Igor, a Russian man, made aliyah to Israel and moved to a religious kibbutz. He loved it there, and communal life was good. He only had one shortcoming. About every five minutes he would tap a fellow kibbutznik’s shoulder and loudly ask, “Vat time is it?” After the humor of this incessant habit wore off, the council called an emergency meeting. They resolved that at the upcoming annual harvest dinner, they would award Igor with a special wristwatch, and finally put an end to this irritation.

At the dinner, the master of ceremonies called Igor up for a special award and presented him with the watch. Honored but reluctant, he turned to wave down the applause, and exclaimed, “Vat do I need a vatch for, really?” Everyone shouted together, “To know vat time it is!” He countered, “Nyet! I have all of you!”

Then one smart kibbutznik stood up and reasoned, “That’s true, you have us. But vat happens when you vake up in the middle of the night and you vant to know vat time it is? Vat vill you do then?” “Ah. For that,” said Igor, “I have my shofar.” “A shofar?” several people asked, “vat good vill that do?” “It’s very simple,” said Igor, “in the middle of the night, I open up my window, and I blow the shofar very loud. And the next-door neighbor screams, ‘Meshugenah! It’s three-o’clock in the morning!’”

* * *

Eikev: One Hundred Blessings

ONE HUNDRED BLESSINGS
The Talmud says [1] that in the time of King David there was a plague that broke out, and one hundred of his soldiers were dying each day. David pleaded with Al-mighty G-d, “What can be done to save them?” G-d answered him, “If the Jews recite one hundred blessings daily, the plague will end.”

A verse in this parsha hints to these one hundred blessings: “What does G-d ask of you? Only to fear G-d your Lord…and to love Him.”[2] The Talmud says,[3] “Do not read ‘What’, Mah (), rather insert an Alef (), and read Me’ah, ‘one hundred’: ‘One hundred does G-d ask of you-this will lead you to fear G-d…and to love Him.’ Thus Jewish tradition encourages each person to recite one hundred blessings a day,[4] distributed throughout various daily mitzvos and prayers.

THE MISSING ALEF
The textual ecology of the Torah is perfectly balanced. If we insert an extra Alef into the word mah here, there must be a missing Alef in another word somewhere else in the text. Where can we borrow this extra Alef?

An Alef appears to be missing in another verse in this very Torah portion: “The eyes of G-d are upon the Land (of Israel) from the beginning of the year until the end.”[5] The Alef is missing in the phrase mei-reishis hashanahh, meaning, ‘from the beginning of the year’.

Why is this Alef missing? In his mystical treatise, the Tanya, the Alter Rebbe explains: The letter Alef represents G-d, who is the Alufei shel Olam-the ‘Master of the world’. The missing Alef in mei-reishis hashanahhh hints that at the beginning of the year, on the Eve of Rosh Hashanah, G-d appears to be ‘missing’. His light, the life-force of the entire universe, is concealed. In other words, G-d’s presence ascends from the world at this time each year. However, after the blowing of the shofar during the Rosh Hashanah morning service, G-d returns to the world and infuses the world with a new light, which is more pristine and radiant than ever before.

ONE HUNDRED BLASTS OF LIGHT
In the Rosh Hashanah morning service, there are a total of one hundred shofar blasts. G-d’s light returns to the world through these one hundred channels. The return of this light is a great rebirth for the world. This is one reason Rosh Hashanah is called the “Birthday of the World”.

Rosh Hashanah is also called “the Day of Judgment”. The Talmud however states: “G-d judges the world every day.” Each day is therefore a miniature Rosh Hashanah. How then might we bring Divine light down into the world on a daily basis? The word b’rachah, ‘blessing’, literally means ‘to draw down’. By reciting the one hundred blessings every day, we draw down G-dly light into our lives, leading us to greater fear and love of G-d. When G-d sees that the Jewish People fear and love Him, G-d desires all the more to shower us with even greater blessings, and to dwell among us.

Thus mei-reishis hashanah, ‘from the beginning of the year’ and me’ah, ‘one hundred’, are a single concept: to bring Divine vitality and light into the world.

BITUL, SELF-NULLIFICATION
Regarding the above verse, “What does G-d ask of you?” the third Lubavitcher Rebbe, the Tzemach Tzedek, asks: Why does the Torah say mah, ‘what’, if the message is really me’ah? If G-d wanted, the Torah could have simplified things and been more explicit. There must be deeper significance in the word G-d chose.

