"And Chanah prayed to Hashem."
QUESTION: It should have said "el Hashem." "Al Hashem" literally means "above" or "on Hashem"?
ANSWER: For many years Chanah together with her husband Elkanah were making a yearly pilgrimage to Shilo and offering sacrifices to Hashem. Chanah would utilize this opportunity to pray to Hashem for a child. For many years Elkanah, seeing her pain and suffering, would usually comfort her saying, "Do not despair, Hashem will surely hear your prayers and bless you with a child."
This year, Chanah heard something from her husband which she never heard before. When she wept and would not eat, he said to her, "Chanah, why do you weep and why is your heart grieved? Am I not better to you than ten sons?"
Upon hearing this she was in a state of shock. She perceived that Elkanah had given up hope on her having a child. This grieved her immensely and aroused the very core of her neshamah. Suddenly, she realized that she was all alone in her requests for a child and that it was her task to penetrate the highest spheres of the heaven.
Her prayers this time were derived from the innermost core of her heart and soul, and they reached much higher than usual. Up to now, she would attain the level of praying "el Hashem" - to the holy Tetragramaton which denotes His attribute of mercy. Now, however, her prayers reached "al Hashem" - above and higher than the level of Hashem. They reached the Essence of His Holiness, and upon penetrating the highest possible level of G-dliness, she was blessed with a child.
"Eli thought she was drunk." (I Samuel 1:13)
QUESTION: Chanah would come annually to the Beit Hamikdash to pray to Hashem for a child. Eli the Kohen Gadol undoubtedly knew her as a righteous woman who yearned bitterly for a child. Why did he suddenly suspect her of intoxication?
ANSWER: On the twelve stones of the
choshen mishpat - breastplate - worn by the
Kohen Gadol were engraved the names of the patriarchs, Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, and also the words
"shivtei yeshurun" (
Yoma 73b). On each stone were six letters, including the name of the tribe, and thus there were seventy-two letters in total. In the Choshen Mishpat was the
Urim and the
Tumim which consisted of two inscriptions of the Divine Name (see
Shemot 28:30, Rashi, Ramban).
When a question was brought before the Kohen Gadol, he would meditate on His Holy Name of the Urim. This would cause the letters on the stones of the breastplate to light up or protrude. These letters spelled the answer to the question. However, since they were not in any special order, again the Kohen Gadol would have to meditate on the Holy Name of the Tumim and, thus, he would be given Ruach Hakodesh - Divine inspiration - a level of prophecy lower than the one called "nevuah," to arrange the letters properly and convey the correct answer.
When Eli observed that only her lips moved but her voice could not be heard, he inquired through the choshen mishpat about her and became extremely suspicious when he saw "shikorah" - "intoxicated" - begin to light up on the breastplate. Chanah told him that obviously he lacked the Ruach Hakodesh which is given to the Kohen to interpret and decipher the message (see Berachot 31b). The letters which lit up should have been read to spell the word "kesheirah," which means a good respectable Jewish woman. She explained, "No, my master, I am a deeply grieved woman, I have drunk no wine or strong drink, but I have poured out my soul before Hashem" (I Samuel 1:15).
A drunkard is oblivious to his surroundings and fully involved with himself. Similarly, Eli, observing Chanah's being so immersed in prayer for a child, suspected her of intoxication - not from wine but from the very act and style of her prayer. His contention was that when a Jew prays there is no room for personal requests. The awareness of being in Hashem's presence should be so intense that it precludes anything else. When Eli saw Chanah praying for a child, he mistakenly concluded that she had forgotten Hashem's presence.
"Not so" was Chanah's reply. Her longing for a child was not a personal desire, but a wish to fulfill a greater mission in life. This is evident in the vow she made that if Hashem would bless her, the child would be given over for a life of total service of Hashem. Chanah wasn't asking Hashem to fulfill her personal request in order to satisfy her maternal desires to have a child to cuddle and to reach personal accomplishment. She was praying to Hashem to have a child whom she could "give to Him all the days of his life."
So, too, is it with us on Rosh Hashanah. Although our petitions are personal in focus, the true essence of our prayer is to unite with Hashem and to use all the blessings He bestows upon us as a way to enhance our service of Him.
"G-d appeared to me from a distance." (Jeremiah 31:3)
QUESTION: The Ba'al Haturim writes on the pasuk, "Kenega nirah li babayit" - "Something like a plague has appeared to me in the home" (Vayikra 14:35), that there are two pesukim containing the words "nirah li" - "appeared to me" - the pasuk in Vayikra and the one in Jeremiah.
What is the connection between these two pesukim?
ANSWER: Though the plague affecting the house seems superficially very distressing, in reality it contained good tidings. Through breaking the walls of their houses, the Jewish owners found treasures which were hidden there by the Amorites during the forty years the Jews were in the desert (Rashi). The link between the two
pesukim is that when the human eye of the Jew sees that
"kenega nirah li babayit" - "Something like an affliction has appeared to me in the house" - in reality
"Meirachok Hashem nirah li" - G-d is appearing to me from the distance, and in His merciful way, bestowing His blessings upon the Jew.
"Rachel weeps for her children... restrain you voice from weeping... your children will return to their border." (31:14-16)
QUESTION: Rashi quotes a Midrash that the patriarchs went to appease Hashem concerning the sin of Menasheh, who placed an image in the Temple, but He was not appeased. Rachel entered and said to Him, "Did I not bring my rival into my house? Yaakov worked for my father only for me. When the wedding night arrived he brought my sister and it was not enough that I kept silent but I gave her my password. You too, if Your children have brought your rival into Your house, keep Your silence for them. "Hashem said to her, "You have defended them well. There is reward for your deed."
Why is Rachel's act more compelling than the unparalleled heroism and supreme dedication the patriarchs exhibited for Hashem?
ANSWER: Indeed, what Avraham and Yitzchok did at the
Akeidah is awe-inspiring. Yaakov's bout with Eisav and Lavan for the sake of his Torah observance was heroic. Rachel's act, however, was one of compassion towards an unfortunate sister. She signaled Leah to precede her in marriage to Yaakov though it might have meant her loss of the opportunity to marry him.
Hashem appreciates those who do for His sake, but He cherishes even more those who go out of their way and give of themselves for a fellow Jew though it may hurt.
"Rachel weeps for her children, she refuses to be consoled for they are gone."
QUESTION: "Mevakeh" means to make others cry; shouldn't it have said Rachel "bocheh"? Since it says "banehah" - her children - in plural, instead of ki einenu - he is not there - shouldn't it have said ki einam - they are not there?
ANSWER: Rachel observed that when the Jews were exiled they were despondent and lost all hope of being redeemed. Therefore she cried hoping that her crying would arouse them to cry and to do
teshuvah and be redeemed.
Rachel refused to be comforted because she perceived ki einenu - the hope for His redemption had dissipated from her children and was no longer with them. Finally, Hashem assured her that He personally will awaken in them a spirit of teshuvah, and they will return to their borders.
Maftir