Chayei Sarah 5785 – Praying for Others

Part I. Actions and Prayers

Business Strategy 101

When Sarah our mother passed away, Avraham Avinu desired to purchase the cave of Machpeilah as her burial place from Efron ben Tzochar. But we see from the pessukim that at first Avraham didn’t approach Efron. וַיָּקָם אַבְרָהָם מֵעַל פְּנֵי מֵתוֹ – Avraham got up from his dead, from Sarah, וַיְדַבֵּר אֶל בְּנֵי חֵת לֵאמֹר – and he spoke to the Bnei Cheis (Bereishis 23:3). Instead of speaking directly to Efron he appealed to the townspeople, to Efron’s neighbors: שְׁמָעוּנִי – “If you would please listen to me,” Avraham said to them, וּפִגְעוּ לִי בְּעֶפְרוֹן בֶּן צֹחַר – “and approach Efron and make this request on my behalf” (ibid. 8).

“Be my agents,” said Avraham, “and try to get Efron to consent to the sale.” That’s what the Medrash Rabbah (58:7) says about this expression וּפִגְעוּ לִי. Avraham was asking them, סַרְסְרוּנִי לִי – “Act as middlemen for me. Do what you can; apply some pressure, maybe sweet-talk him too, and make it happen.”

And we understand right away what Avraham’s strategy was. Maybe if he would have asked directly it would have been more difficult for Efron to acquiesce. He would have been more hesitant and made difficulties. But when it was the people of the community coming to make the request it would be easier for Efron to yield. Sometimes a group of people can more readily gain their request than an individual.

Whatever the reason, that’s what Avraham did. He said to the Bnei Cheis וּפִגְעוּ לִי בְּעֶפְרוֹן בֶּן צֹחַר – Do me a favor and meet up with Efron on my behalf. That’s what it means פגע. Like it says elsewhere about Yaakov Avinu, וַיִּפְגַּע בַּמָּקוֹם – and he met up with a certain place. Here too it means the same thing: וּפִגְעוּ לִי – Meet up with Efron for me.

Prayer Strategy 101

But the Medrash goes on and adds something; it tells us that there was more to the conversation: וְאִם לַאו – “And if not,” Avraham said to the Bnei Cheis, “if you’re not able to accomplish that for me, צַלוּ לִי עִלַוֵיה – then at least pray for me about my problem.” That’s another intention our Sages saw in Avraham’s words; because we find elsewhere that פגע means prayer; like when Hashem told the navi, וְאַל תִּפְגַּע בִּי – “Don’t plead with Me.” (Yirmiyahu 7:16). And so here too Avraham said וּפִגְעוּ לִי – “You people should pray for me.”

Now, we have to understand what’s being said here because it’s not just a story about how Avraham Avinu purchased a field; it’s intended as a model for us to follow. After all, אַבְרָהָם גְּדוֹל הָעוֹלָם הָיָה – Avraham was considered the greatest of his generation (Midrash Mishlei 9:1). Even the gentiles recognized him. The townspeople of Cheis said to Avraham, נְשִׂיא אֱלֹקִים אַתָּה בְּתוֹכֵנוּ – “You are a prince of Elokim in our midst” (Bereishis 23:6). But nasi means more than prince. It means one who’s elevated. Everybody looked up to Avraham Avinu as a very important personality in the land, as a model for proper living; his ways of thinking and acting were always a teaching.

A Model For Us

That’s why the Torah goes out of its way to dilate on Avraham’s negotiations and acquisition of the Mearas Hamachpeilah. Eighteen pessukim is a lot of real estate in the Torah! The answer is that it’s intended as a model of perfect behavior.

Avraham’s humility, his generosity, his dignity of conduct, are established forever as an important lesson in proper behavior. And so if the Chachomim are telling us that Avraham said two things to the Bnei Cheis – number one, u’figu li, “approach Efron for me”, and number two, “If not, u’figu li, then pray for me” – if Avraham spoke that way then that’s the way every person is expected to follow.

What’s the lesson? When there’s something that has to be done for someone else there are always two attitudes to keep in mind. Number one, the first thing when you’re asked to do a favor for a fellow man – even if you’re not asked but you see that someone needs something – the first thing is you should attempt with your abilities, with all your agency, to succeed. Don’t be apathetic and lazy. You might give me your brachah, your prayers, but don’t rely on tefillah alone. Be the sarsur, the middleman, to make it happen. “Do whatever you can,” Avraham said to the Bnei Cheis, “that Efron should consent.”

Now of course you might also want to give me your best wishes. You might wish me luck. But that’s not enough. First you have to try to do your best. That’s what it’s saying. Number one, וּפִגְעוּ לִי. “Urge him. Do something to help me out. Before you give me your good wishes and your prayers, go ahead and do l’maaseh for me. Show me that you mean business by actually doing the best you could.”

