‫‪Parsha‬‬ ‫‪Preview

Harav Hagaon Binyamin Cohen Shlita

Your Tefillos Hold Great Power!

Parshas Toldos

Harav Hagaon Binyomin Cohen shlita

At the beginning of the parshah the Torah tells us, וַיֶּעְתַּר יִצְחָק לַה’ לְנֹכַח אִשְׁתּוֹ כִּי עֲקָרָה הִוא. What does it mean that Yitzchak davened לְנֹכַח אִשְׁתּוֹ? Rashi explains that each one davened in a different corner. The Rashbam, however, explains that the word לְנֹכַח means בשביל — for the sake of his wife. The Sforno explains that he didn’t daven for himself, because Hakadosh Baruch Hu had already promised that he would have children, as He told Avraham, כִּי בְיִצְחָק יִקָּרֵא לְךָ זָרַע. There was no promise that those children would come from Rivka, though, so he davened לְנֹכַח אִשְׁתּוֹ, on behalf of his wife, that the children should come from her.

In this parshah we find many fundamental principles regarding tefillah, and I would like to highlight some of them.

The Be’er Moshe wonders: Since Chazal say that if a tzaddik is gozer Hakadosh Baruch Hu is mekayem, did Yitzchak have to daven at all? Couldn’t he simply have made a gezeirah that he and Rivka should have a child, and Hakadosh Baruch Hu would have fulfilled it?

He answers that Yitzchak could indeed have made a gezeirah and they would have had a child, but that child would not have endured for eternity. Yitzchak wanted doros, he wanted to be the forebear of Klal Yisrael, and the only way to achieve something eternal like that is through tefillah. Tefillah has a kiyum.

The Gemara in Berachos relates that Eli HaKohen wanted to have Shmuel killed because he paskened a halachah before his rebbi, and he assured Shmuel’s mother, Chana, that she would have many more children in his stead. Chana refused, however, saying, אֶל הַנַּעַר הַזֶּה הִתְפַּלָּלְתִּי — I davened for this child.

If Eli was offering her many children who would be talmidei chachamim and nevi’im, in place of the one talmid chacham and navi that she currently had, wouldn’t simple mathematics dictate that she accept the deal? The answer is that Eli was going to give Chana children not through tefillah, and those children therefore would not have kiyum. In saying אֶל הַנַּעַר הַזֶּה הִתְפַּלָּלְתִּי, Chana was conveying that a child who comes to the world through tefillah has kiyum for eternity, and she therefore wanted Shmuel specifically.

Similarly, Klal Yisrael had to be built through tefillah, and that is why Yitzchak davened for a child.

Daven… and Daven Again

Rashi explains that the term וַיֶּעְתַּר means הרבה והפציר בתפלה — a very persistent and intense tefillah, adding that Hashem was נתפצר ונתפייס ונתפתה, which are three very strong leshonos. There was a lot of tefillah here, over and over.

The Mabit (Beis Elokim ch. 2) notes that it’s hard for us to grasp the purpose of davening again and again for the same thing. When you want a favor from a human king, or any other person, you ask once, or maybe twice, knowing that if you ask too many times, the person will become annoyed and view you as a nudge. Why, then, are we supposed to make the same request of Hashem every day, six days a week, throughout the year? Does He really want to hear the same bakashah thousands of times?

He answers that the purpose of davening is for us to recognize — and display our recognition — that there is no one else from whom we can request our needs besides Hakadosh Baruch Hu, since He is the only One Who can help us. By davening again and again, we reinforce this idea to ourselves.

The Sefer Chassidim (158) makes a very important point, noting that if a person needs parnassah or refuah, he should not place his emphasis, when davening, on the berachah of Bareich Aleinu or Refa’einu, because if he does, he might invite a kitrug from above that he is thinking only about his own needs. Rather, he should have kavanah in all of Shemoneh Esrei, because the main kavanah of the berachos is to praise Hakadosh Baruch Hu and reiterate that He is all-powerful and is the only One Who can help. If he places his koach into the entire tefillah, that will bring a yeshuah.

 

On Whom Are You Relying?

The Gemara (Yevamos 64a) states that the reason the Avos were barren is that Hakadosh Baruch Hu desires the tefillos of tzaddikim. R’ Chaim Shmuelevitz observes that often, a Yid has tzaros, and those tzaros are the catalyst for his davening, but it can also work the other way: the tefillah might be the cause of the tzaros. In other words, Hakadosh Baruch Hu is seeking a kesher with a person, and wants him to come to the realization, through davening, that He is kol yachol.

We say in Tehillim (121:1), מֵאַיִן יָבֹא עֶזְרִי, and these words express the feeling that we have no one to turn to for help — no friends, no connections, no avenues of salvation — except Hakadosh Baruch Hu, as we continue, עֶזְרִי מֵעִם ה’. When we truly feel this way, then the yeshuah will come.

