18 Jul HOW CAN WE HELP THE IRON DOME BE ACCURATE

The twelfth bracha,
V’Lamalshinim, was
added later to the original
Shemone Esrei blessings
which were instituted by the
Anshei K’neses HaGedolah,
the Men of the Great
Assemblage. The Rambam
explains in Hilchos Tefillah
[2:1] that in the days of the
Nasi Rabban Gamliel II
there was a proliferation of heretics amongst the
Jews. They were oppressing us and, even worse,
seducing us away from the authentic worship of
Hashem. The Rambam adds that this was of a
greater urgency than our other daily needs since
this was a threat not only to our body but to our
souls. So he and his Beis Din instituted that the
prayer, authored by Shmuel haKatan, should be
added as a nineteenth blessing.
Perhaps we still call our silent devotion Shemone
Esrei, or eighteen, even though in reality it is now
nineteen, out of respect for the Anshei K’neses
HaGedolah, or because eighteen is the gematria
of chai, life, emphasizing that we are actually
praying for our lives and our livelihoods. Another
reason might be because we harbor the hope that
this blessing will become unnecessary with the
cessation of the heretics and we can restore the
silent devotion to its original eighteen.
Uncharacteristically, the blessing starts off
V’Lamalshinim, And to the slanderers, with
the letter vav. No other blessing starts with the

connecting vav. The Siddur Meforesh explains
that since the previous blessing talked about the
restoration of the Sanhedrin, it goes hand in hand
that, when the Sanhedrin returns, there will be the
end of the tormenters of Yisroel.
The bracha continues, “V’chal harish’ah k’rega
toveid – And all wickedness should perish in a
moment.” The Maharal MiPrague, zt”l, zy”a,
emphasizes that we pray for the end of wickedness
rather than the cessation of the wicked. This is
consistent with what Bruriah, Rebbi Meir’s wife,
pointed out to Reb Meir, when she reminded him
that the verse says, “Yitamu chato’im, v’lo chotim
– Let the sins cease rather than the sinners.”
Then we petition, “V’chol oyvei amcha m’heirah
yikareisu – And may all your enemies be speedily
cut down.” These include the Tzedokim and
Baitusim, the Essenes and the early Christians who
would be a thorn in the side of Torah Jewry both
spiritually and in a material way, often slandering
us to the non-Jewish authorities.
We then ask, “V’hazeidim m’heirah s’akeir – And
those who are willful should be speedily uprooted.”
The Olas Tomid defines this stanza as referring to
our nemesis Amalek who constantly came at us
with willful hatred, such as Haman who tried to
commit genocide against our people. The Yaros
Devash adds that, with this in mind, we fulfill the
positive commandment of “Zachor ais asher asah
lcha Amalek – Remember what Amalek did to
you,” and we should have in mind that all of the
punishments (that we might deserve) should be
given to Amalek instead.

We say of our enemies, “M’heihra s’akeir
us’shabeir, us’mageir v’sachniah – They should
speedily be uprooted, broken, and smageir, and
humiliated.” I once heard the great Rav Moshe
Sherer, zt”l, zy”a, relate in a keynote session of
the Agudath Yisroel convention that he was asked
while giving a class what the word smageir means.
He answered that, while he was not sure, it can’t
be too good if it’s sandwiched between broken and
humiliated. The Iyun Tefillah defines it as tashpil,
to be brought low, while the Targum defines it as
tachris, to sever.
It’s interesting to note that even those who
daven Nusach Ashkenaz, and don’t have the word
m’heirah too often in the Shemone Esrei, say
m’heirah, speedily, three times in this blessing.
M’heirah yikareisu, m’heirah s’akeir, and
bim’heira biyameinu. Added to that are the words
k’rega toveid, in a moment they should perish. I
believe these point to the urgency of this prayer. As
we’ve witnessed to our horror in recent times as in,
for example, the awfulness of homicide bombers,
we know that a second of timely detection could
make a difference in saving children, mothers with
carriages, and elderly people.
Whether it is in a busy pizza shop or on a crowded
bus, our concentrated prayer, even here in the
diaspora, could make a difference between life
and death. We need to pull this blessing out of the
mothballs and pay great attention to the urgency of
k’rega toveid, may they perish in a moment, and
when we pray Al t’hi sikvah, they should have no
hope, we are fueling the accuracy of the Iron Dome

and Dovid’s Slingshot with our tefillas.
The blessing concludes, “Shoveir oyvim
u’machniya zeidim – May Hashem break our
enemies and humiliate our wanton oppressors.”
The Shaarei Tshuva points out that the first letters of

shoveir oyvim u’machniya zeidim, shin-alef-vav-
zion, have the same gematria as Hashem’s name

Shadai, which means, “Mi she’omer l’olam dai
– He who says that the world should be enough.”
This denotes that the world would function much
better off without slanderers and heretics, and may
their behavior cease speedily and in our days.
In the merit of our nosei b’od b’chaveiro, sharing
in the woes of oppressed Jews wherever they may
be, may Hashem bless us with long life, good
health, and everything wonderful.