Accepting the Sovereignty of Heaven

Kabbalat Ol Malchut Shamayim

קבלת עול מלכות שמים

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קבלת עול מלכות שמים

ACCEPTING THE SOVEREIGNTY OF HEAVEN

Tanna DeVei Eliyahu, ch. 21

Hebrew

לְעוֹלָם יְהֵא אָדָם יְרֵא שָׁמַיִם בַּסֵּתֶר וּבַגָּלוּי
וּמוֹדֶה עַל הָאֱמֶת, וְדוֹבֵר אֱמֶת בִּלְבָבוֹ
וְיַשְׁכֵּם וְיֹאמַר

Sephardi

Le'olam yehei adam yerei shamayim baseter uvagalui
umodeh al ha'emet, vedover emet bilvavo
veyashkem veyomar

English

A person should always be God-fearing, privately and publicly, acknowledging the truth and speaking it in his heart. He should rise early and say:

Dan. 9

Hebrew

רִבּוֹן כָּל הָעוֹלָמִים וַאֲדוֹנֵי הָאֲדוֹנִים
לֹא עַל־צִדְקוֹתֵינוּ אֲנַחְנוּ מַפִּילִים תַּחֲנוּנֵינוּ לְפָנֶיךָ
כִּי עַל־רַחֲמֶיךָ הָרַבִּים:

Sephardi

Ribon kol ha'olamim va'adonei ha'adonim
lo al-tzidkoteinu anachnu mapilim tachanuneinu lefanecha
ki al-rachamecha harabbim:

English

Master of all worlds, LORD of lords, not because of our righteousness do we lay our pleas before You, but because of Your great compassion.

Eccl. 3

Hebrew

מָה אָנוּ, מֶה חַיֵּינוּ, מֶה חַסְדֵּנוּ, מַה צִדְקוֹתֵינוּ
מַה יְשׁוּעָתֵנוּ, מַה כֹּחֵנוּ, מַה גְּבוּרָתֵנוּ
מַה נֹּאמַר לְפָנֶיךָ, יהוה אֱלֹהֵינוּ וֵאלֹהֵי אֲבוֹתֵינוּ
הֲלֹא כָּל הַגִּבּוֹרִים כְּאַיִן לְפָנֶיךָ
וְאַנְשֵׁי הַשֵּׁם כְּלֹא הָיוּ
וַחֲכָמִים כִּבְלִי מַדָּע, וּנְבוֹנִים כִּבְלִי הַשְׂכֵּל
כִּי רֹב מַעֲשֵׂיהֶם תֹּהוּ, וִימֵי חַיֵּיהֶם הֶבֶל לְפָנֶיךָ
וּמוֹתַר הָאָדָם מִן־הַבְּהֵמָה אָיִן
כִּי הַכֹּל הָבֶל:

Sephardi

Mah anu, meh chayeinu, meh chasdenu, mah tzidkoteinu
mah yeshuateinu, mah kocheinu, mah gevurateinu
mah nomar lefanecha, Adonai Eloheinu veilohei avoteinu
halo kol hagibborim ke'ayin lefanecha
ve'anshei hashem kelo hayu
vachachamim kivli mada, unevonim kivli haskel
ki rov ma'aseihem tohu, vimei chayeihem hevel lefanecha
umotar ha'adam min-habehemah ayin
ki hakol havel:

English

What are we? What are our lives? What is our loving-kindness? What is our righteousness? What is our salvation? What is our strength? What is our might? What shall we say before You, LORD our God and God of our ancestors? Are not all the mighty like nothing before You, the men of renown as if they had never been, the wise as if they know nothing, and the understanding as if they lack intelligence? For their many works are in vain, and the days of their lives like a fleeting breath before You. The pre-eminence of man over the animals is nothing, for all is but a fleeting breath,

Commentary

לְעוֹלָם A person should always: This whole section until "who sanctifies His name among the multitudes" (page 40), appears in the tenth-century Midrash, Tanna DeVei Eliyahu (chapter 21). Some believe that it dates from a period of persecution under the Persian ruler Yazdegerd II who, in 456 CE, forbade the observance of Shabbat and the reading of the Torah. Jews continued to practice their faith in secret, saying prayers at times and in ways that would not be detected by their persecutors. This explains the reference to fearing God "privately" and "speaking it [truth] in his heart" (that is, the secret practice of Judaism) and the recitation here of the first lines of the Shema, which could not be said at the normal time. The final blessing, "Who sanctifies His name among the multitudes," refers to the martyrdom of those who went to their deaths rather than renounce their faith. Martyrdom is called Kiddush HaShem, "sanctifying [God's] name."

רִבּוֹן כָּל הָעוֹלָמִים Master of all worlds: This passage also appears in the Ne'ila prayer on Yom Kippur. It expresses the paradox of the human condition in the presence of God. We know how small we are and how brief our lives. Fleeting breath: the Hebrew word hevel - the key word of the opening chapters of Ecclesiastes, from which this line is taken - has been translated as "vain, meaningless, empty, futile." However, it literally means "a short breath."