Parshas Va'eira 5777
QUESTION:
Now comes the ceremony of Kiddush Levanah. There are a number of things we say there, and they all need explanation. One is, to three people present you say shalom aleichem and they answer aleichem shalom. Now those men are not newcomers, they're not strangers, you saw them the whole Shabbos together, now it's after Shabbos and you say shalom aleichem as if they were wayfarers who just came from a distant journey?
ANSWER:
You want three Jews to bless you, a bais din, three Jews give you a blessing for the new month, that's what it is. Rosh Chodesh, you pray for a new month, don't you? Yaleh v'yovo, we say bless Hashem give us this month, we are praying for the coming month. People are worried about forgetting yaleh v'yovo, it's important. Don't forget yaleh v'yovo, and there are signs yaleh v'yovo, and the shamos gives a knock on the table to remember yaleh v'yovo, and the people remember yaleh v'yovo but they forget what yaleh v'yovo is about.
What's yaleh v'yovo for? It's a prayer, we want chaim and shalom for this ensuing month, that's what it's for. We pray to Him, He should save us, He should rescue us, He should listen to our prayers. Look how we say it, yaleh, v'yovo, v'yeiroeh, v'yirotzeh, v'yishoma, v'yipoked, v'yizocher, and we're praying so fervently, because it's important to pray for the coming month. Every month, pray for the month to come, prayer is important. You don't know what's going to happen in the month to come, mehaya b'uso, tefillah helps, it's important to pray.
Therefore, at Kiddush Levanah we say shalom aleichem to three people and they reply aleichem shalom, and that's a significant beginning for the new month, if three Jews give you a blessing. Of course if these three Jews understand the purpose of it, and they'll put a little kavana in it, it's even better. So to do that, you put some kavana into yours, and not merely to fulfill a custom by rote, then they'll reply with kavana and they'll put some heart into the blessing. Isn't that a wonderful idea?
When you say shalom aleichem, you mean peace should be upon you this month, it means this month you should make a lot of money, this month your wife should be successful in cooking good meals, this month your neighbors should all be nice to you, this month the weather should be good, think of all those things. The more you'll put into it, the more you'll get back.
Good Shabbos To All
This is transcribed from questions that were posed to Harav Miller by the audience at the Thursday night lectures.
To listen to the audio of this Q & A please dial: 201-676-3210
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Important Numbers
