We continue with part two of Yeshaya, 50, 10. מִ֤י בָכֶם֙ יְרֵ֣א יְהֹוָ֔ה שֹׁמֵ֖עַ בְּק֣וֹל עַבְדּ֑וֹ אֲשֶׁ֣ר ׀ הָלַ֣ךְ חֲשֵׁכִ֗ים וְאֵ֥ין נֹ֙גַהּ֙ ל֔וֹ יִבְטַח֙ בְּשֵׁ֣ם יְהֹוָ֔ה וְיִשָּׁעֵ֖ן בֵּאלֹהָֽיו׃ Who amongst you is fearful of God, that listens to the voice of his servant, that went in the darkness without any shining. Rely on the name of God and lean on your God . The Gemara in Berachot 6B explains this pasuk in a Midrashic way. Who are we talking about? We're talking about a man who usually comes to shul but didn't come one day. God takes attendance and says, Where's this fellow? What happened to him? מִ֤י בָכֶם֙ יְרֵ֣א יְהֹוָ֔ה / Where are you, oh God-fearing man שֹׁמ ֵ֖עַ בְּק֣וֹל עַבְדּ֑וֹ / You usually listen to the voice of the servant (referring to the Hazan. Just like the kohen is the servant of Hashem, so too, the hazan is like the kohen in the Bet Hamikdash, says the Maharsha). We're asking, What happened to you? Where are you? You missed a day. Why did you miss ? First of all, אֲשֶׁ֣ר ׀ הָלַ֣ךְ חֲשֵׁכִ֗ים /you're going in the dark. What does “going in the dark” mean ? According to this explanation, ‘going in the dark’ means you didn't go to shul. In sefer Chefetz Hashem , Rav Chaim Ben Atar, famous for his commentary Or HaChaim Hakadosh, tells us that whenever you go to shul, there's a light in shul. The Gaon of Vilna says this too, in his sefer Imrei Noam . When a person walks into shul, there's a light there, and you are surrounded by that light every time you go to shul. So, what happened to you? Why didn’t you come to shul? The Gemara continues, If you went to do another mitzvah, that’s ok. You’ll shine from that mitzvah. So if you were on a Hatzolah call or had some emergency that had to be taken care of, and that’s why you couldn't come to shul, that Mitzvah will give you the shine. So, we understand from this pasuk that God comes to shul in the morning and takes attendance. If you’re not there, He says, Where are you? You're in the dark because you didn't come to shul. But if it was because you did a mitzvah, you're shining. If you didn't do a mitzvah, וְאֵ֥ין נֹ֙גַהּ֙ ל֔ו /there's no shining . And if you say, “ I'll tell you what my mitzvah was. I went to work early to support my family. That's my mitzvah- that's my excuse for not being in shul. ” Hashem will say, “ No, that's not an excuse . יִבְטַח֙ בְּשֵׁ֣ם יְהֹוָ֔ה וְיִשָּׁעֵ֖ן בֵּאלֹהָֽיו You should have relied on God. You should have leaned on God. Why did you miss shul? You do not have the mitzva right now of parnasa. The Gaon of Vilna says, Yes, parnasa is mitzva. When you go to work after shul, you could say, Leshem Yichud, I'm now going to support my family. That’s a wonderful thing. But , he says, not during the time of prayer . Because during the time of prayer, what God wants you to do is pray for your parnasa. He told you, Go to work, but before you go to work, go pray. Work is a mitzvah after prayer, not before prayer. Why didn't you take off from work to pray? Obviously , says God, because you weren't relying on Me enough. You thought you had to get there earlier. That's a mistake. This a very, very important concept for us shul-goers. When you're in high school, the rabbi takes attendance. He gives out detention for missing Shaharit, and there’s a Hot Cocoa club if you come on time… But now you may think, I'm not in high school anymore. I'm free. But that’s a mistake. God takes attendance . God says, Where are you? You're missing in shul. That in itself is an honor. You're a shul-goer. Rashi says the way to read the pasuk is, מִ֤י בָכֶם֙ יְרֵ֣א יְהֹוָ֔ה / Who is that God-fearing man? The God-fearing man is the man that goes to shul. He goes to shul every day. This is a nice, positive twist. If you are a consistent shul goer, you're in God's roll book. You're a God-fearing man. But what happened to you? Where are you today? Why didn’t you come to shul? Some people like to feel missed and noticed. Hashem is asking about you. That’s a