THE ONE REQUEST THAT CONTAINS EVERYTHING
Eikev
As kids, we used to say that if we found a genie and were granted a wish, we would wish for a million more wishes. Imagine having one request that would fulfil everything else we could ever want?
This Shabbos we bentch the new month of Elul. Starting from Rosh Chodesh Elul we will begin saying the Tehillim לדוד ה‘ אורי וישעי twice each day.
In this Tehillah, Dovid Hamelech asks Hashemאחת שאלתי מאת ה‘. “One thing I ask from Hashem, this I request. Let me dwell in the house of Hashem, to gaze at the pleasantness of Hashem and to visit His sanctuary”.
There is a very enigmatic Midrash on this posuk.
Hashem asks Dovid “What’s going on? You said that you are asking only one thing and yet you proceed with a string of requests?”
Dovid responds “I learned this from You!” He bases his claim on a Posuk from Parshas Eikev;ועתה ישראל מה ה‘ אלקיך שואל מעמך. Moshe says to Bnei Yisroel that Hashem asks one things of them “now Yisroel, what does Hashem your G-d ask from you? Only that you fear Hashem your G-d.”
Dovid challenges, “But You too did not stop with that one request but rather continued “to go in His ways, and to love Him and to serve Hashem with all of your heart and all of your soul, to guard the Mitzvos of Hashem”.
Dovid doesn’t seem to take responsibility for his manner of request. Rather, like a child, he deflects the accusation by responding “but you did it too!”. There must be something deeper in Dovid’s comparison of his request to Hashem’s.
The Maggid of Mezritch explains that Dovid was in fact truly asking only one thing from Hashem. But this one thing was so deep and so powerful that this one request contained them all.
What was this magical request which was the key to everything?
Achas Shaalti can be understood as “I have asked for Achas”. The Tzemach Tzedek explains that Dovid’s request was a request to sense and achieve Achas, oneness with Hashem.
This oneness exists within each one of us, at the very core of our Neshomo, the Yechida. The Yechida, as its name suggests, is the part of us that, no matter what, remains one with Hashem. It represents the state of absolute surrender (Bittul) and devotion to Hashem, where connection to Hashem is all we desire.
We cannot reveal this state of oneness on our own. Dovid Hamelech was asking for Hashem to grant him the ability to tap into it and actualise it.
But once we have this Achas in a revealed way, all of our other requests flow automatically.
In his response, Dovid explains that he learned the power of this one, all-encompassing request of oneness from Hashem’s one request from us. ועתה ישראל מה ה‘ אלקיך שואל מעמך. Hashem’s request can be read as מה (is what) Hashem asks of you.
In Chassidic thought מה, meaning “what is it”, is an expression of humility and surrender - Bittul. It represents the Yechida, the dimension of our soul which is completely Battel to and one with Hashem.
Chaza”l teach that a fool (Shoteh) is defined as one who loses that which is given to him - מה שנותנים לו. The greatest fool is the one who loses the מה which they have been given. One cannot actually lose their Yechida, it is after all the core of their being. But it can become hidden so that we are not always cognisant of our deep and constant bond with Hashem.
Hashem is asking for our מה, for us to crave for and live with a state of oneness with Him. To do this, we need אחת שאלתי, to ask Hashem to help us achieve it.
This is all He asks us for. But once the Yechida, מה, is actualised and revealed, we will automatically “go in His ways, and to love Him and to serve Hashem with all of your heart and all of your soul, to guard the Mitzvos of Hashem”.
The Yomim Noraim is a time where we daven for a lot of things. As we enter the month of Elul and read these words of Dovid Hamelech, let’s try and limit our requests to one. Not one request, but the request for one; the one request that contains them all.
This Shabbos we bentch the new month of Elul. Starting from Rosh Chodesh Elul we will begin saying the Tehillim לדוד ה‘ אורי וישעי twice each day.
In this Tehillah, Dovid Hamelech asks Hashemאחת שאלתי מאת ה‘. “One thing I ask from Hashem, this I request. Let me dwell in the house of Hashem, to gaze at the pleasantness of Hashem and to visit His sanctuary”.
There is a very enigmatic Midrash on this posuk.
Hashem asks Dovid “What’s going on? You said that you are asking only one thing and yet you proceed with a string of requests?”
Dovid responds “I learned this from You!” He bases his claim on a Posuk from Parshas Eikev;ועתה ישראל מה ה‘ אלקיך שואל מעמך. Moshe says to Bnei Yisroel that Hashem asks one things of them “now Yisroel, what does Hashem your G-d ask from you? Only that you fear Hashem your G-d.”
Dovid challenges, “But You too did not stop with that one request but rather continued “to go in His ways, and to love Him and to serve Hashem with all of your heart and all of your soul, to guard the Mitzvos of Hashem”.
Dovid doesn’t seem to take responsibility for his manner of request. Rather, like a child, he deflects the accusation by responding “but you did it too!”. There must be something deeper in Dovid’s comparison of his request to Hashem’s.
The Maggid of Mezritch explains that Dovid was in fact truly asking only one thing from Hashem. But this one thing was so deep and so powerful that this one request contained them all.
What was this magical request which was the key to everything?
Achas Shaalti can be understood as “I have asked for Achas”. The Tzemach Tzedek explains that Dovid’s request was a request to sense and achieve Achas, oneness with Hashem.
This oneness exists within each one of us, at the very core of our Neshomo, the Yechida. The Yechida, as its name suggests, is the part of us that, no matter what, remains one with Hashem. It represents the state of absolute surrender (Bittul) and devotion to Hashem, where connection to Hashem is all we desire.
We cannot reveal this state of oneness on our own. Dovid Hamelech was asking for Hashem to grant him the ability to tap into it and actualise it.
But once we have this Achas in a revealed way, all of our other requests flow automatically.
In his response, Dovid explains that he learned the power of this one, all-encompassing request of oneness from Hashem’s one request from us. ועתה ישראל מה ה‘ אלקיך שואל מעמך. Hashem’s request can be read as מה (is what) Hashem asks of you.
In Chassidic thought מה, meaning “what is it”, is an expression of humility and surrender - Bittul. It represents the Yechida, the dimension of our soul which is completely Battel to and one with Hashem.
Chaza”l teach that a fool (Shoteh) is defined as one who loses that which is given to him - מה שנותנים לו. The greatest fool is the one who loses the מה which they have been given. One cannot actually lose their Yechida, it is after all the core of their being. But it can become hidden so that we are not always cognisant of our deep and constant bond with Hashem.
Hashem is asking for our מה, for us to crave for and live with a state of oneness with Him. To do this, we need אחת שאלתי, to ask Hashem to help us achieve it.
This is all He asks us for. But once the Yechida, מה, is actualised and revealed, we will automatically “go in His ways, and to love Him and to serve Hashem with all of your heart and all of your soul, to guard the Mitzvos of Hashem”.
The Yomim Noraim is a time where we daven for a lot of things. As we enter the month of Elul and read these words of Dovid Hamelech, let’s try and limit our requests to one. Not one request, but the request for one; the one request that contains them all.