Description: Rinah 08
She’arim BiTefillah
Rinah 08
The Medrash explains the pasuk in Tehillim, ‘Mi’mizrach shemesh ad mevo’oh, mehulal shem Hashem,’ from the time that the sun shines until it sets, it is constantly singing praise to Hashem. The medrash continues, this is what we find by Yehoshuah, when he wanted to stop the sun midday, so that the day would become longer and he would be able to complete the war against the kings by the night, he didn’t command the sun, ‘shemesh bi’givon amod,’ Sun, in Givon, stop! Rather he said, ‘Shemesh bi’Givon dom,’ Sun, in Givon, be quiet! He commanded the sun to stop saying praise to Hashem – to stop singing shirah. The sun can only make its course across the sky, from sunrise to sunset – if it is saying shirah – singing praise to Hashem. The moment it stops singing – it stops moving!
The whole power the sun has is bound to its singing of praise to Hashem. This is not limited to the sun. All the heavenly creations – all the Malachim in Heaven, and all the creatures of this world, get their power and strength only through the shiros and tishbachos that they say and sing – only through the praise of Hashem do they have chiyus – life. When they sing praise, they connect to Hashem – the source of all life. The pasuk in Tehillim says, ‘Hallelu es Hashem min hashamayim, haleluhu ba’meromim.’ Meaning, praise Hashem from Heaven, and praise Hashem from on high. All the heavenly creations need to praise Hashem to survive. But not just them! Ha’aretz v’chol tzva’am, bachurim vi’gam besulos, zekainim im ne’arim yihallelu shem Hashem! People, every single age and stage, have to praise Hashem in order to obtain life. Shirah is the fountain of life. As much as we are connected to it, we thrive, if we are disconnected, we lose our connection to the root and life source!
If we examine the Medrash known as Perek Shirah, we see that every single creature has a unique pasuk which sums up it’s shirah, its form of praise to Hashem. Every creature is different, looks different, has different characteristics, different abilities and understanding. Each one is unique, and therefore has a unique form of praise. We as humans as well, each one of us is unique, none of us resemble the other. There are seven billion different thumb prints in the world, as well as many other unique physical markers. There are that many different minds and hearts, and each one has its own form of shirah and praise to sing to Hashem.
Among people as well, there are smaller people and greater people. People who spend their lives mostly in the physical world, aren’t religious, don’t have as much praise to say as those who keep Torah and Mitzvos. People who are observant are great people, they encompass so much more. Tzaddikim and talmidei chachamim are even greater. The greater a person is, the more shirah and praise he has to sing and say to Hashem! Just as a big person eats more than a small child, likewise, a great spiritual person has to get more life – to connect more to the source of their lives – through praising and singing shirah to Hashem.
Big tzaddikim would spend time praising Hashem, and saying Tehillim for this purpose. Dovid Hamelech himself spent the first half of the night learning and the second half of the night composing shiros v’tishbachos – praises and songs – which we now have as sefer Tehillim. Tehillim is an awesome collection of every possible shirah that can be sung to Hashem – there’s something there for everyone!
We say this in Shabbos davening – nishmas kol chai, in the end we say, shekain chovas kol hayetzurim, lifonechah Hashem Elokainu, lehodos lehallail v’lishabeach, al kol shiros Dovid ben Yishai, avdechah mishichechah.
She’arim BiTefillah
Rinah 08
The Medrash explains the pasuk in Tehillim, ‘Mi’mizrach shemesh ad mevo’oh, mehulal shem Hashem,’ from the time that the sun shines until it sets, it is constantly singing praise to Hashem. The medrash continues, this is what we find by Yehoshuah, when he wanted to stop the sun midday, so that the day would become longer and he would be able to complete the war against the kings by the night, he didn’t command the sun, ‘shemesh bi’givon amod,’ Sun, in Givon, stop! Rather he said, ‘Shemesh bi’Givon dom,’ Sun, in Givon, be quiet! He commanded the sun to stop saying praise to Hashem – to stop singing shirah. The sun can only make its course across the sky, from sunrise to sunset – if it is saying shirah – singing praise to Hashem. The moment it stops singing – it stops moving!
The whole power the sun has is bound to its singing of praise to Hashem. This is not limited to the sun. All the heavenly creations – all the Malachim in Heaven, and all the creatures of this world, get their power and strength only through the shiros and tishbachos that they say and sing – only through the praise of Hashem do they have chiyus – life. When they sing praise, they connect to Hashem – the source of all life. The pasuk in Tehillim says, ‘Hallelu es Hashem min hashamayim, haleluhu ba’meromim.’ Meaning, praise Hashem from Heaven, and praise Hashem from on high. All the heavenly creations need to praise Hashem to survive. But not just them! Ha’aretz v’chol tzva’am, bachurim vi’gam besulos, zekainim im ne’arim yihallelu shem Hashem! People, every single age and stage, have to praise Hashem in order to obtain life. Shirah is the fountain of life. As much as we are connected to it, we thrive, if we are disconnected, we lose our connection to the root and life source!
If we examine the Medrash known as Perek Shirah, we see that every single creature has a unique pasuk which sums up it’s shirah, its form of praise to Hashem. Every creature is different, looks different, has different characteristics, different abilities and understanding. Each one is unique, and therefore has a unique form of praise. We as humans as well, each one of us is unique, none of us resemble the other. There are seven billion different thumb prints in the world, as well as many other unique physical markers. There are that many different minds and hearts, and each one has its own form of shirah and praise to sing to Hashem.
Among people as well, there are smaller people and greater people. People who spend their lives mostly in the physical world, aren’t religious, don’t have as much praise to say as those who keep Torah and Mitzvos. People who are observant are great people, they encompass so much more. Tzaddikim and talmidei chachamim are even greater. The greater a person is, the more shirah and praise he has to sing and say to Hashem! Just as a big person eats more than a small child, likewise, a great spiritual person has to get more life – to connect more to the source of their lives – through praising and singing shirah to Hashem.
Big tzaddikim would spend time praising Hashem, and saying Tehillim for this purpose. Dovid Hamelech himself spent the first half of the night learning and the second half of the night composing shiros v’tishbachos – praises and songs – which we now have as sefer Tehillim. Tehillim is an awesome collection of every possible shirah that can be sung to Hashem – there’s something there for everyone!
We say this in Shabbos davening – nishmas kol chai, in the end we say, shekain chovas kol hayetzurim, lifonechah Hashem Elokainu, lehodos lehallail v’lishabeach, al kol shiros Dovid ben Yishai, avdechah mishichechah.