Nishmas Day 27 - Rav Gav Friedman | A Walking Shulchan Aruch
כַּדָּבָר שֶׁכָּתוּב: כָּל עַצְמוֹתַי תֹּאמַרְנָה ה' מִי כָמוֹךָ,
“All my bones declare: Hashem, who is like You?”
On one level, this posuk means that if a person truly pays attention—if we look closely enough at our bodies, at the entire world around us, everything is, in a sense, calling out His presence. We just have to notice.
But there’s another way to understand these words.
Rav Shraga Feivel Mendelovich once told his talmidim that a Yid is meant to live according to the שֻׁלְחָן עָרוּךְ . When a person lives that way, you can look at them — at their actions, their behavior, the way they carry themselves — and it’s as if the שֻׁלְחָן עָרוּךְ becomes visible through them.
Because when you see a Yid who has refined himself and worked on his middos, and you can’t help but think:
ה׳ מִי כָמוֹך.
One of Rav Shraga Feivel’s talmidim then asked, “Rebbe, is there anyone today who fits that description?”
There was a pause, and then he answered: “To truly know if someone is living every detail of the Shulchan Aruch, you’d have to know them completely, and I don’t.
But there is one thing I can tell you. I’ve seen Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky… and he is someone you can look at — and learn from.”
Are we living in a way where our actions “speak”? Are we living in a way that someone could look at us and feel:
ה׳ מִי כָמוֹךָ?
Because ultimately, that’s what we’re here to create a קִדּוּשׁ ה׳ and live in a way that brings His presence into the world.
The way we walk, the way we interact, and the way we live, should reflect something higher.
So that anyone who sees us can pause and say:
ה׳ מִי כָמוֹךָ.
