30 May REVITALIZING OUR PRAYERS – PART TEN

In the seventh bracha
of the Shemone Esrei,
we ask Hashem to
notice our afflictions,
fight our battles and
redeem us for the sake
of His Name. It seems
that after asking Hashem
for forgiveness in the sixth bracha, we now
feel comfortable to ask Him to help us with our
problems. However, I wonder why we don’t
first ask Him to cure us, the subject matter
of the eighth blessing, since we would think
that health comes first. As the saying goes,
“Bereishis bara – First is health.” (Bara is
similar to the word brios, one’s wellbeing.)
The Levush, zt”l, zy”a, bolsters this question
by pointing out that this is the order in the
verse, “Hasolei’ach l’chol avoneichi, harofei
l’chol tachalulochi – He forgives all of our sins
and cures all of our sicknesses,” putting health
right after forgiveness. The Levush answers
that since the geula, the final redemption, will
begin in the seventh year (of the shmittah
cycle), it is therefore the seventh blessing.
I would add that the blessing of health is the
eighth blessing since the circumcision is on the
eighth day-which needs healing.
I would also like to suggest that in order to
achieve health of the body, we need first to be
freed from our mental problems and distresses.
It is for this reason that in the mishebeirach
prayer for the sick, we say first refuas hanefesh,
healing of the soul, and only then refuas haguf,
the healing of the body. This is because one
who is mentally troubled and preoccupied will
not heal quickly and successfully.
In Nusach Ashkenaz, we start the blessing
R’eih v’anyeinu, Notice our afflictions.
Nusach Sefard, however, adds a word: R’eih
na v’anyeinu. The word na can either be
translated as ‘now’ (cf. Onkelos throughout
the Torah) or ‘please’ (cf. Artscroll on this
blessing). The Maharshal writes not to say
na, and similarly in the siddur of Rav Amrom
Gaon and the G”ra, the Pri Chadash and the
Rokei’ach do not say na. But the Elya Rabbah
and Magein Avraham, echoing the Rambam,
the Kolbo, and many others tell us to say na.
It would seem to me that the controversy
centers on why we should say ‘please’ or
‘now’ just by this blessing and not by the
other requests in our Shemone Esrei, such
as to forgive us, or to cure us. Perhaps we
might explain that since it comes right after
the blessing of s’lach lonu, forgiveness, and
we realize that we might not yet be worthy of
complete absolution, we follow it up with the
word ‘please’ or ‘now’ even though we might
not yet be deserving.
Rashi, in Megillah [17b], establishes that
this blessing is not referring to the future
redemption, rather it is a petition to Hashem
to help save us from our daily struggles and
hardships. He explains that we have three other
blessings that refer to the future redemption,
namely T’ka b’shofer gadol, V’liyrushalayim

ircha, and Es tzemach Dovid. This is also
why the blessing ends Go’eil Yisroel, Who
redeems Yisroel, in the present tense and not
in the future tense as it’s referring to the daily
vicissitudes of life.
The Siddur Hameforush explains the thrust
of the blessing is referring to our suffering
at the hands of our enemies, the antisemetic
oppressors that surround us from all sides.
Perhaps this is why the blessing starts with the
request, “R’eih v’anyeinu – See our suffering,”
because many times we ourselves are not aware
of the plots and schemes that lurk around us.
We then say, “V’rivah riveinu – Fight
our battles,” like we say in Al Hanisim on
Chanukah, that Hashem was ravta es rivum,
Hashem battled their battles, or as we say in
the blessing after Megillas Esther, “Horav es
riveinu – You fight our battles.
We cap the request with the plea, “Ugo’aleinu
m’heirah lema’an sh’mecha – Redeem us
quickly for the sake of Your Name.” This
is so there shouldn’t be a chillul Hashem,
a profanation of Your Holy Name, that the
nations shouldn’t say the Jewish G-d doesn’t
have the strength to take care of His children.
We add the word m’heirah, quickly, for when
it comes to our enemies, there is not a moment
to spare. The homicide bombers need to be
stopped before they press the button, the Iron
Dome and the David Slingshot needs to be
employed with the utmost speed to ward off
the oncoming dangers.
We will continue to discuss this blessing
next week, b’ezras Hashem. In the merit of
realizing that Hashem is the One Who can
help us with our problems, may Hashem bless
us with long life, good health, trouble free
existence, and everything wonderful.
To be continued.