Introduction: A Psalm of Livelihood and Trust
We arrive at the final section of Psalm 145 - "Ashrei yoshvei veitecha" - and the verses in which the core essence of the psalm is revealed: the recognition that the Holy One, blessed is He, nourishes and sustains all, and is close to all who call upon Him. We will focus on three central verses: "Potei'ach et yadecha," "Tzaddik Hashem bechol derachav," and "Karov Hashem lechol kor'av."
"Potei'ach Et Yadecha" - The Heart of Ashrei
פּוֹתֵחַ אֶת־יָדֶךָ וּמַשְׂבִּיעַ לְכׇל־חַי רָצוֹן׃ - You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.
Anyone who has ever prayed from Sephardic siddurim knows that numerous kavanot (intentions) are concentrated in this verse. "Potei'ach et yadecha" - the initial letters spell out P-A-Y, and the final letters spell Ch-T-Ch, referring to the appointed angel who cuts and apportions livelihood. This is also the intention noted by the Ben Ish Chai regarding "Zot chalifati, temurati, kaparati" (in the Kapparot ritual), where one should say "Zot" only once rather than three times so as not to disrupt the intention of the holy name - since "chalifati, temurati, kaparati" has the initial letters Ch-T-Ch, representing that same angel who cuts and allocates sustenance. Likewise, the holy name D-Y-K and others appear in the siddurim through gematria. Many names hinting at livelihood are found here, and it is written that the primary institution of Ashrei was established for the sake of this verse.
Therefore, if one failed to have proper intention during this verse, he must repeat it. Some authorities hold that one must repeat the entire Ashrei, some say from this verse until the end of the psalm, and others say that one repeats only this specific verse. If you finished Ashrei and realized you lacked intention, repeat "Potei'ach et yadecha umasbia lechol chai ratzon." This is the primary purpose of reciting Ashrei three times a day: to remember that the Holy One, blessed is He, satisfies the desire of every living thing, and that Hashem nourishes and sustains all.
Two Psalms of "Ashrei" - Where Sustenance Truly Lies
The Skverer Rebbe would ask: Why is the holy name associated with livelihood found specifically in "Ashrei yoshvei veitecha"? As we noted at the beginning of the psalm, two chapters in Tehillim open with the word "Ashrei," and both follow an alphabetical acrostic: "Ashrei yoshvei veitecha" and "Ashrei temimei darech" in Psalm 119. However, in "Ashrei temimei darech" there are eight verses for each letter, whereas in our psalm there is only one verse per letter. Furthermore, that psalm concludes with "I have strayed like a lost sheep," while our psalm concludes with "My mouth shall speak the praise of Hashem." From this, we saw the virtue of "Ashrei yoshvei veitecha" (those who dwell in Your house) over those who constantly travel the roads - the person who "hastens to become rich" and spends all his time on the move.
To this we must add: a person might argue that since both are described as "Ashrei" (fortunate), whether one is among the "temimei darech" (those walking the ways) or among the "yoshvei veitecha" (those dwelling in Your house), either way, fortunate is their lot. Moreover, perhaps the one traveling the roads reaches places where larger commerce can be conducted; he is not confined to his village, he knows the world, and perhaps his livelihood will be more abundant there! To this we say: you are mistaken. Notice where the verse containing all the names of sustenance is found - in "Ashrei yoshvei veitecha." The reality is the exact opposite of what the world thinks: people say to wander the world and pursue global business, but sustenance is not necessarily there. It is precisely for the one who dwells in his house that "You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing" is revealed, and not among those who are "Ashrei temimei darech."
"He Does Not Go Begging at Doors"
The sefer Mar'ot Tehorot cites the Maharam of Ziditchov regarding this verse. Chazal state in Shabbat 151b: "We hold as a tradition that a Torah scholar does not become impoverished, and even if he does become impoverished, he does not go begging at doors." That is to say, a talmid chacham does not descend into poverty, and even if he encounters hardship, he does not reach the point of begging door-to-door. This is what we recite: "I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging for bread" - he never reaches the state of "begging for bread," of going from door to door.
