This Shabbat is the 15th of Av, of which it is said, Shabbat Nachamu- Shabbat of Consolation
The Chatam Sofer says that we refer to the month of Av as Menachem Av The One that will give us comfort in Av, and says that Av is actually comprised of two months- the first half is called Av, and from the 15th on is called Menachem- the 15th is the turning point. Av, in Hebrew is spelled אב - The Aleph stands for ארור- cursed, and the Bet stands for ברוך blessing.
When Shabbat Nachamu and טו באב - the 15th of Av, coincide, they both have the same significance- the turnaround.
We read parashat VaEtchanan, which talks about Moshe Rabbenu’s prayers, and the power of tefila to turn things around. Even when it looked like the prayers were not answered, Moshe Rabbenu’s prayers impacted things. Whatever he looked at was uplifted. The only reason his prayers were not answered is because Hashem commanded him to stop praying. If he had prayed one more time, his prayers would have been answered.
For us, it is a lesson that sometimes all we need is one more prayer, especially after the three weeks are over. It says in Eicha, that during the time of the churban/destruction
“Even when I called out, my prayers have been blocked”
That blockage has been removed, and now we are ready to pray as we start the post-Av, Menachem season.
We will discuss a short tefila thought, but first, a dvar torah about Sinat Hinam/baseless hatred, which is described as a sin worse than murder.
Rav Yehezkel Levenstein asks how it can be that baseless hatred is worse than murder?! He explains that murder is a one-time act. A person got upset and murdered somebody. But when a person has baseless hatred, that is a middah/ a character trait, a Middah becomes your essence; It becomes who you are. That is much worse. If a person eats some thing unkosher, that is a one time event, it is not who he is.
On the positive end, we have to become people of Bitachon. That means that Bitachon and tefilla should become our essence.
Rav Wolbe once said, in the name of the Baalei Mussar, that the Gemara in the beginning of Masechet Bava Kama talks about damages to a מבעה-Mab’eh, a human being- why is a person referred to this way? Because בעו means “to ask” in Aramaic, and a pasuk is quoted where the Jewish people are asking for the redemption. So man gets the title Mab’eh .
Prayer is not something that he does, prayer is something that he is.
The 515 tefilot of Moshe Rabbenu were what he was- his essence.
There is a pasuk in tehilim that says ואני תפילה
I am Tefila/Prayee
It doesn’t say, “I pray,” but rather, “I am prayer.” Because that was David HaMelech’s essence.
Someone recently reminded me of a mashal. If you throw a ball at a person, he has an immediate reflex to block it. That is an instinct. Tefila and Bitachon have to become instincts. It has to be an automatic go- to for any problem that we have.
That’s why, Lehavdil, Sinat Hinam/baseless hatred is so dangerous. The Chafetz Chaim calls it a “heart disease.”
And, according to the Gaon of Vilna, the way that we fix the heart disease of baseless hatred is with bitachon, because Sinat hinam comes from a lack of bitachon. If I relied on Hashem, and realized that he was in charge, I couldn’t hate anybody.
If you trip on the sidewalk, do you get upset at the sidewalk? Or the person who’s house is in front of that sidewalk? What if it was in front of your house? Now what? Who do you get upset at?
You tripped. What does that have to do with anyone? Everyone is a sidewalk. They are a bump in the sidewalk.
The way we cure the heart disease of Sinat Hinam is with the heart cure of Bitachon. But it has to be real- in the heart. That’s why we need Tefila.
Rav Wolbe said in the name of the Baalei Musar that aside from Tefila being a way for us to get what we want, or need, it is also a training ground on Bitachon.
He says that in reality, prayer shouldn’t need to work. It is just there in order to bring out a feeling of connection to a Hashem. But we need an incentive, so Hashem makes tefila work. But Tefila is called back- It is a heart exercise. This is very, very important. Everyone knows that you need cardiovascular exercise. People like to like taking a brisk walk but you have to get your heart pumping. People today have all kinds of gadgets that you can wear to figure out your heart rate.
An average heart rate is between 50- 100 bpm at rest, but when you are running, it gets higher, depending on your age.
There is a formula for figuring out a person’s maximum heart rate, and ideally your heart should be about 80% of that when running. That range is considered a good heart workout. If you’re just doing some stretches or calisthenics, that is not a cardiovascular workout.
So too, Tefila has to be Avodah Shebelev-a work of the heart.
Imagine having a gadget that could read out that your heart hit 140 while you were praying.
When you take a nice walk and your heart rate goes to 85, that might be nice for Shalom Bayit, but it doesn’t do anything for your heart rate.
Likewise, Tefila has to be work of the heart. If you want to fix Sinat hinam, it takes work in the heart.
What does it mean that it’s b’lev?
(Thank you, again to Rabbi Ebstein for sharing this)
כי בהתפלל המתפלל צריך לכוין דעתו ולגמור בלבו שמאיתו יתברך ההצלחה והרחמים והוא שליט בכל ולא ימנענו דבר והוא לבדו המספיק כל הצרכים שהוא האדון יתברך לבדו והכל עבדיו “
You have to focus and make strong in your heart that my success and mercy is from God, and He controls all. Nothing stops Him and He alone gives me all my needs. He is the only Master, and everyone is His servant.
That is a good heart work out Avodat SheBelev.
That is what we need to do. That was Moshe Rabbenu. That is Ani Tefila. And that is our job.
Have a wonderful day and a
Shabbat shalom.