"...v'yitnehu el bais ha'sohar..."
"...and they lowered him into the dungeon..." (39:20)
Did you ever wonder about that prayer we say on the New Moon and on festival week days, Ya'leh v'Yavo? We ask HaShem to listen and attend and respond to our remembrance and the remembrance of our forefathers. It is an assertive beseeching prayer where we almost demand that HaShem turn to us with mercy and restore our sacred places and return us to better times.
A beautiful prayer, without a doubt. Still, have you ever noticed the titular phrase, Ya'leh v'Yavo and pondered the meaning of those two words? They translate into "May our remembrance ascend (go up) and come and reach..." This seems like an unusual twist of a phrase. Where does it come from? Why was it chosen? What does it mean?
Rabbeinu Bachya illuminates the matter. The first exiled Jew was Yosef. He descended into captivity, carried down to Egypt. He began to improve his lot and status, only to be set up and persecuted, lowered into a dungeon where he stayed for a long while, until he was suddenly raised from that prison (41:14).
That early exile was a blueprint for the centuries of oppression which marked our nation's destiny. Captivity, diatribes, oppression, libel, plots, banishment...
the Jewish experience in exile across continents and oceans. Yosef was lowered into the pit. His ultimate triumph was when he was, finally, raised from that place and began his ascendancy.
Following that theme of exile symbolized as being lowered into a dungeon, and ascent as a metaphor for liberation from exile, our sages authored the Ya'leh v'Yavo prayer for HaShem to put an end to our exile, and they used Yosef's paradigmatic tale as a model. To be in exile is, spiritually, being lowered into a deep pit. Exile is dark. It is forbidding. It is uncomfortable. We are at our lowest when we are isolated far away from home. To get out of exile is to arise from the nadir of suffering and to reach the zenith of existence, which is to return to the Holy Land and restore our sacred service, living a sanctified life. This is why we utilize the image of going up and rising in yearning to get out of exile. Ya'leh v'Yavo means to arise and ascend.
With the onset of Chanukah, Shabbos and the fast approaching New Moon, may we and our prayers begin that ascent. May we rise on those occasions. Wishing you a good Shabbos. D Fox
"...and they lowered him into the dungeon..." (39:20)
Did you ever wonder about that prayer we say on the New Moon and on festival week days, Ya'leh v'Yavo? We ask HaShem to listen and attend and respond to our remembrance and the remembrance of our forefathers. It is an assertive beseeching prayer where we almost demand that HaShem turn to us with mercy and restore our sacred places and return us to better times.
A beautiful prayer, without a doubt. Still, have you ever noticed the titular phrase, Ya'leh v'Yavo and pondered the meaning of those two words? They translate into "May our remembrance ascend (go up) and come and reach..." This seems like an unusual twist of a phrase. Where does it come from? Why was it chosen? What does it mean?
Rabbeinu Bachya illuminates the matter. The first exiled Jew was Yosef. He descended into captivity, carried down to Egypt. He began to improve his lot and status, only to be set up and persecuted, lowered into a dungeon where he stayed for a long while, until he was suddenly raised from that prison (41:14).
That early exile was a blueprint for the centuries of oppression which marked our nation's destiny. Captivity, diatribes, oppression, libel, plots, banishment...
the Jewish experience in exile across continents and oceans. Yosef was lowered into the pit. His ultimate triumph was when he was, finally, raised from that place and began his ascendancy.
Following that theme of exile symbolized as being lowered into a dungeon, and ascent as a metaphor for liberation from exile, our sages authored the Ya'leh v'Yavo prayer for HaShem to put an end to our exile, and they used Yosef's paradigmatic tale as a model. To be in exile is, spiritually, being lowered into a deep pit. Exile is dark. It is forbidding. It is uncomfortable. We are at our lowest when we are isolated far away from home. To get out of exile is to arise from the nadir of suffering and to reach the zenith of existence, which is to return to the Holy Land and restore our sacred service, living a sanctified life. This is why we utilize the image of going up and rising in yearning to get out of exile. Ya'leh v'Yavo means to arise and ascend.
With the onset of Chanukah, Shabbos and the fast approaching New Moon, may we and our prayers begin that ascent. May we rise on those occasions. Wishing you a good Shabbos. D Fox
posted by Rabbi Dr. Fox at 10:01 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home