Q:
What does it mean when we praise Hashem for being סומך נופלים, upholds those who are falling?
A:
סומך נופלים means that Hakadosh Baruch Hu holds up all the people who would have fallen. We’re all fallers. If you stand up after this lecture on your feet, it’s a miracle. Look; you’re tall and you’re narrow. How can such a thing remain standing? It’s like putting a pole on the ground. It will totter! Let’s say a man is standing over there and another person shoots a bullet at him and it hits him. Does he die standing on his feet? No! Nobody dies on his feet. Because to remain on your feet requires a lot of coordination of nerves and muscle and brain. It’s a great feat, a great accomplishment, to remain standing. So to stand up is a tremendous thing! It’s a miracle of nature that you could stand up.
Look You have joints all over you. You should bend at every joint when you stand up. You stand up and all your joints are holding. That’s a neis! I really mean it – it’s a neis. So who does that? Hashem. He upholds all the fallers. We’re all fallers. As you walk through the street you should’ve fallen every step. Hashem held you up every minute.
Here’s a man who fell a little bit. He fell; let’s say he was a millionaire, now he only has a half a million left. He’s a faller. But he could’ve fallen even less. He could’ve fallen below the half million mark. When he was falling to the half million mark, Hashem caught him. Like a man falling out of a ten story window, and the firemen catch him in a net. He’s a little bumped up when he falls into the net. But it’s better than touching the sidewalk. If he would have encountered the sidewalk, you would have to pick him up with a sponge!
So when Hashem puts the net under a man, a man should be happy. “Look! I’m half a millionaire! I’m half a millionaire!”
If chas v’shalom a man lost one eye, he has to be happy. Hashem saved the other eye for him.
And therefore Hakadosh Baruch Hu is always holding up the fallers. Only they don’t realize because they didn’t fall any lower. So they think that’s how they’re supposed to be. No! You’re not supposed to be anything! Everybody is supposed to be a bum in the bowery. Everybody is supposed to sleep on a park bench. The fact that you have a home – Hashem is holding you up!
In the morning you have to go out on the street, you should be naked, stark-naked. Only you walk to your closet and take out clothing. That’s a gift you’re getting in the morning. מלביש ערמים. He’s clothing you all over again. It’s new clothing; it’s not the thing you had yesterday. It’s new clothing. That’s how you have to understand it. Even if it’s the same clothes, it’s a new thing. You should have nothing, only that Hashem is supporting you.
So therefore, everyday He’s סומך נופלים. Hashem is upholding the fallers.
(April 1983)
