Tehillim Chapter 15: The World Stands on Three Loves

BS”D

מִזְמוֹר, לְדָוִד: יְהוָה, מִי-יָגוּר בְּאָהֳלֶךָ; מִי-יִשְׁכֹּן, בְּהַר קָדְשֶׁךָ

הוֹלֵךְ תָּמִים, וּפֹעֵל צֶדֶק; וְדֹבֵר אֱמֶת בִּלְבָבוֹ

A Psalm of Dovid. HaShem, who shall sojourn in Your Sanctuary?

Who shall dwell upon Your holy mountain?

He who walks with simplicity/wholehearted integrity, and does righteousness,

and speaks truth in his heart

According to Chazal, the world depends on three things:

על שלושה דברים העולם עומד

על התורה ועל העבודה ועל גמילות חסדים

On three things the world stands: on Torah, Avoda (Tefilla), and Acts of Kindness

Pirkei Avos 1:2

All of these three things are connected to three fundamental “loves” as taught by the Baal Shem Tov: Love of Torah, Love of HaShem, Love of one's fellow.

This is alluded to in the above possuk:

הוֹלֵךְ תָּמִים

This is avoda, which our Sages say is tefilla- avoda of the heart.

A person who “walks with simplicity” is one who knows that there is a Ribbono Shel Olam, a Creator of the world, Who constantly wills creation into existence and watches over it, a Creator Who is the source of all blessing and Whose goal in creating the world is to bestow good (See Mesillas Yesharim Chapter 1). Such a person will go through his days, both during the joyous occasions and the painful ones, knowing that HaShem is with him, lovingly directing all the details of his life, and will take care of all of his needs at the most appropriate time and in the most appropriate way... he just needs to call out to Him.

Avoda of the heart is Love of HaShem, because through it we allow HaShem, so to speak, to give us all the good He has in store for us.

וּפֹעֵל צֶדֶק

This refers to acts of kindness. While this includes physical acts of kindness and tzedaka, there is a higher level- the chesed we do for others in our hearts and minds by being dan l'kaf zechut (giving the benefit of the doubt), by recognizing and respecting the good qualities in those around us while down playing the negative, and even by doing mitzvahs with the specific intent to uplift those around us.

There is a famous story in the Talmud about a gentile who came to Shammai and asked to be converted to Judasim on the condition that he be taught the entire Torah while standing on one foot. Shammai chased him away with a builder's rod. Subsequently, he went to Hillel who agreed to his request (Shabbos 31a)

The Maggid of Mezritch explains this incident as follows:

That gentile wanted to become a Jew, but only if he could do so without having to experience life's ups and downs. He wanted to stand perpetually “on one foot,” as it were, with none of the low points. By chasing him away with a builder's rod Shammai was hinting to him that this is not the structure of creation. We descend into this world to build and repair...

[W]hen this gentile came to Hillel with the same request...Hillel answered him “what you hate, do not do to your friend”... Really, Hillel was of the same opinion as Shammai; that in this world a person must endure downswings, but he answered the gentile in a way that the latter would understand, and in doing so, he revealed to him one of the great benefits found precisely in low times.

When a person falls to a low level, yet manages to overcome his negativity and reaffirm his faith in God, he can redeem some crushed and oppressed soul that has been lost in the very same forsaken place he himself has reached in his moment of despair. His own affirmation actually lifts up the other one...[Hillel said] “You yourself have a holy soul... but you fell and became trapped in the guise of a non-Jew. Why have you suddenly become interested in reuniting with God's people? Because some Jew, in a moment of apathy and despair, reached the very same level that you were on. Nevertheless, he affirmed God's Presence even there, and through his effort, you became motivated to come and seek shelter in the God of Israel. So, now it's your turn to fulfill the verse, 'love your fellow as yourself'... If that Jew went all the way down for your sake, why aren't you ready to go through the samesetbacks for the sake of your friend?”¹

This is love for one's fellow.

