Tehillim 119:12

Tehillim 119:12
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְהוָה לַמְּדֵנִי חֻקֶּיךָ
Baruch atah HASHEM lamdeni chukeicha
Blessed are You, HASHEM; teach me Your statutes.

"Blessed are You, HaShem," You who are the source of blessings, influences and wisdoms.  "Teach me Your statutes." For these statutes are hidden from our intellect and it is not within our own power to know them completely.

Thus, on the one hand, David pleads for an abundant flow from G-d.  On the other hand he acclaims G-d as the source of blessing.

Chazal (our Sages) infer from here that a blessing must be recited before and after every reading in the Torah.  The need for a prefatory blessing is conveyed by, "Blessed are You, HaShem; teach me Your statutes."  The need for a concluding blessing is conveyed by "And this is th blessing by which Moshe the man of G-d blessed" (Devarim 33:1).  After he recited the Haazinu hymn (ibid. 32), he recited a blessing.


BRACHA LEVATALAH -  (a blessing made in vain)

The Rosh (Berakhot 6:20; see also Shulchan Aruch) writes that if one began unnecessarily saying a blessing, but stopped before saying “Elokeinu Melech Ha-Olam” (our G-d, King of the Universe), he should continue “lamdeini chukekha” (teach me Your statutes), thus completing a verse (Tehillim 119:12). He is then considered to have merely read a Biblical verse.

Furthermore, if one realizes that he has begun reciting an unnecessary blessing before completing the word “Elokeinu” (our G-d), he may continue the verse “Elokei Yisrael avinu mei-olam ve-ad olam” (G-d of Yisrael, our Father, forever and ever) (Tzelach, Berakhot 39b; Kitzur Shulchan Arukh 6:4), thus completing a Biblical verse (Divrei HaYamim Alef 29:10). The Chayei Adam (5:1) adds that in this case, one should still conclude with “baruch shem kavod.


For clarification:

If you just said "Baruch" or "Baruch Atah" (Blessed or Blessed are You) - just stop there.

If you said "Baruch Atah HaShem" - then you finish with the words "Lamdeini Chukeicha." (Teach me Your statutes. - Tehillim 119:12)

If you started to say  "Elokei" and didn't finish the entire words (Elokeinu) - then you finish with "Elokei Yisrael Avinu me-olam ve-ad olam." (G-d  of Yisrael, our Father, forever and ever. - Divrei HaYamim Alef 29:10)

If you said the word "Elokeinu" - then finish with "Atah anitam, Kel nose' hayitah lahem ve-nokem al alilotam" (You answered them; a forgiving G-d were You to them; but an avenger of their misdeeds. - Tehillim 99:8)

If you said beyond the word "Elokeinu" - then say, "Baruch Shem Kevod Malchuto L'Olam Va'ed" (Blessed is the Name of His glorious Kingdom for all eternity. - based on Nechemya 9:5)  This is also said any time the Name of G-d is said in vain. (Yerushalmi Brachot 43b; Orach Chayim 206:6)

Tehillim 119:11
Tehillim 119:10
Tehillim 119:9
Tehillim 119:8
Tehillim 119:7
Tehillim 119:6
Tehillim 119:5
Tehillim 119:4
Tehillim 119:3
Tehillim 119:2
Tehillim 119:1


- MeAm Lo'ez

Tehillim 119:11

Tehillim 119:11                                                            
בְּלִבִּי צָפַנְתִּי אִמְרָתֶךָ לְמַעַן לֹא אֶחֱטָא לָךְ
belibi tzafanti imratecha lemaan lo echeta lach
Your word have I stored in my heart, so that I would not sin against You.

So great was my love for Your commandments (v119:10), that "I stored them in my heart, so that I would not sin against You" by forgetting to observe them.

The Torah conveys that forgetting the mitzvot results in their abrogation; as it says, "Beware that you do not forget HaShem your G-d" (Devarim 8:11).

