Monday, September 22, 2008

Achas Sha'alti

אַחַת שָׁאַלְתִּי מֵאֵת ה', אוֹתָהּ אֲבַקֵּשׁ; שִׁבְתִּי בּבֵית ה' כָּל יְמֵי חַיַּי, לַחֲזוֹת בְּנֺעַם ה', וּלְבַקֵר בְּהֵיכָלוֹ

"One thing I asked of Hashem, that i shall request: [Would that] I dwell in the House of Hashem all the days of my life, to behold the delight of Hashem and to visit His Sanctuary." (Tehillim-27:4)

These words are bursting with Torah. I’ve heard many amazing vortlach on the different parts of this Passuk but I'll only share one with you. (If anyone has any others to add please leave a comment. And maybe I'll end up adding more as well)
The Passuk begins: “One thing I asked of Hashem...” And then it superfluously adds “That I shall request.” What's the deal with the double lashon? Just say “The one thing I ask for is…” I heard a beautiful answer to this question from my Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Naftali Yeager Shlit”a. He gave a mashal: When a genie offers you one wish, for anything at all, your mind starts racing. You think to yourself “There are so many things I want; wealth, beauty, health, happiness, honor…” the list goes on and on. Finally you make your decision. You chose one of the many things you’ve taken into consideration, and give up the rest. That is how it works when dealing with a genie, but lehavdil eleph havdalos with Hakadosh Baruch Hu, the decision is easy. There are no cheshbonos, no calculations. If there is “One thing I ask of Hashem…This is the thing I want,” nothing else even comes to mind, the choice is clear. All I want is closeness with Hashem; a relationship with Avinu Shebashamayim.

Back!

Shalom Everyone,
Sorry it’s taken me so long to start posting again. I’ve been crazy busy with Yeshiva and college and what-not. Be’ezras Hashem I'll be posting at least a song a week from now on.
I hope everyone’s summer was great! Stay tuned…
-CR