וְדֹבֵר אֱמֶת בִּלְבָבוֹ

This is Torah and love for it. The goal of each Jew is to purify his or her heart. As we daven on Shabbos:

וטהר לבנו לעבדך באמת

Purify our hearts to serve You in truth

And say in Tehillim:

לֵב טָהוֹר, בְּרָא-לִי אֱלֹהִים

Create within me a pure heart, Elokim

Tehillim 51:12

Our job is to get rid of our bad inclinations and give strength to our good inclinations so that we can see ourselves, others, and world for what they truly are. Ultimately, we can make ourselves into a pure vessel so that HaShem's Presence can dwell within us and thereby shine out into the world. As it says:

וְעָשׂוּ לִי מִקְדָּשׁ וְשָׁכַנְתִּי בְּתוֹכָם

Make me a Sanctuary and I will dwell within them.

Shemos 25:8

We purify our hearts via Torah and its mitzvahs. Yet, Torah doesn't just mean, mikrei (the written Torah), Gemara, halacha, and hashgafa sefarim. It also refers to the spark of kedusha that is inherent to every created thing and experience. By tapping into these sparks of keddusha we come to greater wisdom and understanding. In fact, the word Torah is related to the word for teaching.

1. As brought in the sefer “In All Your Ways,” by Rabbi Yakov Meir Shechter  

Tehillim Chapter 13: When HaShem Hides His Face

BS"D

עַד-אָנָה יְהוָה תִּשְׁכָּחֵנִי נֶצַח

עַד-אָנָה תַּסְתִּיר אֶת-פָּנֶיךָ, מִמֶּנִּי!י

  עַד-אָנָה אָשִׁית עֵצוֹת, בְּנַפְשִׁי

   יָגוֹן בִּלְבָבִי יוֹמָם

How long, HaShem, will You forget me forever?

How long You hide Your Face; [I know] it's from me!

How long must I devise plans within my soul

[to be free of] sorrow in my heart by day

[even when Your chesod is apparent]?

We know that HaShem never abandons us, even when we are going through the most difficult situations. As it says, "עִמּוֹ-אָנֹכִי בְצָרָה" “I am with him in [times of] trouble” (Tehillim 91:15).

Whenever HaShem hides His Face, it is harder to feel HaShem's Presence... harder to remember that HaShem wants something from us at this time... that He put us in this world and in this particular nisayon in order that we fix something... We can reveal the greatness that's within ourselves and HaShem's Glory within the world.

Instead, we feel abandoned, fearful, confused, victimized, anxious, angry at those arounds us and even at HaShem.

If you sincerely make the effort to see HaShem's Hand and to feel His Presence, even at those times when His Face is hidden, “How long must I devise plans within my soul...”, then HaShem will respond in kind.   

Tehillim Chapter 4: Calling Out to HaShem

Dovid HaMelech beseeches HaShem:

בְּקָרְאִי, עֲנֵנִי אֱלֹהֵי צִדְקִי

Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness

קריאה is a form of tefilla in which the person specifically calls out to HaShem confident that HaShem is listening and knowing that HaShem will answer his tefillas (Rav Shimshon Pinchus, Shaarim BeTefilla, pg75). 

Given this, we can understand the above possuk in a different way:

בְּקָרְאִי, עֲנֵנִי אֱלֹהֵי צִדְקִי

With “I call out”, O God of my righteousness, 

answer me

In other words, may the fact that I call out be the answer to my prayers. Because if I am able to call out to You, HaShem, then I know that You'll be listening and You will respond to me.

Dovid HaMelech then goes on to proclaim:

בַּצָּר, הִרְחַבְתָּ לִּי

In distress (literally, in narrowness),

You set me free (literally, You widened me)

If we can confidently ask HaShem for help in the middle of a nisayon, even for little things, then HaShem guarantees us that He will both listen and help us to ask for even more:

הַרְחֶב-פִּיךָ, וַאֲמַלְאֵה

Open your mouth wide and I will fill it

[i.e. fill your desires and alternatively,

help you fill your mouth with other requests]

Tehillim 81:11

Tehillim Chapter 4: Simcha is from HaShem

BS”D

נָתַתָּה שִׂמְחָה בְלִבִּי

You put simcha in my heart

The Water Carrier

Every day the old water carrier passed by the study hall with his pails. Rabbi Yisrael Baal Shem Tov often stood outside the front door and talked with his disciples.

