Description: Rinah 07
She’arim BiTefillah
Rinah 07
The pasuk in Eichah says, ‘kumi roni balaylah lirosh ashmuros, shifchi kamayim libaich nochach pnei Hashem.’ Get up and sing at night at the beginning of the watches, pour out your heart like water in front of the face of Hashem. This pasuk is a heartfelt call to everyone to pour out their hearts about the chorban, Yirmiyahu Hanavi is advising us of the most opportune time and method to reach Hashem. But he says to ‘sing’! Roni! This means rinah which is saying praise of Hashem, which is done from joy. How can this possibly be the way to daven when we are in such a sad and despondent state, after the chorban and all the destruction and death that came with it, as Yirmiyahu Hanavi describes in full detail in Eichah? Shouldn’t the better word be, kumi bochi balaylah, get up and cry into the night?
But the truth is that the best method to approach a time of great darkness, when there is hester panim, Hashem seems to be hiding His face from us, and we are suffering and in pain, is to try to approach Hashem with joy and praise. If we turn to Hashem with a joyous countenance, realizing our good fortune to be able to daven to Hashem and praise Him and recognize Him in this world, Hashem will turn to us and shine His countenance upon us, as Rav Chaim Volzhiner explained to us, Hashem tzilechah al yad yeminechah, just as we turn to Hashem, Hashem turns to us, like our shade mimics us. This causes the gates of mercy and brachah to be opened and showered upon us.
It’s an important and foundational rule, that the Shechinah only rests upon us when we are b’simchah, ain haShechinah shoreh elah mitoch simchah, and wherever the Shechinah Hakedoshah rests, it brings along with it brachah. Conversely, we find Chazal say, basar anyah azil anyusah, poverty follows the poor, which means that one who is sad and despondent, metaphorically ‘poor’, will suffer from more poverty, meaning he will lack the presence of the Shechinah and will remain stuck in his sadness.
Interestingly, we know that in Adar there is good mazal, and Chazal say that if one has a court case with a non-Jew he should push it off until Adar, when our mazal is at its best. The Maharal explains that this is a direct result of ‘mishenechnas Adar marbim b’simchah,’ since we are more joyous and b’simchah during the month of Adar, therefore we are blessed with greater mazal and brachah – it’s a direct correlation to our level of simchah!
This is in truth an amazing segulah, that whenever we are beset with a tzarah, a dark and difficult situation, we should take time to contemplate all that Hashem does for us. No matter how bad our situation is, there is still so much to think about what Hashem does for us as the Mesilas Yesharim explains, if someone is rich he can be thankful for his wealth, if someone is poor, he certainly sees how Hashem finds ways to provide for him despite his poverty, if someone is healthy he should be thankful for his health, and if he is unfortunately sick, he should be thankful for the treatment and help that Hashem makes available to him. If we do this, and continue to think about it until it brings us to a level where we want to say shirah, to sing praises to Hashem, although this is difficult – it is the divine prophetic advice of Yirmiyahu Hanavi! When in great suffering – kumi roni balaylah!
She’arim BiTefillah
Rinah 07
The pasuk in Eichah says, ‘kumi roni balaylah lirosh ashmuros, shifchi kamayim libaich nochach pnei Hashem.’ Get up and sing at night at the beginning of the watches, pour out your heart like water in front of the face of Hashem. This pasuk is a heartfelt call to everyone to pour out their hearts about the chorban, Yirmiyahu Hanavi is advising us of the most opportune time and method to reach Hashem. But he says to ‘sing’! Roni! This means rinah which is saying praise of Hashem, which is done from joy. How can this possibly be the way to daven when we are in such a sad and despondent state, after the chorban and all the destruction and death that came with it, as Yirmiyahu Hanavi describes in full detail in Eichah? Shouldn’t the better word be, kumi bochi balaylah, get up and cry into the night?
But the truth is that the best method to approach a time of great darkness, when there is hester panim, Hashem seems to be hiding His face from us, and we are suffering and in pain, is to try to approach Hashem with joy and praise. If we turn to Hashem with a joyous countenance, realizing our good fortune to be able to daven to Hashem and praise Him and recognize Him in this world, Hashem will turn to us and shine His countenance upon us, as Rav Chaim Volzhiner explained to us, Hashem tzilechah al yad yeminechah, just as we turn to Hashem, Hashem turns to us, like our shade mimics us. This causes the gates of mercy and brachah to be opened and showered upon us.
It’s an important and foundational rule, that the Shechinah only rests upon us when we are b’simchah, ain haShechinah shoreh elah mitoch simchah, and wherever the Shechinah Hakedoshah rests, it brings along with it brachah. Conversely, we find Chazal say, basar anyah azil anyusah, poverty follows the poor, which means that one who is sad and despondent, metaphorically ‘poor’, will suffer from more poverty, meaning he will lack the presence of the Shechinah and will remain stuck in his sadness.
Interestingly, we know that in Adar there is good mazal, and Chazal say that if one has a court case with a non-Jew he should push it off until Adar, when our mazal is at its best. The Maharal explains that this is a direct result of ‘mishenechnas Adar marbim b’simchah,’ since we are more joyous and b’simchah during the month of Adar, therefore we are blessed with greater mazal and brachah – it’s a direct correlation to our level of simchah!
This is in truth an amazing segulah, that whenever we are beset with a tzarah, a dark and difficult situation, we should take time to contemplate all that Hashem does for us. No matter how bad our situation is, there is still so much to think about what Hashem does for us as the Mesilas Yesharim explains, if someone is rich he can be thankful for his wealth, if someone is poor, he certainly sees how Hashem finds ways to provide for him despite his poverty, if someone is healthy he should be thankful for his health, and if he is unfortunately sick, he should be thankful for the treatment and help that Hashem makes available to him. If we do this, and continue to think about it until it brings us to a level where we want to say shirah, to sing praises to Hashem, although this is difficult – it is the divine prophetic advice of Yirmiyahu Hanavi! When in great suffering – kumi roni balaylah!