All I Ask of You
Rabbi Y. Johnson
We spend a lot of time on Rosh Hashona and Yom Kippur davening. But what should we be davening for? What should be the focus of our prayers on these most holy days as we stand before Hashem?
~ That the Cows Give Milk ~
The answer usually given actually seems counterintuitive. Let’s look at some common teachings on this topic.
A famous Chassidic story relates how the great Chossid, Reb Shmuel Munkes ended up in a small village for Shabbos Selichos, hosted by a simple elderly Jewish couple. In the middle of the night his host knocked on the door. “Reb Shmuel! Wake up, it’s time for Selichos.”
Reb Shmuel replied, “Why are you waking me in the middle of the night? What is Selichos?”
The simple Jew could not understand how his seemingly scholarly guest did not know what Selichos was. He proceeded to explain. “On the Motzai Shabbos before Rosh Hashona we gather in the Shule at midnight to cry out to Hashem and beg Him for a good year.”
“What’s so urgent that cannot wait till morning? What are you asking for already?” asked Reb Shmuel.
The simple host replied “I pray that the cow should give enough milk and that the crops should grow well and sell at a good price.”
“I’ve heard of babies waking in the middle of the night to cry for milk, but since when do grown men do the same?” Reb Shmuel retorted.
Reb Shmuel was trying to teach his host that davening on the Yomim Noraim should be much more than asking for our physical needs.
The Zohar teaches that someone who Davens on Yom Kippur for their own personal needs, such as Parnoso, or even for forgiveness and to be inscribed for life, are like dogs who call out to their master Hav Hav, Give! Give!
The Maggid of Mezritch offers a Mashal to illustrate the logic of using davening to ask Hashem for our personal worldly needs. There was once a king (because every Jewish parable must have a king) who announced that on a particular day he would be granting the requests of all of his subjects. In the kingdom lived a leper. The lepers who could not live amongst the rest of the populace would live in rubbish heaps. This leper had a problem, all of the trash heaps were already occupied, leaving him nowhere to sleep. Finally the day arrived and his turn came to stand before the king. The leper approaches and beseeches “Please your majesty, could you provide me a rubbish heap to sleep in”.
Now, in Davening we are supposed to ask Hashem for our needs. A significant portion of the Yomim Noraim Tefillos is focused on our Gashmius; who will or will not live, who will be wealthy and who will be poor. We ask to be inscribed for life and we beseech for forgiveness. It is brought down that when saying L’Dovid Mizmor after Maariv, one should specifically have in mind for their Gashmius.
So how does this fit with the Zohar, the parable of the Maggid and Reb Shmuel’s chastisement?
~ Achas Shaalti – The Greatest Request ~
In the lead-up to and throughout the Yomim Noraim, we recite the Tehillim L’Dovid Hashem Ori. Within this Mizmor lies a deep lesson as to what should be the focus of our Tefillos and what, above all, we should be asking for.
Dovid Hamelech asks Hashem Achas Shaalti Me’eis Hashem. “One thing I ask from Hashem, this I request. Let me dwell in the house of Hashem, to gaze at the pleasantness of Hashem and to visit His sanctuary”.
There is a very enigmatic Midrash on this posuk.
Hashem asks Dovid what’s going on? You said that you are asking only one thing and here you come with a string of requests. Dovid responds I learned this from You! First You said V’ata Yisroel, Mah Hashem Elokecha Shoel Me’imach, “Now Yisroel, what does Hashem your G-d ask from you? Only that you fear Hashem your G-d. But You too did not stop with that one request but continued “to go in His ways, and to love Him and to serve Hashem with all of your heart and all of your soul, to guard the Mitzvos of Hashem”.
Dovid doesn’t seem to take responsibility for his manner of request. Rather, like a child, he deflects the accusation by responding “but you did it too!”
The Maggid of Mezritch explains that Dovid was in fact truly asking only one thing of Hashem. But this one thing was so deep and so powerful that this one request contained them all.
What was this magical request which was the key to everything?