The commentators interpret "ahadorei apitcha lo mehadar" homiletically in another way: if you ever saw a talmid chacham who became poor, it is a sign that he did not pursue "Potei'ach" (reading pitcha as Potei'ach) - that he did not pay heed to the verse "Potei'ach et yadecha." Had he pursued it and meditated upon it with proper kavana, he would never have reached that state and would never have fallen into poverty.
"And satisfies the desire of every living thing" - Hashem Grants the Desire Itself as Well
Rabbi Meir Chodosh, the revered Mashgiach of the Chevron Yeshivah, would say in his discourses: Note that the Holy One, blessed be He, does not only satisfy for everyone what they need and what they ask for; rather, He opens His generous hand and "satisfies the desire of every living thing" - He satisfies even the desires themselves.
What does this mean? Imagine someone arriving at the wedding of a very wealthy man. The waiter approaches and asks what he would like. Accustomed to the world of soup kitchens and charity handouts, he asks, "What kind of bourekas do you have?" The waiter opens his eyes in disbelief: "Bourekas? What are you talking about? That is what you buy downstairs at a bakery; you are here in a grand banquet hall!" The host comes over, sits down beside him, and says, "Come, let me explain what we have here." He begins to list the lavish dishes and fattened fowl he can order - this prepared with one flavor, that with another, this stir-fried and that in chili sauce - in short, completely expanding his horizons and transforming all his concepts.
So it is, as it were, with the Holy One, blessed be He: He does not merely "open Your hand," but creates the very desire within you, expanding your vessels so that you can receive. "Come and see what you can ask for; come and see what else I can bestow upon you" - things you never even knew were possible to receive. He fills a person with new vessels that He Himself created, with grace, lovingkindness, and mercy. Hashem not only bestows abundance, but grants him the desire - knowing what to desire and what to ask for, on a level far higher than he ever imagined existed, or ever thought possible to receive.
If So, Why Are Some People Not Satisfied?
In Ta'ama D'Kra, Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky asks: How can it say that He "satisfies the desire of every living thing" - meaning that He satisfies everyone according to their desire so that they are content, as the Radak explains - when we see so many people who are discontent, full of complaints, struggling with livelihood, and beset by troubles?
He explains based on the Gemara in Arachin: "What constitutes suffering? Even reaching into one's pocket to take out two coins and bringing up only one." Chazal say that even this is considered suffering. That is to say, if a person wanted one thing and received another, this is suffering that comes to atone for sin. According to this, the Holy One, blessed be He, truly does satisfy every living creature according to its desire; but what happens? Sometimes that which Hashem granted to satisfy you is collected from you - to pay your debt. If so, one has only oneself to blame, not Hashem, blessed be He.
To what can this be compared? To a king who announced on a day of celebration that every citizen in the kingdom would receive ten gold coins. One man approached, and the king recognized him as someone who had borrowed ten gold coins from him a month earlier. The king said to him, "The ten gold coins I was to give you - I am withholding them toward your debt." The man left crestfallen, complaining: "Everyone received, and only I did not!" But sir, you already received yours a month ago, and they were collected toward your debt. So it is when a person feels dissatisfied, like one who reached into his pocket and did not pull out what he wanted - this is suffering for something we did and need to rectify. The Holy One, blessed be He, collects from a person for those matters in which he is indebted to Him, and therefore withholds what was allotted to him. This is similar to what the Gemara says: "In all my days, I have never seen a lion working as a porter, a deer as a harvester, or a fox as a shopkeeper... yet I have corrupted my deeds and forfeited my livelihood." I corrupted my deeds and became indebted to the Holy One, blessed be He, and He collects it from me to cover my debt.
