Aspaqlaria

Keeping Torah and Values in Focus

Aspaqlaria Blog

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Holidays / Teshuvah

Last in Deed, First in Intent

First have to have clear what good entails. We need to make Hashem King, to commit to bringing His Will and His Good into the world. Rather than chasing whatever seems good in the moment. Or feels good even as our heads tell us it’s a mistake.

So we much first spend Rosh haShanah internalizing what we could and should be, and creating an aspiration and desire to get there.

Only then can we realize how far we are in the here and now to that aspiration, and have a true and honest regret.

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Announcements

Widen Your Tent in The Jewish Tribune

The Jewish Tribune, “The Voice of Ango-Jewish Orthodoxy since 1962” ran an excerpt of Widen Your Tent in this week’s (10th August, 2002) issue. The excerpt includes the majority of section i.2. Here’s a...

Praying Like the Angels 0

Shabbos / Shema

Tefillah Meanings: Reflecting about the Flow from On High

For six days, we emphasize the glory of Hashem as seen through Creation.

On Shabbos, the day of rest from Creation, take a step back and watch ourselves, and how all of creation in its own way acknowledges that fact. … Which is after all the whole function of Shabbos…

Sun, Moom, Earth 0

2- Shemos / Shema

Tefillah Meanings: Who Creates Lights

The conclusion of the berakhah itself is Yotzeir, “the One Who forms the luminaries.” Forms. Right now.
…
Right now, in this very moment, Hashem is creating more light, more peace, and more opportunities for us to bring them into the world.

Never despair.

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Shema / Theology

Tefillah Meanings: Light and Dark

The Avudraham explains that Hashem created far more space and potential than He filled. It is humanity’s job to paint the rest of the canvas.

In his opinion darkness isn’t a thing, it’s the absence of light. When Hashem is borei space without filling all of it with light, He created darkness. Similarly, there is no such thing as evil….

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Shema

Tefillah Meanings: Parsing Borkhu

What is “le’olam va’ed” (forever)? The blessing we are giving Hashem, or His inherent Blesséd nature?

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Shema

Tefillah Meanings: What is a Davar Shebiqdusha?

… It would seem, therefore, that a defining feature of a Davar shebiQdushah is that it expresses the idea of making Hashem’s Holiness manifest in this world, as a part of getting to a more complete experience of Him.

In this world, we have different berakhos for major events: For good ones, “Shechiyanu” or “haTov vehaMeitiv” if many are impacted. And for ones we experience as tragic — “Dayan haEmes”. But when we get to Olam haBa, we get a clearer picture …

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Tefillah

Tefillah Meanings: Qaddish

If Chazal are the Creator’s secretaries setting the agenda for the meeting, the items in the agenda should be addressed based on what you need to actually say.

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Amidah / Shabbos / Yom Tov

Tefillah Meanings: Mitzvos and Torah

Someone working on vetahei libeinu is the person who seeks to be satisfied with His Good.

Someone who is in the midst of truly serving Hashem, avodah be’emes, is looking at what yeshu’os are still needed.

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Amidah / Shabbos

Tefillah Meanings: Good and Redemption

We aren’t asking for more Good, there isn’t more Good to be had. Here the preposition has to be -מִ, allow us to experience simchah from Your Good, good we are already getting. Make it easier for us to be makir tov, to recognize and notice the Good that we get.
… [But t]here is a profound difference between “Tuvekha — Your Good”, and “Yehu’asekha — Your deliverance”. One refers to things we can recognize as good times. The other acknowledges the experience of bad times, times we need to be delivered from.

“Shabbos” by Miriam Karp, acrylic on canvas, 16×20 0

Amidah / Shabbos

Tefillah Meanings: Shabbos of the World to Come

Shabbos is a day to stop striving, and to take stock in how far we have come, and think about what we really want to be striving for. Less time on doing, and more on being and becoming. The Shabbos we speak about at Minchah is not only the Me’ein Olam haBa, the glimpse of the World to Come, but also of the Shabbos of today as the means to get ourselves there.

