Olas Tamid By Rav Shmuel Hominer - Kindle Your Ascent
Now long ago in the old Yishuv of Yerushalayim lived a holy Jew named Rav Shmuel Hominer zt"l.
I don't much about his personal life, but I do have the privilege of
knowing one of his grandchildren. Actually, I know him quite well, as
does anyone who opens up one his seforim and sees the Yiras Shamayim
leaping from the page. After all, what more is there to know about
a person?
Rav Hominer was quite a prolific author in his day,
although he was niftar relatively young. He is most famous
for his treasured series called Eved HaMelech on Torah, Nevi'im Kesuvim
where he points out the mitzvos in each pasuk. There are many mitzvos
in Tanach, both D'Oiraisa and D'Rabanan, that are not part of Taryag.
This holy Yid wanted to make sure we didn't miss any of them.
Another
one of his seforim is called Olas Tamid on Tefila. It is relatively
well known in Yerushalayim and is a classic that no one should miss.
It is a peirush on Tefila that stirs the soul. He goes through
davening, explaining to us the significance of many of the lines of the
davening. It is all based on the simple meaning, as he shines it and
holds it up for all of us to marvel at. No earth shattering chidushim,
just plain old Ahavas Hashem and Yiras Shamayim in a way that is
contagious. It makes you want to daven better. It makes you enjoy the
davening more. Most of all it makes you feel like davening is a
special treat that should be taken full advantage of.
To give
you a taste, he explains the words at the end of Birchas Hashachar,
"V'Dabkeinu B'Mitzvoisecha", we are attached to your mitzvos. What are
we davening for here? He explains that a person can be doing a mitzva
such as Tefilin or Tzitzis and not even have any idea. A person can go
back and forth past his mezuza for days and weeks and not even notice
it. The gemara says in Menachos (43) that a person who wears tefilin
and tzitzis and has a mezuza on his door will not do an aveira. This
is proof he says, that someone who has all these things and still does
aveiros, is not attached to them. Therefore we should daven every
morning to be zocheh to be attached and aware of these mitzvos that we
are already doing in order to unlock the great potential in them. Read
this sefer and your Tefila will surely be Olah Tamid!
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