#540: Amida: Al Ha'Tzadikim (Part 9)

is generous sponsor by the Saka family and as well by for we discussed the pi the righteous which is greater we addressed who are they those who WR maybe those who work in AER the teachers we recently spent time why are we invoking and why are we dka daving for the welfare and the well being of converts their significance they're irritating because they're so inspired they're irritating because they're so energized they're irritating because they make us feel guilty they are the mirror we hold up to ourselves I have a lot of on the sitter that's how I prepare for sitter Snippets and I look through them on each word we see but the next word I didn't find one commentator saying one word about everyone has something to say about and then we say we're asking to show mercy and compassion and to give a great reward but the last on that list is alenu who is alenu ourselves don't only be compassionate Hashem to these who are so worthy these who are so exceptional these whove transformed and converted literally their lives also don't forget venu venu and and us and us I think it's very significant and shouldn't be overlooked because alenu means even if we don't meet the criteria even if we don't meet the definition we're not we're not we're not we're not we were born a Jew we're not GED but we also are worthy and we're also asking for for's compassion for hashem's compassion we sometimes see or think the righteousness and piety is found elsewhere in the godal biography in the story we hear or tell about another someone else in the community whom we admire or look up to but we forget about that all of us are that there's a piece of every one of us which remains untainted and unblemished the piece of us which is pure the piece of us which is aspirational venu venu we're daving almost reminding ourselves as much as Hashem that we are worthy of don't forget us reminds me say of and we read a couple weeks ago theah to love our fellow Jew obligation to love a fellow Jew and everyone concentrates what does it mean to love the fellow Jew some are easily lovable and it's easy to love them some are much less lovable and it's hard to fulfill the Mitzvah to love them but love is not an adjective love of course is a verb it doesn't mean that we have to love with a feeling it means we have to display and demonstrate we have to perform and practice love but that last word in some ways is the most important because it's the foundation for the rest love your neighbor as you love yourself which means implicit in this Mitzvah is a Mitzvah too to love yourself some people fulfill this very naturally they could love themselves a little less but we're struggling in a world with significant amount of mental health struggles in a world of people who are insecure and have a low self-worth and self-esteem and people who struggle to love themselves they feel unlovable to others maybe to hem and to themselves and so the Torah says you have love others as yourself Begin by recognizing you're worthy of Love there is what to love in you there's promise and there's hope and there's potential and there's already virtue and righteousness there is what to love in ourselves so the Torah of course is a selfless it endorses and promotes selflessness doesn't want us to focus on our ego or our sense of self but maybe the significance of this word which so easily can be overlooked maybe you'll find the sa for that addresses that I didn't I'd love to see it but the wordu on this list of those we think about and Dav four don't forget vu the best of us and the best who we can be and the best that we've been and the best that yet we can become to see that which is lovable within ourselves this week's that we have to help others sustain others but with us with us vienu that we too are worth loving we too are worth ding for and it's worthy of thinking about and pausing in the BR as well