Weekly Tefilah Focus

We continue aligning the 13 Midos from Michah, which the sefer Tomer Devorah is based upon, with the 13 Midos in the Torah that Hashem instructed Moshe Rabbeinu to teach us as a merit for forgiveness. We are working on a dual objective:

L’David, Hashem ori v’yish’i, mimi ira; Hashem ma’oz chayai, mimi efchad?

Hashem is my light (in the darkness of trouble) and my salvation, (therefore) whom shall I fear? Hashem is the strength of my life, (so) from whom shall I be afraid?

The sefer Tomer Devorah uses the 13 midos mentioned in Michah 7:18 rather than the ones we recite from Sh’mos 34:6. We will note both versions for each midah. Our purpose in these segments is twofold:

In our first segment, we presented the Malbim, who explained that the overarching theme of Perek 27 of T’hilim is d’veikus – “attachment” – or, perhaps easier to relate to: “connection.” D’veikus, according to many, is the purpose of life and of all of our service to Hashem, including learning Torah, tefilah, and chesed. We will be saying L’David over 100 times in the coming few weeks, with the goal of strengthening our connection and bond to Hashem.

L’David, Hashem ori v’yish’i, mi’mi ira; Hashem ma’oz chayai, mi’mi efchad?

Hashem is my light (in the darkness of trouble) and my salvation, (therefore) whom shall I fear? Hashem is the strength of my life, (so) from whom shall I be afraid?

A Permanent Place in the House of Hashem

Elul is both a time of preparation for Rosh HaShanah and a time of ratzon on its own. These are days filled with opportunity because Hashem is closest to us at this time of year.