The 13 Principles of Jewish Faith - Principle #5: When G-d Asks You for a Blessing - Rabbi Akiva Fox

continuing with this train of thought that when we pray what we're asking is that a Shem may it be your will may it be your desire your rut sign that the that the system or the arrangements that you have made for me will change and will benefit me but in a sense it will also benefit uhm this is what we have to keep in mind when praying that it's also besides our own desires that are being expressed we also have to keep in mind God's desires not just pray to God for me but to pray for God for me to also have in mind Hashem this is something that is a huge concept but it is something that is crucial to our understanding of the fundamentals of faith but also to understanding the essence of prayer as we said every prayer in essence is the words you hear Utzon or you lyrics a memory fee may it be your will a sham may what I desire be what you want if that is true if we are praying in all honesty then we must include that there must be some benefit for Hashem that will come out of answering our prayers what benefit is therefore rush em there is the glory of a Shem there is the honor and the dignity covered of a sham and there is also another aspect and this is something that nefesh a high-end speaks about that there are two things that seem to disappear when there are sorrows when there are tragedies or when a jew is in pain the things that seem to disappear our number-one Hashem's glory because when a jew is in pain there's a certain pillow Hashem it is as if people are going to look and say wait how could God let that happen to his people so his glory and his honor is hidden because somebody is in pain and there's another aspect the Gomorrah says when we are in pain Hashem is in pain when we cry Hashem cries you can only understand this if you have children you can only understand this if you truly love somebody because then you can understand what it means to be in pain for somebody else so when we suffer in a sense Hashem suffers so when it comes to relieving us of our pain in truth we're also believing Hashem of his pain and when it comes to relieving us or saving us from whatever it is that de-stresses us or that makes us suffer beside the fact that a Shem will relieve his own pain there's something else that will come out of it and that is the glory of a Shem because in a sense there was a certain Hester there was a certain hiddenness in God's mercy in God's compassion that it seemed lacking it seemed like there was a part of the world or a part of humanity that where is God's kindness and now if a Shem saves us or if a sham hears our prayers that will bring back the hidden glory the hidden honor of a Shem that in a certain sense was covered over it was not revealed because of the pain that a person or that a group of people may have been in so when we say and we pray he rocks a may it be your will Hashem in essence what we're doing is we're uniting our will with ash Emma's will it is one love one love meaning we are uniting together Hashem I am praying not just for me and my benefit it's not just my own salvation that I want it's not just my own skin that I'm trying to save Hashem I do realize that your glory is in doubt Hashem I do realize that something is hidden and in a certain sense a certain amount of hello Hashem a certain amount of lack of the the revelation or a lack of the appearance of God's kindness exists in the world so Hashem I'm Dominic to you I'm praying that you answer me I'm praying that you saved me from whatever it is because your glory will come out of it because then your compassion will be realized also I am asking that you saved me because the pain I mean is paying for you so please Hashem relieve my pain because I know you're in pain with me so that is when we daven you hear us in it it may it be your will uh Shem it is not just a selfish focus on the things we want it's not just asking for ice cream or asking for a little petty cash you know just to uh you know do you know I want to want to play the lottery a little bit i want to go out and gamble some or i said if you could make the Yankees win no we're diving for Hashem we're asking Hashem for something for us but in essence we know that it's also for Russian as a fascinating gamarra the gamera says that rubbish mile was the coin god oh he went into the Kurdish Academy went into the the base hamikdash the tabernacle the house of God when it was still around and he entered the Holy of Holies the holiest chamber that only one person on one day throughout the year was allowed to go into this is the Holy of Holies and only the kind God though the high priest was allowed to enter and he goes inside and he sees a vision of God sitting on his throne of glory and God says to him Ishmael bini you smile my son bar haney bless me now let's stop for a second imagine you go to one of the great rabbis of the generation and you ask him for a blessing and he says to you bless me you would've probably stutter yeah I don't know I mean well what do you need what should I say you should be a big rabbi you already are which I you should be a big Tom and Sock'em should have your up chinmayi should have Kevin anything you could say art exists so when God says terribly small bar haney give me a bracha give me a blessing what about your answer to such a request Shem you should you should be able to have anything you want ice cream pizza well what could you say tosh m that could be a blessing for us so you should rubbish mall said he rots I'm may it be your will wash em that yes basura humaira s casa that your mercy should overcome your anger on the Jewish people and you should act with them with utmost mercy upmost compassion even beyond the letter of the law and a Shem in the vision that rubbish mall saw shook his head as if to say I hear you what's going on here Hashem asks rubbish mall the coin God 04 Abraha and every schmahl didn't say blessing he didn't bless him he prayed to him and he said may it be your will uh Shem that you'd be more compassionate than anger that your mercy overcome your anger and you treat the Jews with extra compassion that's a prey or not a blessing what's going on here what's going on over here is a fascinating idea bahraini the word bracha comes from the word break hung a pool of water that continuously flows downwards comes from the word beer Khayyam the knees that bring a person down when Hashem said bark Amy Britt bless me Hashem said bring me down bring me to this world I created the universe so that my presence and my glory would be in this world a tangible reality to humankind to mankind bring me down meaning that's the essence of the world that's the reason for everything accomplished that which I desired in the world that's why I created the Jewish people that's why I created the base on Mick Dutch because I want to be in this world with you bring me down too reality the tangible reality of the Jewish people and the world at large bring me down as one meaning that I my presence should be felt in every corner of the world because that's what a sham wants from the world and rubbish mall said Hashem may your mercy overcome your anger because in a certain sense when there's distress when there's anger when there's times of tragedy and pain then Hashem is hidden then he is less tangible than his reality and his existence or his his apparent existence in this world is hidden and then I shall we say Hashem it seems like you're lacking it seems like you're not here where are you we're searching but when there's mercy when there's compassion when your merciful and good and kind to the Jewish people then everyone knows you're here then you're revealed and then you're here with us that's a tangible reality that's volcania Shem you want us to bring you down may it be your will that your mercy overcomes your anger and when that happens you'll be so revealed you'll be so much aware we will be so much aware of your existence we will feel we will be tangibly connected to you so when a Shem said bargaining bringing me down rubbish mall said Hashem with your mercy and compassion you'll be here so clearly there won't be Hester upon him there won't be hidden Hashem you'll be gay law you'll be revealed everyone will see you you'll shine your glory will shine and a Shem shook his head and a shim said I hear you sometimes we don't understand why sometimes a sham hides from us sometimes a Shem is not revealed and his mercy and compassion are not shown but we pray and we beg and we say we're giving you a bra Hashem we bless you because we want you to come down when we ask Hashem to reveal his mercy that's not only a personal request for his compassion it's also a request for him a shame it is your will may it be your will so that you will be a tangible reality amongst mankind because that is what you truly desire you