When You Are Waiting for the Door to Open
The last weeks of pregnancy carry a weight all their own. The waiting, the hoping, the quiet worry that sits behind every kick and every breath. You want one thing: that your baby should come into this world safely, b’sha’ah tovah, without pain and without danger. Every mother who has ever stood in this place knows that feeling.
There is a custom in some communities that when a woman enters the ninth month of pregnancy, her husband receives or performs pesichah, the opening of the Aron Kodesh, as a segulah and tefillah for an easy birth.
The pesukim recited when the Aron is opened come from Sefer Bamidbar (10:35-36). Moshe Rabbeinu said these words when the Aron traveled forward in the midbar. In this minhag, those pesukim are associated with a tefillah that Hashem go before His children, remove danger, and bring the birth in the right time and in peace.
Before You Say This Tefillah
Find a quiet moment. If you are standing in shul for pesichah, let everything else fall away — the people around you, the noise, the schedule. Bring to mind the mother and child, and turn to Hashem with that need plainly and honestly. He already knows the weight being carried, the waiting, and the worry. Before the pesukim, a person can ask:
Ribono Shel Olam, You formed this child, and You know every moment of this pregnancy. Please open the way for a safe and easy birth. Let everything go smoothly. Let the baby come into this world healthy and whole, and give strength to the mother as she brings this child into Your light. In the zechus of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness, Elokah d’Meir aneni.
If giving tzedakah, add:
In the zechus of the tzedakah being given for Rabbi Meir Baal Haness, please let the delivery be easy, safe, and without complications. Ribono Shel Olam, this gift is being given to support Your children in Eretz Yisrael. Please watch over the mother and the child and guard them with rachamim.
Vayehi Binsoa Ha’Aron: The Full Prayer
וַיְהִי בִּנְסֹעַ הָאָרֹן וַיֹּאמֶר מֹשֶׁה קוּמָה יְהֹוָה וְיָפֻצוּ אֹיְבֶיךָ וְיָנֻסוּ מְשַׂנְאֶיךָ מִפָּנֶיךָ
וּבְנֻחֹה יֹאמַר שׁוּבָה יְהֹוָה רִבְבוֹת אַלְפֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל
Vay'hi binsoa ha'oron vayoimer Moishe: Kumoh Hashem, v'yofutzu oiy'vecho, v'yonusu m'san'echo miponecho.
Uv'nuchoi yoimar: Shuvoh Hashem riv'vois alfei Yisroel.
Vayehi binsoa ha'aron vayomer Moshe: Kumah Hashem, veyafutzu oyvecha, veyanusu mesanecha mipanecha.
Uvenuchoh yomar: Shuvah Hashem rivevot alfei Yisrael.
When the Ark set out, Moshe would say: Arise, God, and let Your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate You flee before You.
And when it rested, he would say: Return, God, to the myriads and thousands of Israel.
These two pesukim are among the most recognizable words in the Torah. They are said every time we take the Torah out of the Aron in shul, and every time we return it. When the Aron opens, Moshe’s words rise again: Kumah Hashem — arise, Hashem, and go before us. For a woman in her ninth month, these words carry a special meaning. She is asking Hashem to go ahead of her, to clear the path, to make the way open and safe for her child to enter the world.
What These Words Mean for You
Kumah Hashem “Arise, God”
The root of kumah is ק-ו-מ, to rise, to stand up, to act. Moshe did not whisper this word. He called out to Hashem at the moment the Aron began to move — the moment of setting forth into the unknown. That is exactly where you stand right now. You are about to set forth into something you cannot fully control. With this word, you are calling on Hashem to rise and be with you in that moment. In the pasuk itself, Moshe’s cry comes as the Aron sets out before the people. When you say kumah, you are asking the same thing: go before me, clear the path, and let this birth begin with Your presence leading.
V’yofutzu oiy’vecho “And let Your enemies be scattered”
The root of yofutzu is פ-ו-צ, meaning to scatter, to break apart, to disperse. In the midbar, the enemies were those who stood in the way. For a woman approaching birth, the “enemies” are the fears, the dangers, the complications that loom in the mind. When you say these words before the open Aron, you are davening: let every obstacle scatter. Let every difficulty break apart. Let nothing stand between this child and a safe arrival. The Gemara in Shabbos teaches that these two pesukim are marked off in the Torah by inverted nuns (נ), giving them a distinct weight and kedushah.
Binsoa ha’oron “When the Ark set out”
The root of binsoa is נ-ס-ע, to travel, to journey, to move forward. The Aron did not stay in one place. It traveled ahead of the people, leading them through the wilderness toward Eretz Yisrael. This is the heart of the pesichah minhag. When the Aron Kodesh doors open in shul, it is as if the Aron is setting out again. And you, standing there with a child about to be born, are asking Hashem to let this journey — the journey from womb to world — go forward safely. The opening of the Aron doors mirrors the opening you are davening for: that everything should open at the right time, in the right way.