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Amidah / Shabbos

Tefillah Meanings: You Are One

The first thing you may notice about the middle, Shabbos-related, berakhah of Shabbos Minchah is that the opening parallels the berakhah immediately before it….

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3- Vayiqra / Ta`amei haMitzvos

Salt and Honey

Why does every qorban have salt, but you aren’t allowed to offer anything with honey?

Salt is used to enhance existing flavors. Honey is used to change them to something sweeter.

The Light of Jewish Faith - Alex Levin 0

2- Shemos / Bitachon

Does Hashem Wear Tefillin on Shabbos?

The gemara on Berakhos 6a states something very intriguing: אָמַר רַבִּי אָבִין בַּר רַב אַדָּא, אָמַר רַבִּי יִצְחָק: מִנַּיִן שֶׁהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מַנִּיחַ תְּפִילִּין שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״נִשְׁבַּע ה׳ בִּימִינוֹ וּבִזְרוֹעַ עֻזּוֹ״. Rabbi Avin bar Rav...

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Purim

For the Jews There was Light

“לַיְּהוּדִ֕ים הָֽיְתָ֥ה אוֹרָ֖ה וְשִׂמְחָ֑ה וְשָׂשֹׂ֖ן וִיקָֽר׃
The Jews enjoyed light and joy, happiness and glory.”
The gemara explains that … Orah means Torah, Simcha is Yom Tov, Sason is Beris Milah, and Yeqar – Tefillin.

So then I had to ask: Why doesn’t the pasuq just get to the point and say, “ליהודים היתה תורה, יום טוב, מילה ותפילין”? Why use code words?

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Amidah / Shabbos

Tefillah Meanings: From Tav to Alef

But as Rav Shelomo haLevi al-Qabetz put it in Lekha Dodi, “סוֹף מַעֲשֶׂה בְּמַחֲשָׁבָה תְּחִלָּה – [Shabbos,] which was made last, was ‘Thought’ about first.” When planning, we start with the end. In the above example, if I want a ball to fall, I will first let go of it.

When we look at the sequence in ת – ש- ר- ק … – ב -א order, we are not looking at causes, but at goals. “סוֹף מַעֲשֶׂה בְּמַחֲשָׁבָה תְּחִלָּה”.

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Amidah / Shabbos

Tefillah Meanings: Moshe’s Happiness

Notice it doesn’t talk about Moshe being happy with his portion, but “with the giving of his portion.” … If I were to just do whatever Hashem made me for, my role in the running of the vast engine of creation, just as Moshe Rabbeinu fulfilled his role, I too can have the same never-ending joy.

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Amidah / Shabbos

Tefillah Meanings: You Consecrated the Seventh Day

Shabbos is in particular a day of berakhah. If properly utilized, Shabbos can get us further in our ascent up Har Hashem than other days. But only because it is also a zeman, a time, of qedushah. A repeating appointment with our destiny.

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2- Shemos

Parashas Yisro: It is no good

The Torah only uses the phrase “לֹא־טוֹב / it is not good” twice:

Once when Hashem created Adam before Chavah ….
And the other is said by Yisro in this week’s parashah, telling Moshe he is trying to do too much himself….

הקנאה-והתאוה-והכבוד מוציאין את האדם מן העולם 0

Middos / Shemoneh Esrei

Tefillah Meanings: Envy, Desire and the Pursuit of Honor

“Rabbi Elazar haKappar said: envy, desire and [the pursuit of] honor take a person out of the world.” (Avos 4:21)
According to the Vilna Gaon, this mishnah is the key to understanding the opening three lines of Elokai Netzor, each of which ask Hashem for help avoiding one of these faults.
That’s one dimension. The other is that for each kind of character flaw we ask for help in two areas: (1) not expressing the fault, and (2) not even harboring it internally.

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Uncategorized

Tefillah Meanings: My G-d!

Moving on from Shemoneh Esrei proper to Elokai Netzor, the first question is: If it’s not really part of Shemoneh Esrei, just what is Elokai Netzor? I think the prayer has more to do with what’s not in your siddur than what is.