"Who Can Discern His Errors?" - Understanding Chazal's Teachings in Their Entirety
In a similar vein, the Chafetz Chaim explains regarding the teaching that washing one's hands generously with water brings wealth. A person might say: "What are you talking about? From all my generous washings of the hands, all I have seen is a higher water bill, and nothing resembling wealth!" The Chafetz Chaim answers: One must know the teachings of Chazal in their entirety, rather than seizing upon a single statement and treating it as the whole picture. For Chazal also state that one who scatters crumbs brings upon himself poverty. If so, they cancel each other out: on one hand he washes his hands generously, yet on the other he scatters crumbs. And that is merely one example, for there are many things that cause a person to "forfeit his livelihood" - many factors that prevent a person from receiving that abundance. Therefore, he has no one to blame but himself: "What did I not do properly, such that the blessing promised to one who acts in accordance with the Creator's will was not fulfilled in me?"
Beyond this, one must realize that there is always the reality of a heavenly decree, as explained in Michtav M'Eliyahu and in Rav Friedlander's Siftei Chaim, regarding a higher destiny (mazal) that cannot be altered - as in the case of Rabbi Elazar ben Pedat. Even if one were to perform every segulah in the world, the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: "Perhaps I should recreate the world? Maybe then you would be born under a different mazal." When it comes to a higher destiny - meaning that this is a person's specific mission in creation - that mission cannot be changed. One can only change the vehicles through which he reaches his destination, not the destination itself. This is like a person who must travel from here to Eilat: he can change the mode of transportation, but not the destination. By plane, by car, or on a scooter - he still must reach Eilat. Therefore, when a decree of poverty is not an inherent part of his life's mission, the circumstances can be changed. But when poverty itself is his mission, the role cannot be altered; that is the destination he must reach, and it cannot be changed.
"Hashem Is Righteous in All His Ways"
צַדִּיק יְהֹוָה בְּכׇל־דְּרָכָיו וְחָסִיד בְּכׇל־מַעֲשָׂיו׃ - Hashem is righteous in all His ways, and benevolent in all His deeds.
Ibn Ezra explains: If someone should claim, why does He feed one person wheat and another barley? That is, the very same question - you say that the Holy One, blessed be He, satisfies every living creature, yet here one eats barley, which is animal fodder, while another eats fine wheat bread, one living in wealth and the other in poverty. To this the answer is: "Hashem is righteous in all His ways, and benevolent in all His deeds." Hashem knows what is best for a person; He created him and knows his nature, like a physician who instructs each person to eat what is good for him.
A person goes to the doctor and asks: Why did you tell the person before me that he can eat anything, while you restrict only me; do you have something against me? My dear sir, each person is treated according to his medical file. The previous patient's chart is excellent, so he can eat anything; or sometimes the opposite - he only has two weeks left to live, so let him eat whatever he wants. But in your case, restrictions are necessary based on your individual condition. The same applies here: the Holy One, blessed be He, gives each person what is appropriate for him according to His wisdom, and all His ways are in justice and kindness. Do not think that He is depriving you of what is rightfully yours.
And Radak says: "Hashem is righteous in all His ways" - Hashem provides for man with justice and fairness, giving each one his food according to what is fitting for him. Here Radak enters into an extensive discussion, frequently cited from our verse, regarding animals.
Radak's Discussion: Justice in the Animal Kingdom
Radak explains: Even though one creature preys upon another and devours it, such as a cat preying on a mouse, or the lion, the bear, the leopard, and the other predators that consume other animals, and likewise among winged creatures - birds of prey preying on other birds - everything is just from Him. Do not think that anything unjust is taking place here, as if He provided food for the predator while dealing unfairly with the prey. For He provided food for the hunted animals and birds throughout their lives as well; until now, that bird lived on what Hashem provided for it. And as for its being preyed upon now - when their time comes to die, it was decreed beforehand that their death should sometimes serve to benefit other creatures. This is a wondrous insight: the dove was destined to die at this moment, but the Holy One, blessed be He, brought about its death through an eagle, falcon, or cat that preyed upon it. Since it was time for it to die, the Holy One, blessed be He, turned its death into sustenance for other living creatures. At other times, He decrees that it will die of natural causes. And what difference does it make whether you die on your own or by being preyed upon - in this way, the Holy One, blessed be He, provided sustenance for other animals.
