Praying With Passion

P'sukei d'Zimra: Hal'luya Ki Tov Building Jerusalem

Meaning: translation…
He is the healer of the broken hearted, and the One Who binds up their sorrows. He counts the number of the stars, to all of them He assigns names. Great is our L-rd and abundant in strength, His understanding is beyond calculation.
Theme: An essential concept of the prayer
Naming the Essence
Hashem’s ability to name each of the billions of stars signifies His ability to identify the essence of each individual entity in His vast creation, and thus speaks of His incalculable understanding.
Insight: Deeper meanings…
The Deepest Understanding
How does the fact that Hashem calls all the stars by their names show that His understanding is beyond calculation? Moreover, isn’t Hashem’s greatness seen in all of creation? The Torah (B’reishit 2:20) tells us that Adam was given the task of naming all the cattle, birds and beasts that surrounded him in the new world Hashem had created.
Each of these names reflected the essence of the entity upon whom the name was bestowed. For example, the lion is named “Aryeh.” The last two letters of this name, YUD-HEI which are part of the name of the King of kings, represent the lion’s role as king of the jungle. The ordinary donkey “Chamor,” is related to “chomer” -  simple elementary matter which is also a measure of volume (see Hoshea 3:2). This is suggestive of the load which the donkey perpetually carries on its back. Rabbeinu Bachya (on B’reishit 2:19) remarks that with Adam’s superior intellect, every name that he chose, together with the combination of its letters, revealed his great wisdom and defined the nature and character of that creature.
Moshe Rabbeinu asked G-d at the burning bush (Sh’mot 3:13), “When I come to the children of Israel and say to them, “The G-d of your fathers has sent me to you,” and they will then say to me, “What is His Name?” what shall I answer?” Ramban comments that Moshe requested a Divine Name that would speak of His power and protection so that the Jews would feel secure in His ability to redeem them.
The number of stars in the universe are estimated at 300 sextillion (that’s a 3 with 23 zeroes after it). The fact that L’CHULAM SHEIMOT YIKRA, to all of the stars Hashem assigns names, attests to the fact that LIT- VUNATO EIN MISPAR, His understanding is beyond calculation” (See Sfas Emes, Vayakheil, 5626)
Visualize:
Images that bring the prayer to life
Sight and Insight
A young man is going through a difficult time in his life. He has lost his livelihood, his marriage is suffering, and he feels that he has nowhere to turn. A friend suggests that he make a trip to a nearby city to obtain a b’racha from a great Tzadik who lives there. The young man takes the advice and soon finds himself in the outer office of the Tzadik’s study. After a brief wait, he is ushered inside. The Tzadik greets the young man with a smile, but his eyes are so sharp, so focused and intense that the young man must force himself not to turn away. “He sees right through me”,  the young man thinks. “He understands what I’m about.”
Indeed, there are people whose wisdom and spiritual acuity are so keen that they do, indeed, “see through” a person’s facade and into his very essence. This is but a tiny spark of the vast, penetrating wisdom of Hashem, Who calls each of the stars by name.
Try this:
The next time there is a clear night, look up at the sky. Focus your eyes and notice how more and more of the smaller, fainter stars seem to emerge from the dark. Grasp the vastness, the distance, the massive oceans of empty space between each of these stars, and then imagine being as deeply familiar with the heavens as you are with your own family members. Let this sense of awe penetrate your heart, and think of it when you say: LITVUNATO EIN MISPAR.

The mission of the V’Ani Tefillah Foundation is to increase awareness of the importance and power of tefillah and to provide education, inspiration, and tools for more sincere, powerful,  and effective tefillah. (http://www.prayingwithfire.org)

• Other Praying With Passion
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• P'sukei d'Zimra: Hodu Praise Is Our Purpose