Ahavat Yisrael
MAH TOVU O'HALECHA YAAKOV MISHKENOTECHA YISRAEL!
HOW WONDERFUL ARE YOUR TENTS YAAKOV, YOUR DWELLING PLACES ISRAEL
This 'passuk'
[verse] is one of the most famous verses of the Torah.
We recite it every day, at the beginning of Shacharit – the morning
services
as soon as we enter the House of Prayer. Understanding this verse is thus
pertinent to each day of the year.
Balak ben Tzipor had been appointed to be the king of Moab. When the
children of Israel were approaching his land, on their way to Israel, he was
terrified, for he knew of their victory over the Amorites, a strong nation,
led by a strong king. So he called on Balaam, a very powerful but unholy
prophet, to come and curse the Jewish people, hoping that this would weaken
Israel sufficiently, and thus enable him to beat us in war. How Balaam
finally got permission from Hashem to go to Balak, and his amazing journey
with his talking ass, is an entire topic in itself. Hashem did not allow
Balaam to curse us and instead his curses were turned into blessings. The
most famous of all of these is:
MAH TOVU O'HALECHA YAAKOV MISHKENOTECHA YISRAEL!
HOW WONDERFUL ARE YOUR TENTS YAAKOV, YOUR DWELLING PLACES ISRAEL [Bamidbar
24:5]
We need to understand the meaning and significance of these words.
What exactly, inspired Balaam to praise the tents of Yaakov and the dwelling
places of Israel? Why did the Rabbis choose this 'blessing' for the opening
prayer of the morning services? This verse adorns the walls of so many shuls
and it has inspired many niggunim – why?
The Talmud derives the following Halacha from this verse:
MISHNAH. IN A COURTYARD WHICH HE SHARES WITH OTHERS A MAN SHOULD NOT OPEN
A
DOOR FACING ANOTHER PERSON'S DOOR NOR A WINDOW FACING ANOTHER PERSON'S
WINDOW. IF IT IS SMALL HE SHOULD NOT ENLARGE IT, AND HE SHOULD NOT TURN ONE
INTO TWO. ON THE SIDE OF THE STREET, HOWEVER, HE MAY MAKE A DOOR FACING
ANOTHER PERSON'S DOOR AND A WINDOW FACING ANOTHER PERSON'S WINDOW, AND IF
IT
IS SMALL HE MAY ENLARGE IT OR HE MAY MAKE TWO OUT OF ONE.
GEMARA. Whence are these rules derived? — R. Johanan said: From the
verse of
the Scripture, "And Balaam lifted up his eyes and he saw Israel dwelling
according to their tribes."4 This indicates that he saw that the doors
of
their tents did not exactly face one another, whereupon he exclaimed: WORTHY
ARE THESE THAT THE DIVINE PRESENCE SHOULD REST UPON THEM!
Rashi, [Bamidbar 24:5] uses this teaching of Rabbi Johanan to explain what
impressed Balaam – seeing that everyone was respecting everyone else's
privacy, inspired him to say Mah Tovu – It is appropriate [they deserve]
that the Shechinah should rest upon them." We were living "b'tzni-ut"
– following a code of modesty. 'Tzanuah' means hidden. 'Tzni-ut' means
modesty, this is a very important 'midah'— behavior attribute that we
are supposed to live by. Our tents were positioned in a manner that would
afford each family, privacy. We did not, nor did we desire to, look into each
others tents without permission. Although our traditional understanding of
the Rashi's comment is very deep, and it does explain what so greatly impressed
Balaam, it still does not seem to explain why we would recite and meditate
on this verse upon entering the shul to 'daaven'. Is there a connection between
'tzni'ut' – modesty and prayer?