Radak adds: This is a matter of great perplexity among the sages. Some say that when a lion preys upon a sheep or the like, this serves as a punishment for the prey from God, blessed be He. A similar idea is brought in Chullin 63a: When Rabbi Yochanan saw a cormorant - a bird that catches fish from the sea - he would say, "Your judgments are like the great deep." Anyone who has ever seen this bird in action knows it is astonishing: what power the Holy One, blessed be He, gave it, from what distance it spots a fish, and you see it dive like a missile, snatching it in a millisecond and flying right back up. From this you see that there was a judgment passed on the fish - "Your judgments are like the great deep" - which aligns with the view that the punishment of the prey is from Hashem.
And others say that reward and punishment do not exist for any living creatures other than man, whether Jew or Gentile, but strictly for man alone. Radak offers a middle-ground answer: indeed, there is reward and punishment for animals, but only in connection to human beings. For it is said, "And from the hand of every beast I will require it," "Your blood of your lives will I require," and "the destruction of the beasts shall dismay them" - Hashem exacts retribution from an animal because it relates to man. And similarly regarding reward, it is said: "Nor did he crush the donkey." "Why were the firstborn donkeys singled out among non-kosher animals to be redeemed? Because they bore the spoils of Israel." "To the dog you shall cast it" - as a reward for "not a dog shall sharpen its tongue," teaching that the Holy One, blessed be He, does not withhold the reward of any creature. The dogs did not bark when we left Egypt, and for that they receive a reward; an animal that killed a human being is punished for it. Thus, if a lion preys on a sheep, this is not a punishment for the prey by heavenly decree; but if a lion kills a human and the lion is punished, that is by heavenly decree. Whatever is stated in connection to man is by heavenly decree, not on account of the animals in their own right. And Radak adds: There is another opinion, but it is not fitting to write it.
"And Benevolent in All His Deeds"
"And benevolent in all His deeds" - Hashem gives them what He is not obligated to give, and what they do not inherently deserve to receive, but rather His lovingkindness prevails upon them. Hashem acts with benevolence and gives beyond what is strictly due.
Malbim explains: "Hashem is righteous in all His ways" - the Holy One, blessed be He's ways of providence are conducted in justice. Even when you see a righteous person who suffers and an evil person who prospers - everything is just, serving to penalize the righteous person in this world for a minor transgression and to reward the wicked for a minor merit he performed, so that the primary reward remains preserved for the World to Come. "And benevolent in all His deeds" - everything Hashem made and created in His world was done out of pure lovingkindness, as it is stated, "For I said, the world is built on kindness." The entire concept of the world and its creation is kindness: out of His kindness He brought forth creation, and out of His kindness He provides their sustenance - everything stems from lovingkindness and is from Him, blessed be He.
The Chofetz Chaim and the Wagon Driver
The book Otzrot HaHaggadah recounts an incident involving the Chafetz Chaim, who was once traveling with a wagon driver. The driver poured out his bitter heart before him: his horse had collapsed and died, the townspeople had raised funds so he could buy another, and business was still sluggish - and he began complaining about his lot. The Chafetz Chaim said to him: You have no reason to complain against the Holy One, Blessed is He; "The Lord is righteous in all His ways." It seems that you are not scrupulous in monetary matters, and that is why this happened to you. Sometimes a wagon driver agrees on a fare with a passenger, and midway through the journey says: "No, listen, the road was blocked, there were detours," and he demands extra payment. In the days of the Chafetz Chaim, not every driver had a meter; like a typical contractor today, he starts with a certain quote, and by the end the sky is the limit. Moreover, he told him: Sometimes you let your horse rest, and it grazes in foreign fields and eats stolen property. It is very likely that Heaven punished you with this penalty. And by the way, when the Chafetz Chaim says something like this, it is not merely "likely" - for him, it was known through Ruach HaKodesh.
