​A few months ago, we had what I thought was a mouse problem.

It wasn’t the first time, but it hadn’t happened for years.

Because they’re cute (along the lines of hamsters and gerbils), I’m not afraid of or disgusted by the mice themselves.

But I cannot tolerate their droppings or the idea of them running across clean towels, counters, and anything else ruining good hygiene.

Also, because the father mouse comes to check out a place before bringing his family, any signs of a mouse (or even worse, the actual mouse itself), means you’re not dealing with one mouse, but five or more (the father, his wife, and kids).

(And if you see two or three mice, you’re actually dealing with MANY more.)

So upon being startled by the sight of a mouse leaping from a stack of towels to the windowsill in the laundry room (a particularly large & robust mouse, I noted), I realized we needed to tackle the problem immediately.

Sara Yoheved Rigler’s famous saga with a rat came to mind.
My Rat's Tale – https://aish.com/48909007/

SPOILER ALERT (IF YOU DIDN'T READ THE ARTICLE YET)!
​
Rav Scheinberger advised her to go according to the song of the rat in Perek Shirah (which indicates the need to increase gratitude):​ 

​Indeed, Rigler’s increase in gratitude led to the cessation of the rat.

​So I looked up the song of the mouse:

Assuming it indicated the need to invest more deeply in cheshbon hanefesh, I started doing that—accompanied by practical hishtadlus too, like keeping doors and screens closed all the time.

​And I waited expectantly for the nisayon to end.

​Then the mouse entered via a hole in the screen where the dryer's lint funnel stuck out.

So I taped the hole around the funnel with silver duct tape.

But that night, I heard the funnel rustling, and discovered holes bitten into the papery funnel, which enable the mouse to bypass the taped-up hole in the screen.

So duct tape went on to those holes too.

But now we feared the mouse was trapped IN the house.

​I continued to do what I could according to the Song of the Mouse.

The next morning I woke up to the voice of my husband saying, “Hey, there’s a mouse in the toilet!”

That's a phrase you never think you'll hear in real life.

It's also not something I want to hear first thing in the morning. Or anytime at all. Ever.

After a quick netilas yadayim, our then-six-year-old and I came to look.

There it was, with its cute hamster-like face, its black eyes bulging as it twitched to look at each of us in hopeful desperation.

I was surprised to see that, rather than ducking away from us in fear, he seemed to view us like the main character viewed potential mommies in the book Are You My Mother?

Are you my salvation? he seemed to ask as he looked at each of us in eager hope.

(In case you’re wondering, it seems he entered via the slightly open bathroom window, which stands near the mouse’s usual entry point next to the dryer funnel hose.)

At this point, you need to know my husband holds very strongly by the Arizal’s injunction against killing living creatures, no matter how pesky or repellent.

(Being not the epitome of an ishah kasherah/a kosher wife, I totally ignore my husband's injunction when dealing with cockroaches or spiders. And I've killed scorpions twice — one as big as my fist.)

So hubby did his usual thing where he spreads his arms out as if to block a stampede and proclaimed, “No one kill it!”

(As if either my young son or I had the wherewithal or the desire to kill a small mammal.)
​
When we all exited, my husband again issued his usual proclamation in these situations: “We will not kill it! The Arizal says not to kill." He paused for emphasis. "We will take it outside.”

(This is how these situations always go with him. I respect him for this position, BTW, even if I cannot always abide by it.)

Taking the mouse outside, of course, demanded the use of today’s much-envied “male privilege”—which includes the great “privilege” of dealing with rodents in toilet bowls before Shacharis AND breakfast. In pajamas and slippers.

After all, that’s certainly not a job for women! (Ha!)

But how on earth...?

We didn’t need to wonder long about how our Arizal-devotee intended to extract the mouse.

He asked for any ladle and a container I would never need again. Ever.

He found the container, I found a broken milchig pasta ladle, and we were all set for my husband to carry out his lofty male privilege.

I cringed in a corner of the hallway in case anything went wrong, but our son stood right next to his father to watch the proceedings (because this is a really awesome way to start the day if you're a 6-year-old boy...ever notice how events found stressful by adults tend to be experienced by children as supreme joy & excitement?)

As my husband bravely exited with the mouse in the container & holding the lid down with the tail flapping out, I noticed again how it looked much larger than a normal mouse.

Also, its tail looked longer and thicker than usual for a mouse.

But to paraphrase a famous saying: Cognitive dissonance is bliss.

For some reason, I was ready to deal with a mouse…but not a rat.

Anyway, my husband strode out of our apartment with great purpose and down the stairs to the back entrance of our building, which leads to the great outdoors, not far from open nature.

He deposited the rat a good distance from our building and we all hoped that was the end of it—especially since I was going by the Song of the Mouse.

Surely, the segulah would finally work!

