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<div style="text-align: justify;">The Bostoner Rebbe (of Boston) commented once on the expression "<span style="font-style: italic;">Shanah tovah umsuqah</span> - a good and sweet new year", which is related to the famous custom of having apple and honey on Rosh haShanah.<br /><br />What does "<span style="font-style: italic;">umsukah </span>-- and sweet" add, beyond the notion of "<span style="font-style: italic;">tovah </span>-- good"?<br /><br />As Rabbi Aqiva often said, "All that the All Merciful does, He does for the good". An echo of the words of one of his rabbeim, Nachum ish Gamzu, who would greet events that would disappoint or depress most of us with "<span style="font-style: italic;">Gam zu letovah</span> -- this too is for the best."<br /><br />So actually, wishing one another a good year could be thought of as being redundant. Everything is good, how could this year be any different? However, not everything I was told was "for my own good" was particularly pleasant.<br /><br />Therefore, the rebbe teaches, we wish that the year not only be tovah, good, but also be mesuqah, sweet to our perception as well.<br /><br />Along the same lines, I had<a href="http://www.aishdas.org/asp/2006/01/vetaheir-libeinu.shtml"> a thought about a phrase</a> in Shabbos and Yom Tov davening:<br /><blockquote>Our L-rd, and the L-rd of our fathers, sanctify us bemitzvosekha (through Your mitzvos), and put our portion beSorasekha (in Your Torah), satisfy us mituvekha (from Your Goodness), and make us (or: our souls qua living force) biyshuasekha (in Your salvation)...</blockquote>The predicate prefix has an oddity: it says <b>be</b>mitzvosekha, <span style="font-weight: bold;">be</span>Sorasekha, and later, <span style="font-weight: bold;">be</span>yshu'asekha. But by goodness, the prefix is "<b>mi</b>tuvekha" -- "from", not "be-" ("in" or "through") like by the others.<br /><br />The reason, I believe, is because we are asking for something inherently different. We can ask G-d to make us more holy by allowing us to do more mitzvos, or give us the opportunity to learn more Torah, or make us happier by saving us more often. This is "be-", we are asking for more of a gift by asking for more of the vehicle He uses to give it to us.<br /><br />Since everything G-d does is good, we can't be asking for G-d to give us more good, and thereby make us more satisfied. There is no more good for us to get. Rather, we are asking for more satisfaction with the goodness He already provides. This is why the "mi-" prefix is used.<br /><br />This is also in contrast to Rebbe's words (Berakhos 50a) about <span style="font-style: italic;">benching</span>, that a wise person says "u<span style="font-weight: bold;">v</span>tuvo chayinu -- and through His good we live", and a boor, "u<span style="font-weight: bold;">mi</span>tuvo chayinu -- and from His good, we live". Rebbe says that "u<span style="font-weight: bold;">mi</span>tuvo" is incorrect because it says that we live through <span style="font-weight: bold;">some</span> of His Good, implying that Hashem gives meagerly. Perhaps it's different here, when we ask for happiness, because the truth is that if we had a full realization of even a small part of His Good would be enough to satisfy. Like the <span style="font-style: italic;">piyut</span> we sing at the <span style="font-style: italic;">seider</span>. We list fifteen things Hashem did for us when taking us out of Egypt. But had He done any one of those 15 alone, "<span style="font-style: italic;">Dayeinu</span>"!<br /><br />R Shelomo Wolbe zt"l would part someone's company wishing him "<span style="font-style: italic;">tir'eh betov</span> -- may you see the good!" This is both a <span style="font-style: italic;">berakhah</span> and a <span style="font-style: italic;">mussar shmuess</span>. A blessing that Hashem allow him to see all that's good in his life, and advice to the person to take the initiative and look for it. To aspire to the <span style="font-style: italic;">middah</span> of Nachum ish Gamzu and Rabbi Aqiva of realizing the Hand of G-d in everything, and looking to see how even the tragedies in our lives are necessary steps to something bigger which He has in store for us. It's a beautiful greeting, one worth adopting. Wishing others could taste the sweetness.<br /><br />And with that, may we all have a <span style="font-style: italic;">Shanah tovah umsuqah</span>!<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">(With thanks to <a href="http://www.aishdas.org/rygb">RYGB</a> for helping me find the gemara.)</span><br /></div> <br /><br />--<br><font color="gray" size="2">Posted by micha to <a href="http://www.aishdas.org/asp/2006/09/tireh-betov.shtml">Aspaqlaria</a> at 9/22/2006 09:34:00 AM</font></body></html>