In this week’s parashah, Parashas Bo, the Torah describes the redemption of Bnei Yisrael from the bondage of Egypt in the merit of their strong emunah in Hashem (Yalkut Shimoni Hoshea remez 119). The korban Pesach is also described in this parashah, and Am Yisrael were commanded to sacrifice it before they departed from Egypt. This, too, was intended to establish the absolute emunah in Hashem’s Leadership in their hearts (see Ramban Shemos 13:2).
Yetzias Mitzrayim also included a spiritual redemption. At the time, Am Yisrael emerged from 49 levels of impurity, was chosen as the Am Segulah, and merited to receive the Torah.
If Am Yisrael merited spiritual and physical redemption in the merit of emunah, then undoubtedly this zechus can also advocate for us in these days, and we can be redeemed physically and spiritually, if we just merit to build genuine emunah in Hashem inside ourselves.
As we know, answering amen is a basic foundation in the building of emunah in the heart of a person, and therefore, being scornful of it, or lax about it, means being lax in emunah, chalilah.
The Alter of Slabodka, Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel, ztz"l, in one of his shmuessen, posed a question to his talmidim: "Why do Chazal speak so extensively about the severity of the punishment of someone who does not answer amen k’halachah?!" But he immediately clarified that "this question is mistaken in its very essence," because "it stems from the fact that people do not understand that a flaw in answering amen is a flaw in emunah"! (Sichos HaSaba MiSlabodka Vol. I, p. 245)
Perhaps for this reason, answering amen is alluded in the name of this parashah, the parashah of emunah. Because בא is an acronym for ברכה and אמן and it is also the acronym for בני אמונים, the term that Am Yisrael have merited because they are a "goy tzaddik shomer emunim."
If we are talking about a spiritual redemption, this is the place to point out that answering amen has tremendous power to arouse the soul of a Yid and to elevate it upwards. I have encountered people whose entire tefillah changed drastically because of answering amen. For example, Rabbi A. shares in a letter that Bney Emunim received, and it is one letter of many similar ones: "I was never one of the big daveners...For years, I spent my davening half asleep, mentally, on automatic, just saying the words. Of course I davened, but the expression ‘like a body without a soul’ seemed to be written precisely to describe the dryness of my tefillos.
"There was no reason that I should not continue this way until the age of eighty, if not for the fact that I was introduced, through you, to the importance of answering amen with kavanah, in quantity and in quality. One morning, I decided to try. I went over to my neighbor in shul and suggested that we recite Birchos Hashachar bechavrusa. The whole thing took just a few minutes.
"That same morning, without me knowing, a small seed was planted in me...After a few days, it sprouted. Something in my soul began to awaken, to become more aware. This small, three-letter word began to take action, and to percolate.
"I will not tire you with the details, but suffice it to say that within a short time, my tefillos were transformed to a lofty spiritual experience. And if you think it ended with tefillah, you are mistaken... This elevation, this powerful connection with my Father in Heaven, accompany me throughout the day, from morning to night."
Rabbi A.’s letter concludes with a remarkable declaration: "I’ve become a different person; I’ve become an ‘Amen Yid’!"
And so, we issue the call to every Yid: If you have not yet joined those who say Birchos Hashachar bechavrusa, start today, and you can also merit to be an ‘Amen Yid.’
Good Shabbos
Yaakov Dov Marmurstein
ת.ד 102 בני ברק | פקס : 03-5055919
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