To illustrate this idea, R’ Dessler brings a mashal in the name of R’ Nachum Zev, the son of the Alter of Kelm. A certain wealthy Yid lost all his money, and another gvir decided to come to his aid and provide him with all his needs. One day, this impoverished Yid decided to start collecting door-to-door, and at each of the doors he knocked on he received a few dollars. Later, when he returned to the gvir who had been helping him, this gvir also gave him a small donation.

“What happened?” he asked in surprise. “I thought you would give me a large amount!”

The gvir responded, “Until you started collecting door-to-door, you were relying on me, so I gave you money generously. But now that you’re approaching others as well, I’m giving you the same small donation as everyone else.”

The Great Power that Gets Ignored

Every morning we daven that we should learn all of Torah — וְתֵן בְּלִבֵּנוּ לְהָבִין וּלְהַשְׂכִּיל, לִשְׁמֹעַ, לִלְמֹד וּלְלַמֵּד, לִשְׁמֹר וְלַעֲשׂוֹת וּלְקַיֵּם אֶת כָּל דִּבְרֵי תַלְמוּד תּוֹרָתֶךָ בְּאַהֲבָה — and this includes Zera’im, Taharos, and every other part of Torah. Not only are we asking that we should be able to learn all of Torah, we are also asking that we should be able to teach and give shiur on kol haTorah kulah!

The Gemara states (Berachos 32b): אם ראה אדם שהתפלל ולא נענה יחזור ויתפלל — if a person sees that his tefillah has not been answered, he should daven again. As we explained, tefillah is different from requests we make of others, in that we are urged to daven more and more, since Hakadosh Baruch Hu wants ribui tefillah. More davening brings the yeshuah.

The Vilna Gaon (cited in Keser Rosh) highlights the surprising power of Chazaras HaShatz, and notes that it is a fulfillment of the Gemara’s instruction to daven again — יחזור ויתפלל. In Chazaras HaShatz, says the Gaon, the tefillos are accepted more readily.

The Kaf HaChaim (siman 124) relates that the Arizal revealed to us the secret that although Chazal instituted Chazaras HaShatz for the sake of those who do not know how to daven themselves, on a deeper level, since it is the tefillah of the tzibbur it holds greater power than the quiet Shemoneh Esrei, which is the tefillah of a yachid.

When something is truly chashuv, the yetzer hara tries hard to hide it from us, and perhaps the reason people do not value Chazaras HaShatz enough is because it is so powerful. But if we realize that this repetition is where our tefillos are accepted, then we will be motivated to put more effort into listening to the entire Chazaras HaShatz.

We’re living now in the time of Ikvesa d’Meshicha, and Hakadosh Baruch Hu wants us to daven more than ever before. Indeed, the Yalkut in Tehillim says that Klal Yisrael will merit the the geulah through tefillah: אין ישראל נגאלין אלא מתוך תפילה, as the passuk states (Yirmiyah 31:8), בִּבְכִי יָבֹאוּ וּבְתַחֲנוּנִים אוֹבִילֵם אוֹלִיכֵם אֶל נַחֲלֵי מַיִם.

The Mishnah at the end of Sotah lists all the difficult things that will happen before Moshiach’s arrival, concluding with the words על מי יש להשען על אבינו שבשמים. In other words, we need tefillah! We need to realize that Hakadosh Baruch Hu is the only One Who can help us.

Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer (ch. 32) states that in acharis hayamim, Yishmael will cause Klal Yisrael to daven because of the tzaros they will bring upon us, and ישמע קל — Hakadosh Baruch Hu is going to hear.

You Can Change Someone’s Life!

Let us end off with one last point about tefillah. We see that when Yitzchak davened for Rivka, Hakadosh Baruch Hu listened to his tefillos. A Yid has the koach to daven for someone else, and that tefillah can be very powerful.

R’ Nissan Kaplan related an amazing story that happened in his chaburah in the Mir’s Beis Yeshayah. A certain bachur sat and learned diligently, but he had a slower head and it took him a while to understand the Gemara and chap the sugya. He would go through a lot of chavrusos, since it was hard to learn with him, and none of them lasted too long. This boy would always daven to have a good chavrusa, but one day, he found himself with no one to learn with. Another boy, who had a very good head, came late to the zman and needed a chavrusa, so this bachur asked him to learn with him and he agreed.

After two weeks, however, the second bachur approached his rebbi and said, “You know, it’s very hard to learn with my chavrusa. We don’t get very far; we only learn a few lines a day. On the other hand, I don’t want to break him, since he davened for a good chavrusa and he really is a good boy. What should I do?”

Then the boy said, “I have an idea — I’m going to daven that this boy should become smarter and be able to understand the Gemara better.”

They continued learning, and sure enough, the boy’s mind opened up, and he began to understand the Gemara much more easily and quickly. Today, he is a very chashuveh yungerman.

A Yid davening for another has tremendous power!

The more we recognize the power of tefillah, the more we have the ability to change the world.

Hashem should help us to believe in the koach hatefillah and recognize how much He desires our tefillos. May our tefillos bring the geulah and yeshuos for us and all of Klal Yisrael.

Gut Shabbos.

Parsha Preview Audio