By Rabbi Dovid Sapirman, Dean, Ani Maamin Foundation
The main body of the siddur was authored by the Anshei Knesses Hagedolah, the Sanhedrin at the beginning of the second Beis Hamikdash. Why was this Sanhedrin called by a special title? The Gemora tells us: because “they restored the crown [of tefillah] to its original glory. Moshe wrote, ‘G-d Who is Great, Mighty and Awesome.’ But Yirmiyahu said ‘Goyim are dancing in His palace [in preparation to burn the Beis Hamikdash]—where is His awe?’ Therefore, he omitted the word norah, awesome. Daniel said, ‘Goyim have enslaved His children [in Bavel] —where is His might?’ Therefore, he omitted the word gibbor.
“Then the Anshei Knesses Hagedolah came and said, ‘To the contrary! These events themselves demonstrate His might. He suppresses His desire [to lash out at enemies] and restrains His anger against the wicked. His awe is also apparent, for without fear of Hashem, how could one nation survive?’”
There is no question that both Yirmiyahu and Daniel believed that Hashem is Awesome and Mighty, just as Moshe Rabbeinu wrote in the Torah. They just didn’t include these titles in their prayers because they could not feel it. Tefillah should be a service of the heart; they felt it would be insincere. The chiddush of the Anshei Knesses Hagedolah was that even in the most difficult of times, we see evidence of Hashem’s might and His fear, so one can indeed use titles with sincerity.
How does Hashem’s restraint of His anger demonstrate His might? The Eitz Yosef explains as follows: imagine a child gets a deeply embedded splinter. His father sees that there is no other way to remove it except to cut. He grabs the child with one hand, holding a knife in the other. The child screams and begs, but the father must withhold his mercy and do what needs to be done.
Similarly, Hakadosh Baruch Hu loves us as a father loves his child and does not want to see us suffer. But klal Yisrael’s sins made punishment necessary. Therefore, Hashem allowed them to be exiled and enslaved by the Babylonians, though He took no joy in their pain.
To be continued.