The wagon driver said to him: If so, why was the honored Rabbi's fur coat stolen last year at the Vilna station? After all, the Rabbi is a tzaddik, so why was it stolen from him? And listen to what the Chafetz Chaim answered him. He said to him: I, too, am involved in commerce; I sell books. True, I make every effort to review each book and stamp it as "Proofread," and I check to ensure there are no blank pages or blurred print. Yet, "Errors, who can discern?" - it is entirely possible that a customer received a volume with a smudged page or a missing sheet, and felt embarrassed to come and tell me. Thus, I inadvertently stumbled into theft, and received my punishment for it. See the righteousness of the Chafetz Chaim: as scrupulous as he was in monetary laws, he still never considered himself entirely blameless. If the coat was stolen - apparently somewhere, I too must have done something improper.
His Scrupulousness in Monetary Matters
After all, someone once forgot a fish at his grocery store - he bought it and forgot to take it. What did the Chafetz Chaim do? That very day, he went and distributed fish to all his regular customers, lest this was the one who had forgotten. When weighing on the scale, he would always tilt it in favor of the customer, and add even more so it would be obvious there was more than the counterweight on the other side. And it was once recounted that matters reached such a point that people abandoned all the other shops and came to buy exclusively from him. He shortened his grocery store's operating hours - but saw that did not help, as people simply condensed their shopping times to match his. He said: "I am harming the livelihood of others" - and closed the store.
Once, he asked for a sheet of paper to write on - it seems at the Knessia Gedolah - and they told him he could take one, but he was not sure. When they argued that a sheet of paper was inexpensive, he said to them: From the theft of a single sheet of paper, a destructive angel is created that can shatter all the walls of Vilna. He would likewise run after someone who had stolen a wallet from him to tell him, "You are forgiven!" - so that the man would not stumble in his sin and suffer Gehinnom on his account. See how vigilant he was, and despite all this, he never proclaimed, "I am pure," but rather, "One never knows; errors, who can discern?"
Ways of Justice, Deeds of Lovingkindness
The holy Ohr HaChaim writes in Parashat Ha'azinu: When the Holy One, Blessed is He, comes to guide man, He directs him according to the strict line of justice. The instructions written in the Torah - if you act thus, it will be good, and if otherwise, it will be bad - are entirely based on strict justice. This is "The Lord is righteous in all His ways," according to the attribute of justice. But "and pious in all His deeds" - when it comes to the execution of the judgment, Hashem acts with lovingkindness. Hashem has mercy and pities: if a person repents, if he improves his ways. In terms of the ways - the paths of justice and righteousness are fixed and clear; but in the practical realm - "pious in all His deeds," if a person feels remorse and alters his conduct, the Holy One, Blessed is He, deals with him beyond the letter of the law and treats him with lovingkindness.
"The Lord Is Near to All Who Call upon Him"
קָרוֹב יְהֹוָה לְכׇל־קֹרְאָיו לְכֹל אֲשֶׁר יִקְרָאֻהוּ בֶאֱמֶת׃ - The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth.
The Ibn Ezra explains: If a king is far away, he cannot save those who cry out to him; but Hashem is always near to all who call upon Him. And what is meant by "who call upon Him in truth"? The Ibn Ezra says: In truth - and not to test Him. For we saw that in the wilderness they tested Hashem: "Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?" The question is always whether Hashem can manage this as well, whether He is capable here too. To this, the Ibn Ezra says: One who calls in truth - yes; but one who merely wishes to test Hashem, Blessed is He, is not worthy of salvation.
The Radak explains that "to all who call upon Him" comes to include the other nations as well: not only the people of Israel, but people of any nation. And what is the condition? Provided that they call upon Him in truth - that their mouth and heart are in full accord.
The Malbim explains that these verses come to express the individual Divine Providence of the Holy One, Blessed is He: from the fact that you see Hashem is near to all who call upon Him - anyone who calls out to Him in prayer, Hashem is near to him, provided that he calls upon Him in truth. Even so, the subsequent verses clarify that there are levels: "He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him," "The Lord preserves all who love Him" - there are distinct levels in this, reflecting the degree to which a person serves Hashem, whether out of awe or out of love. In any case, whoever calls out to Him - the Holy One, Blessed is He, is near to him.
