Pesukei D’Zimrah: Hodu: Steps Up The Ladder

“To you I shall give the Land of Canaan, the lot of your heritage.” (Chronicles I 16:18) The Vilna Gaon (Avnei Eliyahu) wonders why the first part of the verse is written in the singular, “Lecha,” but the end of the verse in in the plural; “Nachalatichem.”

He explains that Israel was given to Abraham as his. However, our “Heritage” meaning Jerusalem, the Temple Mount and the Temple were given as Jerusalem to Abraham, the Temple Mount to Isaac, and the Temple to Jacob. (See Yalkut Shimoni, Tehillim #814)

Each patriarch guided us one step closer to God. They built on each other’s accomplishments. We must take the same approach in order to merit the rebuilding of the Temple: We must honor and identify the accomplishments of those before us and determine to build on what they have done.

This begins by first appreciating our own accomplishments and building on what we have done.

Prayer works the same way: each section of the prayer service builds on the levels achieved in the previous sections. We are climbing up Jacob’s ladder each time we pray. We must  pray each section with greater intensity than the preceding.