(And why the picture of a Ramses II shooting a bow? Read the post to find out!)

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Shalom / Shemoneh Esrei

Tefillah Meanings: Great Peace

Shalom rav is the unity and wholeness of self that eliminates all obstacles from the path of the lover of Torah. Sheleimus within each heart being expressed as sheleimus within humanity as a whole.
…
And since learning this idea, I have had a warm spot for the Shalom Rav, as I didn’t see this thought in the Sim Shalom version.

Until I noticed something. There are two lists of berakhos that we ask Hashem to bestow on us in Sim Shalom

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Gratitude / Shemoneh Esrei

Tefillah Meanings: Good, Compassionate, Kind

Modim ends, “בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה’ הַטּוֹב שִׁמְךָ וּלְךָ נָאֶה לְהוֹדוֹת – … Your name is ‘The Good’, and it is pleasant to praise You.”

Yes, I believe we are saying Hashem’s name is “HaTov”, and not that His name / reputation in the world is known to be good.

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Gratitude / Shemoneh Esrei

Tefillah Meanings: Evening, Morning and Afternoon

You might have thought that the fourth “ve’al” was “for Your wonders and good things which are at all times, [meaning:] evening, morning and afternoon.” But that would be very problematic, as we would be overlooking all the miracles that happen at night. … [Instead,] we are giving the times when we praise Hashem: Shacharis, Minchah and Maariv.

Thank You Hashem 1

Gratitude / Shemoneh Esrei

Tefillah Meanings: For All That You Do

We already saw the Gra explained that we receive from Hashem in four ways. And that this also feels to me like a key part of the requests that are the heart of Shemoneh Esrei…

And so, it should be unsurprising that in Modim we thank and face our need to be dependent on Hashem for four things.

Thank You Hashem 1

Gratitude / Shemoneh Esrei

Tefillah Meanings: Thank G-d!

Of all the paths to Torah that the shevatim developed, when it came time to rebuild the Jewish People and our nature ever since, is Juda-ism — a religion in which hoda’ah is fundamental. …

And so Modim is not “only” an expression of thanks to our Creator, it is also the Jew’s central means of connecting to Him.

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Shemoneh Esrei

Tefillah Meanings: And the Fire-Offerings of Yisrael

Retzeih is old, a version of it was said by the Kohanim in the Beis HaMiqdash (Mishnah Tamid 5:1), in the oldest standardized Jewish liturgy…. It not only talks about Avodah in the Beis haMiqdash, but we are also continuing that chain. With only an insertion in the middle to make it applicable to living during Galus, we are actually saying something originally said as part of that Avodah. You could hear the generations of ancestors talking through us.

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Shemoneh Esrei

Tefillah Meanings: The Prayers of Your Nation Israel

Shema Qoleinu usually ends either
“כִּי אַתָּה שׁוֹמֵֽעַ תְּפִלַּת עַמְּ֒ךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּרַחֲמִים”…
“תְּפִלַּת כָּל־פֶּה”, or “תְּפִלַּת כָּל פֶּה עַמְּ֒ךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּרַחֲמִים”…

So there are really two which become three different ways of seeing what the berakhah is about: …
Between classic Ashkenaz and the Chassidic Sfard, there is a second split….

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Daily

Tefillah Meanings: Exists Through His Word, part II

The berakhah of Shehakol is a Chiasm, a symmetric layout of topics. The focus is Hashem as Master of that which He created. We may eat this meat, or enjoy this morning coffee, but we do so knowing that Hashem provided it to us for a single Ultimate Purpose.

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1- Bereishis / Shabbos

Tefillah Meanings: Like a Date Palm

“צַ֭דִּיק כַּתָּמָ֣ר יִפְרָ֑, כְּאֶ֖רֶז בַּלְּבָנֹ֣ון יִשְׂגֶּֽה׃ – A righteous person blooms like a date-palm,he thrives lie a cedar in Lebanon.” … So to me, while davening, this verse means to me (and again, I am not claiming this is the author intended):A tzadiq blossoms like a tamar – a tall tree but like Tamar the tzadiq puts the other one first. His focus is not on his own greatness, but on others.He thrives like a cedar in Lebanon – once one defines oneself by their place in connection to others, can one thrive strong and proud like a cedar.