When I studied, "Your word I stored in my heart."  I also tried to remember the ruling of halachah, "so that I would not sin against You."  If I remembered only the arguments of the discourse, I might come to commit a sin.

A subtle explanation is based on the teaching of the Sefer Charedim that the mitzvah of circumcision also includes a mitzvah pertaining to the heart.  As it says, "And you will circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it will be a sing of the covenant between Me and you" (Bereishit 17:11).  A person should recall (bring up in his heart) every day that he is a bonded servant to the King of the world, and he will not rebel against Him.  That is what David says here, "Your word have I stored in my heart."  This pertains to the commandment of circumcision, as our Sages expound concerning the verse, "I rejoice at Your word" (v119:162).  Hence "I would not sin against You."

A subtle interpretation associates these verse with a different matter.  Our Sages teach: How do we know that when a disciple who sits before his teacher discerns an argument in favor of a poor litigant, he must not keep silent? For it says, "Do not be afraid before any man" (Devarim 1:17).  It also says, however, that one who makes a ruling in Torah law in the presence of his teacher is deserving of death.  Accordingly, the Scripture on the one hand asks, "How shall a youth keep his path pure by observing Your word?" (v119:9).  On the other hand it answers: At times "with my whole heart have I sought You" (v119:10), and at times "your word have I stored in my heart, so that I would not sin."

This also teaches that certain of the hidden things of the world should be kept hidden underneath one's garments.

David attests: Whenever I found something perplexing in any Torah text, due to lack of knowledge on my part, I did not utter what could be construed as startling. Rather, "Your word I stored in my heart."  And I entreated the Almighty for help to clarify His secrets, "so that I would not sin against You" by speaking out.

The Gemara interprets King David's statement as, "I did not rule when doing so would have constituted a sin."

"I have stored."  Mere knowledge of Torah is not enough.  Its words must be meditated upon and kept in the forefront of one's mind.  Only in this way will they produce the salutary effect of refining one's character and conduct, and bringing him closer to G-d.


Tehillim 119:10
Tehillim 119:9
Tehillim 119:8
Tehillim 119:7
Tehillim 119:6
Tehillim 119:5
Tehillim 119:4
Tehillim 119:3
Tehillim 119:2
Tehillim 119:1


MeAm Lo'ez
Sefer Tehillim - The Schottenstein Edition

Tomer Devorah - Emulating G-d: He Will Vanquish our Iniquities

Monday, February 3, 2014 · Posted in , , ,


"The righteous will flourish like the date palm..." (Tehillim 92:13)

Tomer Devorah [Palm Tree of Devorah] - an ethical treatise devoted to a Kabbalistic understanding of the commandment to imitate G-d based on the Torah verse "...you shall go in His ways" (Devarim 28:9) and "to go in all His ways" (11:22).  

The Sifri ("Eikev") explains: just as the Holy One, Blessed Be He, is called 'Compassionate,' you should be compassionate; just as the Holy One, Blessed Be He, is called 'Gracious,' you should be gracious; just as the Holy One, Blessed Be He, is called 'Righteous,' you should be righteous; just as the Holy One, Blessed Be He, is called 'Pious,' you should be pious."  

Expounding the verse "Follow HaShem, your G-d..." (Devarim 13:5), the Gemara derives the practical implications of this concept:  "Emulate the attributes of the Holy One, Blessed Be He.  Just as the Holy One, Blessed Be He, clothes the naked...so should you; just as the Holy One, Blessed Be He, visits the sick..so should you; just as the Holy One, Blessed Be He, consoles the bereaved, so should you..." (Sotah 14a)

In Tomer Devorah, the Thirteen Supernal Attributes of Mercy mentioned in Michah 7:18-20 are analyzed in detail.

