Rav Miller’s dvar Torah on Parshat Behar is a very pleasant whomp right between the eyes.
 
One of my favorite aspects of Rav Miller on the parsha is his description of the true-to-life experience of Jews millennia ago in the Tanach.

​Using plain & simple language, he brings it all to life.

• In Rav Miller's dvar Torah for Parshat Behar (pages 1-3), you get to experience what the Yovel year was really like at the close of the 50-year cycle in which property reverts to its original owners.

• Then (pgs. 3-7), using both stories of modern times & the Chafetz Chaim, Rav Miller details our temporary dwelling in This World and what that really means for us.

 

• Pages 7-11 introduce the concept of geirus/geirut—usually understood to mean “convert,” it also means a temporary dweller in This World. (Also like how Moshe Rabbeinu said, “I am a ger in a foreign land.” He was born Jewish, but a ger, a temporary dweller in This World.)

In the Pele Yoetz chapter entitled Ger, Rav Eliezer Papo also discusses ger/geirut according to this interpretation. With Rav Miller, you get a glimpse into what Duties of the Heart/Chovot Levavot says about this idea, plus a modern-day analogy to make things clearer, what a mezuzah should inspire within us, and then the following amazing yet true story of a connected Jew with his heart & mind in exactly the right place:

Gadlus. And that was a so-called “regular” Jew no one has ever heard of!
 
Everyone can be great. It’s not at all a matter of renown or charisma.

Just quietly live for the Next World.

No one will write a book or even newspaper obituary about you (may you live in good health until 120), but you’ll be written in Hashem’s Book, and that’s all anyone really needs.
 
This section also helps you figure out how much you should invest in your material world here on Earth.

​It goes according to individuals and their different situations, so Rav Miller doesn’t offer hard ‘n’ fast rules, but pages 7-11 can help you figure out how to clarify things for yourself. 

• Then (pgs. 11-14) you get some insights into David Hamelech and certain popular verses of Tehillim, insights you may never have considered before. (I hadn’t.) And you get to delve into the fascinating idea of how you and everyone you know are just figments of Hashem’s Supreme Imagination.

(This is not depressing, like how it is in sci-fi novels, but actually very comforting and inspiring.)

• Pages 14-17 offer more insights into popular Tehillim, plus helpful hints on how best to utilize your alone-time and how to do hitbodedut in the most crowded, noisy circumstances.

​Do you ever find yourself irked by the following, as described by Rav Miller?:

​Jew-haters are simply impossible to please! (So why bother trying? Hint, hint…)
 

• Anyway, Rav Miller explains on page 17 why this dynamic exists and what it means for us.

Despite differences in custom, dress, culture, time, and language, real talmidei chachim keep coming up with the same themes and lessons from Torah.

• Here (pgs. 17-18) Rav Miller speaks of Hashem as your Best Friend and what that means. And he sounds exactly like Rav Levi Yitzchak Bender.

 
Why?
 
Because all the real talmidei chachamim glean from the same sources and come to the same conclusions.
 
It ends on the heart-warming note of what you should remember about Olam Hazeh / This World whenever you look at a mezuzah:

Note: After the dedications at the end of this dvar Torah booklet, there is a brand-new section for children: Toras Avigdor Junior, a 2-page large-print supplement accompanied by a pleasant drawing of Rav Miller with a child in the woods. After that, there is a Q&A regarding how to break the habit of losing one’s temper.
 
So even if you’re in Eretz Yisrael and already past this parsha, it’s very worth reading Rav Miller’s dvar Torah on it for the wealth of soul-nourishing Torah hashkafah it contains:
Rav Avigdor Miller on Parshat Behar: We Live in You

As many people know, there was a mass prayer gathering in Chevron (Hebron) on Tuesday night, starting at 10 PM.

I decided to participate from home via the livestream (which ended up not working for me, but no big surprise there because that has been the story between me and hi-tech for years now).

But for this reason or another, I only ended up being able sit down for virtual participation at around 11 PM.

