Part I. Bowing in Humility

One of the glorious experiences of the Yom Tov of old was when the Jew came into the Beis Hamikdash and bowed down before Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Every male was obligated to be oleh regel, to travel up to Yerushalayim and be seen in the azarah and bring certain korbanos; but included in the procedure was to bow down to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. That was part of the old-time system of celebrating a Yom Tov – to fall down on the ground.

And it's so important that we mention it every day in the Yom Tov Mussaf. We're describing the various things that went lost with the Beis Hamikdash and we say, וְאֵין אֲנַחְנוּ יְכוֹלִים לַעֲלוֹת וְלֵרְאוֹת. We can't go up today to fulfill the mitzvah of re'iyah. We're sad about that because it was a tremendous experience! We don't realize what we're missing. Three times a year, the nation went up to Yerushalayim. They packed what they needed and they forsook their homes and began marching on the road to the Mikdash. And as they went down the road, from every village new groups came down to meet them and the crowd became bigger and bigger. After a while, the road was mobbed with people, everyone singing shiros v'sishbachos to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. A beautiful sight!

And finally they arrived in Yerushalayim and came into the Mikdash to fulfill the mitzvah of יִרְאֶה כָּל זְכוּרְךְ (Shemos 34:23). Ah, to visit the Beis Hamikdash and see the כֹּהֲנִים בַּעֲבוֹדָתָם וּלְוִיִּים בְּשִׁירָם וּבְזִמְרָם! When people came and saw the avodas Beis Hamikdash, they were transformed from head to foot. And all that is included in what we're missing out on: וְאֵין אֲנַחְנוּ יְכוֹלִים לַעֲלוֹת וְלֵרָאוֹת.

Coming to Bow

But we shouldn't forget the next part in the davening. We're looking forward to all of that but we mention also וּלְהִשְׁתַּחֲווֹת לְפָנֶיךְ – that we used to bow down in front of You. “Hashem, please rebuild for us the Beis Hamikdash so that once again we'll be able to bow down to You."

It's an interesting thing because on our own we might not have realized how important that is. It's an adjunct, an accessory to the experience, but is it so important that it should be one of the few things we specify in our tefillos? The Anshei Knesses Hagedolah who instituted the words of davening were very wise men and if they included these words in the Mussaf we must say that bowing down is considered a very important form of avodah.

Elkanah Makes Aliyah

And I'll prove it to you. You remember how Elkanah, the father of Shmuel, went up every year to the Mishkan in Shiloh for Yom Tov? So the Navi says he had three purposes in mind (Shmuel I 1:3):

One of them was לִזְבֹּחַ לַה – to bring korbanos. You couldn't bring them anywhere else; in those days, it was ossur to bring korbanos on a bamah because Shiloh was the Mishkan and so you wouldn't be yotzei your obligation anywhere else – you had to bring the Yom Tov offerings to the Mishkan (see Zevachim 112b). A very important reason for Elkanah to travel.

Another reason was וְשָׁם שְׁנֵי בְנֵי עֵלִי חָפְנִי וּפִנְחָס כֹּהֲנִים לַה – the two sons of Eili, Chofni and Pinchas, were there. Eili, their father, was the kohen gadol and a shofet, too – the leader of Sanhedrin – and his two sons were very important talmidei chachomim. And therefore, Elkanah went up in order to talk things over with them. Maybe they spoke in learning. Maybe Elkanah had certain questions that came up during the year; he wanted eitzos, counsel. Whatever it was, to go up to talk to the kohanei Hashem was a purpose in itself – they didn't have telephones in those days.

Aliyah for What?

So you have here two very good reasons; to bring korbanos and to speak with the gedolei hador. Each one by itself is a good enough reason to travel up to Shiloh. But pay attention now. Those were the second and third reasons on the list. You know what the first reason was? The first on the list, before korbanos and before meeting the gedolei hador, was לְהִשְׁתַּחֲווֹת לַה – to bow down to Hashem.

It's a queer thing. Is it so important – the number one purpose?

Absolutely. Because listen to the word lehishtachavos. The word hishtachavah comes from the word shachah which means to be low. But hishtachavah is hispael; it's reflexive – to make yourself low. You don't say “bow” in lashon kodesh; you "make yourself low to Hashem."

Aliyah L'tzorech Yeridah

Lehishtachavos means to put your face on the ground and lie there because you want to lower yourself before Hashem. And so Elkanah threw himself onto the floor and he didn't get up right away. He wasn't in a hurry. He took his time and he was thinking, “I'm bowing down lifnei Melech Malchei Hamelachim, Hakadosh Baruch Hu. He rules the entire universe, as far as space goes and beyond! He created it and וְלִגְדַלְתוֹ אֵין חֵקֶר there's no searching out His greatness (Tehillim 145:3). And I, what am I? A little man, a tiny speck of protoplasm that He created."

And for that alone it was worth making a big journey to the Sanctuary – just to fall down on the ground on your face and feel that you are low before Hashem.

Who, Me? Yes, You!

“Oh, please,” you say, “Is that really necessary? I don't have to bow down. I know already that Hashem is bigger than I am. Who isn't humble to Hashem? Unless chas v'shalom he's an atheist. But a man who believes in the Creator certainly is humble before Hashem. Who in the frum world will be arrogant towards Hashem?"

