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Pesukei D’Zimrah: Ashrei: Ateret Yehoshua



The 11th of Tevet is the Yahrtzeit of Rav Yehoshua Horowitz of Dzikov, author of Ateres Yehoshua. (1912) “”The will of those who fear Him He will do; and their cry He will hear, and He will save them.” (Psalms 145:19) Rava pointed out a contradiction; first it is written, “The desire of his heart You have granted him,” (Psalms 21:3) which implies that a person’s desires are fulfilled while they are still in his heart, even before he expressly requests them. But then it is written, “And the utterance of his lips You have not withheld, ever,” which implies that he must first vocalize his requests.

Rava resolves the contradiction: In the case of one who is fortunate, “the desire of his heart You have granted him,” without him even having to request it. In the case of one who is not fortunate, “and the utterance of his lips You have not withheld, ever,” but first he must make the request and he will have to endure until it is granted. (Eruvin 54a)

There are times a person needs a hundred pieces of gold, but is too ashamed to ask a friend for such a large loan, so he only requests half. The friend only knows what he hears and can respond to the request for fifty. The Holy One, Blessed is He, sees into our hearts and knows all our needs.

If the person is fortunate, God will give him all he needs, the full hundred, despite the fact that he only articulated a need for fifty. One who is less fortunate will only be granted what he articulates.

“The will of those who fear Him,” means their will, what is in their hearts, without their having to articulate their full need. He will hear their cries for only half, but will save them completely according to their need, not their request.

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