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 Shabbat Parashat Bamidbar | 5769Ein Ayah: Beginning the Day With Prayer; The Value of the Individual By Himself and Within the Collective(based on Ein Ayah, Berachot 1:154) Gemara: That which it says, “Do not eat on the blood” (Vayikra 19:26), means that one should not eat before he has prayed for his blood. Ein Ayah: The first emotions of the day impact a person to set the target of his behavior and his activities for the day. Therefore, one should try to have his first emotions lofty and spiritual for the purpose of true shleimut (completeness). This can be accomplished by prayer, which comes from the feelings of the spirit. The Torah says that the blood is the spirit. A person should not eat prior to prayer in order that he should not place animalistic feelings first. If those emotions precede the feelings of holiness, they will act upon the person to pull him, his personal content, and his behavior in the direction of the lower reaches of their potential value. The Value of the Individual By Himself and Within the Collective (based on Ein Ayah, Berachot 1:156) Gemara: Rav Mani said: Reading Kriat Shema at its proper time is greater than being occupied in Torah study. Ein Ayah: The shleimut (completeness) of every individual is evaluated according to his standing and level. However, the main shleimut of It is through the study of Torah that every individual acquires his shleimut according to his level. However, the general center of the Torah study of all Jews as a collective and the essence that unites them is the recitation of Kriat Shema and especially when it is done at its proper time. At that time, the entire nation focuses its spirit on the source of life, the One Blessed G-d. The fact that this is done at one time of day greatly strengthens the general connection between Jews, which then emerges from the essence of the involvement in Torah of the different individuals. This is because the understanding that emerges from and is pulled along by the knowledge of the unity and the acceptance of the yoke of Heaven can be broken up into individualized parts. This is what the Zohar means by: “each and every individual according to his measure.” With the general understanding and the true acceptance, the different parts unite through the recitation of Kriat Shema at its proper time. That is why reading Kriat Shema at its proper time is greater than being occupied in Torah study. That is because the value of the complete person within the collective is inestimably greater than his value as an individual.  Top of page Print this page Send to friend |
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