P’sukei D’zimra ; Our Arsenal from Dovid Hamelech[1];
מַגִּיד דברו [דְּבָרָיו] לְיַעֲקֹב חֻקָּיו וּמִשְׁפָּטָיו לְיִשְׂרָאֵל
He issues His Word to Yaakov and His Statutes and Laws to Yisrael[2]
I was taught that P’esukei D’zimra offers us the opportunity to cleanse the air so to speak from evil, falsehoods; a recalibration machine.[1] After reading the news at this time and seeing what I experience as pollution being spread, I thought it is most appropriate to focus on the words of P’sukei D’zimra for clarity to be maintained without falling into the traps of the enemy.
I was also taught that we need to know what the evils are and study our enemy in order to actively find ways to use it as a tool of revealing Hashem’s Unity. Part of doing so is to find ways to destroy it until it has no power. May this work serve to release/ and complete redemption of our hostages and for the revelation of Hashem’s Unity in the world; a world of Mashiach without delay.
I would like to focus on the commentaries, reliable truths offered by Chazal and particularly the guidance of the Alshich and Ibn Ezra to give us strength, clarity, perspective and direction.
I saw this example of evil being propagated right now as shown below:
“Under Palestinian Authority law, every terrorist who is killed attacking Israel is defined as a “Martyr” whose family is immediately rewarded by the PA with a 6,000 shekels ($1,511) grant and a 1,400 ($353) per month allowance for life.
“This means each family of the 1,500 dead Hamas terrorists who invaded Israel will receive 7,400 shekels for this first month. Families of those terrorists who were married and had children will receive even more. The PA will pay at least 11,100,000 shekels ($2,789,430) this month as a reward for participating in last week’s murders and atrocities against Israeli civilians.”[3]
If we turn to the Alshich, and Ibn Ezra, perhaps we can gain ways to respond constructively to such evil. The Alshich teaches that when we say מַגִּיד דברו [דְּבָרָיו] לְיַעֲקֹב חֻקָּיו וּמִשְׁפָּטָיו לְיִשְׂרָאֵל, it is an expression of Shevach (continuous praise) to our Master, the Melech Hakadosh, our Elokeinu, Who chose us to tell us His Words, and He did not give this to others.
Not only did he not give His precious words of Torah to others, but He actually deterred Yishmael to not accept His Word. He told Yishmael about not stealing to impede him from accepting Hashem’s Tov; Torah.
In this verse we praise Hashem for giving us a bracha of Life, and Sustenance and Freedom offered by accepting Hashem’s Malchus, serving Him through His Torah and Mitzvos He gave us.
Hashem’s Words contain a DIVINE PROMISE from Hashem. He promised Yaakov “ He will never leave us, and has a special love for us and demonstrated by giving us His Torah. [4]”
It seems to me that the Alshich says that we have to recognize that the evil done by our enemies is actually bad for them. It seems as if the evil perpetrated ultimately destroys them, and we must recognize they have no access to the Words of Hashem, and the special love Hashem has for us. This evil they do is part of their punishment, they are blocking themselves from a life of truth, of good, of serving Hashem.
The Ibn Ezra explains that the words Hashem gives us are His Mitzvos. It is our Mitzvos that actually give sustenance to all the world. Meaning, Hashem empowered US through His Mitzvos He ONLY gave us.
This idea of the Ibn Ezra actually reminds us that Hashem gave US the power through our Mitzvos. The world would not exist without us. Hashem gives us the power through our relationship with Hashem, by doing Mitzvos Lishma (with love) to provide sustenance to the world. This means that it is not the physical weapons, or countries that can help us in itself. (Hashem has many messengers of His Tov at His dispensal) .
May we be zoche to strengthen our mitzvos, to expedite the release of our hostages, to expedite Mashiach, a world of Hashem revealed as THE ONLY POWER biezras Hashem.
[1] It occurred to me that the words of Dovid Hamelech are actually a way to access a world of Mashiach, a world in which Hashem’s Unity is revealed biezras Hashem; as we say: Mashiach Ben David
[2] Tehillim 147:19
[3] https://palwatch.org/page/34650
[4] Alshich on Tehillim 147:19
[1] Class taught by Harav Simcha L Weinberg, neiro yair
hindy
Michal
intomeaning
Neil Wernick