The Tzemach Tzedek explains that the word mah alludes to bitul, self-nullification.[6] Therefore the Torah only writes the word mah to teach us that the objective of reciting one hundred blessings daily is to bring a Jew to the level of self-nullification.[7] This is the highest level one can attain-oneness with G-d.[8]

A GOOD YEAR
It seems strange that in Parshas Eikev-when it’s still very much summertime-the Torah hints to Rosh Hashanah and shofar blowing. However, Eikev is always read around the time of the Fifteenth of the month of Av. Traditionally at this time of year, we begin wishing one another a happy New Year. Actually, the words Chamisha Asar b’Av, ‘Fifteenth of Av’ have a numerical value of 928, the same value as the traditional New Year wish: K’siva v’chasima tova-’May you be written and inscribed for a good year.’

It is my fervent wish that G-d bless you with a happy, healthy, prosperous and sweet New Year. Even before Rosh Hashanah, may we see Mashiach sound the shofar of the Ultimate Redemption.

A STORY [9]
The Baal Shem Tov once instructed his disciple Reb Wolff Kitzis to learn the Kabbalistic intentions for blowing the shofar, in preparation for the prayers of Rosh Hashanah. Reb Wolff eagerly studied the secret Divine Names and complex meditations associated with this mitzvah, and made notes on a piece of paper, which he put in his pocket so that he could remind himself what to concentrate on while blowing the shofar. His note-taking displeased the Baal Shem Tov. In any case, without Reb Wolff noticing, on the morning of Rosh Hashanah the sheet of paper slipped out of his pocket and was lost.

The awesome moment drew near. Before he was summoned to blow the shofar, Reb Wolff searched his pockets, but in vain. He froze in the realization that he would have to blow the shofar without knowing on what to meditate. He knew the Baal Shem Tov would notice the lack of holy intention. The holy Master had chosen him for this important task, and he had failed. He was nothing. This grieved him no end, and under his talis he wept with a broken and humbled heart. When he placed the shofar to his lips, the blasts were choked and muffled by trembling and tears.

After the prayers, the Baal Shem Tov turned to Reb Wolff and warmly congratulated him on the shofar-blowing. Reb Wolff was startled and dazed. The Baal Shem Tov smiled sweetly and explained, “In a king’s palace there are many chambers, and each door has its own particular key. When all else fails, there is one ‘key’ that can open all doors-it’s called an axe. My dear Reb Wolff, the Kabbalistic meditations are various keys that open various supernal chambers. But a broken and humble heart is the axe that can break open all the doors in the Heavenly palace.”

ACTION: From today onward until after the High Holy Days, in every email, letter, and phone conversation, conclude by wishing the other person, “May you be blessed with a happy healthy New Year.”

FOOTNOTES
[1] Menachos, 43:2
[2] Deuteronomy, 10:12
[3] See again Menachos, 43:2. This is one way of estimating the one hundred daily blessings:

• The Morning Blessings: 18
• The Blessings over Torah Study: 3
• Upon Donning Talis and Tefilin: 2
• Baruch She’amar and Yishtabach: 2
• Blessings of the Morning Shema: 3
• Blessings of the Evening Shema, and hamapil: 5
• The Amidah prayer, three times a day: 57
• Bentching after a meal with bread, approximately twice a day: 12
• The Asher Yotzar blessing, approximately twice a day: 2

[4] The Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch, 46:1. See also HaYom Yom, 2 Adar I, on the importance of reciting a blessing.
[5] Deuteronomy, 11:12. Note that both missing Alefs are found in a twelfth verse, alluding to the twelve months of the year.
[6] Sefer Likkutim, chapter on B’rachos.
[7] Also, the gematria of the word mah, using the ATBASH method of calculation, is 100. In ATBASH, the first letter of the Alef-Beis is paired with the last letter, and the second with the second-to-last, etc. Therefore, the Mem of mah becomes a Yud (10), and the Hei, a Tzadik (90). See Zohar III, Korach, p. 179a. See also ATBASH and gematria chart, below.
[8] This perhaps explains why women are not obligated to recite the one hundred daily blessings. According to Kabbalah, women emanate from the sefirah of Malchus, which is also known as Mah, or bitul.
[9] Sippurei Chassidim by Rabbi Yosef Zevin