Rebbe Nachman gave the Tikkun HaKlali to us so that we would open our minds to the blessings Hashem sends to us every day to help us come back to him.
We hope this fourth article, exploring Psalm 42, the fourth Psalm of the Tikkun Haklali, will help you learn more of the deeper meanings it contains, making the words your own.
Images of water, both tragic and triumphant, appear in this Psalm. Some recite it as the song of the day for the second day of the Sukkot festival, in commemoration of the Water Drawing celebrations held in the Holy Temple.
The sons of Korach (Korach having led a rebellion against Moses and Aaron) authored this Psalm, capturing the dark experience of exile and the promise of future redemption and future glories in the revealed presence of Hashem. We pray for Hashem’s forgiveness now, just as He forgave us for sinning through the Golden Calf. We long to worship Hashem in the Holy Temple.
In this article, we will focus on the word תַּעֲרֹג, to cry longingly with a yearning to come close to Hashem, found in verse two of this Psalm:
כְּאַיָּל תַּעֲרֹג עַל־אֲפִיקֵי־מָיִם כֵּן נַפְשִׁי תַעֲרֹג אֵלֶיךָ אֱלֹהִים׃
As a hart [the kindest of all animals] cries longingly with a yearning for springs of water, so my soul cries longingly to You, O God (Psalm 42:2).
We pray for Hashem’s forgiveness now, just as He forgave us for sinning through the Golden Calf. We long to worship Hashem in the Holy Temple.
The roe deer, faint with thirst, in the depth of the desert, hears the spring of water roar from the cliffs above that it cannot reach. It cries longingly for the cool mountain spring. So too, Yisroel suffering in exile, knowing that God is near, feels as if it were far away from Him. Yisroel lacks the strength to soar up to him and win his nearness. (Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch)
The gematria of עֲרֹג / cry longingly is 273 as is the phrase וַ־י־ה־וָ־ה אָמַר / and Hashem said, which appears in this verse where Hashem blesses Avraham:
בְּרֵאשִׁית יג:יד: וַ־י־ה־וָ־ה אָמַר אֶל אַבְרָם אַחֲרֵי הִפָּרֶד לוֹט מֵעִמּוֹ שָׂא נָא עֵינֶיךָ וּרְאֵה מִן הַמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר אַתָּה שָׁם צָפֹנָה וָנֶגְבָּה וָקֵדְמָה וָיָמָּה:
And the LORD said to Abraham after Lot had parted from him, “Raise your eyes and look out from where you are, to the north and south, the east and west.”
The inference: suppose you cry out to Hashem with longing and utter sincerity, commensurate with your effort over time. In that case, Hashem will speak to you, however subtly, sending you direction and blessings as he did to our forefather (see www.secretorah.com for a Chumash-based gematria list).
As a hart (the kindest of all animals) cries longingly with a yearning for springs of water, so my soul cries longingly to You, O God!
This was the practice of Rebbe Nachman himself and the derech/ path he instructed us to follow.
“The main way the Rebbe attained what he did was simply through prayer and supplication before God. He was very consistent in this. He would cry longingly and plead in every way possible, asking that God have mercy and make him worthy of true devotion and closeness.” (Rebbe Nachman’s Wisdom 10).
Psalm 42 teaches that reciting Psalms can bring one to repentance, an essential realization that one’s words have tremendous power. “It is, therefore, a very great thing to recite Psalms (and most certainly the Tikkun Haklali, which captures the essence of the entire Book of Psalms) constantly. The Psalms can be a source of tremendous awakening toward God. Happy is the one who grasps this method.” (Likutey Moharan Tinyana 7).
The first part of the book Calling Out to Hashem (with Tikkun HaKlalli) explores the profound implications of verse 42:2, crying longingly to Hashem.
Can you add your suggestions and experiences in crying out longingly to Hashem?