​But not long after that, I saw the duct tape on the dryer funnel pushed aside to reveal the old holes and found more evidence of a rodent.

We need poison or traps as practical hishtadlut, I decided. We had traps left over from years ago.

Then the 6-year-old called out from the mamad (bomb shelter room), which also serves as a bedroom, “Here’s the mouse on the window!”

I rushed to see where he pointed and saw a large dark rodent stretched across the screen of an open bedroom window.

Cringing & squealing all the way (where is male privilege when you need it most?), I raced toward the window and slammed it shut, twisting the handle to lock it.

Together, my young son and I gazed at the shadowy figure through the frosted window. 

Gosh, that really is such big mouse! I thought to myself.

Just then, our 22-year-old arrived home from yeshivah.

We showed him the shadowy figure still hanging on to the screen outside the frosted window.

"Look at the mouse!" we told him.

This son looked amused as he gazed at, then looked at me with a how-can-I-break-this-to-you smile and said, “That’s not a mouse.”

“Oh," I said. "I was afraid of that.”

“But it’s okay,” he reassured me. “I know how to take care of it.”

He likes to invent things and here was the opportunity to create a tzaar-baalei-chayim-free trap—a contraption to kill the rodent as painlessly & quickly as possible, promising to clean up the results himself (meaning, no squeamish clean-up for anyone lacking male privilege—because dealing with really gross clean-up is also part of male privilege).

While our older son worked away, the rat found a place to hide between the iron sliding door in the window frame (meant to protect inhabitants from flying shrapnel, but used by the rat as his own refuge) and the screen.

I felt grateful for the currently low risk of incoming missiles because I had no idea how we’d close the sliding iron door with a robust rat sitting in the way.

Finally, our son set up the trap on the ledge (protected by the window bars from falling to our neighbor’s yard below), included some luscious rat-bait, while the rat watched him from his hideout.

My son closed the window, I gave everyone stern instructions to keep the window closed no matter what, and then we waited.

I realized I'd functioned in Little-Red-Riding-Hood-mode, seeing all the signs of a wolf, but insisting that it was still Granny, just looking a little "off."

(Like, "Ooh, mouse! What a big tail you have! And what a large long body you have, mouse!")

It ended up being the catalyst I needed to put my heart into gratitude-mode.

During that time, I switched from confessing my sins to thanking Hashem for all sorts of things, both the good and the bad, as per the Song of the Rat.

Meanwhile, our older sons kept checking to see whether the rat was there.

We could see the shadow of the trap through the frosted glass. It remained intact with no sign of being tampered with.

After a couple of days, our older sons combed the area.

No rat.

Bending his head out the window, a teenage son said, “Hey, there’s an air-conditioning unit sticking out here below the window.”

Figures.

Rats are both smart and agile enough to leap on to a unit below, then make their way to the ground.

Was it even the same rat?

We felt sure it was.

After all, he received such a warm welcome (and rescue) in our home. Why not return to such a compassionate family?

Hoping the rat would not return, we went on with life and I kept an eye out for signs of a rat.

They weren’t long in coming.

​The door to our small back yard doesn’t close properly unless locked, so maybe he came in that way.

The folksy rat-repellents of infusing the area with coffee grounds, cinnamon, eucalyptus oil, etc., did not repel our determined rat.

Finally, I really intensified my expressions of gratitude to Hashem, including thanking Him for this ratty nisayon because it really gave me the kick I needed out of a stuck place, helping me appreciate what I had in life.

I also went out and bought green chunks of rat poison.

Placing the chunks in his favorite hiding places (behind the oven and behind the little kitchen table in the corner), plus another outside his favorite entry point (the opening of the dryer funnel), I continued to thank Hashem for the good & for what I perceived as bad.

That night, I heard scrambling outside the screen where the dryer funnel stuck out.

Peeking over to see, the green block had disappeared.

A teenage son checked the area below with a flashlight.

No sign of the little green chunk.

I pictured the rat arriving home with the little green chunk: “Hey, Doris! Kids! Look what Daddy’s brought home for dinner!”

Since then, no evidence of any rodents have appeared.

The little green blocks of poison behind the oven and the kitchen table remain untouched.

The newfound gratitude also opened up bracha in other areas, like a child on shidduchim got engaged not long after, and other issues that felt "stuck" until then.

Thanks yet again, Hashem! 

Here in Eretz Yisrael, we've been having some impressive lightning & thunder throughout Sukkot so far (though not as fierce as the thunder & lightning storms of a year or 2 ago).

(NOTE OF CLARIFICATION: The Sukkah storms of last year or the year before consisted of unrelenting booming thunder, which made it frightening to sleep in the Sukkah. This year, lightning played a stronger role, with the thunder not as strong or as frequent. The lightning also appeared as defined bolts, rather than large sheets of flashes in the sky, which is unusual in our area, meaning, the defined bolts are unusual.)

