Illustration Credit: Rivka Tsinman
Prayer in the Parashah תְּפִלָּה
The instructions for bringing a שְׁלָמִים (shelamim) sacrifice include these words: יָדָיו תְּבִיאֶינָה (yadav tevi’enah, their hands will bring it) (Vayikra 7:30).
The Kli Yakar explains that, because the shelamim is a gift to God, you really shouldn’t give it through a messenger. Yadav tevi’enah teaches us that you have to bring a shelamim in your own hands to make it a sincere gift.
We see that it isn’t always a good idea to use a messenger for a mitzvah. This idea comes up in tefillah, too! Read about it here, in a 700-year-old siddur:
וּכְשֶׁיַּגִּיעַ שְׁלִיחַ צִבּוּר לְמוֹדִים וְכוֹרֵעַ, כָּל הָעָם שׁוֹחִין וְאוֹמְרִין הוֹדָאָה קְטַנָּה הַמַּתְחֶלֶת כְּמוֹ כֵן בְּמוֹדִים. שֶׁאֵין דֶּרֶךְ הָעֶבֶד לְהוֹדוֹת לְרַבּוֹ וְלוֹמַר לוֹ אֲדוֹנִי אַתָּה עַל יְדֵי שָׁלִיחַ.
When the prayer leader gets to Modim (the thanksgiving prayer) and bows down, everyone there bends and says a small thanksgiving prayer that also starts with the word Modim. This is because, when a servant acknowledges and says, “you are my master,” it’s not appropriate to do that through a messenger.
Next time you’re in shul for the repetition of the Amidah, when the prayer leader is saying Modim, you’ll know why everyone says their own small Modim to themselves at that time. It’s called מוֹדִים דְּרַבָּנָן (Modim Derabbanan, Modim of the Rabbis).
- Why is it better to express thanks yourself, instead of having someone else do the thanking for you?
- Is there anything that’s hard about thanking someone directly? Can that challenge be for a good reason?
- How do we learn and grow when we express thanks to other people and to God?
- Why is saying thank you to God similar to a servant acknowledging their master?
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