The Malbim comments, Dovid was not asking for the many specific needs which arise in a person’s life; healing, Parnoso, salvation. Dovid was asking for the one request which supersedes and incorporates all others and that is for Dveikus; to constantly cleave to Hashem. To be connected. Dovid was asking for Hashem’s help to be able to actualise and sense this connection.
The Tzemach Tzedek similarly explains that Dovid’s request, Achas Shaalti, was a request for Achas, oneness with Hashem This oneness exists within each one of us, at the very core of our Neshomo, the Yechida. The Yechida, as its name suggests, is the part of us that, no matter what, remains one with Hashem. It represents the state of absolute surrender (Bittul) and devotion to Hashem, the desire for Dich Alein, “You alone”, on a level which runs beyond the constraints of intellect.
Dovid learned the power of this one, all-encompassing request, from Hashem’s one request from us. V’ata Yisroel, Mah Hashem Elokecha Shoel Me’imach, Hashem’s request can be read as Ma”h (is what) Hashem asks of you.
In Chassidus, Ma”h is an expression of Bittul. It represents the dimension of our soul which is completely Battel to and one with Hashem, the Yechida. Chaza”l teach that a fool (Shoteh) is defined as one who loses Ma”h Shenosnim Lo. Chassidus explains that the greatest fool is the one who loses the Ma”h which he has been given. One cannot actually lose their Yechida, it is after all their very essence and being. But it can become hidden so that we are not always cognisant of our deep bond with Hashem.
Once the Yechida, Ma”h, is actualised and revealed, it becomes easy and automatic “to go in His ways, and to love Him and to serve Hashem with all of your heart and all of your soul, to guard the Mitzvos of Hashem”.
~ Bringing it Down ~
But what about all of our requests for Gashmius?
When Reb Shmuel came to the Alter Rebbe and relayed his Selichos episode, the Alter Rebbe rebuked him; not just because his approach was unkind or too sharp for the simple Jew, but because the elderly man was right. Our Gashmius requests are important and through them our deep connection to Hashem is expressed.
Achieving Achas, oneness and Dveikus to Hashem should be our deepest desire, but how is this connection manifest and what is its purpose? How is this oneness expressed?
On Yom Kippur, one of the central Avodos of the Kohein Godol was the sprinkling of the bloods or the various Korbonos inside the Kodesh and Kodesh Hakodoshim. The Torah says that the blood should be sprinkled seven times. In our Yom Kippur Musaf we describe the unusual way in which the Kohein Gadol would count these sprinklings;
And so he would count; Achas, Achas V’achas etc. One, one and one, one and two… one and seven. Why do we count in this strange a way?
From an extra word in the Posuk, Chaza”l learn that in addition to the seven sprinklings, the Torah requires an additional sprinkle prior to the seven. This first sprinkle had to be made with an upward motion of the finger and was referred to as Achas LeMaalah. This is followed by the seven sprinklings with a downward motion – Sheva LeMatah.
The upward sprinkle, Achas LeMaalah, represents the Yechida, the essence of the Neshama – Achas. But this Achas is LeMaalah; it is distant and beyond and usually experienced through escaping our worldly reality. An example would be the Yom Kippur experience itself. On Yom Kippur, particularly at the time of Neilah the Yechida is laid bare. But it is LeMaalah, outer-worldly.
The objective is draw down from this transcendent oneness with Hashem into our conscious reality and how we live our daily lives. In Chassidic terminology, to reveal the Yechida within the Koichos Pnimiim. These are represented by the number seven, the Sheva Lemata. When we count Achas V’achas, we are drawing down the revelation of the Yechida into one level of our conscious soul. Achas u’Shtayim, we reveal the Yechida into a second level of our consciousness, and so on, until our entire conscious being and way of living is permeated with the revelation of the oneness and connection to Hashem of the Yechida.
The same is true with the purpose of our Gashmius, our physical requests.
