Wisdom & Wit

P'sukei d'Zimra: ASHREI

Reinforcing Emunah
Meaning: translation…
The splendorous glory of Your power and Your wondrous deeds I shall DISCUSS. And of Your awesome power they will SPEAK, and Your greatness I shall relate. A recollection of Your abundant goodness they will UTTER and of Your righteousness they will SING exultantly….
Theme: An essential concept of the prayer
Loud and Clear
Verbalizing Hashem’s grandeur and kindness strengthens our emunah.
Insight: Deeper meanings…
Telling the World, Telling Yourself
Is it necessary to discuss Hashem’s wondrous deeds? To speak about His awesome power? To relate Hashem’s greatness? To recollect Hashem’s abundant goodness? The answer is a resounding yes! Our daily lives are rich with blessings great and small, and we know deep in our hearts that all of this comes from Hashem. In order to transform one’s feeling of emunah into one’s reality, it is necessary to speak about it, because speech has the power to transform thoughts and emotions into actuality.
A verse in Tehillim (116:10) states: “HE’EMANTI KI ADABEIR - I have kept faith because I speak.” Rav Matisyahu Salomon (With Hearts Full of Faith, Artscroll, p. 50) explains that this principle played an important role in Yosef’s ability to survive, and even thrive, as a slave in Egypt:
The Torah (B’reishit 39:34) tells us, “And his master saw that G-d was with him, and that G-d brings success to everything he does… and he appointed him over his household.”
“G-d was with him,” the Midrash (Tanchuma Vayeishev 8) explains that Yosef constantly spoke about G-d to those around him… When Potifar praised him for a job well done, Yosef would say,..”I deserve no credit. It is all the Master of the Universe. Thank Him.”
The Shelah HaKadosh (Sha’ar Ha’Osios, Os Alef - Emes V’Emunah) writes “Included in [building]... emunah, one should say of all acts that he wants to do, even in a short period of time, “I will do this IM YIRTZEH HASHEM (G-d willing).”
Sincerely saying these words is a powerful way to create a reality out of an amorphous feeling within. Kaf HaChayim adds that this concept is alluded to in the verse in Mishlei (19:21) “VAATZAT HASHEM HI TAKUN - The will of God will always be upheld.” The Hebrew word HI (pronounced the same as the English word HE) which is the pronoun referring to the will of G-d, is spelled with the three Hebrew letters HEI YUD ALEF. These are the initials of IM YIRTZEH HASHEM.
Visualize: Images that bring the prayer to life
The Power of Saying It
“Tell your child, “I love you;”, advised the parenting counselor. The father was not the ’mushy’ type, and the idea seemed foreign. “He knows I love him,” said the father.
“But you have to say it,” the counselor insisted.
And so that night, before the father sent his little boy off to bed, he kissed his head and said, “Good night, Aharon… I love you.”
Strangely, although the father had no doubt that he had always loved his child, saying it seemed somehow to “seal the deal.” It gave substance and life to what would otherwise have remained an amorphous feeling in his heart.
Likewise, when one speaks of Hashem’s greatness and acknowledges that everything that happens occurs by virtue of His will, one’s vague, emotional feelings of emunah become something more concrete. Saying Ashrei reinforces this effect each time it is recited with sincerity, helping to build an emunah that is deeprooted in the realities of life.

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