The authentic Jewish approach is intend all the good things l'katchilah (from the outset), but b'dieved? Better late than never. Seriously.

So I started out saying Tikkun Haklali with kavanah, but there were loud boisterous offspring around and my kavanah ended up zonked.

Oh, well.

What was interesting was that my youngest (age 4) had a deep barking cough that got pretty bad at night the past couple of nights, and he'd been coughing a lot...until I was a perek or two into Tikkun Haklali (with the intention to join my recitation of Tikkun Haklali to the general one being said at the mass prayer gathering).

His coughing stopped at that point and didn't return that night.

Huh, I said thoughtfully.

His cough didn't return until the next afternoon and then it went away again and tonight, he has been sleeping peacefully -- no coughing.

It's also worth noting that this child has had a tendency for coughing since he was born. When he starts coughing, it can just go on for weeks and nothing -- not herbs, oils, vaporizers, cough syrup, nothing -- can ease the coughing.

(The only thing that ever worked was saying once a day for several days in a row Tehillim 119 according to his full name, using the method described in this post. )

But now the terrible night coughing just stopped -- and stopped at the moment described above.

Anyway, just wanted to share that.

I don't believe in coincidences.

And you don't need to be perfect in order to awaken Heavenly Compassion.

​You just have to try.

(Plus, it helps if you join your own imperfect prayer to the sincere prayer of thousands of dedicated Jews praying in a profoundly holy place.)

UPDATE: My son's cough returned, but not as bad as before, yet just the fact that there was a break in the coughing is amazing, giving his usual tendency. Anyway, I'll go back to saying Tehillim 119 according to the letters of his name again. I guess part of what his soul needs is to have Tehillim said according to his name.

​It's all good.

Please daven for Shira Yael bat Liora Sara, the formerly pregnant woman wounded in the terror attack in Ofra on the last night of Chanukah.

Also, please daven for her newly born baby, Rach Hanolad ben Shira Yael.

While the medical staff was able to deliver the baby prematurely, both he and his mommy are still in critical condition.

The baby has been given an especially harsh prognosis, but you don't need to believe it because prayer can change everything.

May they have a complete and speedy refuah among all the other ill Jews.

According to the Chida, the following Tehillim/Psalms can be helpful:
9 is good to say for a sick child.
22 is good for every kind of trouble (tzaar)
92 can help one merit seeing great miracles.
116 can save one from a strange death.
119:89-96 (lamed) sweetens or nullifies a negative judgment.
127 is good to say for a newborn.

Also, 119 is divided up according to Alef-Bet and there's an old tradition that it's very good for a sick person if you recite the sections according to their name.

In this case, you have:

 שירה יעל בת ליאורה שרה

So you would recite the following:
119:161-168 (shin) ש
119:73-80 (yud) י
119:153-160 (reish) ר
119:33-40 (hei) ה
119:73-80 (yud) י
119:121-128 (ayin) ע
119:89-96 (lamed) ל
119:9-16 (bet) ב
119:169-176 (taf) ת
119:89-96 (lamed) ל
119:73-80 (yud) י
119:1-8 (alef) א
119:41-48 (vav) ו
119:153-160 (reish) ר
119:33-40 (hei) ה
119:161-168 (shin) ש
119:153-160 (reish) ר
119:33-40 (hei) ה

And do likewise for Rach Hanolad ben Shira Yael:
רך הנולד בן שירה יעל

119:153-160 (reish) ר
119:81-88 (kaf) כ
119:33-40 (hei) ה
119:105-112 (nun) נ
119:41-48 (vav) ו
119:89-96 (lamed) ל
119:25-32 (dalet) ד
119:9-16 (bet) ב
119:105-112 (nun) נ
119:161-168 (shin) ש
119:73-80 (yud) י
119:153-160 (reish) ר
119:33-40 (hei) ה
119:73-80 (yud) י
119:121-128 (ayin) ע
119:89-96 (lamed) ל

You can also go to the following site and type in the names in Hebrew and it will give you the sections you need from Tehillim 119 in the right order (instead of flipping around in your Tehillim book). You can print it out too:
tehillim-online.com/read-segula/psalm-119-by-the-name

There are other traditions for saying Tehillim by the letters of the ill person's name, but the above tradition is the one with which I'm most familiar.

