The War in Israel Part 3 - Can My Private Words and Thoughts Really Save Lives?

The purpose of this segment is to highlight the powerful opportunities that Hashem has provided to us each time that we daven. Throughout our daily tefilos, there are numerous p’sukim that we can focus on and apply to our current situation. The two parts of tefilah that this segment discusses are prime examples, but there are many more.

In the last segment, we presented the pasuk “תְּנוּ עֹז–T’nu Oz,” which is found in the “Hodu” section of P’sukei D’Zimrah in Shacharis. If we spend a few minutes reviewing these p’sukim, without any commentary other than the simple understanding and meaning from Rabbi Mayer Birnbaum’s Pathway to Prayer Siddur, we can clearly see and hopefully feel the strong relevance to our current time of need:

אֵל נְקָמות ה'. אֵל נְקָמות הופִיעַ

הִנָּשא שׁפֵט הָאָרֶץ הָשֵׁב גְּמוּל עַל גֵּאִים

Almighty Who has the ability to take vengeance, Hashem,

Almighty Who has the ability to take vengeance,

Reveal to us the revenge You take on the wicked.

Arise, Judge of the Earth

(and) repay the arrogant their retribution (so they will realize that You alone are exalted).

לה' הַיְשׁוּעָה. עַל עַמְּךָ בִרְכָתֶךָ סֶּלָה

It is for Hashem to save (His nation)

(and) it is for Your nation to praise You and thank You for the salvation, forever.

ה' צְבָאות עִמָּנוּ. מִשגָּב לָנוּ אֱ-להֵי יַעֲקב סֶלָה

Hashem, Who is in control of the Heavenly and earthly legions, is with us,

(and) the G-d of Yaakov is a Stronghold for us, forever.

ה' צְבָאות. אַשְׁרֵי אָדָם בּטֵחַ בָּךְ

Hashem, Who is in control of the Heavenly and earthly legions,

fortunate is the man who trusts in You to bring the G’ulah Sh’leimah (despite the long exile).

ה'. הושִׁיעָה. הַמֶּלֶךְ יַעֲנֵנוּ בְיום קָרְאֵנוּ

(Therefore, we ask:) Hashem save (us now)!

May the King (of the world) answer us on the day that we call.

הושִׁיעָה אֶת עַמֶּךָ וּבָרֵךְ אֶת נַחֲלָתֶךָ. וּרְעֵם וְנַשּאֵם עַד הָעולָם

Save Your people (from their enemies)

and bless (klal Yisrael whom You have taken as Your portion,

and lead them as a shepherd leads his flock,

and elevate them (above all other peoples) all the days of the world.

נַפְשֵׁנוּ חִכְּתָה לה'. עֶזְרֵנוּ וּמָגִנֵּנוּ הוּא

Our souls long for Hashem, Who is our helper and our protector.

כִּי בו יִשמַח לִבֵּנוּ. כִּי בְשֵׁם קָדְשׁו בָטָחְנוּ

(When He saves us) our hearts will rejoice in Him,

because we trusted in His holy Name (and He saves those who trust in Him).

יְהִי חַסְדְּךָ ה' עָלֵינוּ. כַּאֲשֶׁר יִחַלְנוּ לָךְ

May Your kindness, Hashem, be upon us at all times, just as we have awaited You.

הַרְאֵנוּ ה' חַסְדֶּךָ. וְיֶשְׁעֲךָ תִּתֶּן לָנוּ

(And even if we have many sins) Hashem, show us Your kindness,

and grant us Your salvation (quickly, in our days).

קוּמָה עֶזְרָתָה לָנוּ. וּפְדֵנוּ לְמַעַן חַסְדֶּךָ

Arise and help us and redeem us,

(not because we are deserving, but) by virtue of Your kindness.

The same is true of the few passages found after Tachanun (after the Shacharis and Minchah Shemoneh Esrei):

שׁוֹמֵר יִשְׂרָאֵל שְׁמוֹר שְׁאֵרִית יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאַל יֹאבַד יִשְׂרָאֵל הָאֹמְ֒רִים שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל

(We request of Hashem) the Guardian of klal Yisrael,

guard the remnant of klal Yisrael, and do not let the remnant of klal Yisrael be destroyed,

because they say “Shema Yisrael” (accepting the Kingship of Hashem).

שׁוֹמֵר גּוֹי אֶחָד שְׁמוֹר שְׁאֵרִית עַם אֶחָד וְאַל יֹאבַד גּוֹי אֶחָד הַמְיַחֲדִים שִׁמְךָ ה' אֱ-לֺהֵֽינוּ ה' אֶחָד

Guardian of the unique nation, guard the remnant of the unique people,

and do not let the unique nation be destroyed, because they proclaim the Oneness of Your Name

(saying:) “that Hashem Who takes special care of us is the One and Only Hashem.”

שׁוֹמֵר גּוֹי קָדוֹשׁ שְׁמוֹר שְׁאֵרִית עַם קָדוֹשׁ וְאַל יֹאבַד גּוֹי קָדוֹשׁ הַמְשַׁלְּ֒שִׁים בְּשָׁלשׁ קְדֻשּׁוֹת לְקָדוֹשׁ

Guardian of the holy nation, guard the remnant of the holy people,

and do not let the holy nation be destroyed, because they say thrice daily the threefold K’dushah (like the angels) to Hashem the Holy One.

מִתְרַצֶּה בְּרַחֲמִים וּמִתְפַּיֵּס בְּתַחֲנוּנִים הִתְרַצֶּה וְהִתְפַּיֵּס לְדוֹר עָנִי כִּי אֵין עוֹזֵר

You Who become favorable through our tefilos for mercy,

and become appeased through our pleas, become favorable and appeased to this generation, which is poor in merits, for there is no one else to help (us with his merits).

אָבִֽינוּ מַלְכֵּֽנוּ חָנֵּֽנוּ וַעֲנֵֽנוּ כִּי אֵין בָּֽנוּ מַעֲשִׂים עֲשֵׂה עִמָּֽנוּ צְדָקָה וָחֶֽסֶד וְהוֹשִׁיעֵֽנוּ

Our Father, our King, be gracious to us and answer us,

though we have no worthy deeds to rely on,

deal with us charitably and kindly and save us.

We encourage all to review and study what we are saying in these two examples and apply it to what klal Yisrael is going through. Try to get to the point where you can recite this in your daily tefilah mindfully and with great emotion. These words do not require anything more than understanding them and contemplating them. To that end, we have provided the translation and meaning above, as it appears in the Pathway to Prayer Siddur.

Let us remember that every word, every pasuk, every tefilah, is precious and “gives strength to Hashem” to shower us with brachah, salvation, compassion, chesed, and peace. May we merit to bring down an abundance of flow of all of these blessings and more.