Weekly Tefilah Focus

v’chol b’nei vasar yikr’u vishmecha…

and then all of humanity will call in Your Name (to serve You), (and then) all the Earth’s wicked will turn toward You (in repentance), (and) all the inhabitants of the world will recognize and know (that You are the King), that all knees will bow down to You (to accept Your Kingdom), (and) in Your Name all nations will swear in truth (and no longer mention other gods)…

Al kein n’kaveh l’cha Hashem Elokeinu lir’os m’heirah b’siferes uzecha

(Since You are the only power) therefore we hope and trust in You (to save us), Hashem Who takes special care of us, (and) to see, without delay, the glory of Your great strength…

In the last segment, we presented one understanding of “l’sakein olam b’malchus Sha-dai” (to perfect the world with the kingdom of Hashem). In this segment, we present two other understandings. In general, when there are various ways that we can understand a particular phrase in tefilah, each person should choose the one that resonates most in his mind and heart, and that will provide him or her with the greatest feeling of connection to Hashem. The idea of tefilah is not to try to memorize all the meanings and have them in mind. That may be appropriate when learning Torah, but not in tefilah.

Having covered the first paragraph of Aleinu in the past, we now begin the second paragraph, starting with “Al kein n’kaveh” (nusach Ashkenaz) or “V’al kein n’kaveh” (nusach Sefard).

L’haavir gillulim min ha’aretz, v’ha’elilim karos yikareisun. L’sakein olam b’malchus Sha-dai…

To remove abominable idolatry from the earth, and that all idols will be totally cut down (destroyed), (and then You will return Your Sh’chinah) to perfect the world with the Kingdom of Hashem (Who set a limit to the creation)…

u’fakdeinu vo li’vrachah (and consider us on this day for prosperity and success): We ask that whatever Hashem decrees upon us should be for blessing, which also implies an increased flow of blessing.