In honor of Israel’s 75th birthday, Israel365 is excited to launch a new series of essays that will unlock the secrets of the Hebrew Bible!
Excerpted from Rabbi Akiva Gersh’s forthcoming book, 75 Hebrew Words You Need to Understand the Bible, these essays illuminate the connection between related Hebrew words, revealing Biblical secrets only accessible through Hebrew.
Enjoy the series – and happy 75th birthday to the State of Israel!
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RATZON
RAH-TZONE
DESIRE
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In Hebrew, ratzon means both ādesireā and āwill.ā As servants of God, we must do our best to make our actions desirable before God. We are also instructed to ensure our prayers are acceptable to God, as King David says, āMay the words of my mouth and the prayer of my heart be desirable to You, God, my Rock and my Redeemerā (Psalms 19:15). This verse is recited at the end of many Jewish prayers as a request that our prayers be deemed fitting and acceptable before God.
The sages teach, āDo His will as though it were your will,ā instructing us to align the way we live our desires with Godās desires. In humility, we seek to nullify our own personal desires and fully accept Godās will as our own.
The word ratzon is related to the word yetzer, meaning āinclination.ā Each of us possesses two internal inclinations that compete to guide and influence our everyday decisions and actions. There is the yetzer haātov, the positive inclination, and the yetzer haāra, the negative inclination. The quality of our lives is determined by how much we allow each of these inclinations to overpower the other.
The Hasidic teachers explain that ānothing stands before our desire.ā If we deeply and seriously desire to accomplish something in the realm of the spirit, nothing can prevent us from doing so! Our will is more powerful than we realize. When God sees that we truly desire holiness, He will help us achieve it.
