Tefillat HaDerech (Part 3)
“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
Lao Tzu – Chinese Philosopher
Bon Voyage!
Tefillat HaDerech reads: May it be Your will, Hashem, our God and the God of our fathers, that You should lead us in peace and direct our steps in peace, and guide us in peace, and support us in peace, and cause us to reach our destination in life, joy, and peace (If one intends to return immediately, one adds:and return us in peace). Save us from every enemy and ambush, from robbers and wild beasts on the trip, and from all kinds of punishments that rage and come to the world. May You confer blessing upon the work of our hands and grant me grace, kindness, and mercy in Your eyes and in the eyes of all who see us, and bestow upon us abundant kindness and listen to the voice of our prayer, for You hear the prayers of all. Blessed are You Hashem, who listens to prayer.
Back in the “good old days”, travel was often a dangerous and lengthy process. Nowadays, travel is (sometimes!) streamlined and (sometimes!) effortless. We can travel in comfort to locations that are thousands of miles away in the same time that it used to take to get from one city to the next. It is quite astonishing to think that what once would have taken weeks or months now takes hours, and the ease of getting there is incomparable. If so, a person might mistakenly imagine that the obligation to recite Tefillat HaDerech is no longer applicable. But, as mentioned in the introduction to this series, Tefillat HaDerech is not necessarily associated with danger, but is a requirement when traveling more than a certain distance outside of the city limits.
Why did our Sages deem it appropriate to obligate us to recite Tefillat HaDerech even for a mundane, non-dangerous journey? They are teaching us that we must take Hashem with us wherever we go. That even something as simple as traveling from one city to another requires Divine assistance.
A charming story about Rabbi Yehudah Assad (1786-1866) teaches us just how seriously Tefillat HaDerech was regarded by even the simplest Jews not so long ago:
Rabbi Yehudah Assad was rabbi of Szerdahely in Romania and recognized as one of the preeminent authorities in Jewish Law in his generation; he became the spiritual leader of Hungarian Jewry after the passing of the Chatam Sofer. Once, Rabbi Assad was being taken to another city in a horse-drawn wagon. At one point the wagon driver wasn’t concentrating properly and he turned a corner too fast. The wagon tipped over and his venerable occupant was thrown out onto the grassy embankment. After ascertaining that his esteemed passenger was unharmed, the wagon driver indignantly turned to Rabbi Assad and accused him of not having recited Tefillat HaDerech properly! “If you would have said Tefillat HaDerech with the correct intent and concentration, this would never have happened!” he said.
Rabbi Assad replied, “How do you know that I am at fault? Maybe I did say the Tefillah with the correct intent but it hasn’t been answered yet.”
What makes the story so delightful is the simple unaffected reaction of both wagon driver and rabbi: both understood immediately that whatever had happened revolved around Tefillat HaDerech. While they disagreed - the wagon driver assuming the prayer hadn’t been said properly and the suggesting that it had - yet it was completely clear to both of them that Hashem was in charge and that nothing happens without His directive.
And that really encapsulates the essence of Tefillat HaDerech: Awareness. The more we realize that Hashem “bestows upon us abundant kindness”, the safer we are; the more we internalize that it is only Hashem who “…leads us in peace and directs our steps in peace, and guides us in peace, and supports us in peace, and causes us to reach our destination…” the easier it is to reach our journey’s end. Not just to arrive at today’s destination, but to navigate our way through the entire journey of life with Hashem at our side.
