When facing life’s myriad challenges, which pasuk of Tehillim have you made your own?
The words of Tehillim have accompanied us on our long journey through the centuries. Spoken, sung, shouted, whispered, they have come alive on the lips of our People in all situations, giving expression to every human emotion, as the purity of Dovid Hamelech’s song continues to fan the flames in our own souls.
“Hashleich al Hashem yehavcha vehu yechalkelecha — Cast your burden upon Hashem and He will sustain you” (Tehillim 55:23).
On the first of Teves two years ago, in the middle of Chanukah, I got the letter from the appeals court telling me that our final appeal was refused, and the legal process was over. All our hishtadlus had failed. It seemed that I had no way out, and the realization hit me that I would be spending 27 years in jail. Yi’ush, despair, rolled over me.
I fought the despair with the message of this pasuk, which I heard from the Rebbe years ago, when I was a bochur. The Rebbe spoke about the difficulty with the pasuk’s wording, as people have many kinds of burdens besides lack of sustenance. They suffer from sickness, poverty, childlessness, jail terms, so why the words “Vehu yechalkelecha — He will sustain you” as the answer to all burdens which are thrown upon Hashem? The Rebbe answered that the word yechalkelecha, besides its simple meaning, also relates to the root kaf-lamed-yud — kli, a vessel. In other words, “He will provide a vessel for you.”
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