"Pray for Yourself"
We once cited a story told by Rabbi Shalom Schwadron about a Jewish man he met abroad, in England, a non-observant lawyer. He approached him and said: Rabbi, I need you to pray for me very intensely; I am in terrible trouble. He asked him: What is your trouble? He related that he had represented a criminal in a British court, where the legal system is strict and uncompromising, and they discovered that he had represented him deceitfully - making claims he knew were false just to secure an acquittal. They put him on trial, the trial was very difficult, the judge was adversarial, and if he were found guilty, they would revoke his license. In other words, he would end up stacking shelves in a supermarket, with nowhere else to turn. He was in dire straits and desperately needed the Rabbi to pray for him.
Rabbi Shalom Schwadron said to him: Pray for yourself. He replied: I cannot. He asked him: Why? He told him that some years earlier his daughter had fallen ill; she was diagnosed with the illness, they flew with her abroad to Australia where she underwent surgery, and they told him that her chances of surviving the operation were exceedingly slim and that much prayer was needed. He said: I prayed to Hashem from the depths of my heart, I truly tore open the heavens, and I promised the Holy One, blessed be He, that I would never ask Him for anything else. Master of the Universe, this is the last thing I will ever ask of You; I will never ask You for anything again. And the Holy One, blessed be He, performed a miracle for me and the girl returned to life. So, I cannot ask the Holy One, blessed be He, now - I already promised Him.
Rabbi Shalom Schwadron began to laugh. What do you mean? It is as if you are saying: Master of the Universe, enough, I have burdened You, these are already too many requests, I will not overdo it. Yet Hashem yearns for the prayers of Israel, yearns for the prayers of the righteous; the Holy One, blessed be He, desires this connection and bond, and wants you to be in relationship with Him! He began explaining to him how necessary this is, and that his entire promise was like someone promising his friend that he would never do him good - is that a promise one must keep? Here, the Holy One, blessed be He, desires the connection with the Jewish people.
Rabbi Shalom Schwadron related that the man listened, took great encouragement, and decided that he would pray - after all, he had already witnessed the power of prayer. When they met again, he said to him: You will not believe it. At the very first court session after I prayed, I saw a 180-degree turn in the judge. He suddenly reversed course entirely; from that aggressive, hostile attitude, he began relating to me in a completely different way. In the end, he got off with a minor fine, and by the grace of Hashem, emerged from the whole affair unscathed.
This is the meaning of "to all who call upon Him in truth." What Hashem wants is that they call upon Him in truth. And as the Vilna Gaon once said to Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin: It does not say "Chaim" here, nor does it say "Eliyahu," but rather "all who trust in Hashem." Whoever trusts in Hashem - the Holy One, blessed be He, is close to him; whoever prays to Hashem - Hashem is close to him, "to all who call upon Him," even a gentile, as the Radak writes. One must know: the Holy One, blessed be He, is close to whoever calls upon Him - provided it is a call in truth, a call from the depths of the heart.
In summary: "You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing" is the very heart of Ashrei - the recognition that Hashem sustains and nourishes all, and even creates within man the desire and the vessels to receive. Specifically "those who dwell in Your house" merit this, rather than those who wander the roads in search of a livelihood. And when a person is unsatisfied - "Hashem is righteous in all His ways": everything is with justice and exact reckoning, according to each person's individual state and their debts, like a physician who knows the course of an illness; and even the governance of the animal kingdom is entirely just from Him. And "kind in all His deeds" - beyond the strict letter of the law, from the aspect of lovingkindness with which the world was created, and extending beyond the requirement of the law for one who repents and makes amends. Above all, "Hashem is close to all who call upon Him" - Hashem yearns for our prayers and desires a relationship with us, provided we call upon Him in truth, with mouth and heart in unison, and from the depths of the heart.