):
Each month in Birkat Levana, the blessing we say from the seventh day on, when we see the new moon, we say, “Tanna DVei Rebbi Yishmael…
In the academy of Rabbi Yishmael it was taught… Had Yisrael been privileged to greet the countenance of their Father in heaven, except for one a month, that would have sufficed…” He is telling us that this opportunity to bless the moon is the equivalent of accepting the countenance our Father in heaven. It’s like we are greeting the Shechina. By noticing the moon getting bigger and smaller, we are seeing God in creation, and that is an acceptance of God. And if we only did that once a month, that would be enough. Abaye then comments on that,
“Therefore, we will say Birkat Halevana standing.” That is why we say it standing. Not all blessings of praise are said standing. We don’t have to stand for our morning blessings of Hanoten Lasechvi. You can sit. But we stand for Birkat Halevana.
What exactly is the connection between the first statement, that it’s enough that we receive God’s countenance once a month, and Abaye’s statement to stand?
He explained that when we pray, we are greeting God- three times a day, thirty times a month! That’s ninety times a month, and yet we take it for granted.
Therefore, Rabbi Yishmael says, let’s appreciate this event of going out to greet God in creation once a month. Imagine that if that was all that you had. Imagine if you could only speak to God 12 times a year. It would be a big deal. Therefore, Abaye says that in order to make it important, we say it standing. Because it’s only once a month, it’s exciting, so let’s stand for it.
Truthfully, we have a standing prayer, the Amida, three times a day. We stand because it really is important, but we don’t necessarily feel the importance.
We have to take that once a month importance that we have for the moon, and feel that every day. Human beings are creatures of habit. Praying becomes a habit. But once a month, it’s a little bit of a change. We go outside, we check to see if it is cloudy, and we look up at the moon. It’s a once a month event, and it is a little exciting, so we say it standing, to make it important.
But let’s contemplate. Just because we greet God three times a day, that does not make it any less important. It would be enough and we would make a big deal if it was once a month, but it is not once a month, it is 90-100 times a month, or more, including Musaf. Just because it happens consistently, that does not make it any less important. We need to contemplate, and appreciate those great things that we happen to do a lot of. It says on prayer, “There is something very high up, that is cheap in peoples eyes. That is prayer.“ Because we have so much of it, it becomes cheap in our eyes. It’s a matter of supply and demand. There is a great supply of prayer. Maybe if there was less of a supply, there would be a greater demand. When something is once a month, that is important. We make a big deal about it and say it standing. But let us take the excitement of the once a month, and use that every day. That is not so easy. The next Birkat Levana is coming up soon, and we appreciate it. We wonder if we will make it, if it will be too cloudy, and we get texts about the clear moon. We do this because it is only once a month. But we should get a text every morning saying, “It’s a beautiful day for prayer!”
We should take the once a month excitement of Birkot Levana and let it impact our every single day prayers, that we also say standing, because they are important. Have a wonderful day.