In a famous sicha, the Rebbe explains the depth of the story of Chana which is read as the hafotrah on the first day of Rosh Hashona. Chana entered the Mishkan and poured out her heart to Daven for a child. Eli, the Kohein Gadol mistook her for a drunkard because of the manner in which she was praying; “only her lips were moving but her voice was not audible.”
The Rebbe explains that Eli did not mistake her for being drunk. Rather he thought that she was drunk on her own sense of self. Standing before Hashem in the holiest place in the world, all she can do is think of herself and her desires; her maternal cravings, her need for a child.
Chana replied that Eli was mistaken and that her request was not about herself. She was asking for a son who would be great, on par with both Moshe and Aharon, who she would give to Hashem for all of the days of his life. Eli was satisfied and blessed her that her request should be fulfilled. Her son Shmuel was born and at the age of two she dedicated him to a lifelong service of Hashem.
The Yechida’s oneness with Hashem is manifest in how we connect to Him on a daily basis within the world, where we achieve Hashem’s desire for a Dirah Betachtonim. Our Gashmius; our health, families and Parnoso are the vehicles by which we serve Hashem and reveal His presence within the world.
The Zohar and Maggid’s perspective refers to someone who requests Gashmius as an ends to themselves, like the dogs who cannot think beyond themselves and their needs. These requests are truly inferior in comparison to what we should really be searching for.
When we stand before Hashem on the Yomim Noraim to daven for our physical needs, we are like Chana. We do not view them as an end in themselves for our own fulfilment. Rather they are a reflection of the sole-desire of our Yechida, the Keilim through which we channel the Achas of our Neshomo.
We don’t need to go to the extremes of Chana who dropped off her two year old son in the care of the Kohanim in the Mishkan. But we should stop to reflect. It’s not so much about what we ask for, but what we live for and how we will use Hashem’s blessings. How will I use all of the blessings in my life to serve Hashem and turn them towards a higher purpose?
When Hashem sees that our prayers are not for ourselves, our own needs and wants, but for Him, to devote ourselves to Him and to serve Him better, we are sure that our Tefillos will be answered. Our one request of Achas Shaalti, for a deep and meaningful relationship with Hashem, will bring with it all of His infinite blessings for the New Year, for everything good, both materially and spiritually.
~ That the Cows Give Milk ~
The answer usually given actually seems counterintuitive. Let’s look at some common teachings on this topic.
A famous Chassidic story relates how the great Chossid, Reb Shmuel Munkes ended up in a small village for Shabbos Selichos, hosted by a simple elderly Jewish couple. In the middle of the night his host knocked on the door. “Reb Shmuel! Wake up, it’s time for Selichos.”
Reb Shmuel replied, “Why are you waking me in the middle of the night? What is Selichos?”
The simple Jew could not understand how his seemingly scholarly guest did not know what Selichos was. He proceeded to explain. “On the Motzai Shabbos before Rosh Hashona we gather in the Shule at midnight to cry out to Hashem and beg Him for a good year.”
“What’s so urgent that cannot wait till morning? What are you asking for already?” asked Reb Shmuel.
The simple host replied “I pray that the cow should give enough milk and that the crops should grow well and sell at a good price.”
“I’ve heard of babies waking in the middle of the night to cry for milk, but since when do grown men do the same?” Reb Shmuel retorted.
Reb Shmuel was trying to teach his host that davening on the Yomim Noraim should be much more than asking for our physical needs.
The Zohar teaches that someone who Davens on Yom Kippur for their own personal needs, such as Parnoso, or even for forgiveness and to be inscribed for life, are like dogs who call out to their master Hav Hav, Give! Give!
The Maggid of Mezritch offers a Mashal to illustrate the logic of using davening to ask Hashem for our personal worldly needs. There was once a king (because every Jewish parable must have a king) who announced that on a particular day he would be granting the requests of all of his subjects. In the kingdom lived a leper. The lepers who could not live amongst the rest of the populace would live in rubbish heaps. This leper had a problem, all of the trash heaps were already occupied, leaving him nowhere to sleep. Finally the day arrived and his turn came to stand before the king. The leper approaches and beseeches “Please your majesty, could you provide me a rubbish heap to sleep in”.
