זֶ֤ה אֵלִי֙ וְאַנְוֵ֔הוּ {ס}
אֱלֹקֵ֥י אָבִ֖י וַאֲרֹמְמֶֽנְהוּ׃ {ס}
This is my God and I will enshrine Him;
The God of my father, and I will exalt Him.
It was taught in a baraita with regard to the verse: “This is my God and I will glorify Him [anveihu].” - Beautify yourself before Him in mitzvot. Make before Him a beautiful sukka, a beautiful lulav, a beautiful shofar, beautiful ritual fringes, beautiful parchment for a Torah scroll, and write in it in His name in beautiful ink, with a beautiful quill by an expert scribe, and wrap the scroll in beautiful silk fabric.
Abba Shaul says: Ve’anveihu should be interpreted as if it were written in two words: Ani vaHu, me and Him [God]. Be similar to Him: Just as He is compassionate and merciful, so too should you be compassionate and merciful.
הנה נאמר בדברי חכמינו ז"ל (שבת קלג:) הדבק במדותיו מה הוא רחום כו' אף אתה כו'. והנה בהמדות יש מדת אל, והאיך אפשר לאדם להתדבק במדת אל. והנה אמרו רבותינו ז"ל אל הוא תקיף ובעל יכולת. וכמו כן הצדיק הוא תקיף אצל השם יתברך לעשות רצון הצדיקים.
The Talmud in Shabbat 133 urges each one of us to “attach” ourselves to the virtues manifested by Hashem, by emulating them whenever possible, giving as an example: “just as He is merciful, you are to be merciful also.”
The problem with this “moral imperative” posited by the Talmud is that one of the attributes G’d has revealed to Moses in our portion is called א-ל, - how are we to emulate such an attribute?
בְּכָל יוֹם מַקִּיפִין אֶת הַמִּזְבֵּחַ פַּעַם אַחַת, וְאוֹמְרִים, אָנָּא יי הוֹשִׁיעָה נָּא, אָנָּא יי הַצְלִיחָה נָּא. רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר, אֲנִי וָהוֹ הוֹשִׁיעָה נָּא.
וְאוֹתוֹ הַיּוֹם מַקִּיפִין אֶת הַמִּזְבֵּחַ שֶׁבַע פְּעָמִים. בִּשְׁעַת פְּטִירָתָן, מָה הֵן אוֹמְרִים, יֹפִי לְךָ מִזְבֵּחַ, יֹפִי לְךָ מִזְבֵּחַ. רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר אוֹמֵר, לְיָהּ וּלְךָ, מִזְבֵּחַ. לְיָהּ וּלְךָ, מִזְבֵּחַ:
Each day they would circle the altar one time and say: “Lord, please save us. Lord, please grant us success” (Psalms 118:25). Rabbi Yehuda says that they would say: Ani vaho, please save us. And on that day, the seventh day of Sukkot, they would circle the altar seven times. At the time of their departure at the end of the Festival, what would they say? It is beautiful for you, altar; it is beautiful for you, altar. Rabbi Elazar said that they would say: To the Lord and to you, altar; to the Lord and to you, altar.
If you combine three verses from Exodus together, each with seventy-two letters, and read them backwards and forwards, you will find seventy-two three-letter names. One of them is Ani and one of them is Vaho.
It is taught in the Tosefta: They said about Hillel the Elder that when he was rejoicing at the Celebration of the Place of the Drawing of the Water he said this:
If I am here, everyone is here; and if I am not here, who is here?
He would also say this:
To the place that I love, there my feet take me: If you come to My house, I will come to your house; if you do not come to My house, I will not come to your house.
Rabbi Zeira said that for the beautification of a mitzva, one should spend up to one-third more than the cost of the standard item used to perform the mitzva.
Rabbi Ile’a said: In Usha the Sages instituted that one who dispenses his money should not dispense more than one-fifth. That opinion is also taught in a baraita: One who scatters should not scatter more than one-fifth, lest he render himself destitute and need the help of other people.
(יב) מִצְוַת נֵר חֲנֻכָּה מִצְוָה חֲבִיבָה הִיא עַד מְאֹד וְצָרִיךְ אָדָם לְהִזָּהֵר בָּהּ כְּדֵי לְהוֹדִיעַ הַנֵּס וּלְהוֹסִיף בְּשֶׁבַח הָאֵל וְהוֹדָיָה לוֹ עַל הַנִּסִּים שֶׁעָשָׂה לָנוּ. אֲפִלּוּ אֵין לוֹ מַה יֹּאכַל אֶלָּא מִן הַצְּדָקָה שׁוֹאֵל אוֹ מוֹכֵר כְּסוּתוֹ וְלוֹקֵחַ שֶׁמֶן וְנֵרוֹת וּמַדְלִיק:
The precept of lighting the Hanukkah lamp is exceedingly precious, and one should carefully observe it in order to acclaim the miracle, ever praising and thanking God for the miracles which he has performed for us. Even if one has nothing to eat except what he gets from charity, he should borrow, or sell his garment, to buy oil and lamps and light them.