Praying in Truth

That’s included in the important principle of calling out to Hashem in truth. Because when Dovid Hamelech tells us that קָרוֹב ה’ לְכָל קֹרְאָיו – Hashem is close to all those who call out to Him, he adds an amendment: לְכֹל אֲשֶׁר יִקְרָאֻהוּ בֶאֱמֶת – To those who call out to Him in truth (Tehillim 145:18). That’s a big principle: your prayers have to be backed up by your behavior – that’s called ‘calling out in truth’.

It’s like the man who says רְפָאֵנוּ ה’ וְנֵרָפֵא – Hashem heal me. Every day, a few times a day, he’s crying out to Hashem for good health. Meanwhile, look at him. His wife prepares a good healthy supper for him but he stops off at a store on the way home and he eats garbage. He’s sitting down and eating, let’s say, cake and soda instead of nourishing food. Or he sits up late at night listening to the radio or whatever it is and munching on peanuts, instead of going to sleep on time.

So Hashem says, “You don’t mean business. You’re asking Me to heal you? But why don’t you heal yourself? You’re not doing anything for yourself and so you’re not calling out to Me in truth.”

Empty Prayers

And Avraham is telling us here the same thing is when it comes to our tefillos for other people. When you’re praying for your fellow man, Hakadosh Baruch Hu listens to how sincere this prayer is. Is it b’emes? Do you really mean it? Do you really want your fellow man to be rich? Do you really want him to be healthy and live long?

Here is a woman praying for her husband. She takes out the techinah and she prays for him. After all, every woman needs a husband. She needs a man in the house and her children need a father. So she asks Hashem to give him long healthy years.

But she does her best to try to make him sick too. There are many women like that. You think there aren’t women who kill their husbands? Not with a gun, not with weapons – with her mouth. Plenty of women have killed their husbands by bothering them, belittling them.

Many times you suddenly hear that this and this man passed away. It’s a surprise. He was sick? Wasn’t he healthy? People don’t realize that he died from aggravation. That’s not mentioned in the obituary and of course when she comes to collect the insurance nothing is said about that. She’s dressed in black, and she’s weeping. She killed him – what’s she weeping about? He didn’t take out a big enough insurance policy for me! That’s why she’s weeping.

Prayers of the Devil

Husbands have killed wives also. I know a man like that who used to torment his wife. She got sick. He made her physically sick with his words and finally she passed away. On her deathbed he came to her and asked her for forgiveness. She said she can’t forgive him. And I don’t blame her. He was a devil. He was a frum devil; an Orthodox devil. He davened for his wife but he contradicted it with his actions.

So you have to see to it that your spouse, your children, your mother and father, are made healthy by your acts. Beside your tefillah — absolutely you have to pray – but you should also participate in it; whatever you can do you must do.

Here’s a lady who after she lights the Shabbos candles says a techinah and she prays for the health of her family. She’s praying for their health, for their safety. But then she goes into her room to get something and she leaves her children alone with the fire. And now there’s an accident chalilah and a child is burned. It happened. Burned to death!

Don’t tell me it was an accident. Accidents shmaccidents. It’s somebody’s fault. You’re praying for your children? Very good. But back it up with l’maaseh. You have no business doing anything except watching your child when there is a flame that’s exposed.

Knives, Windows and Ladders

A father davens in shul for his children but in the house he’s holding a knife in his hands as he’s walking from one room to another – he walks out of the doorway with a knife with the point foremost. It contradicts his prayers for the family’s health.

Or let’s say your grandchildren are coming to visit you. Someday you’ll have a lot of children and grandchildren and you allow your windows to remain open. So what are you telling me you’re praying for your grandchildren. You’re praying against your grandchildren. If a child falls out of the window, it’s somebody’s fault. If a child falls into a washing machine and gets killed chas veshalom, it’s somebody’s fault. Don’t tell me the telephone rang, the doorbell rang. All empty excuses, all contradictions to your tefillos. Your job is the child.

If there are things on the stairs that can send a person for a ride, it’s a contradiction to your tefillos. The Torah says that. Open the Gemara you big davener: וְלֹא תָשִׂים דָּמִים בְּבֵיתֶךָ זֶה סֻלָּם רְעוּעָה – What does it mean that it’s forbidden to spill blood in your home? It means you shouldn’t have a wobbly ladder in the house (Bava Kama 46a). So stairs are a ladder and things left on the steps make for a wobbly stairway. And this is being transgressed constantly. They don’t care for safety! So how could they say they’re praying to Hakadosh Baruch Hu for life and health? That’s calling out in truth?

The Best Prayer

The answer is you don’t mean business. Of course you do; your davening is not just idle prattling of an unthinking mind. Absolutely you mean it, but it’s not enough. That’s not the best way to daven.

What’s the best way? Avraham Avinu, he’s teaching us the model for us to follow: Pigu, do what you can. Be mishtadel for your fellow Jew. Besides that, pigu – pray for that person. But don’t rely on praying before you try to do what you can. That’s called true prayer; that’s called יִקְרָאֻהוּ בֶאֱמֶת, calling out in truth. That’s called caring for your fellow Jew – when it’s preceded by action, by efforts on his behalf.

