Three Steps to Vanquish Evil through Prayer

The Ramchal teaches in Derech Etz Hachaim, that it is the breath of the mouths of babies that do away with the different forms of evil, both internally and externally to ultimately cut off the feet of evil.

When we serve Hashem with the purity, and excitement of a baby, without having destructive energies in the mix, it creates this pure energy that gives existence to the world, strengthens Torah and Hashem’s Illumination and destroys evil.

The idea of the “baby” is the ability to go back to the moment of purity, when the angel taught us Torah in the womb; no sin attached. ^[1]

I had a thought about the three steps we take, going backwards first and then forward into the Shemoneh Esrei prayer.

We know there is a requirement to connect prayer with redemption.  Right after we make the blessing of redemption, we daven Shmone Esrei.

However, we don’t begin with the eighteen blessings right away.  We actually start with these Words: , My Master [The One Who Empowers me to master myself], Open my lips, and my mouth will tell Your praises.

We are taught that Dovid Hamelech used this prayer as his approach to do Teshuva after the sin of Batsheva when sacrifices would not help. (Magen Avos, 1:2)

We can  use the three steps backward, to act out our desire to serve Hashem as pure as we were in the womb so to speak, learning Torah with an angel.

We can then take the three steps forward with the “Mouth” that is pure, without the ‘death mixed in our words, כֹּחִי וְעֹצֶם יָדִי עָשָׂה לִי אֶת־הַחַיִל הַזֶּה.  It is with this special breath we can then say activate all the promises of the breath of a child and now daven in a way that gives existence to all the world, and does away with evil; וּפִי יַגִּיד תְּהִלָּתֶךָ; for a World redeemed, and Unified.

 

May we all use our power of our baby breath to overpower the evil, for the Revelation of Hashem’s Unity without delay.

 

 

 

 

 

^[1] Based on Rabbi Simcha L Weinber’s class on Derech Etz Hachaim