Rabbi Levitt's Graduation Speech

Tefilat haderech, the Traveler’s Prayer, entails a number of elements including the hopes for a peaceful experience, safe arrival at the destination, protection from a variety of problems along the way, and that Hashem should be gracious, kind, and merciful to us, and receptive to our prayers in general.

The Talmud Bavli in Berachot 29B records a version of the tefila, and as such the tefilah’s composition dates back at least to before the 4^th century CE. The opening phrases of this tefilah include three statements focused on the activity of travel and that it be done in peace -

יְהִי רָצוֹן מִלְּפָנֶֽיךָ, יְיָ אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ וֵאלֹהֵי אֲבוֹתֵֽינוּ, שֶׁתּוֹלִיכֵֽנוּ לְשָׁלוֹם, וְתַצְעִידֵֽנוּ לְשָׁלוֹם, וְתַדְרִיכֵֽנוּ לְשָׁלוֹם, וְתַגִּיעֵֽנוּ לִמְחוֹז חֶפְצֵֽנוּ לְחַיִּים וּלְשִׂמְחָה וּלְשָׁלוֹם, (ואם דעתו לחזור באותו היום אומר: וְתַחֲזִירֵֽנוּ לְבֵיתֵֽנוּ לְשָׁלוֹם,) וְתַצִּילֵֽנוּ מִכַּף כָּל אוֹיֵב וְאוֹרֵב בַּדֶּֽרֶךְ, וּמִכָּל מִינֵי פֻרְעָנִיּוֹת הַמִּתְרַגְּשׁוֹת לָבוֹא לָעוֹלָם, וְתִשְׁלַח בְּרָכָה בְּ(כָל) מַעֲשֵׂה יָדֵֽינוּ, וְתִתְּנֵֽנוּ לְחֵן וּלְחֶֽסֶד וּלְרַחֲמִים בְּעֵינֶֽיךָ וּבְעֵינֵי כָל רוֹאֵֽינוּ, וְתִשְׁמַע קוֹל תַּחֲנוּנֵֽינוּ, כִּי אֵל שׁוֹמֵֽעַ תְּפִלָה וְתַחֲנוּן אָֽתָּה

It is important to note that the early medieval rishonim and the prayer books of the geonim evidence variations of this prayer, variations that differ in cases by an article, and sometimes in entire phrases.

While poetic license is certainly allowed within the framework of a prayer, the repetition of the opening three verbs phrases that describe “motion with peace” raises the question of why there is this apparent redundancy. One suggested answer is that the three phrases reflect three different modes of transportation in the world of 2,000 years ago. Perhaps travel by boat, walking on foot, and travel by animal were the inspiration for each of the nuanced phrases. Another suggested answer is that Jewish thought promotes the idea of strength in threes, an idea that appears in Kohelet, Perek dalet pasuk yod beit

וְהַחוּט הַֽמְשֻׁלָּשׁ לֹא בִמְהֵרָה יִנָּתֵֽק

where the text describes how a thread made of three strands is much harder to break. Asking Hashem to look out for us with a three part supplication has resonance. This last idea is also intriguing in light of the conversations the seniors held on last week’s trip about the binds that tie us as friends, ties that may loosen as we travel down the pathways of our respective lives.  

There is a phrase in the prayer  וְתַחֲזִירֵֽנוּ לְבֵיתֵֽנוּ לְשָׁלוֹם   , please return us to our homes peacefully, that many versions exclude. There are questions about whether one should include these words even if one intends to return home during the same day the trip begins. I suggest that the inclusion or non-inclusion of this phrase relates very directly to some of the emotions of an evening like this one. On the one hand, the seniors are poised to spread their adult wings and leave home under Hashem’s aegis. Their job is to experience adventures in parts elsewhere because to grow and develop, much like Avraham and Odysseus, may require travel to currently foreign places so that they are able to forge their identities. On the other hand, a part of us doesn’t want to leave home, or leave the comforts of the school that we called home for anywhere from two years to thirteen years. I’d like to think that whichever version of the tefila you, the Class of 2011, elect to recite, I hope that you will always carry with you the values you have learned in your homes, and take with you the five core principles of the MJBHA mission as you gain speed along this departing runway, launching into the happy and successful rest of your lives.