5780 in Tehillim and the Main Lesson of the “Corona” — “Lo Yadati”

5780 in Tehillim and the Main Lesson of the “Corona” — “Lo Yadati”

Tehillim 81:6 “Sefat lo yadati eshma” — (I heard a language I did not know). This story was told to me at a seudah held in honor of the yahrzeit of two of the greatest tzadikim: Rabbi Yekutiel Yehudah Halberstam of Klausenberg (the Sanzer Rebbe of Netanya) and Rabbi Yosef Shlomo Dayan (lamed-vav), by the yeshivah students of “Yodei Binah.” Rabbi Baruch Rosenblum relates a beautiful story. One day, the Baal HaTanya came to his teacher, the Maggid of Mezritch, and knocked on the door. — “Who is there?” the Maggid asked. — “Ani” (I), replied the Alter Rebbe. The Maggid opened the door with a surprised look on his face: — “What is this ‘ani’? Tell me plainly: this is Shneur Zalman. Why are you answering ‘ani’?” They sat and talked for a while, and then he left. On the way, the Baal HaTanya stopped at an inn where he could have something to eat and spend the night. While he was there, someone’s bag was stolen. As soon as he entered, people began shouting: “Stop the thief! Here he is — he stole it!” The Baal HaTanya began shouting: — “Ze lo ani” — (It is not me). He continued shouting until the real thief was caught and he was released. The next time he came to the Maggid, he told him what had happened: how he had been detained and how he had shouted, “ze lo ani.” Only on the tenth occasion, when he cried out, “ze lo ani,” was the real thief caught and he was released. The Maggid said to him: “You said ‘ani’ only once, and because of that you had to say ‘ze lo ani’ ten times. Never say ‘ani’; say: ‘There is only one G-d.’” Rabbi Baruch Rosenblum related this story as an introduction to the main lesson of the year 5780. He says that before Purim (5780), we always knew everything in advance: when and where the wedding would be, the bar mitzvah, the Shabbat Chatan, who the musicians and photographer would be, how many guests there would be, and so on. Now we know nothing. Precisely as it is written in Tehillim (81:6): שפת לא ידעתי אשמע — (I heard a language I did not know). The word שפת — “sefat” (speech, words) also signifies the present year, 5780, according to the Hebrew calendar: שפת. Following the word “sefat” come the words: “lo yadati.” Rabbi Rosenblum says: “What is the main phrase we hear today, everywhere? ‘Lo yadati.’ When is the wedding? ‘Lo yadati’ (I don’t know). When is the brit milah? ‘Lo yadati.’ When will you travel there? ‘Lo yadati.’ What are the plans for this or that? ‘Lo yadati.’ Today, the answer to everything is: ‘Lo yadati’ — I don’t know.” “Who knows?” Rabbi Rosenblum asks. “Only HaKadosh Baruch Hu. We know nothing; only He knows.” In other words, this phrase should be understood as follows: “In the year 5780, I will hear the words ‘lo yadati.’” We are paying for the fact that for decades we thought we knew everything in advance. Now we must understand that only He knows everything.   (Based on a shiur by Rabbi Baruch Rosenblum; translated by Zoya Chaya Tigay and Lena Solomonova)