Rabbi Roodyn

Please daven for a Refua Sheleima for

Chana Bracha Bas Rus

Zev Yaakov Moshe Ben Chaya

(יא) הוֹרֵנִי ה’ דַּרְכֶּךָ וּנְחֵנִי בְּאֹרַח מִישׁוֹר לְמַעַן שׁוֹרְרָי:

Teach me your way Hashem, and lead me in path of integrity because of my watchful foes.

After having expressed his sense of total awareness of his reliance on Hashem, David then asks him to play an even more intimate role in his life. Until now he has been asking for salvation and protection from his enemies. Now he asks Hashem for guidance and direction in all areas of his life.

The Malbim explains that הוריני – teach me is a request that all that one needs in order to have an understanding and deep recognition of Hashem and His Truth should come easily and smoothly. He therefore asks that Hashem should instruct him on this great path (דרך הגדול).

However when it comes to his own person tafkid, mission in this world, even more guidance is needed. David therefore says that instruction is not enough, rather he asks Hashem to actually lead him on his own personal path.

The Nesivos Shalom explains in a number of places that our individual tafkid in life is not to fulfil Torah and Mitzvos (that which the Malbim has just referred to as the דרך הגדול). Torah study and mitzvah observance are a given, they are oxygen for the soul. Without them we are spiritually dead. However that is just the hard wiring and is not necessarily unique to each one of us as individuals.

Rather, each one of us was created to fulfil a crucial role in this world, we all have a unique part to play in bringing this world to perfection. That role is unique to us as individual and is a product of the Hashem’s hashgacha that determines our mazal, circumstances, resources and abilities.  No two of us have the same DNA and no two of us have the same role to play in bringing geulah to the world. The challenge lies in recognising these talents and finding  the best possible ways to express them. This requires major Divine assistance, hence we ask Hashem וּנְחֵנִי בְּאֹרַח מִישׁוֹר