David HaMelech says, “The sound of rejoicing and salvation is in the tents of the righteous... Open for me the gates of righteousness; I will enter them and thank G-d” (T’hilim 118:15,19). The word “ohel” (“tent”) signifies a non-permanent dwelling. A “bayis” (“house”), on the other hand, is a permanent dwelling. Rabbi Yissocher Frand explains that the reason there is rejoicing – and salvation, enjoyment, and contentment – in the lives of the righteous is because their existence in this world is like that of a tent – temporary. In this world, we have work to do and mitzvos that must be performed. But our physical surroundings are only temporary dwellings – tents.
There is a famous story about the Chofetz Chaim. A visitor saw that the Chofetz Chaim had no furniture in his house and asked him for the reason. The Chofetz Chaim, in turn, asked the traveler, “Where is your furniture?” The traveler, surprised by the question, replied, “What do you mean, I’m only passing through.” The Chofetz Chaim responded, “Yes, I, too, am also only passing through.”
David HaMelech teaches us that if a person’s perspective of this world is that it is only in the category of a “tent,” a place where he lives temporarily while he is “passing through,” then there will always be sounds of rejoicing and salvation in his dwelling.
Our sages teach us that the more a person accomplishes in the realm of learning Torah, the more he realizes the extent of that which he does not know. The primary joy and the wish of the righteous are for the gates of righteousness to be opened for them. As David HaMelech explains, “Open for me the gates of righteousness; I will enter them and thank G-d” (T’hilim 118:19). The tzadik is aware that he has not yet entered the gates of holiness and is only standing at the entrance to the King. In his submission to Hashem and in his great humility, the tzadik beseeches and shouts: “Open for me the gates of righteousness; I will enter them and thank G-d.” Blessed is the one who merits coming into the gates of holiness!
List of People
Who Need a R’fuah Sh’leimah
(Please recite Psalms 20, 30, 88, 121, and 130.)
Avraham ben Avital
Daniel Mashiach ben Tamar
Avraham Chaim ben Sarah
Daniel ben Avraham
Itai Yaakov ben Tziporah
Efrat bas Oshra
Yafah bas Monavar
Chaim Avraham ben Shifrah Zisel
Esther Hadassah bas Devorah
Yehudah Yudel ben Miriam Gittel
Zehavah Golda bas Shoshanah
Yonasan ben Sofia
Ruth bas Miryam
Elisheva bas Miriam
David Chayim ben Leah
To add names of individuals who need a r’fuah sh’leimah to next week’s Communal T’hilim List, please email
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