Rashi cites another Rabbinical teaching found in Sanhedrin: that
from Balaam's blessings we can deduce the curses that he wished to bring
upon us, since he actually wanted to curse us and it was Hashem who caused
him to change the curses into blessings. And so the Rabbis understand that
Balaam sought to curse that we shouldn't have Houses of Worship and Houses
of Torah Study, and so Hashem made him say – HOW WONDERFUL ARE YOUR
TENTS
YAAKOV; he sought to curse that Shechinah should not dwell amongst us, so
Hashem made him say - [HOW WONDERFUL ARE] YOUR DWELLING PLACES ISRAEL.
Based on this teaching we do now understand why the Rabbis chose this verse
for the opening of our prayers as we enter into our tents of worship, into
the dwelling place of the Shechinah.
However this explanation does not seem to take into account that which
actually impressed Balaam – namely the fact that the entrances of their
tents did not face each other.
In the 'Nusach Ha'ari' siddur, right before "Mah tovu..." one finds
the following very interesting instruction from the holy Ari-z"l:
It is proper to say before [beginning] the prayers, "I accept upon
myself the 'mitzvat asei' – [positive 'do' mitzvah] of 'V'AHAVTA
LE'REI-ACHA KAMOCHA - LOVE YOUR FELLOW AS YOU LOVE YOURSELF"
The Talmud teaches us that when daavening, it is best to daaven with
a 'minyan'. All the 'bakashot' – request prayers, are written in the
plural
form; "heal US, redeem US, bless US" etc. Even when praying privately,
an
individual should always pray in the name of all of Israel. [Praying
'individually' only for one's own personal needs, invites close heavenly
scrutiny, and such prayers are more likely to be blocked by various angels].
Why is this so important?
There is a Chassidic aphorism that says "If the brother is a brother
then the father is a father." In our prayers we say "Avinu Malkeinu"
– our
Father our King. And Hashem says, "If I am your father do you know your
brothers, do you know your sisters? Do you know how they are? Do you know
what they need?" This means that if I want Hashem to listen to my prayers,
to care for me, as a father listens to and cares for his child, I had better
unite with all my brothers and sisters.
"Rachmana leeba ba-ee!" The Compassionate One desires the heart.
Prayer is the service of the heart. Prayer is not only bringing my requests
to Hashem; it is an act of love – in prayer we come close to Hashem,
we
arouse our love for Hashem. True love for Hashem can only be true if we love
all His children. Daavening for yourself AND for everyone else is an act of
love -- "Love your fellow as yourself". By accepting this mitzvah
upon
yourself before daavening, you are connecting yourself and your prayers with
all of Israel.
Ahavah-Love is what unites us. There are two levels of love and
unity. People usually feel united with others who are like themselves. If
you dress as I do, if you eat as I do, if you shop at the same stores as I
do, if you think as I do, if you vote for the same politicians as I do, if
you share the same tastes and likes as I do, if I like you, if I like the
way you look, then I like you and we are 'united'.
However this kind of love and unity depends on external factors and
on what 'I' like and what 'you' like – this is self-centered love. Should
enough of these external factors change, our unity is weakened and
threatened. Ah! But then there is a much deeper level of unity....
On the higher level of love and unity, the external factors are not
important; our unity is independent of these. We are united because we are
all part of the One. The soul of a Jew is a 'cheylek Elokah mima'al mammash'
-a veritable part of G-d above. Yes, we do have many differences, and these
should be appreciated, no less than you appreciate the multifaceted variety
of life forms, colors, sounds shapes and structures found in nature.
Everything is part of the Oneness of Hashem. Each person, including their
different and various thoughts, including those you don't agree with, are
part of Hashem's Oneness. In uniting with everyone in this deep way, we are
living the reality of the hidden Oneness of Hashem. Only when we stop
defining ourselves and others in physical terms and instead we learn to see
ourselves and others as veritable parts of G-d above, only then will we be
capable of truly fulfilling "Love your fellow as yourself."
These two levels of love and unity are alluded to in Rashi's
commentary; Balaam seeing that the "entrances of their tents were not
arranged one opposite the other", can be understood to mean that Balaam
saw
that we were living on the higher and deeper level of unity and community.