I've been in Eretz Yisrael for over 25 years, and these phenomena are a new thing.

There has also been some mighty wind, but interestingly only a bit of rain (some of which seemed mixed with tepid hail).

What is the message here?

I'm not sure, but Perek Shirah features the Song of Lightning:

A glance at the main commentaries on this verse (Rashi, the Metzudot, Ibn Ezra, Radak, and Malbim) reveal some insights.

First of all, this verse appears in a Psalm lauding Hashem for all that He did to bring the Jews to Eretz Yisrael, starting off with pounding the Egyptians and taking us out of Egypt, continuing with pounding the Kanaanim and gifting the Jews with Eretz Yisrael, denigrating idols & their adherents, then ending with blessing those who serve in the Beit Hamikdash, and Hashem's Dwelling Place (so to speak) in Yerushalayim.

It begins with the word "Hallelukah" and ends with "Hallelukah."

The commentaries note that wind isn't seen on its own until Hashem makes it move, then we see it by it's effect on stuff and we hear it. 

Also, Hashem brings out the wind to blow the clouds to exactly where He wants it to rain.

But what about the lightning?

The commentaries note that lightning flashes brilliantly even amid rain.

The commentaries note that the power of the wind is there all the time, but not seen until Hashem withdraws it from its "storehouse."

​Malbim states:

Basically, the commentaries note the quality of lightning existing among an element that theoretically should extinguish it.

​In other words, the brilliant illumination of lightning occurs among that which should disallow its very existence.

As mentioned above, the this week's lightning has been mostly without rain, but its fundamental aspect of rising above its fiery nature and not being extinguished by water (including copious amounts of pouring rain) is still true.

So to summarize, the Song of Lightning hints at:

• Hashem's All-Encompassing Mastery of even the routine aspects of nature
• Hashem's Fondness for the Jewish people (as evidenced by gifting us Eretz Yisrael as our Divine Inheritance)
• A solid & uncompromising adherence to monotheism
• The paradoxical and very powerful nature of lightning to overcome its natural "enemy": water. (Not only is lightning not extinguished by even huge amounts of pouring rain, but it's not even diminished by rain, as evidenced by the astounding brightness & power of lightning.)

So there's some food for thought about the message of lightning.

(For the message in wind, please see Song of the Wind.)

Basically, this verse is meant to be a far-reaching call for public praise of God.

And seeing as I kept running into spiders all last week, including one chillingly enormous one, and now this cute little gecko, I'm getting the message.

Please bear with me as I do my best to clang those cymbals.

When someone is going through a very hard time, feeling spiritually stuck, and not getting some very understandable desires fulfilled, and then asked advice from Rav Shalom Arush, I've heard that he has advised them to write down 20 things for which they're grateful...including the nisayon that is plaguing them so much.

I found it interesting that he didn't tell very stuck people to express gratitude for 10 minutes, but instead recommended a list, which can be finished in a minute or two.

It just goes to show you that he understands different people and what they're dealing with. It takes tremendous wisdom to be able to relate to and advise people where they're currently at, even if it means watering things down until to the bare minimum, just to make it manageable.

Yet for people who are feeling very stuck and bitter, even 20 things seems like too much. Furthermore, it's admittedly painful to include the very thing you desire.

However, we know that Chazal is unanimous in the fact that Hashem only does what's best for us, even if a particular event causes us a lot of anguish or confusion. Hashem takes everything into account, including past-life events and much much more.

Fortunately, Hashem doesn't necessarily expect us to feel grateful for a painful nisayon.

It's perfectly acceptable to say something like, "Hashem, I have no clue how this can possibly be good in any way, but because they say everything You do is somehow good, I thank You for it anyway, even though it's killing me."

That's actual a huge expression of emuna, depending on where you're coming from. If it's a very, very painful or traumatic or aggravating nisayon that's wrecking your life, then it is extremely powerful to thank Hashem for it.

I've done this literally in tears a few times, so I can empathize if you find expressing this kind of gratitude emotionally excruciating.

To make things even more challenging, sometimes (NOT always) the situation gets worse and then it gets better -- even miraculously better. The key is to keep up the 20 gratitudes a day, even if things get worse.

It's one of these things that the harder it is to do, the more powerful it is, and the more blessing and merit you reap from doing it -- and not just for yourself, but for the whole world.

So what's one way to complete the 20 gratitudes when you are stuck in a low, bitter, dark place?

Well, you can count all your fingers and toes.

Seriously. I've done it.

You say (or write down): "You are so Great, God. Thank You for my right pinky finger, my left pinky finger, my right ring finger, my left ring finger...my third right toe, my third left toe..." And so on.