Now, in Davening we are supposed to ask Hashem for our needs. A significant portion of the Yomim Noraim Tefillos is focused on our Gashmius; who will or will not live, who will be wealthy and who will be poor. We ask to be inscribed for life and we beseech for forgiveness. It is brought down that when saying L’Dovid Mizmor after Maariv, one should specifically have in mind for their Gashmius.
So how does this fit with the Zohar, the parable of the Maggid and Reb Shmuel’s chastisement?
~ Achas Shaalti – The Greatest Request ~
In the lead-up to and throughout the Yomim Noraim, we recite the Tehillim L’Dovid Hashem Ori. Within this Mizmor lies a deep lesson as to what should be the focus of our Tefillos and what, above all, we should be asking for.
Dovid Hamelech asks Hashem Achas Shaalti Me’eis Hashem. “One thing I ask from Hashem, this I request. Let me dwell in the house of Hashem, to gaze at the pleasantness of Hashem and to visit His sanctuary”.
There is a very enigmatic Midrash on this posuk.
Hashem asks Dovid what’s going on? You said that you are asking only one thing and here you come with a string of requests. Dovid responds I learned this from You! First You said V’ata Yisroel, Mah Hashem Elokecha Shoel Me’imach, “Now Yisroel, what does Hashem your G-d ask from you? Only that you fear Hashem your G-d. But You too did not stop with that one request but continued “to go in His ways, and to love Him and to serve Hashem with all of your heart and all of your soul, to guard the Mitzvos of Hashem”.
Dovid doesn’t seem to take responsibility for his manner of request. Rather, like a child, he deflects the accusation by responding “but you did it too!”
The Maggid of Mezritch explains that Dovid was in fact truly asking only one thing of Hashem. But this one thing was so deep and so powerful that this one request contained them all.
What was this magical request which was the key to everything?
The Malbim comments, Dovid was not asking for the many specific needs which arise in a person’s life; healing, Parnoso, salvation. Dovid was asking for the one request which supersedes and incorporates all others and that is for Dveikus; to constantly cleave to Hashem. To be connected. Dovid was asking for Hashem’s help to be able to actualise and sense this connection.
The Tzemach Tzedek similarly explains that Dovid’s request, Achas Shaalti, was a request for Achas, oneness with Hashem This oneness exists within each one of us, at the very core of our Neshomo, the Yechida. The Yechida, as its name suggests, is the part of us that, no matter what, remains one with Hashem. It represents the state of absolute surrender (Bittul) and devotion to Hashem, the desire for Dich Alein, “You alone”, on a level which runs beyond the constraints of intellect.
Dovid learned the power of this one, all-encompassing request, from Hashem’s one request from us. V’ata Yisroel, Mah Hashem Elokecha Shoel Me’imach, Hashem’s request can be read as Ma”h (is what) Hashem asks of you.
In Chassidus, Ma”h is an expression of Bittul. It represents the dimension of our soul which is completely Battel to and one with Hashem, the Yechida. Chaza”l teach that a fool (Shoteh) is defined as one who loses Ma”h Shenosnim Lo. Chassidus explains that the greatest fool is the one who loses the Ma”h which he has been given. One cannot actually lose their Yechida, it is after all their very essence and being. But it can become hidden so that we are not always cognisant of our deep bond with Hashem.
Once the Yechida, Ma”h, is actualised and revealed, it becomes easy and automatic “to go in His ways, and to love Him and to serve Hashem with all of your heart and all of your soul, to guard the Mitzvos of Hashem”.
~ Bringing it Down ~
But what about all of our requests for Gashmius?
When Reb Shmuel came to the Alter Rebbe and relayed his Selichos episode, the Alter Rebbe rebuked him; not just because his approach was unkind or too sharp for the simple Jew, but because the elderly man was right. Our Gashmius requests are important and through them our deep connection to Hashem is expressed.
Achieving Achas, oneness and Dveikus to Hashem should be our deepest desire, but how is this connection manifest and what is its purpose? How is this oneness expressed?
