22 Shevat 5768

In last week’s Parsha, we learned how Bnai Yisroel received the Torah for eternity. According to the Medrash, the world stood still, the nations watched, and the Heavens and the depths opened, so that the Universe and its contents would forever bear testimony to the direct transmission of the Torah from Hashem to His people at Sinai.

Two of the Ani Maamin affirmations that we recite daily refer specifically to the giving of the Torah:

a. (#8) I believe with complete Faith that the entire Torah that is now in our hands is the same one that was given to Moshe Rabbeinu, Olav HaShalom.

b. (#9) I believe with complete Faith that this Torah will not be exchanged, nor will there be any other Torah from the Creator, Blessed is His Name (the meforshim on the Siddur explain that not even one mitzvah will change).

Thus, we reaffirm daily that the gift we have been given is immutable and complete. It is no wonder, then, that every morning, soon after the Birchos HaShachar, we proclaim "Ashreinu Ma Tov Chelkenu, U’ma Naim Goraleinu, U’ ma Yafa Yerushasaynu...--how good is our portion, how pleasant our lot, and how beautiful is our heritage." This grand proclamation serves to remind us of the sublime appreciation that each and every one of us should have for what we have been born (or joined) into, and what do we wake up to each and every day.

HaRav Shimon Schwab, Z’tl, in the remarkable work Rav Schwab on Prayer (Artscroll p. 60), beautifully explains that this phrase describes for us the "windfall" gift that we have received in three different ways: