OU TORAH ONE+ONE Shimon Rabbi Jack Abramowitz

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. שִׁיתוּ לִבְּכֶם לְחֵילָה פַּסְּגוּ אַרְמְנוֹתֶיהָ לְמַעַן תְּסַפְּרוּ לְדוֹר אַחֲרוֹן Direct your hearts to her ramparts, traverse her palaces, so that you may tell it to the next generation. – Psalms 48:14 The Midrash notes that the word for “hearts” typically has two of the letter veis (e.g., “l’vavcha” in Deuteronomy 6:5), because people have two inclinations, good and evil. When speaking of angels, however, there is only one veis, since angels only perform G-d’s will (for example, “libchem” in Genesis 18:5). Why then does our verse, which speaks of man, spell “hearts” with only one veis? Because this verse speaks of the messianic era when we will have no more evil inclination and, like angels, we will only perform G-d’s will.