Explanations of the Prayer - Hodu - Part 10

00:01 Speaker 1 One who hardens his heart says: “Hashem, do not withhold Your mercy from me.” We ask Hakadosh Boruch Hu not to close it off. “Withhold” comes from the word for closing, for shutting something in, like a prison. A cell, yes, a place where people are shut in. So “do not withhold” means that He should not close it off. How do we translate it here? Yes, Ratner. Yes, to hold back. Hakadosh Boruch Hu should not hold back—should not close off—His mercy, “Your mercy from me.” In other words, He should not limit the mercy shown to me. “Your kindness and Your truth will always protect me.” The kindness and truth of Hakadosh Boruch Hu always protect me. What are kindness and truth? On one hand, there is kindness: Hakadosh Boruch Hu acts kindly toward all created beings. Then there is truth. Truth is an aspect of mercy. There is the attribute of kindness, which gives to everyone. Then there is the attribute of mercy: even where the attribute of judgment comes in and begins to say that a person does not deserve it, there is compassion. Even if he does not deserve it, Hashem will still protect him. These are the two aspects of kindness and truth—both the attribute of kindness and the attribute of mercy. So we ask that these be what protect me. That the attribute of judgment should not prosecute, that there should be no accusations. We discussed in the previous class that at the time of prayer there are various accusations that need to be nullified. “Remember Your mercy.” There is another explanation given in Chassidus of truth, of the idea of truth. It is like what we say every night in the bedtime Shema: “Into Your hand I entrust my spirit; You have redeemed me, Hashem, G-d of truth.” What does “G-d of truth” mean? Truth means that He sees a matter not just on the outside but in its inner dimension. That is the idea of truth. He goes into—He does not

02:06 Speaker 1 look only at a person’s outward conduct and how it appears. Rather, through His attribute of truth, He penetrates to the inner reality of things: what the situation truly is, the root and cause of the matter. Sometimes a person behaves badly, but there may be all kinds of circumstances that brought him to it. Hakadosh Boruch Hu examines the truth. He is not like a judge, of whom it is said, “A judge has only what his eyes see.” The judge rules according to what he sees. Hakadosh Boruch Hu also sees all kinds of circumstances that are not visible from the outside, what brought a person to all sorts of things. That is why the idea of truth is emphasized. From the standpoint of truth, even if it appears that I behaved badly, Hakadosh Boruch Hu knows the truth: a person’s weakness, his yetzer hara, all his limitations, all the circumstances that brought him there. So Hakadosh Boruch Hu takes everything into account in showing compassion to a person. That is why it says, “Remember Your mercy, Hashem, and Your kindness.” These are all verses about mercy. Yes, the attributes, the way He relates to us. We ask Hakadosh Boruch Hu to remember His mercy and kindness—the attribute of mercy and the attribute of kindness. “For they are from of old.” The plain meaning of “for they are from of old” is that the attributes of mercy and kindness are eternal, since Hakadosh Boruch Hu has no limitations. His kindness and mercy have no limitations; “they are from of old” expresses eternity. Therefore, we ask Hakadosh Boruch Hu always to remember them. Chassidim explain it differently. Chassidim explain that “of old” here is connected to olam, the world. The plain meaning is that they have existed since time immemorial. The kindness and mercy of Hakadosh Boruch Hu have been there from the beginning of creation, always. Chassidim

03:58 Speaker 1 explain “for they are from of old” as referring to the world. “Remember Your mercy, Hashem, and Your kindness, for they are from of old.” The attributes of mercy and kindness are bound up with the world. They are what relate to the world. The whole foundation of the world is kindness and mercy. As it says of creation, “The world is built through kindness”: the entire creation of the world came from the attribute of kindness. The Midrash says that when Hakadosh Boruch Hu created the world, there was a dispute over whether or not to create it. Only the attribute of kindness said to create it. Even though human beings would lie and do all kinds of bad things, they should nevertheless be created. So kindness is the foundation of creation. That is why we say kindness underlies all the days, all the attributes through which Hakadosh Boruch Hu created the world. Everything rests on the attribute of kindness. Thus it says, “Remember Your mercy and Your kindness, for they are from of old.” Mercy and kindness, these attributes, are connected with the world. Hakadosh Boruch Hu Himself is beyond the category of attributes. As we say, “He is not defined by any of these attributes at all.” He is beyond all attributes and any relationship to a created being; He is entirely apart from the world. From that standpoint, the world does not occupy any place in His regard. We want Hakadosh Boruch Hu to relate to us, and so we say, “Remember Your mercy and Your kindness.” We need to call forth and awaken the attributes of kindness and mercy, “for they are from of old”—because the world needs these attributes in order to exist. After that it says, “Give strength to Elokim; His majesty is over Israel, and His strength is in the heavens.” “Give strength to Elokim”—we need to give strength to Elokim. On the simple level,

05:52 Speaker 1 it means that we, as it were, strengthen Him. We praise Hakadosh Boruch Hu, attributing strength and might to Him. “His majesty is over Israel, and His strength is in the heavens”: the glory of Hakadosh Boruch Hu is associated with the Jewish people. We are the ones who can praise Him, while His strength is in the higher worlds. This whole verse is explained here in a wonderful way, based on the Midrashim: a Jew has the power to bring strength into the name Elokim. Now, “Give strength to Elokim.” The name Elokim is the name associated with the attribute of judgment, with contraction. About this it says, “Give strength to Elokim”: we give strength and power to the name Elokim. Through his avodah, a Jew adds strength to the name Elokim; he adds power and vitality within the attribute of contraction. In simple terms, he transforms contraction into kindness and darkness into light. That is the meaning when a Jew—the name Elokim. It is like what is written: when a Jew fulfills Hashem’s will, he adds strength to the heavenly court. Through his avodah, a Jew has the power to add strength to the heavenly court. A Jew has the power to have an effect not only in this world, but even in G-dliness. He can add something even in the higher worlds and in G-dliness. He gives strength to Elokim. This is the idea written in this book, concerning the mitzvos and Hashem’s attribute. A Jew brings about an increase: “And now, may the power of Hashem be magnified,” for a Jew adds strength to the name Elokim. “His majesty and His strength are over Israel”—because His majesty and strength are over Israel. In other words, all the glory of Hakadosh Boruch Hu is the Jewish people, all His greatness. Through the Jewish people and their avodah, we bring about exaltation, an ascent

07:50 Speaker 1 in the name Elokim. “And His strength is in the heavens”—the strength of Hakadosh Boruch Hu is in the higher worlds. But who adds that strength? The avodah of the Jewish people. Through our prayer and our avodah, we can bring about this greatness. A Jew has the power to influence the Master of the Universe.

08:20 Speaker 2 But that does not come close; that is not the point.

08:21 Speaker 1 They come to Elokim, connecting through the tzaddikim. At the end of that Shabbos song.

08:26 Speaker 2 Yes, the Shabbos one.