Whenever he saw the water carrier, he interrupted their conversation and would ask him, "Chaikel, how are you doing today?" The water carrier would usually offer a polite response, "Baruch Hashem" and continue on his way.

But one day the water carrier had a look of melancholy in his face. "Rebbe, it's nice of you to ask a poor man, but how should I feel? Not good! No! Day in and day out I carry these heavy pails. My back hurts, I am getting older, you know . . . My boots are in tatters, but I have no money for new ones. My family is large. The burden is too much. My children need food, shoes and clothes, and. . . And those new houses at the end of the town want more and more water, and they are built up on the slope of the hill, and the water is so heavy, and I am so tired, so very tired . . ." And with a sigh he picked up his pails and walked away dragging his feet, with a twisted back and bent shoulders. He did not look back.

The Baal Shem Tov said nothing.

A few days later the Baal Shem Tov again stood with his students when the water carrier passed by. "Chaikel, good to see you, how are you today?" The water carrier stood still. He beamed. "Baruch Hashem, Rebbe, I am doing fine. I have work, so I earn money to feed my family. I am blessed, because I have a large family, so many sweet children . . . I am happy that I can buy them food to eat and pay their teachers. And those new houses they recently built at the hill need a lot of water, that's extra income for me. Baruch Hashem! Thank you for asking a simple man how he is doing. Baruch Hashem, G d is good to me!"

The Baal Shem Tov smiled and blessed him with some encouraging words. The water carrier lifted his heavy buckets and went joyfully on his way.

The Baal Shem Tov then turned to his students and said, “Did you notice this phenomenon. Here we have the very same Chaikel, with his same pair of tattered boots, the same Jewish homes built on the hilltops, and his same old pails of water. Nevertheless, one day by Chaikel is not like the next. One day he can be full of complaints, depressed over his unfortunate lot, while the next day he praises the Ribbono Shel Olam for having given him the strength and the opportunity to support his family and serve his fellow man by bringing him water.

“This is what our sages have said: 'Man is judged on Rosh HaShana,' and 'Man is judged every single day.' Since a man's livelihood is determined on Rosh HaShana, our Chaikel was destined to be a water-carrier all year round. But, each day Chaikel is judged anew- if he is to work b'simcha and with love, or G-d forbid, in sorrow and bitterness.”

(Sipurei Besht)

Tehillim Chapter 3: HaShem is My Shield

BS”D

יְהֹוָה מָה רַבּוּ צָרָי רַבִּים קָמִים עָלָי רַבִּים אֹמְרִים לְנַפְשִׁי אֵין יְשׁוּעָתָה לּוֹ בֵאלֹהִים סֶלָה

וְאַתָּה יְהֹוָהמָגֵן בַּעֲדִי כְּבוֹדִי וּמֵרִים רֹאשִׁי

HaShem, how many are my tormentors! The great rise up against me. The great say of my soul, "There is no deliverance for him from God, Selah.

But You, HaShem, are a shield about me, my glory and He Who raises up my head.

These possukim are not just be referring to our external “tormentors” - those individuals or experiences that may bring us pain, distress, and discomfort. They can also refer to the “tormentors” we have on the inside- all the doubts, confusion, anger, fear, anxiety, and depression.

With this in mind, there may be another way to understand these possukim:

יְהֹוָה מָה רַבּוּ צָרָי רַבִּים קָמִים עָלָי רַבִּים אֹמְרִים לְנַפְשִׁי אֵין יְשׁוּעָתָה לּוֹ בֵאלֹהִים סֶלָה

HaShem, how many are my tormentors! Many [internal voices of doubt, confusion, etc] “say” to my soul, “God is not going to help... there won't be any yeshua from this situation.”

The name “Elokim” refers to God in His Middas HaDin; He is the Ultimate “Judge.”

Elokim also refers to God’s Hashgacha over the world and the forces of nature.

