PARSHAS EKEV

The Secret of How to Daven to Hashem on Rosh Hashanna and the rest of the year.

"ארץ אשר ה' אלוקך דורש אותה תמיד עיני ה' אלוקך בא מראשית השנה ועד אחרית השנה"

It says in Parshas Eikev עיני ה' אלוקך  the eyes of the Ribono Shel Olom is constantly on Eretz Yisroel מראשית השנה ועד אחרית השנה. The eyes of Ribono Shel Olam are on the holy land of Eretz Yisrael from the beginning of the year, Rosh Hashana, till the end of the year. That’s the simple.

מראשית השנה/ ראשית is usually is usually spelled with a Alef, ראשית for some unknown and strange reason the Torah leaves out the Alef. That is the Pasuk with the Alef עיני ה' אלוקך מראשית השנה ועד אחרית השנה from the beginning of the year till the end of the year.

The Gemara in   מסכת ראש השנה learns great things from this Posuk and that is that title of this shiur.  We are now translating רשית without an Alef which means poor. כל שנה שרשה בתחילתו the Gemara is in ראש השנה  טז' עמוד ב', אמר רב יצחק

כל שנה שרשה בתחילתו any year that is poor in its beginning מתעשרת בסופה Rashi translates כל שנה שרשה בתחילתו that Israel behaves on Rosh Hashana as a pauper.  Any year that Israel behaves on Rosh Hahanna as a pauper as Rashi says ,שישראל עושים עצמם רשים Klal Yisrael makes themselves poor on Rosh Hashanna  לדבר תחנונים ותפילה to speak, תחנונים is when you plead  when a poor person pleads to the Ribono Shel Olom for bread.  כענין שנאמרas it says in a Pasuk in Mislei    תחנונם לדבר רש    A poor person speaks תחנונים pleading to Hashem, Ribono Shel Olom please give me bread. The Gemara continues שנאמר as it says in the Pasuk.מרשית השנה מרשיתwithout an Alef so that it can mean poverty מרשית from the lashon רש which means poverty.

 A person davening on Rosh Hashanna as a pauper Ribono shel Olom I have nothing, I have zero I need bread. A person who davens like that to Hashem will be answered.  The question is number one Is it really not true?  Are we all Paupers?  We daven on Rosh Hashana like we are paupers.  A member of K’llal Yisroel can have a million dollars in his bank account too how should he daven not everybody is a pauper pleading for bread.  That is question number one. Question number two is since the proper way to daven is sort of like a formula he says.  Ribono Shel Olom before I daven I have to make a certain recital I conduct myself as a pauper who has nothing.  What kind of כונה   does a person who recites that תחנונם לדבר רש what kind of כונה can he have just making a recital.  The first question was it is not even true are we expected to speak non-truth in order for Hashem to answer our prayers.

Maron HaGaon Reb Henach Leibowitz ZT”L quotes an interpretation from Maron HaGoan Reb Naftoli Trop ZT”L who was the Rosh Yeshiva in Radin. When he said over this peshat in the past he was so מלא שמחה   indicating that he felt that this interpretation of Reb Naftoli ZT”L was   אמת was the true interpretation.

This is what Reb Naftoli Tropp ZT”L said. He said that the first question was it is not אמת that a person can have a million dollars in the bank and he should still recite, say I’m a pauper, I’m a pauper, I’m a pauper pleading for bread, help me.  Also, the second question making a recital before you daven to Hashem is sort of external.  It is not any way of saying that he has כונה for what he is saying it is all external. Reb Nafoli ZT”L says it is אמת we are all men paupers, the person with a million dollars in the bank is also a pauper.

Because on Rosh Hashana, הקב"ה is דן הקב"ה judges each and every person מי יעשר ומי יעני   when we stand at the דין   on Rosh Hashana, Hashem then decides מי יעשר ומי יעני   who will be rich who will be poor for the coming year.  That means we have zero.  On Rosh Hashana we have nothing until the   רבונו של עולם will paskin מי יעשר ומי יעני who will be rich and who will be poor. At that moment we have nothing.   It is true we are all paupers on Rosh Hashana.  Like a person pleading for bread.  That is the כונה that we should have when we daven on Rosh Hashana and throughout the year it says what we are saying by Rosh Hashana  כל שנה שרשה בתחילתו   any year where we are paupers when we start davening we are paupers it is true because הקב"ה is דן on Rosh Hashana who will be rich and who will be poor. We could have a million dollars in the bank, that was last year. 

The future now is a new Pesak that הקב"ה has to judge each and every member of K’llal Yisrael.  That’s the secret of davening on Rosh Hashana and the rest of the year.  What’s the secret? The secret is   רבונו של עולם I am a pauper I have nothing, it is true, because הקב"ה then judges us what we should have.  We daven to Hashem that we are poor like paupers pleading for bread then both questions that we had are answered.  It is אמת and it is also we have כונה  of course we can have כונה   it is not external it is not a formula that we are saying we are saying with our whole heart רבונו של עולם without you we have nothing. 

This is the secret of .תפילה  The eibishter should help us that we should be זוכה  to utilize these important words רחמונים ידבר רש  this is a Pasuk in  משלי .  A poor person speaks pleading mercy like a person who has no bread is pleading for bread.  We should be  זוכה  to  daven properly for ourselves, for our loved ones, for our families, for K’lal Yisroel we all have nothing without the  .רבונו של עולם We should be זוכה  to  understand that  this is the true way of davening. Amen VeAmen!

This is a shiur adapted from the Shiurim of Maran Hagaon Reb Henach Leibowitz ZT”L.