Doctors Fight to Save Life of Expectant Mother After Shomron Terror Attack: Baby Saved; 6 Other Jews Wounded

Ofra Attack: Condition of Baby Deteriorates; Mother’s Condition Still Serious

May Hashem please bring Mashiach now in a sweet way.

A caring reader just sent me the following:

Also, here are Tehillim [Psalms] to say (according to the Chida):
20 -- good for judgment (din)
44 -- to be saved from the hand of an enemy
70 -- for war
83 -- for war
92 -- to see great miracles
100 -- to be victorious over one's enemies
109 -- if your haters have been oppressing you
110 -- for your haters to make peace with you
119:89-96 (lamed) -- to sweeten or nullify negative judgment

For the full list of the Chida's segulot for each chapter of Tehillim, please see:
The Full List of Segulot/Uses for All of Tehillim

Please also see:
14 Ways to Sweeten Dinim

May any din be sweetened & may we all merit Hashem's Abundant Compassion.

In the Pele Yoetz's chapter on Rosh Hashanah, he provides recommendations for reading Tehillim:

• Every place that mentions enemies (oyavim), haters (sonim), oppressors (tzarim), etc., you should have in mind the Heavenly prosecutors (mekatrigim), who are are the true enemies: enemies of our souls.
• Every place that mentions misfortune (tzarah), distress (tzukah), etc., you should have in mind your own personal distress
• Every place that mentions "life," you should have in mind 2 things:

1) Your spiritual existence:

• that you should be alive
• that you should feel the love of God all your days
• that you should feel the fear of God all your days

2) Your physical existence:

• you should want to live in order to serve your Creator
• you should not be the cause of any anger or grief for Hashem or the Shechinah
• you should complete the rectification (tikkun) of your body, spirit, and soul.

The Pele Yoetz repeats the well-known recommendation to read all of Tehillim twice because there are 150 chapters of Psalms and 150+150=300, which is the numeric equivalent of kaper (atone).

He recommends doing this over Rosh Hashanah (read all of Tehillim each day for those 2 days), but I've heard others recommend doing this over the 10 Days of Teshuvah, which comes out to a book day. (Tehillim is split up into 5 books containing around 30-40 chapters each.)

While the Pele Yoetz lauds the recitation containing proper understanding of the meaning of the words, he adds that if one doesn't know the actual meaning, one should at least read them carefully letter by letter, word by word.

(I'm assuming there was no Bulgarian translation of Tehillim available at that time because he doesn't mention reading Tehillim in another language for those who can't understand the Hebrew, which is admittedly very hard Hebrew, harder than the Hebrew of Chumash. In Israel, they sell Tehillim with the modern Hebrew "translation" underneath each word because the syntax and vocabulary of Tehillim can be so challenging until you learn it well enough.)

Needless to say, translations of Tehillim exist in almost every language, so you can use that too.

I personally know of illiterate women who cannot even read the words. Instead, they place their finger on each word and look at it. And in this way, they can participate in saying Tehillim, even as they technically remain completely silent.

It's the heart and the intention that counts.

At the same time, the Pele Yoetz repeats a well-known statement of the Sages in Tur, Orach Chaim, Siman 1:
"A small amount with proper intent is better than a large amount without proper intent."
("Tov me'at b'kavanah m'harbot b'lo kavanah.")

So each person needs to know his or her own heart and capabilities.

And again, more than anything else, it's the heart that counts.

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.

At a Tehillim/Psalms gathering for women I attended in the US, the woman leading the Tehillim-recital was a Yemenite-Israeli woman who taught at an Ashkenazi school (that accepted all Jews as long as they were frum) and was married to a yeshivish Askenazi.

This meant that she was competent in both ways of Hebrew pronunciation.

She lead the Tehillim in a pleasant sing-song and most charmingly of all, she was so into the davening that the words flowed out in whatever pronunciation naturally flowed forth.

