Wild About Hashem Forever
The Bottom Line
And now Dovid concludes the first kepitel with the most important word of our subject. It was the word he began with and it’s also the shurah achronah, the bottom line. If you know a little Gemara so you know that when you write a document that you have to repeat the gist of the document in the last line; like you say in English ‘the bottom line’—the bottom line, that’s what counts. And so what’s the bottom line of the subject?
הַלְלוּיָ-הּ– Our job in this world is to be excited about Hakadosh Baruch Hu.
Hallelu – Be wild, Kah – only about Hashem. That’s called living successfully! And that’s why on Rosh Chodesh we take the time to express our gratitude to Him for giving us another month of life and we say that this coming month we’re going to redouble our efforts in living successfully by means of יְהִי שֵׁם ה’ מְבֹרָךְ מֵעַתָּה וְעַד־עוֹלָם, by making Him the One Who we bend our knees in gratitude, all the days of our lives.
The Real Forever
But there’s another pshat and they’re both true. Because not only forever in this world but מֵעַתָּה וְעַד עוֹלָם, ad v’ad bichlal—even in the Next World too. We’ll sing Hallel to Hashem in this world on Rosh Chodesh, and all month long, and for many more months, and then because we were so busy saying Hallel to Hashem in this world, we’ll be zocheh to say it forever in the Next World too.
That’s a Gemara in Mesichta Sanhedrin (91b). אָמַר רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן לֵוִי: כָּל הָעוֹסֵק בְּשִׁירָה בָּעוֹלָם הַזֶּה – If a man is busy saying song in this world; So what's going to happen? זוֹכֶה וְאוֹמְרָהּ לָעוֹלָם הַבָּא – He’ll be rewarded that he’ll continue to say the song in the Next World.
Now, he says there, עוֹסֵק בְּשִׁירָה. You have to pay attention to the words. עוֹסֵק means he is busy, and ב ּ ְ שׁ ִ י ר ָ ה means saying song, not prose. So number one, get busy with this; make it your business, your eisek. And number two, make it a shirah—it means make it poetry, not just prose. If a man says ‘Things are very good,’ that’s prose — you’re expressing yourself with words. But suppose you get a call from the lottery office that you picked all the right numbers, and you turn around and your wife says, ‘What is it?’ so you won't speak prose to her. You will speak in poetry! You will speak in lyric words! You might even dance too.
Sing in Happiness
And that's the way we have to talk about what Hashem is giving us in this world. You have to be busy singing in this world! And of course, you sing in a certain direction. אָשִׁירָה לַה' and שִׁירוּ לַה You have to sing to Hashem! Hallelu-Kah! That’s what it means to make Hashem mevorach.
And once you get the hang of it you’ll keep on singing! You’ll be a happy, singing person. Of course, if a man goes around this world unhappy, and he says, “This world is nothing. This world is just darkness and bitterness. It’s only we're waiting for the World to Come,” that man will never understand his purpose in this world. כָּל הָעוֹסֵק בְּשִׁירָה – You have to be busy singing in this world and thanking and expressing gratitude. And you can only be busy singing with happiness; you don't sing from unhappiness. But if you practice it up and get the hang of it, that’s the best way of preparing for the World to Come.
Prepare With Song
Because that’s the purpose after all. הַתְקֵן עַצְמְךָ בַּפְּרוֹזְדוֹר – Prepare yourself in the lobby of this world, כְּדֵי שֶׁתִּכָּנֵס לַטְּרַקְלִין – in order to enter the everlasting banquet hall. And so you sad-faced people perk up and listen to what’s being said here. Rashi says an important statement; and these words are the clue to our function in this world: הִ נְ הִ יגוּ בִּרְכוֹתָיו בָּעוֹלָם הַזֶּה – Accustom yourself to saying His blessings, blessings of Hashem, in this world, כְּדֵי שֶׁתִּהְיוּ רְגִילִים בָּהֶם לָעוֹלָם הַבָּא – in order that you should be practiced in them for the World to Come. Rehearse in this world! הִנְהִיגוּ בִּרְכוֹתָיו – Accustom yourself to saying in this world to Hashem, baruch Atah, thank You and thank You and thank You. Instead of being morose, instead of being sad, you have to be happy in this world because you have to thank Hashem continually.
There's so much that He's giving us. It’s a big smorgasbord of happiness! So many good things He’s serving us in the lobby here and we have to say thank You, baruch Atah, thank You, baruch Atah. And that's the great rehearsal; because when we come into the big banquet hall there we’re going to have something really important to say thank You for. But if you get busy saying hallel in this world then that’s the preparation for the great happiness of singing hallel in the World to Come.
And that’s why Rosh Chodesh and the Hallel are such an important part of our lives. Because everything we said now on this first paragraph of Hallel is only a primer — we’re priming the pump for the rest of Hallel and the rest of our lives. And that means that we’re priming the pump for Olam Haba because the more we sing Hallel to Hashem, in this world the more we’re preparing ourselves for the World to Come. Ah gut’en chodesh to everyone.
