March, 2016
The siddur is a mysterious work. In it one finds tefillos and pizmonim that were composed anywhere from the period of the Anshei Knesses Hagedolah (a period that ended around 100 BCE) to the Dark Ages (500 to 900 CE), all the way up to eighteenth century (for example, Shalom Aleichem was written in the seventeenth century). There are tefillos whose composers are anonymous and whose implementers are not quite clear. Who composed Avinu Malkeinu (not simply the few stanzas that come from Rabbi Akiva in Taanis25b)? Who designed Pesukei d’Zimra in its current form (not just the daily hallel referred to in Shabbos 118)?
And yet the siddur is seen as one unit; in fact, its name means “order.” The term “siddur” has strong associations for each one of us, connected as it is to a favorite publisher, a specific font, a particular translation, and familiar customs.
Not a week goes by without someone asking me a question about the siddur that teaches me something new, fostering an even deeper appreciation of its wisdom and depth.
Recently Shevach High School, the local Bais Yaakov high school where I teach, had its 37th annual dinner. Among the worthy honorees were the recipients of the Torah Heritage Award, Rabbi and Mrs. Paysach Krohn. Miriam Krohn is the associate principal for limudei kodesh, and her husband, one of the founding baalei batim of the school, needs no introduction.
All the speeches that evening were wonderful and touching. It was especially moving to see the special gift the Krohns received. As most readers know, Rabbi Krohn began his career as a maggid by developing a close relationship with the famed maggid of Yerushalayim, Rav Shalom Schwadron, and publishing a number of books of Rav Schwadron’s stories and divrei chizzuk.
The director of the school told the audience that the dinner committee members had contemplated what to give the Krohns. At first they had thought that the perfect gift would be a silver washing cup, and they even had the perfect inscription: “Maggid, Rachtzah”! But they soon discovered that the Krohns already had a beautiful washing cup.
An assistant then came up to the podium and handed the director the real gift—a magnificent original painting of Rav Shalom Schwadron.
Everyone in the room was taken aback.
In his acceptance speech, Rabbi Krohn said that he wished to give everyone at the dinner a gift as well.
“On everyone’s table is a card with a special tefillah for parnasah written by the Chayei Adam (Rabbi Avraham Danzig, d. 1820) in his tzava’ah.” (The Chayei Adam was Rabbi Avraham Danzig, d. 1820, and the tzava’ah can be found in his Beis Avraham, #16.) The Chayei Adam urged his family to recite this special tefillah before they engaged in any business dealings.
Rabbi Krohn said he had recently heard an idea connecting this tefillah to the month of Adar. In an Ashkenazi siddur, the special Yehi Ratzon that we say on Shabbos Mevarchim contains the word “chaim” 11 times (“chaim aruchim, chaim shel shalom,” etc.). Someone suggested to him that these 11 chaims represent the 11 times we say Birchas Hachodesh during the year (not 12 since we do not bentch Rosh Chodesh for the month of Tishrei).
Perhaps, he continued, each chaim corresponds to a month. If we start with Marcheshvan, chaim aruchim would be a unique tefillah for that month, chaim shel shalom would be unique to the month of Kislev,and so on. It works out that the chaim for Adar is chaim shel parnasah,making this month an auspicious time to recite the tefillah of the Chayei Adam!
It was a wonderful idea, but it struck me that I had already seen something like this. I was excited when I was able to locate a source, and I contacted Rabbi Krohn the next day to share something remarkable with him.
First, the idea that these 11 chaims represent the 11 months for which we say Birchas Hachodesh is first mentioned in an old edition of the classic sefer Shaarei Ephraim, by the mechaber of Bris Avos (see the page called “Shaarei Rachamaim,” 10:49). He cites others who mentioned it, indicating that many gedolim had this idea.
But there is something even more interesting. In the sefer Birchas Hachodesh, the prolific author Rav Tzvi Cohen of Eretz Yisrael cites an article in Sefer Moadim by Rav Tzvi Hirsch Farber, in which the author demonstrates how each month is connected to its chaim. For example, he explains that on 17 Marcheshvan the waters of the mabul began to pelt the earth, killing all life, and a year later, on 27 Marcheshvan,the waters receded; therefore, the chaim for this month represents life itself, chaim aruchim.
I wondered how Rav Farber would explain Adar’srelationship to chaim shel parnasah. He asserts that Adar represents parnasah because Moshe died in this month. What is the connection to parnasah, you ask? Well, we know that when Moshe was niftar, the mann stopped. For the first time since achieving the status of a nation, we had to find our own parnasah, at the same time maintaining bitachon.
What a beautiful correlation!
Amazingly, this idea works out in an other instance. Many sifrei machshava (e.g. Likutei Halachos, tefilla 5) point out that the original 12 middle berachos of bakashah/request in shemoneh esreh represent the shevatim. Even when a 13th was added, they explain that this is due to Menashe and Ephraim being each seen as a shevat.
It would seem that the same is true by the months of year, where they also equal twelve or thirteen, depending on an extra Adar.
With this in mind, the other day I simply counted in shemoneh esreh from the first beracha of daas, correlating it to Tishrei etc. How delighted I was to see that the month of Adar, the sixth month, corresponds to the beracha of parnasa –birchas hashanim, the sixth beracha!
Interestingly, the Aruch Hashulchan (siman 417:9) wanted to ban Birchas Hachodesh because we generally do not daven for personal needs on Shabbos. Many poskim, however, defended this practice by explaining that the chaims are not tefillos but are actually brachos! And others say that there is one exception when it comes to davening for personal matters on Shabbos, and that is parnasah, for which we may pray(Rav Felder in Yesodei Yeshurin, Vol. 4, p. 426; Shu”t Rivevos Ephraim 1:217; Noam, Vol. 12, pp. 222-223).
So not only is the month of Adaran auspicious time to daven for parnasah,and not only is this fact alluded to in Birchas Hachodesh,but the allowance of prayer for our livelihood on Shabbos is what makes it possible for us to say this special tefillah each month.
And we have gleaned all this from just three words in the siddur.
Wishing readers the chaim of parnasah!
Shul Chronicles 
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