Part 8
Hashem ohavti me'on beisecho umekom Mishkan
Kevodecho
The third posuk that is said upon entering shul
is taken from Tehillim 26:8, and translates as,
"Hashem I love the House where You dwell, and the place where
Your glory resides." This posuk immediately follows
the final phrase of the second posuk that reads,
"eshtachaveh el Heichal Kodshecho beyirosecho" - -
prostrating myself towards Your Holy Sanctuary in Your
awe.
Some people say, in effect: "I love Your dwelling house"
— I really enjoy coming to shul, as it provides
me with so much social life, a place to hear the latest news,
meet my friends and even do a little business too.
The juxtaposition of these introductory pesukim teach
us that this is not the correct approach to coming to
shul. To ensure that this error does not occur, the
second posuk ends with a declaration that we will
enter with the required awe and respect for it. Only after
that can we proclaim our liking of "entering Your Dwelling
House" and the opportunity it provides us to speak directly
to Him.
Habitually going to shul has an intrinsic danger that
we feel too much at home there. Before we become too
comfortable and homey in shul, we need to remind
ourselves of the importance of behaving with dignity and awe
in His Palace. We therefore end the previous posuk
with the phrase, "eshtachaveh el Heichal Kodshecho
beyirosecho," and immediately begin the next one with the
words, Hashem ohavti me'on beisecho umekom Mishkan
Kevodecho.
The gemora (Chagigah 12b) relates that there are seven
different firmaments in Heaven. The fifth one is named
Meon, and is occupied by myriads of angels who sing
Hashem's praises all night, but remain silent during the day
in reverence to the Jewish people. During the daytime the
Jewish people are extremely privileged to have been given the
priority to pray and sing His praises — even before the
Divine Angels.
On entering shul in the morning, one acknowledges this
special privilege with the phrase, Hashem ohavti me'on
beisecho, as our prayers take priority over those of the
angels that occupy the Meon sphere above. I am aware
of this great privilege that we possess, and for that reason
too ohavti me'on beisecho — I enjoy coming to
Your House.
The gemora (Megilla 29) states that all Houses of
Learning and Prayer will be transferred to Eretz Yisroel
with the advent of Moshiach. The Maharsho explains that
the holiness present in shul is similar to that of
Eretz Yisroel. One needs to realize that by entering
shul, one is in fact transplanting himself there into
the Holy Land. One experiences a similar air of holiness as
in visiting Eretz Yisroel, and our daily shul
visits are comparable to daily visits to Eretz Yisroel.
This appreciation results in our expressing Hashem ohavti
me'on beisecho umekom Mishkan Kevodecho — our
beis hamedrash corresponds to Your Holy Abode of the
Beis Hamikdosh, and our behavior therein also has to
correspond with the way we must behave within the Beis
Hamikdosh itself.
Having just declared to Hashem how we enjoy coming to
shul — Hashem ohavti me'on beisecho
— we need to clarify if this statement is said in
earnest. To test our true intentions in coming to
shul, we need to observe what we actually do during
any few minutes that we have to spare.
For example, the few minutes between Mincha and
Ma'ariv. Do we enjoy the me'on beisecho so much
that we take this opportunity to learn something? Or do we
enjoy it so much that we have to go outside and talk to some
friends during this time? Do we use our spare time during
national holidays to spend at least part of the day learning
in the beis hamedrash, that "we enjoy so much." We
declare our love for shul before entering it, in order
to remind us that we should use our time correctly whilst
inside it.
In our last article, we mentioned the mishna in
Brochos that relates how righteous people in earlier
generations would spend one hour preparing for prayer,
another hour actually praying and a third hour contemplating
afterwards — three times a day. Although our concept of
tefilloh is far removed from the way these righteous
people prayed, we can perhaps get some indication as to what
this lengthy preparation achieved.
When travelling on a short, one-hour flight between Zurich
and Milan one needs to check in at the airport at least one
hour before departure. During that time, one checks in his
luggage, gets a boarding pass, seat allocation, passport
control, and goes through a rigorous security check for both
himself and his luggage. After all these essential
preparations, one is allowed to board the plane and take
one's seat in anticipation for take off. All passengers are
reminded to fasten their seatbelts and to keep all mobile
telephones switched off during the entire flight, as this can
seriously interfere with the safety of the aircraft.
Once the plane has landed, people disembark and go through
security checks again, passport control, reclaim their
luggage and exit via the customs hall. The check-in time for
this one hour flight, is also one hour. Similarly from the
time the plane has landed until one steps out of the airport
is also another hour. We fully appreciate that these hour-
long controls, both before and after the flight, are all
essential in ensuring a safe journey for all the passengers
and their luggage.
Righteous Yidden in previous generations understood that for
their tefillos to arrive safely at their required
destination, before Hashem, many preparations have to be made
that took as long as the actual prayers themselves. It was
self-understood that the use of mobile telephones during the
flight, would interfere with its safety.