Now I realize that some people, may Hashem have mercy, lack a toe or a finger. In that case, one can replace it with another limb or organ. For example, "You are so Great, God. Thank You for my left eye and for my right eye. Thank You for saliva. Thank You for my liver. Thank You for my tongue."

And somewhere in that list of 20, you add in your nisayon.

For example, "You are so Great, God. Thank You for my right thumb, thank You for my left thumb, thank You for this heartbreaking nisayon of:

• not having children
• finding myself in such a soul-destroying marriage
• losing so much money
• not having a job
• being raised by such dysfunctional narcissists
• being ill for so long
• [whatever your particular nisayon is]"

Again, if it's something that causes you a lot of anguish, even a robotic expression of gratitude is likely to be very difficult.

Yet many people have seen a real sweetening of judgement by doing the above, and even getting their prayers answered in the way they wanted.

Having said that, there are no guarantees. There's no way to know your past-life deeds or your soul's mission and what Hashem has determined as best for you and what He sees you as needing to accomplish in this lifetime.

But at the same time, expressing gratitude is one of the most powerful and conducive acts you could ever perform to fulfill your prayers.

In other words, expressing 20 gratitudes a day is your best bet for fulfilling your heart's desire, even though are no guarantees.

Nonetheless, it is your BEST chance.

Of course, you can also leave out the nisayon and just stick with your 10 toes and 10 fingers.

But the main thing is to just do the daily 20.

Even if you're feeling stuck, angry at Hashem, overwhelmed, traumatized, disconnected, or dead inside, if you could just somehow force yourself to write down (or say out loud) the 20, then that has the best chance of helping.

And if you do it, but you don't perceive a difference in yourself or your life?

Then you still haven't lost anything; you've only gained.

You've still provided a lot of merit and blessing for both yourself and others that you will see the fruits of one day.
___________
May Mashiach come & may Hashem put an end to all our suffering.

For stories of others who were saved by saying thank You:
First Emuna, Then Understanding
Garden of Miracles
Thanking Hashem for Our Troubles
It Hurts, But Thanks!

A while back, this blog compiled a list of the Chida's segulot/uses for each chapter of Tehillim, but 119 was left out due to the need to list the verses for each segulah. I kept putting it off because it seemed like a lot of work in my mind, but then I encountered a particularly large and scary fast-moving spider.

After spraying it to death, I thought about the message of the spider.

In Perek Shirah, the smamit is often translated as a spider. (It is also translated as some kind of small lizard.) Either way, the smamit sings Tehillim 150:5:

• Metzudat David says tziltzalim (cymbals) produce a sound that travels far.

• Malbim says that teruah (trumpeting) represents fear of punishment (yirat onesh), but this fear will be mixed with joy.

 

• The Metsudah Tehillim references Rav Shimshon Raphael Hirsch's commentary, which explains that these cymbals produce an extremely loud sound meant to call large groups to "attentive participation" in praising Hashem.

And what better way to praise Hashem than through Tehillim?

So I thought maybe it was a nudge to get my act together and finish this list.

And guess what? Sorting out the rest of 119 wasn't difficult at all. Anyway, I'd already done most of it for the list of Tehillim for various ailments. So I don't know what I was thinking.

If you want to know more about the segulot, please see previous posts:
A List of Specific Tehillim for Different Ailments of Body and Soul
Update on the Source for Tehillim Segulot/Uses

To download the entire list as a PDF, please press here:

If you haven't downloaded it already, here is the list of the Tehillim that applies to specific ailments (please press the button):

Please remember that all these chapters are good and holy, so if for example you meant to say the chapter for your right ear and you end up saying the chapter for the right nostril instead, that's okay. Both beg Hashem for mercy from pursuers and both affirm Hashem's compassion and loving-kindness.

So here's the full list:

List of Segulot/Uses for 150 Chapters of Tehillim/Psalms

1 -- for a woman who miscarries (or tends to miscarry a pregnancy)
2 -- for a storm at sea
3 -- for shoulder pain and head pain
4 -- good for every need
5 -- for an evil spirit/mood
6 -- for eye illness
7 -- to make your haters go away
8 -- to find favor (limtzo chen)
9 -- for a sick child
10 -- for anyone who has haters
11 -- to get rid of enemies
12 -- to prevent weakness
13 -- to be saved from a strange death
14 -- for fear (paranoia?)
15 -- to slay a demon
16 -- to make known (l'farsem) a thief
17 -- to say out on the road
18 -- to be rescued from kings
19 -- for wisdom
20 -- good for judgement (din)
21 -- for one who is going before a ruler
22 -- for every kind of trouble (tzaar)
23 -- to ask a question via a dream (she'alat chalom)
24 -- to be rescued from a flood of water
25 -- for every thing
26 -- for trouble and danger
27 -- for wild/dangerous animals
28 -- for prayer
29 -- for an evil spirit/dark mood
30 -- for every bad thing
31 -- for an evil eye (ayin hara)
32 -- to request mercy/compassion (rachamim)
33 -- for a woman whose children have died, may Hashem have mercy
34 -- to go on one's way (i.e. a journey, traveling)
35 -- if adversaries have risen up against you
36 -- to annihilate the evil ones
37 -- for a drunkard
38 -- if one has given you bad advice
39 -- for one who is fasting
40 -- to be rescued from an evil spirit/dark mood
41 -- if you have been fired from your employment
42 -- to build the Beit Hamikdash
43 -- to build the Beit Hamikdash
44 -- to be saved from the hand of an enemy
45 -- for one who has an evil wife (presumably, one could say this for an evil husband too)
46 -- if a person hates his wife (ditto)
47 -- for repentance (teshuvah)
48 -- so that one's haters will be afraid of him
49 -- for a kedachat (a type of fever, malaria)
50 -- to be saved from bandits
51 -- for one who is defiled with znut
52 -- to prevent one from speaking lashon hara
53 -- to frighten your haters
54 -- to take revenge on your enemies
55 -- for all evil
56 -- to one who is imprisoned in chains (presumably, this includes handcuffs, etc.)
57 -- for success
58 -- for a bad dog
59 -- for the evil inclination (l'yetzer hara)
60 -- for one who is going to war
61 -- if you fear to sit at home
62 -- to be said after Mincha and after Maariv
63 -- to succeed in trade, merchandise
64 -- to cross a river
65 -- if you want something from another person
66 -- for whoever has a "mood," a ruach (like a depression or a particularly black mood)
67 -- for a chronic kedachat (fever)
68 -- for a bad spirit/dark mood (ruach ra)
69 -- for one who is covetous and lecherous
70 -- for war
71 -- to find favor (limtzo chen)
72 -- to find favor & loving-kindness (limtzo chen v'chessed)
73 -- to be saved from fear
74 -- if you have haters
75 -- to humble one's pride
76 -- to be saved from fire and water
77 -- so as not to fall in a day of trouble
78 -- to find favor & loving-kindness (chen v'chessed) in the eyes of the government/authorities/rulership
79 -- to subjugate one's haters
80 -- to prevent one from idolatry/occult worship/heresy
81 -- also to prevent one from idolatry/occult worship/heresy
82 -- to succeed in your mission/errand
83 -- for war
84 -- for one whose body has become thin from illness
85 -- to appease/satisfy a friend
86 -- to be saved from a bad spirit (ruach ra)
87 -- good for providing salvation to the city
88 -- also good for providing salvation to the city
89 -- for one who is losing his limbs (i.e., leprosy, amputation, gangrene, frostbite)
90 -- for a lion
91 -- for a bad spirit/dark mood (ruach ra)
92 -- to see great miracles
93 -- to be victorious against one who is suing
94 -- if your haters are persecuting you
95 -- to prevent one's fellow citizens from leading one astray
96 -- to gladden one's family members
97 -- also to gladden one's family members
98 -- to place peace between one person and another
99 -- to be genuinely pious (chasid)
100 -- to be victorious over one's enemies
101 -- for a bad spirit/dark mood (ruach ra)
102 -- for a barren woman
103 -- also for a barren woman
104 -- to distance one who causes harm
105 -- for a fourth kedachat
106 -- for a third kedachat
107 -- for a chronic kedachat
108 -- for success
109 -- if your haters have been oppressing you
110 -- for your haters to make peace with you
111 -- to increase the amount of people who love you (i.e., to multiply friends)
112 -- to increase your strength
113 -- for heresy
114 -- for one who is zavin and mezavin
115 -- to debate/argue with heretics
116 -- so as not to die a strange death
117 -- for one who has been slandered baselessly (i.e. unfounded accusations, etc)
118 -- to give an answer to an apikorus (a heretic, a skeptic)
119:1-8 (alef) -- if you want to be the emissary of a particular mitzvah
119:9-16 (bet) -- for forgetfulness
119:17-24 (gimmel) -- for the right eye
119:25-32 (dalet) -- for the left eye
119:33-40 (hei) -- to be protected from sin
119:41-48 (vav) -- to intimidate a ruler
119:49-56 (zayin) -- for the spleen
119:57-64 (chet) -- for the upper stomach
119:65-72 (tet) -- for the right and left kidneys
119:73-80 (yud) -- for people to view you favorably, be nice to you (l'chasda)
119:81-88 (kaf) -- for the right nostril
119:89-96 (lamed) -- to sweeten or nullify negative judgement
119:97-104 (mem) -- for the right hand
119:105-112 (nun) -- for traveling, a journey, going out on a road
119:113-120 (samech) -- to request one's needs
119:121-128 (ayin) -- for the left hand
119:129-137 (pei) -- for the left nostril
119:137-144 (tzadei) -- to destroy one's haters
119:145-152 (kuf) -- for the left leg/foot
119:153-160 (reish) -- for the right ear
119:161-168 (shin) -- for the head
119:169-176 (taf) -- for the left ear
120 -- to make peace
121 -- to go out alone at night
122 -- for a slave who ran away
123 -- to travel by ship
124 -- to travel by ship
125 -- for enemies
126 -- for a woman whose children have died
127 -- for a newborn
128 -- for a pregnant lady
129 -- for something connect to a mitzvah
130 -- if one wants to travel by ship
131 -- for one who is prideful
132 -- to break a vow
133 -- to cultivate love from those whom you love (l'kiyum ahavat ahuvim)
134 -- to say before learning
135 -- for one who has thoughts of idolatry/occult worship
136 -- to admit to intentional, calculated sins
137 -- to remove hatred
138 -- to remove pride/arrogance
139 -- to place love between a man and his wife
140 -- for hatred that is between a man and his wife (the Hebrew wording seems to imply that this is more for a couple in which the hatred is coming specifically from the husband toward his wife -- bein ish l'ishto -- rather than mutual hatred or hatred coming from the wife)
141 -- for heart pain
142 -- for illness/suffering/pain in one's thighs/calves
143 -- for illness/suffering/pain in one's arm
144 -- for a broken hand/arm
145 -- for fear
146 -- for being struck with a sword (or with any sharp instrument, I'd guess)
147 -- for a snake bite
148 -- for a fire
149 -- to prevent a fire from spreading
150 -- to praise the Holy One Blessed be He for everything He does and has done
_____
May we all succeed in sweetening judgements and reaping much blessing.