This means that she said: "Shir Hama'alois" -- with the second "a" pronounced as the classic Yemenite guttural "ayin," followed by "ois" instead of "ot."

It was obvious that she had no idea she was mixing nusachs.

It was delicious. Here was Am Echad in one person.

Now, I realize that sticklers for nusach will bristle about the importance of staying within one nusach for davening.

And that is important for formal davening.

But if you're equally comfortable in both, then when immersing yourself in the uplifting heart of Tehillim, both might flow forth naturally. And really, it's better to just immerse yourself in your love of Hashem than to hold yourself back and get caught up in the technicalities of consistent pronunciation.

For me, sometimes "Shabbos" is easier to say than "Shabbat." Especially if I want to describe something as "Shabbosy." "Shabbaty" just doesn't feel the same.

I still find "tsnius" (modesty) more comfortable to say than "tsnee-OOT" because "tsnius" is how I first learned the word.

But all that depends who I'm talking to because it's important to say things in the way most comfortable for the other person.

Likewise, when speaking with a Chassidish Yerushalmi friend, I try to greet her with "Gut Shabbos," even if she's greeting me with "Shabbat Shalom."

In fact, my Chassidish neighbors always use Sefardi pronunciation when speaking to me and other Sefardi neighbors. They also smoothly turn the conversation from Yiddish to Hebrew if a non-Yiddish-speaker arrives, including when they address each other (which they normally would in Yiddish) in front of the non-Yiddish-speaker.

It's all just a friendly way of respecting one's fellow.

When my children first started attending a Sefardi school, the Moroccan ganenet used to wave to me out the window of the van, calling out, "Gut Shabbos!" as they sped by on Friday afternoons.

She didn't need to do that because despite my Ashkenazi ethnicity and American nationality, I'm not frum from birth (i.e., I didn't grow up with "Gut Shabbos!") and I'm married to a Moroccan who davens in a Sefardi synagogue, and we happily send our children to a Sefardi school and I am quite comfortable with "Shabbat Shalom!" and general Sefardi pronunciation.

But in her experience, Ashkenazi Americans say "Gut Shabbos!" and she wanted me to feel comfortable and accepted.

Very nice!

As always, it's the heart that counts.

When my husband and I are were temporarily rabbi and rebbetzin (or is it rabbanit?), one of our congregants was this lovely 90-year-old lady named Shayna. (She attended our Sefardi synagogue because it was within walking distance and I'm not sure that she was aware of the differences. To her, it was a kosher synagogue with a mechitza and an Orthodox rabbi, and that's all that mattered.)

During Sukkot, she would come up to me to wish me a good year among other good things, and she did so in Yiddish. I only got the gist of her exact words ("a gut yahr!"), but I remember the feeling of warmth and pleasure that soaked through me as she leaned her smiling wizened face toward me with her wrinkled hand on my arm and spoke to me from her heart.

In Shayna's experience, frum people bless each other in Yiddish. So it never occurred to her that she shouldn't speak to me in Yiddish, especially since I was the rebbetzin -- no matter that I came from a secular English-only background (which she didn't know about) and that I was married to a Moroccan-Israeli and that we were standing in a Sefardi synagogue.

And I loved her for it.

Conversely, if you are in Israel and you greet your Sefardi neighbor with "Gut Shabbos", she might get offended. Why? Because then it feels like you're imposing your nusach on her, as if her nusach isn't good enough. Also, there's this implication that Yiddish is the proper language as opposed to Hebrew (or the Jewish-style Arabic common among Moroccans).

And sadly, there are indeed some Ashkenazim with that attitude, which is why your Sefardi neighbor isn't being oversensitive when she gets miffed about your perfectly friendly "Gut Shabbos." (Although she should still give you the benefit of the doubt, that you were just expressing your ahavat Yisrael in the best way you knew how. Or that you just forgot how it might come off to her.)

Then around another Sukkot in Eretz Yisrael, a Chassidish-American acquaintance came up to me and started wishing me all sorts of nice things for the coming year -- in Yiddish.

