Recap
We will continue where we left off in the issues before Yom Tov, going through the specific inner intention of each bracha in Birchas Hashachar.
Roka Ha’aretz Al Hamayim
Blessed are You, Hashem, our G-d, King of the universe, Who spreads the earth over the waters. We thank Hashem for giving us one of our most basic needs: solid ground to stand and walk on. Hashem did ‘His part’ by setting the stage for us to operate in.
Inner Intention
Thank You, Hashem, for giving me a world in which I can live and serve You.
Hameichin Mitzadei Gaver
Blessed are You, Hashem, our G-d, King of the universe, Who prepares the steps of man. We thank Hashem for giving us feet that can walk and move around. Without the ability to move from place to place, there would be very little we could accomplish. This represents Hashem giving us the ability to do ‘our part’ by using the talents and strengths He gave us to serve Him.
Inner Intention
Thank You, Hashem, for giving me the ability to walk and move around. Please help me use my feet and all my abilities to go to the right places and accomplish good things today.
Deeper Dive
The Arizal teaches that these two brachos correspond to middas hachesed, which represents Hashem’s hashpa’ah (giving) to the world. These brachos focus on the most basic things Hashem provides us with, beginning with the very ground beneath our feet and our ability to walk on it. Together, they remind us that even the most basic things we need to function are gifts from Hashem that we should never take for granted.
The next two brachos, She’asah Li Kol Tzorki and Ozer Yisroel Bigevurah, correspond to middas hagevurah. While Hashem’s middah of chesed is how He gives us shefa, gevurah represents our ability to create boundaries and channel that shefa so that we can put it to use.
She’asah Li Kol Tzarchi
Blessed are You, Hashem, our God, King of the universe, Who has provided me with all my needs. On the simple level, we thank Hashem for giving us shoes, which protect our feet from the ground and allow us to walk around without getting hurt. On a deeper level, shoes represent the separation between us and the klippos of the physical world. We are heiligeh Yidden, we have a romemus (loftiness) that lifts us off the ground! Just as shoes separate our feet from the ground, we need to maintain a certain distance from the gashmiyus of olam hazeh, so that we can live in this world without becoming overly attached to it.
Inner Intention
Thank You, Hashem, for creating me as a heiligeh Yid who is elevated above the physical world. Please help me remain spiritually elevated and use the physical world to serve You without becoming too attached to it.
Next week, we will take a deeper look at the spiritual separation represented by our shoes, and how it allows us to live in the physical world without becoming absorbed in it.
This article was found in Nekuda Tova Issue 104.