There are extraordinary amounts of rain pouring down in Eretz Yisrael, completely out of character for this time of year.

(Although right now, it's looking pretty sunny all of the sudden.)

And there have been destruction and tragedies as a result, may all those who've suffered be comforted among all the mourners of Yisrael.

But the rain also has a message.

Rain can both bring life and take life, as we've sadly seen.

And in Perek Shirah, the rain sings the following song from Tehillim/Psalms 68:10--

Regarding this verse, Radak comments that because the preceding verse mentions "dripping heavens" as an allusion to tribulations, this verse needs to emphasize that now, the rain pouring down is the opposite of the oppressively "dripping heavens" -- this is rain of manifold munificence, and it's pouring down upon Yisrael.

The word translated as "Your heritage" or "Your inheritance" (nachalatcha) alludes to the Jewish people, who are the inheritance of Hashem.

He explains the rest of the verse as:

"Fortify it" -- fortify Your inheritance. You shall fortify Yisrael, the Jewish people.

Even if the enemy has already gotten a few victories under his belt and you're totally exhausted, don't give up. God will fortify you so that you won't give up on what's most important.

Both Rashi and Malbim also describe this verse as comforting and encouraging.

Am Yisrael is in a desert where it doesn't rain, according to its innate nature. Yet when the people are weary and thirsty, Hashem not only sends them rain, but sends them an abundance of rain, "rains of generosity and blessing," says Rashi. "Like cool water on a depleted soul," says Malbim.

Literally, this verse refers to Am Yisrael during its time in the desert before the first Shavuot, before the Torah was given on Har Sinai.

But the metaphors are clear (especially if you read the entire Psalm).

The giving of the Torah slaked the soul's thirst and fortified the Jewish Nation.

​Crazy rain is gushing over Eretz Yisrael right now, rain that isn't supposed to pour down in such amounts at this time of year. And this rain has brought tragedies, may Hashem protect us all.

But this rain also has a message for us.

When we are exhausted and thirsty, surrounded by hostile nations and in a hostile environment, God will send darkness and rain tribulations down on our haters while providing us with generous amounts of refreshing blessing, fortification, and renewed strength.

Hold fast to Yerushalayim (and all that it implies) and never give up.

May we always experience rain as an obvious blessing and never as a tribulation or tragedy.
__________
Related links:
Song of the Rain
Also, there has been an unusual amount of thunder and lightning in Eretz Yisrael.
Song of Lightning

Of course Elul and Av did not switch places.

But at first, it felt like they did.

Av is always a hard month for me and a time when I really struggle to overcome the inner lion roaring to get out.

(Please see How to Deal with the Mazal of Crabby Tammuz and Savage Av for more about Av's "inner lion.")

But mostly, this Av saw me making some progress without the usual lows. I was thrilled because I thought that if Av was going so well, spiritually speaking, then Elul would be amazing.

Only Rosh Chodesh Elul arrived, and I went numb. It wasn’t depression exactly, but just "blah." I even did a few things in the spiritual realm that called for tremendous time, effort, and a certain amount of self-sacrifice. One of them I’d never done before.