On Yom Kippur, one of the central Avodos of the Kohein Godol was the sprinkling of the bloods or the various Korbonos inside the Kodesh and Kodesh Hakodoshim. The Torah says that the blood should be sprinkled seven times. In our Yom Kippur Musaf we describe the unusual way in which the Kohein Gadol would count these sprinklings;
And so he would count; Achas, Achas V’achas etc. One, one and one, one and two… one and seven. Why do we count in this strange a way?
From an extra word in the Posuk, Chaza”l learn that in addition to the seven sprinklings, the Torah requires an additional sprinkle prior to the seven. This first sprinkle had to be made with an upward motion of the finger and was referred to as Achas LeMaalah. This is followed by the seven sprinklings with a downward motion – Sheva LeMatah.
The upward sprinkle, Achas LeMaalah, represents the Yechida, the essence of the Neshama – Achas. But this Achas is LeMaalah; it is distant and beyond and usually experienced through escaping our worldly reality. An example would be the Yom Kippur experience itself. On Yom Kippur, particularly at the time of Neilah the Yechida is laid bare. But it is LeMaalah, outer-worldly.
The objective is draw down from this transcendent oneness with Hashem into our conscious reality and how we live our daily lives. In Chassidic terminology, to reveal the Yechida within the Koichos Pnimiim. These are represented by the number seven, the Sheva Lemata. When we count Achas V’achas, we are drawing down the revelation of the Yechida into one level of our conscious soul. Achas u’Shtayim, we reveal the Yechida into a second level of our consciousness, and so on, until our entire conscious being and way of living is permeated with the revelation of the oneness and connection to Hashem of the Yechida.
The same is true with the purpose of our Gashmius, our physical requests.
In a famous sicha, the Rebbe explains the depth of the story of Chana which is read as the hafotrah on the first day of Rosh Hashona. Chana entered the Mishkan and poured out her heart to Daven for a child. Eli, the Kohein Gadol mistook her for a drunkard because of the manner in which she was praying; “only her lips were moving but her voice was not audible.”
The Rebbe explains that Eli did not mistake her for being drunk. Rather he thought that she was drunk on her own sense of self. Standing before Hashem in the holiest place in the world, all she can do is think of herself and her desires; her maternal cravings, her need for a child.
Chana replied that Eli was mistaken and that her request was not about herself. She was asking for a son who would be great, on par with both Moshe and Aharon, who she would give to Hashem for all of the days of his life. Eli was satisfied and blessed her that her request should be fulfilled. Her son Shmuel was born and at the age of two she dedicated him to a lifelong service of Hashem.
The Yechida’s oneness with Hashem is manifest in how we connect to Him on a daily basis within the world, where we achieve Hashem’s desire for a Dirah Betachtonim. Our Gashmius; our health, families and Parnoso are the vehicles by which we serve Hashem and reveal His presence within the world.
The Zohar and Maggid’s perspective refers to someone who requests Gashmius as an ends to themselves, like the dogs who cannot think beyond themselves and their needs. These requests are truly inferior in comparison to what we should really be searching for.
When we stand before Hashem on the Yomim Noraim to daven for our physical needs, we are like Chana. We do not view them as an end in themselves for our own fulfilment. Rather they are a reflection of the sole-desire of our Yechida, the Keilim through which we channel the Achas of our Neshomo.
We don’t need to go to the extremes of Chana who dropped off her two year old son in the care of the Kohanim in the Mishkan. But we should stop to reflect. It’s not so much about what we ask for, but what we live for and how we will use Hashem’s blessings. How will I use all of the blessings in my life to serve Hashem and turn them towards a higher purpose?
When Hashem sees that our prayers are not for ourselves, our own needs and wants, but for Him, to devote ourselves to Him and to serve Him better, we are sure that our Tefillos will be answered. Our one request of Achas Shaalti, for a deep and meaningful relationship with Hashem, will bring with it all of His infinite blessings for the New Year, for everything good, both materially and spiritually.