Ironically, I suddenly felt irritated.

I don't know Yiddish, I fumed silently. Why was she putting me in this uncomfortable position of nodding blankly and not knowing how to respond to her gush of words because I mostly didn't understand? She knows I'm originally from an "out of town" location in America and that I'm firmly in the Sefardi community here in Eretz Yisrael. Why on earth would I understand all the Yiddish coming out of her mouth?

This admittedly insignificant incident left me disgruntled.

But why? What was wrong with me all of the sudden?

Why, when Shayna did EXACTLY the same thing, it imbued me with warm fuzzies, yet when this acquaintance did it, I got all flustered and resentful?

Even stranger, I actually like Yiddish. I enjoy trying to speak it with my friends' children who only know Yiddish.

So why did I all of the sudden have a problem with Yiddish?

I guess it's because it's the heart that counts.

Shayna is brimming with goodness, so when she talks to you in the language of her choice, then all her goodness just gushes forth into you. And Shayna was speaking to me in Yiddish because she thought that was the best way to convey her good wishes; she had no idea I didn't understand. (Ditto with the Sefardi ganenet above.)

Yet this acquaintance tended to be firmly entrenched in her own world and in her way of doing things. She and her husband were used to being leaders of their community and expressing good wishes in Yiddish was the RIGHT way to do things, gosh darn it, whether the listener understood and whether the listener was comfortable or not.

In other words, she wasn't reaching out to me, she was asserting herself over me (and vicariously, over a whole large group of fellow Jews).

Was this intentional? Likely not. Some people are just very self-absorbed and so used to holding on to their own thing (which, if you've lived frum in America, you need to do to resist the pull of secular American culture), that they don't realize when they've overstepped.

So this is what I've learned:

• Be like Shayna.
• Be like my son's Sefardi ganenet.
• Be like my wonderful Chassidish neighbors.
• Be like the Yemenite Tehillim leader.

Reach out from the heart and don't overreach.

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.
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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.
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Related links:
Song of the Rain
Also, there has been an unusual amount of thunder and lightning in Eretz Yisrael.
Song of Lightning

There's a big gap between blog posts due to being busy with Pesach time and especially the cooking for the whole family.

Also, yesterday, my husband's oldest sister, her oldest son and his two little daughters, and my mother-in-law came for a visit and it was really pleasant, yet action-packed. Also, it's always special to be among four generations. (My mother-in-law is a great-grandmother and her great-grandchildren are the same age or older than some of her grandchildren, may she reap a lot of nachat from all her descendents.)

Fortunately, between my older kids' individual plans, we've been spending an unusual amount of family time together. And even more fortunate, much of that family time has actually been enjoyable!

For example, I have 2 kids who like to kick each other or pretend to run into the other or smack the other somewhere on the head (supposedly "by accident") when merely passing between the kitchen and the living room. I know that's pretty normal for their gender and their age, and probably many of you either remember doing that with your brother or have kids who do that too, but I still get exasperated from it.

Yet despite spending copious amounts of time together in the kitchen-living room area, the ratio of kicking and smacking isn't as bad as it should be, yet another example of Hashem's profound kindness and compassion in action. 

And with that, here is a nice blog post for the holiday:
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The following contains a continuation of the list of uses/segulot for each Tehillim as per the Chida, apparently.

However, the PDF download contains almost all the segulot up-to-date (except for 119 at this time). Eventually, all of them will appear together in just one post. Right now, I'm doing them gradually because it ends up being close to 180 if you include the 20-something perakim within Chapter 119.

I'm skipping 119 for now because it's a bit complicated to set up for those who don't know the Hebrew alphabet or who only understand the English translation, but it is in process.

For the first 20, please see HERE (or press the button below to download all 150 sans 119).
For 21-64, please see HERE.
For Tehillim/Psalms ailment list, please see HERE.
For more on the source of these segulot/uses, please see HERE.
To download all 150 (minus 119) as a 3-page PDF, please press the blue button:

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)
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