I felt good for two minutes after I’d completed these efforts, then things went right back to blah.

I tried all sorts of things, including writing down 20 things for which I was grateful and Pitum Haketoret among other spiritual efforts, acupressure, the proper vitamins...and still no release.

Then I started thinking things that I knew were false and anti-Torah, like maybe this is Heavenly rejection, maybe Hashem doesn’t like me anymore, chas v’shalom.

And yes, I knew this couldn’t possibly be true, yet I fretted about it anyway.

(I realized later that because I've failed this particular challenge before, Hashem was probably throwing it my way again in a last-ditch attempt for me to tackle it before Rosh Hashanah.)

Heartbreakingly, it also seemed that toddlers injured in Av were succumbing to their injuries in Elul.

I felt a lot of din maybe?

Then I started seeing a lot of spiders, including a very big one. In Perek Shira, the spider (smamit) says, “HalleluHu b'tziltzalei shema. HalleluHu b'tziltzilei teruah - Praise Him with resounding cymbals. Praise Him with trumpet blasts” (Tehillim 150:5).

• According to the Metzudah Tehillim, Rav Shimshon Rafael Hirsch explains this verse as "a call to whole groups for attentive participation."
• Metzudat David says tziltzalim (cymbals) produce a sound that travels far.
• Malbim says that teruah (trumpeting) represents fear of punishment (yirat onesh), but this fear will be mixed with joy.

(I believe that some interpret smamit as a small lizard and I saw a couple of geckos along with the spiders. Either way, I got the message: With humility and joy, Praise Hashem LOUD AND CLEAR!)

So all these "singing" spiders and geckos encouraged me to start calling out thanks and praise to Hashem (as per the Sages commentaries on that verse) with myself, with my family members, and on this blog.
(Now you know why you got a big dose of pro-monotheism posts!)

Finally, I decided to say a prayer before randomly opening Volume 1 of Words of Faith by Rav Levi Yitzchak Bender.

It was all about not speaking falsely (even positively) or with any exaggeration of the deceased. I haven’t been speaking about dead people at all recently as far as I could tell, so I did the procedure again with the Volume 2.

Bingo!

It was all about the key to getting past “dry” hitbodedut:

Talk to Hashem like He's your Good, True Friend.

I realized that when I was trying to talk to Hashem, I was being too self-conscious about it. I was being too formulaic and not "real" enough.

I ended up not having any alone-time that day, so I resolved to give it a try the next day.

Another idea innate to Breslov Chassidus is that sometimes you’re not given a good feeling about your spiritual stuff for two reasons:

1. Having too much blessing too fast really makes people incredibly stuck on themselves. I’ve seen it happen and it’s a very real concern.
2. Sometimes, Hashem just wants us to serve Him from a place of constriction. It’s a way of serving Hashem l’Shem Shamayim. You don’t have all the enthusiasm and flavor and spiritual uplift. You’re only doing it because Hashem said so.

It feels all wrong, but really, constriction is Hashem’s way of earning you and the rest of Am Yisrael a lot of extra merit. In other words, it’s actually a really good thing, even though it feels bad.

So that made me feel a little better.
 
But I was still out of sorts until I finally had the private time to speak to Hashem. I still got distracted, but I tried to follow the "Good, True Friend" advice by closing my eyes and settling my mind into the idea that right now, I'm talking to Someone who really cares about me, is totally Trustworthy, and Kind, Gentle, and Warm. And eventually it went pretty well and I felt better.

Now Elul is going better. I’m in basically good spirits even as those year-end “This is your last chance to get it right!” nisayonot are rolling in.

So I hope I’ll keep feeling the spiritual flavor of Elul. But if I don’t, I plan to do my best to keep pushing myself along spiritually and trying to feel good about serving Hashem from a place of constriction.

If you've read Perek Shira (Chapter of Song), then you probably recognize the following verse from Yeshayah (Isaiah) 42:13 as the Song of Lion:

"The Lion says: 'God will go forth as a mighty man, like a man of wars will He arouse zealousness, He will shout, he will even scream; He will overcome his enemies.' "

Metzudat Tzion (Rav David Altschuler, Galicia, published in 1753 by his son, these commentaries were written while locked in a tower; like a dictionary this commentary explains the words in the text)
יָעִיר - hitorerut, an arousal/awakening
יָרִיעַ - teruah, a loud sound
יַצְרִיחַ - a matter of shouting in a great voice (as mentioned in Tzefania 1: "mar tzoreach")

Metzudat David (Same as above; this commentary explains the meaning of the text)
יֵצֵא - He will go out for the salvation of Yisrael
יָעִיר קִנְאָה - He will arouse zeal of the zealousness of His Nation
יִתְגַּבָּר - He will overpower his enemies

Radak (Rav David Kimchi, 1160-1235, southern France)
"God will go out as a mighty man" for the salvation of Yisrael like the mighty one who goes out to war without fear.
"He will arouse zealousness" of Yisrael, whom they [the nations] oppressed in Exile for years.
"He will shout, He will even scream" -- All this is a form of metaphor representing those victorious in war, that they make noise and scream to overpower that which opposes them.
יַצְרִיחַ - it's like "he will make a loud noise/יָרִיעַ" and it says "He will even scream" because hatzricha (bellowing) is even louder than teruah (shouting) and will overpower His enemies.

