WHAT IS A PRAYER DOING IN THE MIDDLE OF A LEGAL CODE?

According to Jewish law, when must one pray? It is when one feels that he is lacking one of his needs (see Hilchos T’filla of the Rambam). When one feels so strongly about Moshiach that upon hearing it mentioned he feels the need to pray for Moshiach, then we know that he is truly anticipating Moshiach’s arrival.

Dear Reader sh’yichyeh,

In the fifth chapter of Pirkei Avos, the chapter that we are learning this week, the Mishna tells us, “Yehudah the son of Teima would say: Be bold as a leopard, light as an eagle, swift as a deer, and mighty as a lion to do the will of your Father in Heaven. He would also say: The brazen—to purgatory; the bashful—to paradise. May it be Your will, L-rd our G-d and G-d of our fathers, that the Holy Temple be rebuilt speedily in our days; and grant us our portion in Your Torah.”

There is an obvious question on this Mishna: What is the prayer “May it be Your will, L-rd our G-d and G-d of our fathers, that the Holy Temple be rebuilt speedily in our days; and grant us our portion in Your Torah” doing in middle of Pirkei Avos?

There is actually a similar question asked on the Rambam. 

Regarding the Para Aduma (Red Heifer), the Rambam writes (Hilchos Para Aduma, end of Ch. 3): “Moshe Rabbeinu was commanded to sacrifice the Para Aduma. During the course of history, the Jewish people sacrificed nine Paros Adumos. The tenth will be sacrificed by King Moshiach, may he be speedily revealed, Amen!”

This statement raises two obvious questions:

1) What is a prayer doing in the middle of a book of laws?

2) If, for whatever reason, the Rambam wished to pray for Moshiach, would it not be more fitting to place the prayer in the section where the Rambam explains the laws pertaining to the times of Moshiach, in the last two chapters of Hilchos Melachim?

The answer is as follows:

The Rambam, a codifier of Jewish law, is actually teaching us a law! The law is that when a Jew hears about Moshiach – even when merely mentioned tangentially – it must evoke within him a deep yearning and desire to pray for Moshiach.

According to Jewish law, when must one pray? It is when one feels that he is lacking one of his needs (see Hilchos T’filla of the Rambam). When one feels so strongly about Moshiach that upon hearing it mentioned he feels the need to pray for Moshiach, then we know that he is truly anticipating Moshiach’s arrival.

One need not be troubled by the fact that the Rambam does not write a prayer for Moshiach every time he mentions it in his books. The reason for that is simple: Rambam is a codifier of Jewish law, so he teaches the law once and expects you to pray for Moshiach all the other times!

In the same spirit, we can now explain why this special prayer for the Beis HaMikdash appears in middle of Pirkei Avos:

Rabbi Yehuda started off the Mishna by saying “Be bold as a leopard, light as an eagle, swift as a deer, and mighty as a lion to do the will of your Father in Heaven.” We know that one of Hashem’s deepest desires is the building of the Beis HaMikdash with the coming of Moshiach. Hashem says (Parshas Truma), “Make Me a Sanctuary and I will live in them.” The Midrash Tanchuma tells us: “G-d wanted to have a dwelling place in a lowly realm (Nisaveh HaKadosh Baruch Hu Lihiyos Lo Dira Ba’tachtonim).”

Since this is the will of Hashem and we want to do Hashem’s will in a very strong way, we stop and pray: “May it be Your will, L-rd our G-d and G-d of our fathers, that the Holy Temple be rebuilt speedily in our days; and grant us our portion in Your Torah!”

Rabbi Avtzon is the Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivas Lubavitch Cincinnati and a well sought after speaker and lecturer. Recordings of his in-depth shiurim on Inyanei Geula u’Moshiach can be accessed at http://www.ylcrecording.com.