It's very easy to forget that HaShem is always there, that nothing in this world can happen without HaShem willing it. The yatzer hara may also be great at convincing us that we don't deserve to be helped; hidden and even open miracles may happen to other people, but not me.

Yet a change of hashkafah on the inside, can dramatically change everything on the outside:

וְאַתָּה יְהֹוָה מָגֵן בַּעֲדִי כְּבוֹדִי וּמֵרִים רֹאשִׁי

But You are HaShem [You're not just Judge; You have infinite mercy]. You are a Shield with “my witness”...

( עֲדִי is related to the word “my witness.”

What is this “witness”? The Shema:

Even when there are yissurim and HaShem is hidden, relating to us from a place of Din, His Chesod and Rachamim, never fully leave us. The more that we are aware of this, the more Divine assistance we can receive.)

...My Glory...

כְּבוֹד is another name for the neshema (for example, see Tehillim 30:13). There is not one person without value or importance in this world, since each of us has been given a Divine neshema that HaShem continuously wills into existence. HaShem personally attends to the life of each person- whether or not we feel it.

...He Who raises up my head.

HaShem holds the keys to how much wisdom, understanding, shalom, and simcha a person is blessed with. How do we merit such blessings? Only with the sincere desire to come closer to HaShem.

Tehillim Chapter 1: Creating an Opening for the Yatzer Hara

BS”D

אַשְׁרֵי הָאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר לֹא הָלַךְ בַּעֲצַת רְשָׁעִים, וּבְדֶרֶךְ חַטָּאִים לֹא עָמָד, וּבְמוֹשַׁב לֵצִים לֹא יָשָׁב

Praiseworthy is the man who didn't walk in the counsel of the wicked, and in the way of the sinners he didn't stand, and in the seat of the scorners he didn't sit.

This is in descending order of intensity and magnitude. If a person isn't paying attention, then each progressive step in the opposite direction can cause him to stray from the path of emes.

That journey starts with, “...and in the seat of the scorners he didn't sit.”

Who sits? A judge! The person on the path to emes realizes that he is in no position to judge others or anything else in this world unfavorably. Do we really know what is going on inside another person? Where he or she came from? What's going on in his or her life at the moment? What this person's potential is in this world? Or, can we really claim to know more about how to run the world than HaShem?

On the other hand, when a person starts passing judgment about those around him, about the mitzvos, about Torah Scholars and Tzadikim, about HaShem, and even about himself, he creates an opening for the yatzer hara (the evil inclination) to come in.

This leads to the next stage, “...and in the way of the sinners he didn't stand.” Chazal tell us that חַטָּאִים are those who sin inadvertently. Someone on the path of emes, won't put himself in a situation where he is likely to fall- even if the fall comes unintentionally.

On the other hand, the person who is accustomed to making judgments can easily get careless. 

After all, he isn't “walking” in the way of someone who sins. He is merely “standing” there. But by doing so, he puts himself in a position where he can fall; he creates for himself his own stumbling blocks. 

Some examples of this may include: 

• Not learning or reviewing halacha
• Surrounding oneself with people or an environment that one knows will be a negative influence.
• Not taking the words of Chazal to heart

And, this leads to the final stage, “who didn't walk in the counsel of the wicked.” Chazal tell us that “as soon as a person has committed a sin twice, it is no longer a sin for him.” (Yoma 86b). In fact, it becomes a “mitzvah.” When a person falls the first time, he has a choice whether or not to make an effort to do teshuva. If that opportunity is ignored, then he will ultimately walk in the counsel of his yatzer hara in that area.

We all have those areas in our lives where we go through these steps in a negative way. The only way to fix ourselves is to work backwards... 

If you had the opportunity to sin, but you held yourself back, you are אַשְׁרֵי , praiseworthy! 

If you make an effort to create a situation where you will be less likely to fall in the same way in the future, אַשְׁרֵי! 

If you succeed in changing your attitude to the person or the situation, if you bring HaShem into the picture and realize that even in this place, this experience, this person, He is there... אַשְׁרֵי!