Ibn Ezra (Rav Avraham ibn Ezra, 1089-1167, Muslim Spain)
"God will go out as a mighty man" -- Indicates the secret decrees that go out from Hashem's Mouth
"zealousness" -- for the Babylonian worshipers of Bal
"He will shout" -- a kind of teruah

Malbim (the words in parentheses also appear in the Malbim's text in parentheses)
Gibur/Mighty Man: The power of a gibur is in his loins as he goes out to war himself like it says "God will go out as a mighty man"
Ish Milchamot/Man of Wars: And a man of wars is not a gibur; he is only learned in the strategies of war. And a man of wars is one who has examined many wars and is expert in the administration of wars. And he is not a warrior himself; he only arouses zeal from knowing the tactics that hasten men of valor and arouse zeal in their hearts.

(And the metaphor is: Just as the gibur himself fights, likewise God will appear with miraculous leadership and the overriding of the planetary/star system Himself by His Own Might. And just as the ish milchamot organizes the men of valor according to his will, likewise will God organize nature and the planetary/star system to concede to His Orchestrations against His enemy.)

יָרִיעַ - It used a metaphor of a man of war's cry of victory that strengthens his battalion.

אַף יַצְרִיחַ - He will orchestrate things so that His enemies will scream out in a broken cry that will terrify them with tactics so that in this way, their heart will weaken. And by means of this tactic, He will overpower His enemies.

Malbim (1809-1879) clearly says that Hashem will override (שידוד) the entire system (מערכה) of orbits and constellations in order to bring His enemies to their knees.

Over the past years, we've been hearing lots of predictions, but we don't know what exactly will occur, nor when or how it will occur.

And the Malbim seems to imply that astronomical predictions simply won't be, well, predictable because Hashem will override anything He chooses in order to achieve His desired result.

We can make observations regarding objects and their trajectories, but it is all subject to change depending on what Hashem plans to do with it.

If you're on His Side (or at least sincerely trying to be on His Side, even if you mess up at times), then His enemies are your enemies and you have nothing to fear, Jew or non-Jew.

Where does it say that? Previously, in verse 12 (included in the Song of the Bear), the Malbim explains:
" 'and in the islands they'll relate His Praises' -- to recognize the Unity of Hashem and His Spirituality (Ruchaniut), that He overrides the planetary/star system."

Malbim may be referring either to:

• two different times (the initial terror and the later recognition)

OR

• two different categories of people (His enemies who will scream in terror and His non-enemies for whom the miraculous override fills them with recognition of His Unity and Ruchaniut)

 
Or both.

May we all do true teshuvah from love & not from trials or disgraceful events.

Over the past week in Eretz Yisrael, powerful winds have been gusting all day and all night, with no respite.

Our haters have taken advantage of this to set fires that rage out of control in the dry and blustery weather.

Our Sages tell us to look into Torah wisdom for guidance.

Perek Shira contains the song of the wind (Yeshayahu 43:6):

This verse appears amid a sea of comforting verses in Chapter 43.

The commentators all interpret it to mean an active gathering of the Jews exiled outside of Eretz Yisrael. One explains that "teiman" is a particularly strong wind from the South, necessary to "blow" the exiles into their Homeland.

Another explains that some exiles are actively restrained from leaving their country of exile, while for others, the topography (mountains, etc.) stand as an obstacle. These reasons are why the verse also declares: "Do not restrain!" - Let them go free!

Radak says that it mentions daughters and sons separately to indicate that the ingathering of women and children will be "conducted slowly" - i.e. gently, in consideration of their greater difficulty when traveling?

Anyway, the wind is a comforting sign, a reassurance of Hashem's Promise to gather everyone Home.

Yet could it also be a call to action? A call to come Home?

But the winds are blustering in Eretz Yisrael.

So what's the message to we who are already here?

Another way to "come Home" is to do teshuvah.

And it seems to me that the powerful winds combined with the out-of-control fires are a call to do just that.

P.S. A segulah to protect against one's house from fire is to read Birkat Hamazon from a bentscher/birkon (as opposed to reciting it by heart).
Presumably, you can also read it with the intention of protecting all of your brothers' and sisters' houses from burning.
(I can't remember the source for this - sorry!)