Sunday, August 30, 2009

from Rav Simcha Zissel: renewed perception is the source of brakhot

. . . Similarly, the models in the Torah, such as the exodus from Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, the manna, the giving of the Torah etc, which involve changing the ways of nature and divine revelation, should naturally arouse wonder (hitpa'alut) among those believing in them. Nevertheless, we read or study them in a cold and almost indifferent way, and they don't shock us or make an impression on us, as if they were normal or routine events.

"The person entering mussar study must strengthen his trust and be as if he had never heard anything before, as if she was born today and found a world full of wonders. And from then on he has an obligation to distinguish between good and evil and only then will his trust be complete, God willing. . ."

Our sages interpret the verse: 'which I command you today' to mean: 'they should be new to you as if you had heard them for the first time today'. And Rabbi Simcha Zissel interprets the intention here to mean that they should not only be dear to you as if they had been given to you today, but also that they should be received every day by reflecting anew on them, as if they had been heard today.

And this is, according to Rav Simcha Zissel, the intention of our sages when they prescribed the blessings, both the blessings for enjoyment and those for mitzvot: so that we won't, out of habit and distraction, ignore natural events and the observance of Torah and mitzvot and to arouse our attention and capacity for reflection.

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