Shuvoh Hashem riv’vois alfei Yisroel “Return, God, to the myriads and thousands of Israel”
The root of shuvoh is ש-ו-ב, to return, to come back, to dwell once more. After the Aron moved forward and the way was cleared, Moshe called for Hashem’s presence to rest again among the people. This second pasuk holds everything the first one sets in motion. First, you ask Hashem to clear the way. Then, once the baby arrives, you ask Him to come and rest among your family. Let Your presence fill this new life. Let this child be counted among the thousands and myriads of Yisrael.
How to Say This Tefillah
The minhag of pesichah in the 9th month centers on the moment when the Aron Kodesh is opened as a time of tefillah for rachamei Shamayim and an easy, safe delivery. The main thing is not the act of opening itself, but the bakashah said at that moment. The focus of the minhag is the tefillah: asking Hashem to open the way with mercy, guard mother and baby, and bring the birth at the right time and in peace. Before the Aron is opened, it helps to set the kavanah clearly: to ask Hashem for a smooth delivery, a healthy baby, and compassion from Heaven at the time of birth.
Tefillah and tzedakah together carry special weight. When this moment is joined with tzedakah given in the zechus of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness, the request is lifted with both tefillah and chesed. The tefillah is directed to Hashem, while invoking the zechus of a tzaddik and the merit of helping others. You are asking Hashem to hear you in the combined merit of this tzaddik and the kindness you are doing for others.
Give Tzedakah in the Zechus of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness
In Avodah Zarah 18a–18b, Beruriah tells Rabbi Meir that her sister has been taken into a Roman brothel. Rabbi Meir goes to rescue her. In the course of that rescue, he teaches the guard to say “Elaha d’Meir aneini,” and even demonstrates the phrase when threatened by dogs. The Gemara presents a moment of danger, courage, and Divine rescue — and many later Jews connected that story to heartfelt tefillah in times of need.
A woman in her ninth month understands this story in her bones. You are carrying someone who needs to come out safely, and you are asking Hashem to open the way. Giving tzedakah in the zechus of Rabbi Meir is not a payment and not a magic formula. It is a later Jewish practice of asking Hashem to hear your tefillah in the combined merit of a great tzaddik and the real act of kindness you are doing right now for another person.
Rabbi Meir Baal Haness Charities was founded in 1799. The scholars in Tiberias daven by name for those who reach out to them. The charity supports Torah scholars and the poor in Eretz Yisrael. For generations, women approaching birth have given tzedakah in Rabbi Meir’s zechus and asked Hashem for a safe delivery. You are joining a long chain of mothers who turned to Hashem at exactly this moment.
Give Tzedakah in the Zechus of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness
Pesichah is the minhag of having the Aron Kodesh opened in shul while a woman in her ninth month stands before it and davens. The opening of the Aron symbolizes the opening of the way for an easy birth. While the Aron is open, she says the pesukim of Vayehi Binsoa HaAron ( Bamidbar 10:35 -36) and adds her own personal tefillos for a safe delivery.
There is no single required day. Some women do it as soon as they enter the ninth month, while others wait until closer to their due date. The key is that the Aron is opened for you at a time when you can stand before it with full kavanah. Speak with your shul's gabbai to arrange a time that works.
Yes. Many women have a family member stand nearby for support. Some husbands say the pesukim together with their wife. The tefillah can also be said by a husband or mother on behalf of the woman if she cannot come to shul herself.
God of Meir, answer me." These are the words Rabbi Meir cried out when someone was trapped and in danger, and through this tefillah to Hashem, that person was freed. Saying these words alongside your pesichah is asking Hashem to hear you in the zechus of this great tzaddik.
No. Tefillah and medical care work together. The Torah expects us to do our hishtadlus — keep prenatal appointments, follow your doctor's guidance, and go to the hospital when it is time. Pesichah is a tefillah asking Hashem to bless those efforts and to watch over you and your baby.
A Brachah for Your Delivery
You are standing at the edge of something sacred. A new neshamah is about to enter the world through you. That you came here, that you are seeking to daven, that you want to stand before the Aron and ask Hashem for help — that already shows who you are as a mother.
May Hashem open every door for you, b’sha’ah tovah u’mutzlachas. May your delivery be quick, safe, and smooth. May your baby arrive healthy, whole, and strong. May you hold your child in your arms and feel the weight of answered tefillah. And may the words of Moshe Rabbeinu — kumah Hashem — echo over your birth: that Hashem rose before you, cleared the way, and brought your child safely into this world.
You can submit a prayer request to the scholars of Tiberias at no cost — they will daven for your safe delivery by name through Rabbi Meir Baal Haness Charities. And if you would like to give tzedakah in Rabbi Meir’s zechus as well, your kindness will rise together with your prayer.
