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Re’ei: Belz: Focus on the Blessing



The 21st of Av is the Yahrtzeit of Rav Aharon Rokeach, fourth generation Belzer Rebbe  (1880-1957). He escaped the Nazis and made aliyah in 1944, establishing his court in Tel Aviv. The current Belzer Rebbe is his nephew.

 

“See, I present before you today a blessing and a curse (Deuteronomy 11:26).” Many of us are haunted by the Talmudic teaching that one who commits a single sin; woe to him for he has weighed the scales to the side of sin (Kiddushin 40a). This is why the verse stresses how Torah is a source of blessing: even when we find ourselves in a situation in which we have made a mistake, even a serious sin, we can turn it to the Torah and its mitzvot to reconnect through it to a life of blessing and merit. (Rav Aharon Rokeach)

SiddurI use this teaching as a Kavanah in the Blessings of the Torah of the morning, when we immediately follow the blessings by reciting the verse, “May God bless you and safeguard you (Numbers 6:25).” I use this verse to remind myself that I can take advantage of the blessing of Torah throughout the day, even when I have fallen.

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