Skip to main content

Have no fear; what can a man do to me?”

 

♦ God is with me, I have no fear; what can a man do to me?

            Psalms 118:6

 

            The “man” mentioned in this verse represents exile.

            In his dream of the ladder, Jacob saw this “man” in the form of an angel that ascended the ladder and seemingly did not come back down (Chapters of Rabbi Eliezer 35). Jacob was terrified until God assured him, “Behold, I am with you” (Genesis 28:15).

            And the prophet Obadiah quoted God as addressing this man with the words, “Even if you raise your nest like an eagle or place your nest among the stars, I will bring you down from there” (Obadiah 1:4). Rabbi Yitzchak Eizek Chaver states that the verse from Hallel, “God is with me, I have no fear; what can a man do to me?” is a reminder of this verse (Yad Mitzarim).

            As we approach the end of the Jewish year, we see that the exile has not yet ended. But we sing this verse with joy as we celebrate David’s words and Obadiah’s prophecy. As long as we feel that “God is with me,” especially during this month of our intense relationship with God, we “have no fear; what can a man do to me?”

 By:  Rabbi Simcha Weinberg

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pesukei d’Zimrah Baruch Sh’Amar

  The Gra (Haggadah: Baruch HaMakom) explains that when we recite the words, “Blessed is He Who spoke, and the world came into being; blessed is He.” We are blessing both the revealed and the hidden. The specific praise of,   “Who spoke, and the world came into being,” refers to the world we see and can comprehend. The praise, “Blessed is He,” refers to all that is hidden in the creation, and cannot be described.    This idea of “Hidden and Revealed,” refers to the worlds of “Thought and Action.” We referred to what we see as Action, and to what we cannot see, as Thought. This teaches us that when singing this song of praise we must remember that there are two levels to each of the Ten (Explained by the Abudirham as corresponding to the Ten Statements with which the world was created) praises we recite; the Hidden–Thought, and the Revealed–Action. By: Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, n''y 
Post a Comment
Read more

Shekalim 1

Parent and Child: Rabbi Shlomo Kluger (Kehillat Yaakov; Shekalim 1) explains that when the Holy One, Blessed is He, created a person with a body and soul, He gave them as a gift to  the person. We belong to ourselves, and God relates to us as independent children. However, when we rebel against God, it is considered as if we have stolen the gift of our lives from the Creator. A thief who cannot repay what he has stolen is sold into slavery to pay his debt. It is impossible for us to repay the Creator for the gift of life, and we are sold, so to speak, into slavery. When we offer the Half Shekel we are paying half the debt, the second half is forgiven by God, Who never completely lets go of the relationship of parent to child.   The Half-Shekel is a statement that we are acting in partnership with God, our Father. One must have intention that he is giving his half of the shekel together with God. One should focus on God as a loving parent when giving the Half Shekel.  By: ...
1 comment
Read more

PRAYER TOOLS: FROM NEFESH TO NESHAMA

  The ability to transcend the desire of the Nefesh into the reality of the Neshama by way of the Ruach (clear articulation) is in fact the process that allows us to glimpse through God’s “mirror”. But more than that… When, for instance, I go from “I want to cope well” to picturing myself at my best, I have aligned the mirrors as in “K’mayim HaPanim L’Panim”; it’s not two different mirrors, it becomes one. As the Baal Shem Tov describes; the closer one gets to our reflection in the water, the less of a reflection it becomes, to the point where it becomes as one. By training oneself to articulate and bridge the gap between Nefesh and Neshama, it is this unity that we seek to achieve. By: Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, n''y
Post a Comment
Read more