The Daily Strengthening from The Rav, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a — “Without the morning songs, Hashem does not accept the prayer at all”

“And it shall be, because you will listen…” (Devarim 7:12)

“Go around Zion and encircle it” (Tehillim 48:13)

“Everlasting joy upon their heads” (Yeshayahu 35:10)

“And David danced with all his might” (Shmuel II 6:14)

Monday, 24 Av 5785 — “The Chasam Sofer never, ever missed ‘Odeh LaKel.’”

These are his holy words:

Before the revelation of David, the Arizal said: Whoever laughs will not lose his year—because, “And David danced with all his might” (Shmuel II 6:14). The main thing is to dance with all one’s might. All his life, David did nothing but leap.

“Danced with all his might”—people don’t recognize this avodah. Rebbe Nachman came and renewed that there is an inyan to dance with all one’s might: to dance, to jump, to sing—without songs, the prayer does not rise. If a person does not sing before and after the prayer, it does not rise.

The Vilna Gaon says in Terumah that through the morning songs, the prayer rises. Without the morning songs, Hashem does not accept the prayer at all. A person needs to listen to the song of the birds: you get up in the morning and hear the birds singing—those are angels.

If a person does not sing the prayer—does not sing “Odeh LaKel”… the Chasam Sofer never, ever missed “Odeh LaKel.” The Chasam Sofer composed songs; there is a book of songs that the Chasam Sofer composed.

Rebbe Nachman says that everything is through the niggunim, and through lifting the legs—then parnassah is drawn down. Rebbe Nachman says that through dancing a person receives parnassah, healing… Parnassah is in the legs; a person needs to make his legs spring—“And it shall be, because you will listen…”

Rebbe Nachman says (Likutey Moharan 169) that when someone doesn’t dance, it’s because dinim are upon him. It’s not that he decides not to dance—rather, dinim are upon him. He thinks he’s smart: he doesn’t dance, he doesn’t sing; he sees everyone singing, and he’s “smarter” than everyone—severe dinim are upon you.

Suddenly the child is sick; suddenly the wife is sick. He doesn’t understand why—because when troubles come, it becomes impossible to dance. The reason you don’t dance is because dinim are upon you; the reason you don’t sing is because dinim are upon you. And then the agents of din come—the runners.

Motzaei Simchas Torah is the time of the runners. From Hoshana Rabbah—in Hebrew we say “pitka tava,” in Yiddish we say “a gut kvittel”—because on Hoshana Rabbah they seal, and they hand over the sealed judgment to the runners. Therefore the Arizal instituted dancing until morning. The Arizal instituted that as long as we are dancing, we can still tear up the notes—even if they have already been written.

Through dancing, all decrees are nullified—that the child will not be sick, that the wife will not be sick. It’s all decrees. It’s not that they “caught a chill.” Tomorrow they’re saying there will be snow on the Hermon.

Because at the time of birth, the dinim leave the woman. When a woman needs to give birth, she is under extremely harsh dinim, and then the legs become cold. And how do you remove the dinim from the legs? Through dancing!

A person doesn’t dance because din is upon him; therefore the Arizal instituted the Second Hakafos. Today this has already been accepted throughout the land—everywhere they do Second Hakafos, in all the cities.

We went with Sifrei Torah during the Second Hakafos—we walked through all of Haifa with Sifrei Torah. Everyone wanted to kiss the Sifrei Torah. Even the most heretical people who were there ran after the Sifrei Torah to give another kiss: “Bring the Sefer Torah, bring it, bring it—come close to me—bring it, let me kiss it, just a little…” We would run with the Sefer Torah through the streets of Haifa— all of Haifa, from HeChalutz Street, from Herzl Street for those who know, Herzliya Street, HaNevi’im Street—we would go around with the Sifrei Torah through all of that.

When we were children, until age fourteen and a half, we walked with red flags. After that, we already walked at the head of the demonstrations with Sifrei Torah. We walked four kilometers from Sderot Rothschild Street—those who know Haifa today, that’s the central bus station—we walked all of Sderot Rothschild until HaGefen Street, where the recruitment office is. After that from HaGefen Street we went to Herzliya Street, after that HaNevi’im Street, after that Herzl Street, until my house—with Sifrei Torah we walked.

On Motzaei Simchas Torah, the Arizal instituted that we go with Sifrei Torah and circle the entire city: “Go around Zion and encircle it” (Tehillim 48:13). It is written that one must go with Sifrei Torah and encircle the city. Last year we walked through the entire city in Jerusalem—we went as far as Agrippas Street. There we turned around and entered Jaffa Road, and from there to Sarhei Yisrael Street.

This is one teaching about dancing, where Rebbe Nachman says that it is impossible to do vidui except through dancing—“And it shall be, because…”—to make the heels spring. It’s not enough that a person dances; he needs to make the heels bounce, to detach them from the ground. Because when they are attached to the ground, it brings all the dinim.

After that, in Teaching 178, Rebbe Nachman says that a person must pass through the full “level” of joy. It’s not enough to only dance; you also need it with the heart, with the mind—“Everlasting joy upon their heads” (Yeshayahu 35:10).

Rebbe Nachman brings that the avodah is to do all the dances—to dance everything.