Part 6
Ma Tovu Oholecho Yaakov (Part 2)
The great heathen prophet Bilaam prided himself on being able
to hear the sayings and see the visions of Hashem. In the
same posuk (Bamidbor 24:4) in which he praises himself
for these abilities, he also admits that these virtues are
only accomplished in a state of nofel ugelui einayim
— whilst fallen and with uncovered eyes. Rashi explains
that Bilaam did not have the strength to stand up during a
Divine Revelation, because he was uncircumcised.
This explanation is reinforced by the Rokeach who points out
that the final letters of the last four words of this
posuk are yechezeh nofel ugelui einayim, that
spell out the word miloh. Bilaam was unable to stand
upright during a Divine Revelation, because he was
uncircumcised.
The following posuk in Bilaam's blessing is the one
that we recite on entering shul: Ma tovu oholecho Yaakov,
mishkenosecho Yisroel. This posuk begins with a
letter mem and ends with the letter lamed,
which spell out the word moll — circumcised. The
Jewish people, who are circumcised, can approach Hashem in
tefilloh in an upright position.
It is interesting to note that this contrast between the
uncircumcised heathen nations and the Jewish People is
further portrayed by the actual layout of the sefer
Torah script. The posuk, Ma tovu oholecho Yaakov,
mishkenosecho Yisroel is one of the six pesukim
that always appear at the top of a column, while the bottom
of the previous column ends with the words, yechezeh nofel
ugelui einayim. The uncircumcised fall to the bottom of
the column, while the circumcised rise to the top.
This same idea is duplicated in the phrase (Devorim
30:12) that poses the question, Mi ya'aleh lonu
haShomaymoh? — Who can ascend to the heavens for
us? The acronym of these four words spells out the world
miloh, whilst the final letters of these same four
words spell out the Name of Hashem. It is only after one has
entered the Covenant of Avrohom of the Bris Miloh,
that one can connect directly to Hashem through
successful prayer.
A special and unique closeness to Hashem that the Jewish
People achieve through tefilloh is expressed in the
posuk (Devorim 4:7): "Is there a greater nation that
has Hashem, that is so close to it, as ours? Who will always
listen to our prayers?" A guarantee that Hashem listens to
our prayers is given uniquely to the Jewish people. This
close bond can only be achieved when circumcised people pray
to Hashem, since their prayers ascend the heavens as
expressed in the phrase, Mi ya'aleh lonu
haShomaymoh?
There are six pesukim in a sefer Torah that
must always begin a new column. These begin the initial words
Bereishis (Bereishis 1:1), Yehuda (Bereishis
49:8), Haboim (Shemos 14:28), Shomor (Devorim
12:28), Ma tovu oholecho Yaakov (Bamidbor 24:5),
and Ve'o'idoh bom (Devorim 31:28). Our posuk of
Ma tovu is part of this set. Rabbeinu Bechaye
(Shemos 14:28) points out that the second letter of
each of these six unique words that appear at the top of a
column spell out (not in order) the name Avrohom, the
initiator of Shacharis.
Rabbi Eliyohu Guttmacher explains (Shabbos 130) that
tefillos recited during a bris miloh, while the
baby is crying, are very potent and ascend directly to
Hashem. It is therefore an opportune time to daven for the
speedy recovery of the baby from the bris and at the
same time to include any other problems that one may want to
daven about.
The strong merit of the mitzvah of miloh assists
successful prayers from the minute it is performed, and the
assistance continues throughout our entire lives. The Rokeach
explains that this fact is hinted at (Shemos 3:9) in
the phrase, "tza'akas Bnei Yisroel bo'oh Eilai, vegam
Ro'isi es halachatz asher Mitzrayim lochatzim osom
— the outcry of the Children of Israel has come to Me
and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians
oppress them. The final letters of the phrase Yisroel
bo'oh Eilai, vegam spell out the word miloh. This
phrase ends with the word vegam — and also,
hinting that additional tefillos recited during the
time of the miloh itself are guaranteed to ascend
direct to Hashem, as indicated in this phrase: tza'akas
Bnei Yisroel bo'oh Eilai, vegam.
We end the central brochos of our daily Shemoneh
Esrei tefilloh by praising Hashem, Ki Ato shomei'a
tefillos kol peh Amcho Yisroel berachamim — You
hear the prayers of each mouth of Your people Yisroel with
compassion. The word peh has the same numerical value
as the word miloh, and we thereby also incorporate a
praise to Hashem for accepting all types of prayers that are
recited during the performance of a bris miloh.
Our daily tefillos begin with the posuk, Ma tovu
oholecho Yaakov, mishkenosecho Yisroel as representative
of one of the six unique pesukim that are always found
at the top line of the sefer Torah. As we noted
earlier, these incorporate the name of Avrohom who
established the tefilloh of Shacharis, and also
allude to the mitzvah of bris miloh that was first
performed by Avrohom Ovinu. It is only through the merit of
this mitzvah that the prayers of all circumcised Jewish
people are able to ascend to Hashem. This posuk is
chosen to begin our daily Shacharis tefilloh as it
connects Avrohom Ovinu with the mitzvah of bris
miloh.
Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld zt"l drew a comparison
between the wording of our posuk, Ma tovu oholecho Yaakov,
mishkenosecho Yisroel and that of the posuk (Shemos
19:3), Ko somar lebeis Yaakov vesageid livnei Yisroel
— So shall you say to the house of Yaakov and tell the
sons of Yisroel. Rashi explains, on this latter posuk,
that the expression beis Yaakov refers to the women
and bnei Yisroel refers to the men. Rabbi Sonnenfeld,
when saying the posuk Ma tovu oholecho Yaakov,
mishkenosecho Yisroel upon entering shul, would
feel a special debt of gratitude to the female members of his
household who remained at home and took care of the children
and other household duties, allowing him the opportunity to
come to shul to daven and learn undisturbed. He
explained that his possibility of being able to participate
in the mishkenosecho Yisroel is in the merit of the
ladies as the Ma tovu oholecho Yaakov.