Our unity was independent of our self-centered needs and likes. We did not
need to look into each other's tents, to decide if we should or should not
be united. We recognized that that which unites us is something much deeper
that what can be seen externally. We had actually united in a deep unity.
Upon seeing this, Balaam was disabled from cursing us, and in fact ended up
praising and blessing us.
Accordingly we can now understand why this verse was placed at the
beginning of the morning prayers, to be recited as soon as we enter the
shul. As soon as we enter Hashem's House, the first and most important thing
is not to come in as a separate and separating individual, but rather to
enter as an individual who is deeply united with his people. It is for this
reason that we are to recite and meditate on the deep unity and love that
inspired Balaam to say "Mah tovu ohalecha Yaakov, mishkenotecha Yisrael",
upon entering Hashem's House of Love and Prayer.*
[* that was the name of Reb Shlomo's shul, first in SF and later in
Yerushalayim]
The Ariz"l's instruction: It is right to say before [beginning] the
prayers, "I accept upon myself the 'mitzvat asei' - [positive 'do' mitzvah]
of 'V'AHAVTA LE'REI-ACHA KAMOCHA - LOVE YOUR FELLOW AS YOU LOVE YOURSELF",
clarifies the intent of reciting the Mah Tovu verse. This acceptance upon
yourself to love your fellow as yourself is the prerequisite to 'tfilah'
prayer. When you live in unity you can daaven. When daavening in unity, your
prayers are an act of love and unity, not only with Hashem, but also with
all of Israel – and they will be readily accepted.
When we truly unite with each other, the Shechinah dwells amongst
us, and then the shul really is a House of Hashem. The King of all Kings
wants His Shechinah to dwell among us. But first we must, together, form the
vessel of 'Knesset Yisrael', the vessel that is formed by the collectivity
of all the souls of Israel to receive the presence of the Shechinah. This
unity and love which we accept upon ourselves, has to extend all through the
day. And each time we return to Hashem's House we reaffirm our acceptance
and commitment to live in unity and loving harmony.
Soon it will be the 17th of Tammuz, the second of the four fast days commemorating
the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash. Thus we are starting the 'three weeks'
of mourning. The Talmud tells us that the 2nd Beit Hamikdash was destroyed
because of 'sinat Chinam' — baseless hatred. We also learn that anyone
who does not get to see the rebuilding of the Beit Hamikdash in his days,
it is as if it was destroyed in his days. What do we need to do to help rebuild
the Beit Hamikdash? Many holy Rabbis have been teaching that just like the
Beit Hamikdash was destroyed because of 'sinat chinam', it will be rebuilt
out of 'ahavat chinam' — baseless love. May we all be blessed to truly
renew and deepen our 'achdut', oneness and unification with each other and
with Hashem, and may we merit to see the reestablishment and return of the
Beit Hamikdash, [which is already complete, it only needs to be brought down
from heaven to earth] quickly in our days, together with the speedy arrival
of Mashiach Tzidkeinu. Amen, kein yehi ratzon.
AHAVAT YISRAEL – BEFORE GOING TO SLEEP
Just as we begin our day with accepting upon ourselves the mitzvah of Ahavas
Yisroel we also end our day with a similar prayer. In the Siddur we find
this prayer among the prayers recited before going to sleep [note: this
prayer is not recited on Shabbos or Yom Tov]:
Master of the Universe! I hereby FORGIVE anyone who has angered or vexed me,
or sinned against me, either physically or financially, against my honor or
anything else that is mine, whether accidentally or intentionally,
inadvertently or deliberately, by speech or by deed, in this incarnation or
in any other – any Israelite; MAY NO MAN BE PUNISHED ON MY ACCOUNT.
…. ….
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable
before You, Lord, my Strength and my Redeemer.
Among the questions that one may raise here are: a] why should one forgive
the one who harmed him intentionally? b] why should one pray for the welfare
of the one who harmed him deliberately? c] how does this prayer relate to
the mitzvah of loving your fellow as you love yourself?
