Tehillim 119:31
דָּבַקְתִּי בְעֵדְוֺתֶיךָ יְהוָה אַל-תְּבִישֵׁנִי
davakti ve'edvoteicha HASHEM al-tevisheni
I cleave to Your testimonies; O HASHEM, do not put me to shame.
Because I always "cleave to Your testimonies," for this reason, "O Hashem, do not put me to shame" on their account. Do not leave me without understanding them and without penetrating to their substance.
Then again, David Hamelech asks that when presented with the opportunity to perform a mitzvah, he should in fact perform it. For if he fails to perform it, that will be shameful to him. as Chazal have taught, "If rains come down on the first night of Sukkot (and one is thus prevented from fulfilling the mitzvah of sitting in the sukkah), this can be compared to a servant whose master poured a container of water in his face. That is what he says here, "I cleave to Your testimonies, O Hashem," so "do not put me to shame."
The Talmud cites Hashem as saying, "I created the yetzer hara, and I created Torah as its antidote" (Kedushin 30b). It is our only defense. However, just holding on to Torah is not enough. We must tie ourselves so tightly to Torah that we can not break loose from it. This is why Moshe repeatedly stressed, "But you who cling to Hashem-you are all alive today" (Devarim 4:4), "to Him you shall cleave," (ibid. 10:20) and "To love Hashem, to listen to His voice and to cleave to Him" (ibid. 30:20).
David Hamelech says, "I cleave to Your testimonies (Tehilim 119:31). To cling and cleave means to be inseparably attached to Torah. Learning Torah and doing mitzvot is of greatest importance, but does not yet result in the necessary fusion. The Talmud says that the single verse that the entire Torah depends on is "Know Hashem in all your ways" (Mishlei 3:6, Berachot 63a). Cleaving and clinging is not accomplished by relating to Hashem just in Torah study and in performance of mitzvot, but in everything we do - eating, sleeping, transacting, socializing. The works of mussar tell us how we can accomplish this. It is this kind of observance of Torah that can save us from the destructive attractions of the yetzer hara.
When you pick up a fruit, think of what borei pri ha'etz means. Hashem designed a tree that would sprout from a tiny seed and produce succulent fruit, and feel gratitude to Hashem.
When you say the beracha "poke'ach ivrim" (open the eyes of the blind) think of the wondrous ability that Hashem instituted within protoplasm that it can have vision, and feel gratitude to Hashem. If we bring Hashem into all our activities, we are cleaving and clinging to Him.
- Me'am Lo'ez, Rabbi Dr. Avraham Twerski
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