Aggadot from Hamivtar

by
Rabbi Yitzchak Blau

Ashrei, Thanking God for Nature and The Compassion of Justice

R. Elazar said in the name of Ravina: “Anyone who recites Tehilla l’Dovid (Psalm 145/Ashrei) three times each day can trust that he is worthy of the world to come.” What is the reason? If you say because that psalm follows the order of the aleph bet, then we should recite Ashrei Temime Derekh (Psalm 119) which has eight verses for each letter of the aleph bet. Rather because that Psalm (145) contains the verse: “You open up Your hand and satisfy the desire of very living thing.” If so, we should recite Hallel haGadol (Psalm 136) which includes the verse: “He gives bread to all living creatures.” Rather, the Psalm (145) is special because it has both features. (Berakhot 4b)

According to this gemara, two factors make the prayer we call Ashrei special: the fact that it contains an alphabetic acrostic and the fact that it incorporates the theme of God sustaining all creatures. One might understand that these reflect two separate points in its favor. However, two commentaries insist on seeing a link between the two. The combination of these two factors in order to emphasize a single idea makes Ashrei unique.

R. Meir Simha haKohen from Dvinsk (in the first Meshekh Hokhmah on Behukotai) contrasts Hallel with Pesukei d’Zimra. The first, recited only on the holidays, thanks God for His infrequent but momentous suspensions of the laws of nature on behalf of the Jewish people. He splits the sea and takes us out of Egypt. The latter, said daily, thanks God for the natural order which sustains humanity. One gemara (Shabbat 118b) sharply criticizes those who recite Hallel daily because such an approach reveals a rejection of the natural order. The desire to always focus on the miraculous communicates that one is ungrateful for the regular functioning of the world God created. Pesukei d’Zimra, on the other hand, clearly should be said every day as it expresses thanks for the regular and the normal. Ashrei stands as the centerpiece of Pesukei d’Zimra and therefore, must refer to the regular rhythms of nature. R. Meir Simha argues that the careful pattern of beginning each verse with the subsequent letter of the alphabet conveys the theme of nature’s regularity. Miracles do not happen in the way of a slowly and deliberately worked out pattern. If so, the form and content of Psalm 145 unite to convey our praise for the wonders of the natural order.

R. Yitzhak Hutner (Pahad Yitzhak, Pesah 55) finds a different theme in the combination of these two factors. He cites a medrash that sees Hallel haGadol as reflective of the twenty-six generations before the giving of the Torah when the world was sustained with compassion. R. Hutner contends that after the giving of the Torah, God did not stop to run the world with compassion but rather the nature of that compassion changed. The earlier form of the compassion was “hessed-vittur,” a compassion that just gives the recipient without the giver making any demands of the recipient. When there was no Torah, this was how God ran the world. After mattan Torah, there was a shift to “hessed-mishpat.” In this model, Hashem continues to show compassion but His giving includes demands made of the recipients and a just proportional relationship between the actions of the receivers and the largesse of the giver. By analogy, rather than just giving a handout, Hashem finds us a paying job. According to Rav Hutner, Ashrei reflects this second and higher form of functioning. The carefully structured pattern symbolizes the workings of justice which are steadier than the workings of compassion totally divorced from justice. The two factors combine to utter praise for God running the world through a compassion merged. with justice.