Baruch Hashem, last week I began speaking in shul about the importance of saying Yehei Shmei Rabbah with all our strength and intent. Since then, many have been inspired.
This has been a dream of mine for many years, and for whatever reason, Hashem decided that now is the time to move it forward. The message resonated because, deep down, it is something we all know. For some, it is clear and alive, for others, it is less developed, and for still others, it lies dormant, waiting to be awakened.
Before I continue, I would like to relate a remarkable incident regarding this project. About a month ago, I returned from a trip, and I went to daven Maariv in shul. I was somewhat daydreaming during Shma Koleinu (the best plans come to us during davening). I was thinking about how I can make this project a success. I began to think that I would make a campaign and a raffle. Then I was wondering how I would get the women involved, too. Chazal say that גדול המעשה יותר מן העושה, which means that if you get others to do it, it is even better than if you do it yourself. Then I thought that since this is such a powerful tefillah, if we say Yehei Shmei Rabbah with all our strength for 40 days straight and think about a yeshuah that we need, it can certainly not be less than going to the Kosel or the Ribnitzer’s kever for 40 days, especially since this is an explicit segulah written in Chazal. We find 40 days in many places as a time of completion. The amazing hashgacha was that right when I finished davening, I looked to my right and saw a rav sitting and learning in the ezras nashim. When davening was over, I went over and asked him what he was doing there, since I knew he didn’t have a car, and it was a shlep for him to come to our shul. His response was almost shocking. He told me that he needed a yeshuah to raise a lot of money, so he decided to make his own campaign and come to shul and answer Amein, Yehei Shmei Rabbah for 40 days. A week into his personal campaign, he is already up to Mizmor L’soda. I couldn’t believe he was telling me this; it was as if he read my mind. I shared my thoughts with him, and he just smiled in amazement.
One of the main differences between how people relate to Yehei Shmei Rabbah is how we understand what Yehei Shmei Rabbah actually means. A young man recently asked me, “Rebbe, what’s the big deal? It’s just saying ‘Hashem, You’re great.’”
I told him — and I share this with you — that this statement is far deeper. Yehei Shmei Rabbah is not only a praise, it is also a fervent request. It is a collective cry, begging Hashem to save us from every tzarah that has plagued Klal Yisrael from the beginning of time until today. It is a plea for the day when Hashem will redeem us completely, when life itself will be transformed beyond imagination to pure good.
We all carry our own challenges. We all know people who are in desperate need of yeshuos. This is not “just a segulah found in an old sefer.” This is a direct teaching from Chazal — from the Gemara, the Midrash, and the Zohar.
Why 40 days? I borrowed the idea from other places in Torah where 40 represents completion, shleimus, as with Moshe Rabbeinu on Har Sinai. A chashuvah talmid chacham pointed out to me that the number 40 also reflects four sets of ten, corresponding to the ten Sefiros, as they manifest themselves in four different dimensions.
The main goal of this campaign is simple: to get us tuned in to the meaning of what we are saying. With Hashem’s help, may this effort bring yeshuos to each of us individually and to all of Klal Yisrael collectively, and may it hasten the coming of the geulah, bimheira beyameinu.
RABBI DANIEL COREN
