A Dvar Tefilah Before Shabbat: Help Us to Lie Down to Sleep in Peace,
March 12, 2020
Rabbi Harry Pell, Associate Head of School
In the morning, there are two berachot before the Shema, and one after. In the evenings, there are two berachot before the Shema, and two after. The themes of the two berachot before and the first one after the Shema are static; the words change, but the themes remain the same, morning and evening. But the second berachah after the Shema in the evenings is a singleton.
Usually known by its first word, Hashkivenu—“help us to lie down”— this short paragraph has always felt to me a bit like Tefilat HaDerech, a sort of traveler’s prayer for all of us humans who travel from one day to the next through life. I have probably recited its words thousands of times, focusing on them more on some days, and less on others. As I read them last night, davening on a friend’s driveway, spread apart at six-foot intervals, the words struck me.
“Keep enemies, illness, violence, famine, and trouble from our midst.”
Illness. Some translations have “plague” or “pestilence.” The Hebrew is dever, the same word we will conjure up in a month at the Pesach seder when we recall the ten plagues, but the meaning is clear — sickness. Sickness that makes an individual ill, and then spreads to make others ill. And how many nights did I ask Hashem to protect me from this dever without giving it much thought? Yet today, how could it not be front of mind?
Rebbe Nachman of Breslov taught that if we believe things can be broken, then we must believe that they can also be fixed. Our world feels broken right now. It feels ill. But we must believe that it can be healed. That in time, it will be healed. The opening line of Hashkivenu asks God to help us lie down in peace, and also, to help us awaken the following morning to life. May we take care of one another during these difficult days, may the doctors and government officials have the strength and wisdom to navigate through this pandemic, and may those who are ill find healing. It may take some time, but may God help our world to awaken to life and health in the days ahead.
Shabbat Shalom
השכיבנו
הַַשְׁכִּיבֵנוּ יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ לְשָׁלוֹם,וְהַעֲמִידֵנוּ מַלְכֵּנוּ לְחַיִּים וּפְרוֹשׂ עָלֵינוּ סֻכַּת שְׁלוֹמֶךָ, וְתַקְּנֵנוּ בְּעֵצָה טוֹבָה מִלְּפָנֶיךָ, וְהוֹשִׁיעֵנוּ לְמַעַן שְׁמֶךָ, וְהָגֵן בַּעַדֵנוּ, וְהָסֵר מֵעָלֵינוּ אוֹיֵב, דֶבֶר, וְחֶרֶב, וְרָעָב וְיָגוֹן, וְהָסֵר שָׂטָן מִלְפָנֵינוּ וּמֵאַחֲרֵנוּ, וּבְצֵל כְּנָפֶיךָ תַּסְתִּירֵנוּ. כִּי אֵל מַלְכֵּנוּ וּמַצִּילֵנוּ אָתָּה, כִּי אֵל מֶלֶךְ חַנּוּן וְרַחוּם אָתָּה, וּשְׁמוֹר צֵאתֵנוּ וּבוֹאֵנוּ, לְחַיִּים וּלְשָׁלוֹם, מֵעַתָּה וְעַד עוֹלָם.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ, שׁוֹמֵר עַמּוֹ יִשְׂרָאֵל לָעַד
Hashkiveinu
Help us to lie down in peace, Adonai our God, and raise us up to life, our king, and spread over us the shelter of your peace, and direct us with good advice before You, and save us for the sake of your name, and look out for us, and keep enemies, illness, violence, famine, and trouble from our midst, and remove the evil forces that surround us, and cradle us in the shadow of your wings, for You are God who guards us and saves us, for You are God, our gracious and merciful king. Guard our departure and our arrival to life and to peace, from now and ever more.