Part 9
Va'ani Eshtachaveh Ve'echro'oh, Evrechoh Lifnei Hashem
Osi
The next of these introductory pesukim reads,
Va'ani eshtachaveh ve'echro'oh, evrechoh lifnei Hashem
Osi — I shall prostrate myself and bow; I shall
kneel before Hashem my Maker. This precise wording does not
actually exist in Tanach, but is adapted from a very
similar posuk in Tehillim (95:6) that uses the
plural form, and reads, Bo'u nishtachaveh venichro'oh
nivrecho lifnei Hashem Oseinu — Let us prostrate
ourselves and bow, let us kneel before Hashem our Maker.
There is one other occasion when the actual words of a
posuk are changed and adapted for use in tefilloh.
The Shulchan Oruch (Orach Chaim 116) notes that
the wording of Refo'einu Hashem veneirophei in
Shemoneh Esrei is in the plural form whilst the
posuk itself (Yirmiyohu 17:14) is in the
singular form. The Tur explains that one is permitted to make
such changes in pesukim, when required for the sake of
our tefillos.
We use this posuk of Bo'u nishtachaveh venichro'oh
nivrecho lifnei Hashem Oseinu on Friday night to welcome
Shabbos in Lechu neranenoh. Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer
(Chapter 11) traces the origin of this posuk to Odom
Horishon. It relates how, during the first week of Creation,
Hashem formed each individual creature, culminating with the
creation of Odom on that Friday. When the entire animal
kingdom saw the special angelic features of Odom as the
handiwork of Hashem standing upright before them, they all
came to prostrate themselves before him, as they mistakenly
thought that he was their creator.
On realizing this error, Odom corrected them and told them to
join him, and together they should go Bo'u nishtachaveh
venichro'oh nivrecho lifnei Hashem Oseinu — Let us
(together) prostrate ourselves and bow, let us kneel before
Hashem our Maker, as we are all part of His Creation.
The gemora (Chagigah 16a) states that humans are
comparable to angels in three points, whilst they resemble
animals with another three of their characteristics. One
similarity to an angel is that they both stand vertically
with their heads pointing upwards, whilst all other creatures
walk horizontally. Odom was the first of the creatures of
creation that stood upright, thereby displaying angelic
features and causing the animal kingdom to treat him as their
creator.
Any form of bending down before a superior power displays our
submission to this higher authority. The further down one
bends, the greater the degree of submission that one
displays.
On closer inspection we will notice that this posuk
mentions three different postures that are adopted during
tefilloh. Sometimes we are nishtachaveh —
we prostrate ourselves down on our hands and knees. At other
times we simply venichro'oh — merely bow our
heads. At other times we nivrechoh, we kneel down
before Him.
These three postures appear in this posuk in an
unusual order. I would have expected that the
nishtachaveh would be followed by nivrechoh,
kneeling down, and then by nichro'oh, bowing our
heads, as this would display an orderly series.
When we awake in the morning, we still feel a great degree of
gratitude and dependence on Hashem for having returned our
neshomoh to us after a night's sleep. Consequently,
during the morning Shacharis tefilloh we can display a
total submission to Him and prostrate ourselves fully, as
represented in the term nishtachaveh.
By the time Mincha time arrives, we are preoccupied
with our business deals. One tends to feel a little proud of
one's own achievements and after enjoying success during
these few hours of business, our submission to Him is
subdued. At our Mincha prayers we can only achieve a
tentative submission, and venichro'oh — we
merely bow our heads to Him.
By the time we have finished our full day's work and arrive
home tired and exhausted, we begin to realize how much we are
dependent on Hashem to revive us with a good night's sleep.
At Ma'ariv time, our submission to Hashem increases
again, as displayed by the nivrechoh; we now kneel
down before Him. This posuk therefore confirms our
total submission to Hashem at all times of the day and in any
predicament that we may find ourselves in, whilst their order
corresponds to that of our three daily tefillos.
This same posuk of Va'ani eshtachaveh ve'echro'oh,
evrechoh lifnei Hashem Osi is used as the climax and
final one of Perek Shiroh and it is sung by a breed of
dogs. In the animal kingdom, dogs always epitomize loyalty.
They are termed "man's best friend" displaying exemplary
gratitude to their master who gives him everything they
require. This same posuk is chosen to display our
loyalty to Hashem and a sense of gratitude for everything
that He provides us with. An amazing story appeared in a
weekly American paper entitled "Faithful Dog Leads Blind Man
70 Floors down WTC Just before Tower Collapses." This will
serve to illustrate the degree of loyalty that a dog displays
for his master:
Mr. R. was unfortunate enough to find himself on the 71st
floor of the World Trade center north tower when the hijacked
airplane struck the building 25 floors above him, on that
fateful 11th of September. Mr. R. was a blind computer
technician with his guide dog lying under his desk at the
time. "I stood up and could hear how pieces of glass were
falling. I could feel the smoke filling up my lungs and the
heat was just unbearable. Not having any sight, I knew I
wouldn't be able to run down the stairs and through all the
obstacles like other people could do. I was resigned to dying
and decided to free my guide dog and, at least, give him a
chance of escape.
"I unclipped his lead, ruffled his head and ordered him to
go. At that point the dog was swept away by the rush of
people fleeing down the stairs, and I found myself on my own
for several minutes.
"But then the unexpected occurred, in the form of a familiar,
fuzzy nudge to my knee. The guide dog returned to my side a
few minutes later and guided me down 70 flights out into the
street. It was really amazing. It took over one hour for us
to descend those stairs together. Not long after we had
reached the ground, the tower collapsed."
We enter shul in the morning and declare Va'ani
eshtachaveh ve'echro'oh, evrechoh lifnei Hashem Osi,
reiterating this faithful song sung by the kingdom of
dogs.
Whatever transpires to us during the day, we will remain
faithful to our Master. Only after confirming our allegiance
to Him, are we invited to enter His Palace, as His loyal
subject.
To be continued
