OU TORAH ONE+ONE By Moshe Rabbi Jack Abramowitz

PLEASE LEARN THIS FOR GILAD MICHEL BEN OFIR YAAKOV NAFTALI BEN AVRAHAM AND AYEL BEN ORIEL on their yortzeit Many have the practice to recite, in the prayer following Shemoneh Esrei, a verse that starts and ends with the same letter as their name, or that contains their name, or both. This is considered a source of merit. In this series, we will briefly analyze these verses. מַחֲשָׁבוֹת בְּעֵצָה תִכּוֹן וּבְתַחְבֻּלוֹת עֲשֵׂה מִלְחָמָה Plans made with counsel will be established; make war following strategies.– Proverbs 20:18 This is the verse for the name Moshe. The Talmud in Succah (52a) tells us that the yetzer hara (evil inclination) has seven names. Shlomo (King Solomon, the author of Proverbs) called it “the enemy.” Accordingly, when he speaks of waging war, he means against the yetzer hara. Rashi on this verse tells us that when we go to wage war against our baser instincts, the strategies to employ are repentance, prayer and fasting