And the answer is: everybody. Every human being is arrogant towards Hashem. And even though with his lips he may say words of pious hypocrisy, in his heart he doesn't back down even before Hashem. That's human nature because actually Hashem made man endlessly great. And he knows it; naturally he knows, subconsciously, that he has a neshamah, a chelek of Hashem that was breathed into him. Every man is tremendously great! And that's why a man must work on himself to be humble to Hashem. It takes work, effort, to learn that attitude.

A Passing Dream

It's so important for a man to realize that without Hashem, he is nothing. You cannot do a thing to help yourself. הַכֹּל בִּידֵי שָׁמַיִם – Everything is in the hands of Heaven! (Brachos 33b). בְּחֹמֶר בְּיַד הַיּוֹצֵר We're like a piece of clay in Hashem's hands (Yirmiyah 18:6). People are born and they die and nothing is remembered of them. What are we? בַּחֲלוֹם יָעוּף We're like a dream that goes away (Iyov 20:8).

And that's why the bowing down of hishtachavah is so important. Because we have to take action to realize the greatness of Hakadosh Baruch Hu, that it shouldn't be וְרָם לְבָבֶךָ – You shouldn't feel elevated in your heart (Devarim 8:14). רוֹמְמוּ ה' אֱלֹקֵינוּ – Only Hashem we elevate! (Tehillim 99:5). And how? וְהִשְׁתַּחֲווּ לְהַר קָדְשׁוֹ – We bow down to Him (ibid. 99:9). Hishtachavu is the opposite of rommemu. You make Hashem high in your mind when you make yourself low in front of Him.

A Modest Beginning

That's why one of the most important functions in our prayers is something that most people overlook. You're beginning to say Shemoneh Esrei so you give a prefatory bow. You think it's not so important. Baruch Atah Hashem; the words you're going to say, that's important – but the bow? That's just the signal that you're starting now.

No; you're missing the whole point. It's a law in the Gemara (Brachos 34a) you must bow down at the beginning of the Amidah because that's the first lesson. That's number one; the most important thing is the bowing down and acknowledging that there's Somebody higher than you are.

And so, don't be in a hurry. While you're bowing, take your time and get the full benefit of that. The bending of the knee is only a motion of the body, but its purpose is in order to influence the mind; you bend your knee in order to bend your mind. And therefore it pays when you bow down to utilize the opportunity, “I'm humbling myself to You. I'm bowing before the greatness of the King of the universe."

Mind Over Motion

Of course, it matters what's doing in your head, what you're thinking. There are all types of good attitudes that have to be attached to the physical act of bowing down. Otherwise, what is it just to bow? You see that sometimes in the shul, a man jerks down, he jerks up, like a robot. He's not thinking at all. No, we are humbled in gratitude. So much You are giving me! מַה אָשִׁיב לַה' כָּל תַּגְמוּלוֹהִי עָלַי! What can I pay You back, all that You did for me? (Tehillim 116:12).

Of course, if you don't think, so it's nothing. He says, "I bow down to You Hashem,” but in his heart he is bowing down only to himself. He thinks he's the one who helps himself. He imagines himself a self-made man.

No; the one who bows is “making himself low.” “I'm helpless,” he says. “I'm on the receiving end and I can't pay back anything. One thing I can do and that is to generate this feeling of humility."

It's so important to humiliate yourself before Hashem, to acknowledge your littleness, your nothingness, that merely to bow down is an achievement of the first magnitude! Isn't it a pity people don't understand that? You're lowering yourself before the Master. You're acknowledging Him as the King.

Taking a Bow

That's what the first word of Shemoneh Esrei is telling you: Baruch. What does that mean “we bless Hashem"? Now, no matter what others will tell you, the real meaning is that it stems from the word berech, a knee, and baruch Atah means “You are the One to Whom the knees are bent."

And therefore, it shouldn't be a genuflection, a jerk bending down. No. Utilize that first bending of the knee. It's a great service of Hashem. We don't stand up straight in front of You; we kneel to You. We don't kneel today; we bend our knees, however. That's a sign of hachna'ah.

Not for Him, by the way. Our humility is meaningless to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. He doesn't need it. He doesn't feel elevated or honored if we weak little human beings demonstrate our humility to Him. It's for us, for our perfection to generate this feeling of humility. So don't be in a hurry when you bend over. Remain for a little while. Make use of the opportunity every day.

Yom Tov Humility

But in the ancient days, it was something much bigger, much more. Yom Tov meant that שָׁלֹשׁ פְּעָמִים בַּשָּׁנָה יֵרָאֶה כָּל זְכוּרְךְ – three times a year we present ourselves אֶת פְּנֵי הָאָדוֹן – before the Master, Hashem (Shemos 34:23). That word אָדוֹן is remarkable; it's not used ordinarily on Hashem. But it is used here to emphasize that basic function of Yom Tov, that we come to the Beis Hamikdash to demonstrate that we are nichna to a Master. A nation left their homes to trek along the byroads and main roads until they reached Yerushalayim, traveling up for miles in order to come into His Home. And for what purpose? לְהִשְׁתַּחֲווֹת לַה – To make themselves low to Him.

That's the avodah that was reinforced every year on Yom Tov. Of course, each Yom Tov has some more purposes. If it's the chag of Chag Hamatzos or if it's Zman Matan Toraseinu, whatever it is, each one its own avodah. But this certainly is a function of every chag; we reinforce this feeling of humility by lowering ourselves before Hakadosh Baruch Hu.