The following are the words of the holy Sanzer Rebbi, the Divrei Chaim זצ"ל, as heard by his grandson, Rav Moshe Halberstam זצ"ל   from the Satmar Rebbi זצ"ל:

“…the learning from the Sefer Tomer Devorah is a segulah against the terrible sickness…”

It is recommended to learn from the sefer Tomer Devorah once a week or at least once a month, even though this sefer is not easy to understand. This segulah follows the principle of  middah keneged middah (measure for measure). If we emulate G-d’s Attributes and act like He does with patience, compassion, forgiveness, etc, HaShem will act towards us in the manner of middah keneged middah  and be patient, compassionate and forgiving with us.

To be privileged to channel G-d's blessing and benefit into the world, man must emulate his Creator.  It is insufficient that man is created in the Divine likeness - he must constantly, consciously, and willingly cleave to G-d by emulating Him in every way. 

"Who is G-d like You, Who pardons iniquity and forgives the transgression of the remnant of His heritage?  He does not maintain His anger forever, for He delights in kindness.  He will again show us compassion, He will vanquish our iniquities, and You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.  Show faithfulness to Yaakov, kindness to Avraham, which You have sworn to our fathers from days of old" (Michah 7:18-20)

Consequently, it is proper that these Thirteen Attributes should also be found in man.


Hitbodedut:  "HaShem, I realize that I have no separate existence from you and therefore I yearn to be more like You.  Please help me to rise above my nature and lead me in the path that I wish to go, which is to think, say and do only what is pleasing to You.  May I merit to bring love and mercy to my interactions."




He Will Vanquish our Iniquities

The relationship of the Holy One, Blessed is He, to Yisrael is according to this Attribute, namely, the secret of vanquishing iniquity.  For the precepts are compared to a grapevine that's "budding, its blossoms bursting forth" (Bereishit 40:10) - it shoots upwards without limit, entering His blessed Presence.  However, sins have no entrance there, G-d forbid.  Rather, He suppresses them, denying them entry, as it is written, "...no harm will befall you (Tehillim 5:5), which our Sages interpret as implying that "no harm will befall man in Your dwelling place."  Thus, sin has no entry into the Inner Sanctum.

Since the precepts reside in His blessed Presence, they have no reward in this world.  For how could G-d grant spiritual reward in the material world?  Behold, the entire world is unworthy of a single precept and the spiritual bliss of His Presence.

For the same reason, G-d does not take the precepts as bribes.  For instance, the Holy One, Blessed is He, does not say, G-d forbid, "He has fulfilled forty commandments and committed ten transgressions; thus, thirty commandments remain, for ten are deducted in repayment for the ten transgressions!"  Rather, if even a perfectly righteous individual commits a sing sin, it as if he has burnt the Torah.  But when he pays his debt, he receives reward for all the precepts he has fulfilled.  This is a great kindness that the Holy One, Blessed is He, does for the righteous - He does not deduct from the precepts they fulfill, for these are very precious to Him and ascend directly to His blessed Presence.  Indeed, how could transgressions, whose punishment is a portion of that which is most despicable - Gehinnom- detract from precepts, whose reward is the radiance of the Shechinah, which is so highly valued?  How could one be exchanged for the other?  Instead, the Holy One, Blessed is He, collects the debt due for transgressions, and then He bestows the reward for all the precepts a person has fulfilled.

This is the Attribute of "vanquishing iniquity" - that is, transgressions do not prevail before G-d as the commandments do.  Rather, He suppresses transgressions, preventing them from ascending and entering His Presence.  And although He watches all the ways of man, both bad and good, He does not suppress the good.  Rather, it rises up, ascending to the very heights where all precepts merge to build an edifice and form a precious garment.  Transgressions, however, lack this special quality - instead, He vanquishes them, so they'll have no success and no entry into the Inner Sanctum.

A person should also conduct himself according to this Attribute.  He should not suppress his fellow's virtues but remember the evil he has done.  On the contrary, he should vanquish the evil, erasing it from memory and abandoning it, so that he will find no evil in his fellow, and his good qualities will be spread out before him.  And he should turn a blind eye to his faults as much as possible, just as the Holy One, Blessed is He, does in vanquishing our iniquities.

Hitbodedut:  "HaShem please help me to be more like You, to see the good and to erase the past."


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