"I have sunk in a whirlpool & there is no place to stand..."
-Tehillim/Psalm 69:3
The word translated here as "whirlpool" is metzulah in the original text.
Rashi and others translate it as like a muddy mire (more companionable with the previous post).
But Rav Avraham ibn Ezra describes it as in the middle of the sea -- a whirlpool.
Rav Levi Yitzchak Bender acknowledges the simple meaning of the verse:
This person is not only in the terrible quandary of getting stuck in a whirlpool; he can't even stand there — there is additional pain & suffering.
All hope seems lost.
Rashi and others translate it as like a muddy mire (more companionable with the previous post).
But Rav Avraham ibn Ezra describes it as in the middle of the sea -- a whirlpool.
Rav Levi Yitzchak Bender acknowledges the simple meaning of the verse:
This person is not only in the terrible quandary of getting stuck in a whirlpool; he can't even stand there — there is additional pain & suffering.
All hope seems lost.
How to Win the Massively Unfair Fight between You & the Giant Muddy Whirlpool
But the Breslover Sages provided an insightful twist on these words:
"There is no place to stand" can also mean that one is not stuck there.
Do not stand in place.
Rav Bender exhorts (Words of Faith Vol. I, pg. 405):
"There is no place to stand" can also mean that one is not stuck there.
Do not stand in place.
Rav Bender exhorts (Words of Faith Vol. I, pg. 405):
"Deal with it and wrestle and make all effort to get out."
Rav Bender explains that even if all the person sees is mud and he simply cannot wrench himself free, however hard he tries...nonetheless, if he remains stuck and does not move to free himself, "he will certainly sink deeper with no possibility of being saved, chas v'shalom."
The way of struggling is one foot in, one foot out.
"I give a blow, I take a blow," says Rav Bender.
Taking a blow or getting caught in the mud, getting all wet & dirty — this itself is the nisyon, it's not the final judgement on you.
Too many people condemn us when they see us struggling and muddy.
Heck, we condemn ourselves for our clumsy desperate flailing & our muddily soaked appearance.
But according to Rav Bender and according to David Hamelech, that's not how Hashem sees things at all.
Rav Bender insists that the main thing is to try. We must be strong and ensure that last foot steps out...
As long as we WANT to escape the muddy whirlpool and the mire, as long as we TRY to free ourselves, we're beautiful to Hashem.
And He'll make us win in the end.
The way of struggling is one foot in, one foot out.
"I give a blow, I take a blow," says Rav Bender.
Taking a blow or getting caught in the mud, getting all wet & dirty — this itself is the nisyon, it's not the final judgement on you.
Too many people condemn us when they see us struggling and muddy.
Heck, we condemn ourselves for our clumsy desperate flailing & our muddily soaked appearance.
But according to Rav Bender and according to David Hamelech, that's not how Hashem sees things at all.
Rav Bender insists that the main thing is to try. We must be strong and ensure that last foot steps out...
As long as we WANT to escape the muddy whirlpool and the mire, as long as we TRY to free ourselves, we're beautiful to Hashem.
And He'll make us win in the end.
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