According to the Baal Shem Tov, everyone has a psalm in the Book of Psalms—the one corresponding to his age. If a person is 80 years old, for example, he should say Psalm 81. Psalm 81 states: “I am G-d your L-rd Who lifted you out of Egypt. Widen your mouth and I will fill it.” Two questions present themselves here. First, how is one able to “widen” his mouth? The mouth has a certain size. How can one stretch it beyond its natural parameters? Secondly, why does it say, “I am G-d, Who lifted you from the land of Egypt?” In the book of Exodus it reads, “Hotzeisicha—I took you out,” not, as the psalm states, that “I liftedyou.” So, what is the connection between these two verses? Furthermore, what is the connection between an eighty-year-old person and Psalm 81? As discussed earlier, the word for Egypt, Mitzrayim, connotes restraints or borders, a narrow place. You must realize that every day of his life, G-d not only releases him from the shackles of Egypt (“takes him out”), but gives him the opportunity to break through an even higher and more subtle level of limitation (“lifts him”). G-d gives you the ability to go beyond his personal physical limits and even beyond nature. This is alluded to by the expression “widening our mouths,” as explained below. Recall that the letter beis, which begins the Torah, has three sides. Its missing fourth side signifies that the world is incomplete. They however, have the ability and responsibility to complete G-d’s creation, to go beyond what he believes possible and make the world whole. We accomplish this by widening our mouths. With the use of our mouths to praise G-d, learn Torah, pray, and communicate positive messages to others, we complete the world. In this way we fulfill our purpose in coming to this world, by transforming nature and making the world a better place in which to live. That mission is signified by the number 81. G-d tells us that He lifts us out of Egypt. But not only does He physically raise us from the narrow place, He spurs us to move from 80 to 81. Even though we are 80, the upper limit of our strength, G-d gives us the ability to break that barrier and move one level higher. One can therefore say that eighty also denotes strength in leadership and character. Ayin, as we said in the last chapter, stands for leadership. When you have been a leader for ten years, you have refined all aspects of your leadership skills and can now guide with authority and confidence. Everyone has the ability to communicate and inspire others. One should not shy away from that responsibility claiming, “I have an impediment.” Moses had an impediment, yet he revealed the ability to lead a nation of several million people for forty years. All of us have impediments in one area or another. Yet those external weaknesses should never incapacitate us or stymie our desire to bestow goodness and communicate words of inspiration to others. G-d told Moses, “Anochi eheyeh im picha10—I will be your mouthpiece.” The word anochi has the gematria of 81: alef=1, nun=50, kaf=20, yud=10. If a person is humble and relies upon G-d to be his mouthpiece, his power of speech will transcend its natural limits and be a source of strength for others. There is a famous teaching of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev which explains the meaning of the Passover holiday (Pesach). “Pesach” literally means peh-sach, “the mouth (peh) talks (sach).”On Pesach, the mouth talks about the wonders and miracles of G-d. Pesach represents the antithesis of Pharaoh, who, as the Megaleh Amukos explains, signifies peh-ra, a “bad mouth.” Pharaoh was someone who denied G-d’s providence in every act of nature. Our mouths were not given to us to slander or denigrate others, but to speak of G-d’s greatness and wonders.
Posted on: Mon, 24 Jun 2013 15:08:00 +0000