Illustration credit: Rivka Tsinman
Prayer in the Parashah תְּפִלָּה
וְתֶחֱזֶינָה עֵינֵינוּ בְּשׁוּבְךָ לְצִיּוֹן בְּרַחֲמִים..
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יהוה, הַמַּחֲזִיר שְׁכִינָתוֹ לְצִיּוֹן.
May our eyes see You bring back the shekhinah (God’s presence) to Tzion with mercy.
Blessed are you, God, Who will bring back the shekhinah to Tzion.
This prayer is part of our Amidah. Some people believe it was originally said by angels!
כְּשֶׁעָשׂוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל הַמִּשְׁכָּן וְיָרְדָה שְׁכִינָה וְשָׁכַן בּוֹ בֵּין שְׁנֵי הַכְּרוּבִים מִיָּד פָּתְחוּ מַלְאֲכֵי הַשָּׁרֵת וְאָמְרוּ בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה’ הַמַּחֲזִיר בְּרַחֲמָיו מְהֵרָה שְׁכִינָתוֹ לְצִיּוֹן.
When Israel made the mishkan and God’s shekhinah came down and dwelled in it between the two keruvim (angelic figures on top of the aron), the angels immediately opened their mouths and said, “Blessed are You, God, Who will quickly bring back–with mercy–the shekhinah to Tzion.
- Tzion is another name for the Temple Mount, where the Beit Ha-Mikdash was built in Yerushalayim. But that happened hundreds of years after הֲקָמַת הַמִּשְׁכָּן (hakamat ha-mishkan, setting up the mishkan). Why would the angels already pray for Tzion, long before it existed?
- Do you notice the focus on רַחֲמִים (rahamim, mercy) in these tefillot? What is the connection between prayer, God’s presence, and rahamim? Was it rahamim when God’s presence filled the mishkan? How so?
- Try it out! Next time you say this part of the Amidah, think of Benei Yisrael at hakamat ha-mishkan, and imagine you are one of the angels saying this tefillah for the first time. How does that feel?
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