Homework for Shul
Now a little homework; when you come to the beis haknesses and you hear Kaddish being said, instead of saying ¿ךַרָב¿מ ‡ָּבַרּיה≈מ¿ׁ ̆ ‡≈ה¿י as a little donation; “let His Great Name be blessed” – what do you care to say it? It doesn’t cost you any money. No, that’s not the way. You have to put some thought into it in order to bless His Name. Think of one specific thing when you say ‡ָּבַרּיה≈מ¿ׁ ̆ ‡≈ה¿י.
You remember when your tooth was bothering you and it hurt you even to eat. You couldn’t eat for three days, your tooth was bothering you and you thought you had to take it out. Then all of a sudden overnight the pain subsided and the tooth functioned well once more. ¿ךַרָב¿מ ‡ָּבַרּיה≈מ¿ׁ ̆ ‡≈ה¿י! You thank Hashem for that!
Remember you once made a dumb step, you stepped off the curb just as the bus nearby started moving and the bus driver pulled the brakes and cursed you? “That crazy dope! He walked in front of my bus!” He almost hit you but you walked away like a dumbbell, not even thinking. Where’s the ‡ָּבַרּיה≈מ¿ׁ ̆ ‡≈ה¿י for that?!
Maybe when you were a little boy you once found a bullet. A true story – it was me. I found a bullet when I was a little boy. I took the bullet it and I stuck it between the boards of a wooden fence and I took a hammer with a nail and I banged it against the back of the bullet. It exploded in my face. My face was full of blood. Full of blood! I could have chalilah lost my eyes! ¿ךַרָב¿מ ‡ָּבַרּיה≈מ¿ׁ ̆ ‡≈ה¿י!
All our lives we’re full of such sakanah; we’ve been rescued again and again and we have to never stop thanking. That’s what it means ּיה≈מ¿ׁ ̆ ‡≈ה¿י ¿ךַרָב¿מ ‡ָּבַר! You should do it right now! Don’t wait for the future, for םַלָﬠ¿ל ‡ָּיַמ¿לָﬠ י≈מ¿לָﬠ¿לּו. Start right now!
Prepare for Kaddish
It’s a good idea to prepare as soon as the chazzan starts saying yisgadel. Think, “What am I going to thank for this time?” Think fast. It's better of course if you thought beforehand and prepared at least one thing to thank Him for but if you didn’t then you have to think fast.
Thank Hashem that you have a wife. How many old bochurim waited too long and now nobody will marry them. Baruch Hashem that you have normal children! Oooh! A tzara! I know a man who had three children, one after the other, all sick. All very sick children! A rachmanus! A terrible rachmanus! If you have normal children, you have to thank Hakadosh Baruch Hu for that day and night, day and night, day and night, day and night!
And some people have no children at all and they pine away their lives and they look at other people – they’re so jealous. And all of you people who have children, many times you don’t stop to think. Every child is a matana. Each child is a very big gift – it’s a ta’anug. Of course, יםƒסָכ¿נ ה∆ּב¿רַמ הָ‚ָ‡¿„ ה∆ּב¿רַמ, but we want to have more nechasim and we’ll have some more worries too.
And therefore, how can a person who lives a normal life not be busy all of his days thanking Hashem? There’s no lack of ¿ךַרָב¿מ ‡ָּבַרּיה≈מ¿ׁ ̆ ‡≈ה¿י! Every time you say it, prepare something.
Bending and Thanking
And when we come to ¿ךָלּנו¿חַנֲ‡ יםƒ„ֹמו, certainly that’s the function! יםƒ„ֹמו ¿ךָלּנו¿חַנֲ‡ – what are you thanking for? Some poskim hold if you said Modim without kavana, you’re not yotzei Shemoneh Esrei. That’s what some poskim hold. Because that’s the purpose; that’s why you’re davening. ¿ךּרוָּב ה הָּ ַ̇‡’
And so you have to think of something. It’s impossible to feel gratitude with an empty head—you have to be prepared with something. There are so many things that are available. Look at all the illnesses. I once made a list of about fifty illnesses. Make such a list and it’s a good idea to read it from time to time. This man has that. That woman has that. Look at the list and prepare before Modim. Think, “Baruch Hashem I don’t have this.” Every tefillah a different thing. “Baruch Hashem I don’t have that.”
The Secret of the Shul
And so ‡ָּבַרּיה≈מ¿ׁ ̆ ‡≈ה¿י and ¿ךָלּנו¿חַנֲ‡ יםƒ„ֹמו and ה הָּ ַ̇‡¿ךּרוָּב‘ and Borchu and everything else that we’re saying constantly in the beis haknesses, is for hakaros hatov. The beis haknesses, that’s the especial place of this function. ̇ƒיַּבַה ַּ̇כֻנֲח ירƒׁ ̆ רֹמו¿זƒמ – What’s the shul all about? ָּך∆„ֹו‡ םָלֹעו¿ל יַ ֹ̃ל¡‡ 'ה – Forever I’m going to thank You. That’s the function, the purpose of the beis haknesses.
And these things, we have to know, are not a middas chassidus; they’re a chiyuv gamur. That’s the pnimiyus of the shul. Why do you come? Only because of thanks to Hashem. You’re walking to shul, coming in the door, sitting down; every step is an expression of gratitude. That’s called being הָרּוּˆַה ̇∆‡ יטƒׁ ̆¿פַמ of the subject of the Mishkan and understanding also the subject of the Mikdash Me’at, the beis haknesses. Because the bottom line of the subject, the primary purpose of coming into the shul, is םָלֹעו¿ל יַ ֹ̃ל¡‡ 'הָּך∆„ֹו‡.
Have a Wonderful Shabbos
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