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1- Bereishis / Ashrei / Daily

Tefillah Meanings: Your Kingdom

What is the difference between malkhus (kingship) and memshalah (rule)? [This question adds meaning to three different lines in the siddur.]
… And so, we return to our original line from Ashrei: “מַֽלְכוּתְךָ֗ מַלְכ֥וּת כׇּל־עֹלָמִ֑ים, וּ֝מֶֽמְשַׁלְתְּךָ֗ בְּכׇל־דּ֥וֹר וָדֹֽר׃”
Malkhus is truly eternal. Memshalah will only last from generation to generation, through the course of history until its culmination. When all people will serve Hashem, will work together bring His Plan to reality.

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Daily

Exists Through His Word

“Shehakol nihyeh bidvaro”, this meat, egg, or candy I am about to eat, or juice I am getting ready to drink, they exist because Hashem is still “Saying” them.

Praying for the Shofar 0

Amidah / Shemoneh Esrei

Tefillah Meanings: The Great Shofar

Why do we describe Hashem’s ingathering of the exiles as a “Great Shofar”? … In this berakhah we ask Hashem to give us the wake-up call, the opportunity and the inspiration to return to our homes. Not to force us to come.

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Amidah / Shemoneh Esrei

Destroying Evil

The next berakhah I found a relationship to requires skipping ahead to “VelaMalshinim… — And for the informers, let there be no hope”.
… It also fits the Sanhedrin’s intent of asking Shemu’el haQatan to compose this berakhah. We aren’t praying for people to “get theirs”, although much of the berakhah acknowledges that this may be necessary. What we are praying for is for the world to be a better place. Hopefully that could happen through the wicked changing their ways.

Emile Levy Abraham lavant les pieds aux trois anges 0

Anavah

Practicing Tzimtzum

Rav Yosef Ber Soloveitchik zt”l describes two mitzvos as emulating Tzimtzum: … The physical emulation of Tzimtzum is the mitzvah of Hachnasas Orechim… The Middah of Anavah is an internal emulation of Tzimtzum…. We need to emulate Tzimtzum. Not just to constrict ourselves, but to make room within ourselves for the other. We need to constrict our attention to the “atzmi”, the “self” in the limited sense inhabiting this body, to grow an “I” (as Rav Shimon Shkop puts it), that is a network of relationship to other people, to Hashem, and to the world around us. To make a place where we can connect…

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Shemoneh Esrei

Tefillah Meanings: Years

Birkhas haShanim … an interesting structure. The thesis appears to be about prosperity … But why does it begin and end talking about time…? It is a berakhah that we earn that wealth. And in a way that displays honesty and integrity and provides a service to others. So that we have the wealth in the here-and-now and the growth that will get us greater happiness in the World to Come.

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1- Bereishis / Birkhas haMazon / Chessed

Tefillah Meanings: Everything

A wealthy person is one who realized they have enough, exactly what Hashem deems they need to accomplish what they’re supposed to in life.

But to have everything is to be in a position where one can give to others.

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Birkhas haMazon

Tefillah Meanings: Beris and Torah

In Orach Chaim 186:1, the Arukh haShulchan discusses whether in Birkhas haMazon women should say “וְעַל בְּרִיתְ֒ךָ שֶׁחָתַֽמְתָּ בִּבְשָׂרֵֽנוּ וְעַל תּוֹרָתְ֒ךָ שֶׁלִּמַּדְתָּֽנוּ – for Your covenant which You sealed in our flesh; for Your Torah which You taught us;”…

The Jewish People are subject to two covenants with Hashem: Beris Avos, and Beris Sinai. That is what this line is referring to — the Beris seals in our flesh is Beris Avos, and the Torah is part of Beris Sinai. While women aren’t obligated in either Milah or Torah study, they are members of both covenants.