My wife and I have much in common, but the month of Tishrei accentuates our notably different careers. The entire month turns my wife’s schedule upside down, forcing her to balance her work and school schedule around the chagim. She jokes how she enjoyed her “vacation day” of Yom Kipuur. As Yom Tov sets in, I can see the struggle as she tries to distract her mind from work to enjoy the chag. My wife is very traditional, but I work on Shabbat! I see the first fifteen days of Tishrei the way an accountant sees the first fifteen days of April. I know that it’s time for me to get to work.
With Sukkot around the corner, I imagine more of you can relate to my wife’s experience, which begs the question: what type of attitude should we have towards these forced vacation days that throw our schedules for a loop?
We read in our parsha today the famous pasuk:
כִּ֛י שֵׁ֥ם ה’ אֶקְרָ֑א הָב֥וּ גֹ֖דֶל לֵאלֹקינוּ׃
For the name of the L-RD I proclaim; Give glory to our G-d!
This pasuk brings to mind many halachot and minhagim:
- Most say this pasuk before shmone esray at mussaf and mincha
- This pasuk is the source for saying “baruch hu uvaruch shemo”
- This pasuk is the source for answering to borchu.
- This pasuk is even the source for bowing and proclaiming “baruch shem kvod malchuto” when the Kohegn Gadol proclamide G-d’s ineffable name of Yom Kippur.
But perhaps most importantly, Chazal understand this pasuk to obligate reciting Birkat Hatorah before studying Torah:
מנין לברכת התורה לפניה מן התורה שנאמר כי שם ה׳ אקרא הבו גדל לֵאלֹקינוּ
And from where is the mitzva by Torah law to recite the blessing over the Torah before it is read, derived? As it is stated: “When I proclaim the Lord’s name, give glory to our God” (Deuteronomy 32:3), meaning that before one proclaims the Lord’s name by reading the Torah, he must give glory to God. (Brachot 21a)
Many understand this obligation to be biblical. The Sefer Hachinuch writes that the Torah only obligates two brachot: Birkat Hatorah and Birkat Hamazon. Every other bracha we recite in our lives is rabbinic.
Reinforcing the centrality of Birkat Hatorah, a startling gemara in Nedarim 81a suggests that the failure to recite Birkat Hatorah caused the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash and the decimation of land of Israel!
The Ran on the page there famously explains why the blessing before studying Torah is so critical:
“The Torah was not important in their eyes to the extent that they believed it was deserving of having a blessing recited prior to its study.This was the case, since they did not study it for its own sake (lishmah) [but rather simply out of sheer self-serving intellectual pleasure.] Therefore, they acted in a dismissive manner regarding the recitation of the bracha. This is what the verse means when it states, “neither walked therein.” This means that the Sages of the time lacked the proper intention in their Torah scholarship and failed to study it for its own sake [that is, as a service to Hashem].”
(Translation from https://www.yutorah.org/lectures/lecture.cfm/934150/rabbi-david-etengoff/parashat-ha%E2%80%99azinu,-5780,-2019-the-power-of-birkat-hatorah/)
The blessing recited helps us contemplate why we engage in the study of Torah. Reminding us that the Torah is meaningful, relevant, and holy.
The holiday of season brings with it a host of mitzvot and their brachot. In just a couple of days we will be making the bracha of shehechiyanu (again), lulav, sukkah, and hallel. The inconveniences are almost inseparably from the mitzvot- the toil of building a sukkah, the cost of the daled minim, the menu planning, and the sacrifices of missing work.
As we recite our brachot before performing these mitzvot, let us consider the model that Birkat Hatorah creates for brachot. Our brachot should bring contemplation and reflection.
Let us appreciate that which we have; the beauty of our chagim, our calendar, and our vacation days; and the sanctity that the mitzvot bring into our lives.
כִּ֛י שֵׁ֥ם ה’ אֶקְרָ֑א הָב֥וּ גֹ֖דֶל לֵאלֹקינוּ׃
For the name of the L-RD I proclaim; Give glory to our G-d!
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