10 Aug THE ELIXIR OF LIFE
In the Kedushah of
Mussaf, we say in
unison, “Mimikomo
Hu yifen b’rachamav
l’amo – From His
place He turns to His
Nation, V’yachon am
hami’yachadim Shemo – And shows
favor to His Nation that declares
His Name Unique, Erev va’voker
b’chol yom tamid, pa’amai’yim
b’ahavah Shema omrim – Evening
and morning perpetually every day,
twice daily, we say Shema with
love.” We see that the recital of
Shema Yisroel generates mercy
and graciousness from Hashem.
The declaration of His Uniqueness
with the pronouncement of Hashem
Echad is truly an elixir of life.
The Gemara teaches us in Masechtas
Berachos, “Kol hamarich b’Echad,
ma’arichin lo yomov ush’nosav –
Whoever prolongs with meaning
the saying of Echad will prolong
his days and years.” This is both
a qualitative and quantitative
promise. We will achieve longevity
of a meaningful kind.
The Kitzur Shulcan Orech tells
us what we should have in mind
when we say Echad. The alef is
numerically one which refers to
Hashem, the One and Only. The
ches, numerically eight, refers to
the seven levels of heaven plus the
one earth. Finally, the daled, which
is numerically four, refers to the
four directions: north, west, south,
and east. Thus, we appoint Hashem
as the One and Only over earth,
the seven heavens and the four
directions. Rav Yisroel Salanter,
zt”l, zy”a, famously says that,
while we’re appointing Hashem
all over the place, we shouldn’t
forget to appoint Him the King over
ourselves as well.
Rashi tells us that we say, ‘Today,
Hashem is Elokeinu, Hashem is
our G-d, recognized by the Jewish
people alone. But, when Moshiach
comes, it will be Hashem Echad,
Hashem will be the One and Only
for everyone.’ This is like we say
at the end of Aleinu, “V’hayah…
b’yom hahu – It will be in that
future day, Yihyeh Hashem Echad
u’Shemo Echad, Hashem will be
One and His Name will be One
[throughout the world].”
There is yet another important idea.
Today with our limited perspective,
there is Hashem which is the
attribute of mercy, and Elokeinu,
the attribute of midas hadin, strict
justice. But, in the next world, we
will see clearly Hashem Echad, He
is Only One, for all are truly aspects
of Hashem’s mercy and goodness.
Rabbeinu Bachya says that the
word Echad has the gematria of
13. He notes that the word gan,
garden, is found exactly 13 times in
Bereishis. In parsha V’eschanan,
the word eish, fire, is likewise
mentioned exactly 13 times. This
is to indicate that if one says Echad
with proper concentration, he will
merit 13 levels of Gan Eden and
be saved from 13 levels of the fire
of Gehenom.
The protective power of the
declaration of Shema can be seen
from the opening words of the
address that the Kohein mashuach
milchama, the Kohein that was
anointed for battle, gave to the
Jewish troops before they went to
battle. He said, “Haskeis u’Shema
Yisroel,” which Rashi interprets
to convey that just for the merit of
saying a proper Shema, you will
be protected in battle.
The Tzror Hamor asked, ‘How
did the Chashmonai’im succeed
at battle when the Syrian-Greeks
banned us from learning Torah?
Without the merit of Torah,
how could we conquer? He
answers that although we didn’t
have learning, we did have the
declaration of Shema Yisroel. In
an ingenious proof, he reveals that
within the Chanukah means that
chanu, we had relief, because of
chaf hei, the 25 letters of Shema
Yisroel declaration, for there are
25 letters from word Shema to the
word Echad.
Of course, in order to successfully
tap into the power of Shema, we
have to say it at its proper time:
that is in the first three hours of
the day and after 50 minutes from
sunset. So, if we are a late riser
and we daven after the time of
Krias Shema, we must make sure
to say it earlier in the morning,
and if we daven Maariv right after
shkiah, we have to be careful to say
Krias Shema over again with true
concertation.
In that merit, may Hashem always
protect us and grant us long life
and quality days until the coming
of Moshiach, speedily in our days.