QUESTION
Besides for the mitzvah of picking up the lulav and esrog we also shake it by Hodu in Hallel. What should we think when we shake the lulav by Hodu?
ANSWER
So when you do the naanuim tomorrow morning and you say, ִי טוֹבּ לַה' כּ הוֹדו – We raise You up Hashem for all of the good You’ve done to us, so you start thinking. Didn’t I marry off my daughters well? It wouldn’t be a bad idea to make one naanuim for this son-in-law. “Ay yah yay! I’m thanking You Hashem for this son-in-law.” And by the next naanuim, ִי טוֹבּ לַה' כּ הוֹדו, “I’m thanking You Hashem for the next son-in-law.” That’s how to work it. It’s such a very big thing to have married off your children well that you can never thank enough for a good son-in-law or for a good daughter-in-law. And that’s how you should think when you make the naanuim. It shouldn’t just be a mechanical thing.
You think it’s silly! It’s not silly at all. I do it. Many times I think like this: One naanuim is for my oldest son-in-law. Boruch Hashem I have a good eidim. Boruch Hashem! And boruch Hashem, I have a good second son-in-law. And boruch Hashem for the next eidim. Boruch Hashem, there’s no trouble there. I never hear any machlokes. My daughters live in shalom with my eidim.
Boruch Hashem, I’m happy. Such good eidims. That’s why we make naanuim. That’s what it means. “I’m thanking You for what You’ve given to me.”
TAPE # 757 (September 1989)