Part II. Only Prayers

Do the Minimum

But now we’re going to study another aspect of what Avraham said to the Bnei Cheis; it’s included in לְכֹל אֲשֶׁר יִקְרָאֻהוּ בֶאֱמֶת, and it’s going to be our subject tonight. Because let’s say that the people of the town were not interested in helping Avraham Avinu by going to speak with Efron about selling the field. It could be. Maybe they don’t want to get involved. Maybe they’re too busy. Maybe they’re not interested in dealing with Efron; could be.

So what did Avraham say to them? וּפִגְעוּ לִי – Approach him for me. Yes, that’s really what I would like from you. וְאִם לַאו – But in case you’re not interested in helping me like that, צַלוּ לִי עִלַוֵיה – so at least pray for me.

And that’s a second intention our Sages saw in Avraham’s words: וּפִגְעוּ לִי – At least pray for me! To pray for me, for my success in convincing Efron to sell the field to me, at least that you could do. And therefore if you really care about helping me, that’s the minimum you’re required to do.

That’s something new now. Even though it’s a blemish in the quality of your prayers – if you could do more so it’s a pegimah in your tefillah if all you do is daven – nevertheless don’t say, “Since I’m not interested enough to get up and to activate myself on his behalf then I won’t do anything.” No. Whatever you can do, even a prayer, you should do.

It’s Not So Minimum

Now, that’s already an important limud about how we shouldn’t waste opportunities in our obligation of gemillas chessed and ahavas Yisroel. וּפִגְעוּ לִי – Pray for me! At least that! Everyone speaks about ahavas Yisroel, about helping their fellow Jews, but what about doing something? And even if the doing is only tefillah, it’s something. It’s the minimum you can do.

So therefore in case you’re passing a house with a nice big mezuzah in the doorway. So you know that inside they’re shomrei mitzvos. There are probably a lot of children in that house. Ooh, that’s a holy home! You know it takes mesiras nefesh to raise big families. And so a big family of frum Jews, they deserve your love, your gemillas chassodim, absolutely. Who should you be helping if not them?

Doing and Praying

Now, you’re not stopping to help them at all. You’re not going to knock on the door and offer your help, to clean the dishes. You have your own business that interests you. Maybe you’re on the way to the yeshiva or to the office and you can’t stop. And even if you could; they probably wouldn’t let you in. So you’re not going to do anything for them.

By the way, there are a lot of things you can do for them even if you’re not going to go inside. Let’s say you see that the lid of their garbage can blew off into the street. So it’s a mitzvas aseh min haTorah to pick it up for them before a car will smash it. וַהֲשֵׁבֹתָ – It’s a mitzvah of hashovas aveidah. If it’s not dangerous to walk out in the street, so go out in the street and pick it up and put it back. Otherwise it will be smashed in a minute by the next car.

Don’t disdain that because whatever you can do, you must. That’s the first thing. But let’s say you wouldn’t even do that. You’re not picking up the garbage can and you’re not helping them with other things. So I’m not going to praise you for that but at least you can pray that the garbage can should not be smashed. At least you can pray for his property.

Speak In Detail

Not only for his garbage can; as you pass by, pray that there should be parnassah in that house. There should be shalom between the husband and wife forever. Ask Hashem that they should all be healthy in that home, that they should live long.

They should have a lot of nice children too. All of them should be smart and they should have no trouble in the cheder. And the boys and girls should get the best shidduchim and they should always have parnasah b’revach. They should all grow great in Torah and mitzvos and after one hundred and twenty years they should all go to Olam Haba.

Isn’t that a nice thing to do? Does it cost money to daven for them? So why shouldn’t you? וּפִגְעוּ לִי – Pray for your fellow Jew! That much you can do! That’s what Avraham said: “In case you’re too lazy to help me out at least וּפִגְעוּ לִי, pray for me.” You’re mechuyav to do that.

Man Speaks, Hashem Listens

And don’t think your tefillah doesn’t mean anything. Because that’s another thing we learn from Avraham Avinu. He was dealing with Canaanim after all; they were Canaanim, the Bnei Cheis. So here is this great man, the prince of Hashem, and he’s asking the Canaanim that they should daven for him? “At least pray for me,” he said. What’s that about? What is it even worth? It’s an important point to consider: Why should Hashem take in consideration a tefillah said by a goy?

So I’m going to put down a very big foundation. And it’s very important if we’re going to appreciate the subject of davening for our fellow Jews: חָבִיב אָדָם שֶׁנִּבְרָא בְצֶלֶם – Humankind are beloved by Hashem, שֶׁנִּבְרָא בְצֶלֶם – for they were created in the image of Hashem (Avos 3:14). That’s a tremendous statement. It hits us like a bombshell! Every adam is chaviv in the eyes of Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Everyone!

And in order to emphasize man’s greatness Hashem tells us that He listens to his tefillos. In order to demonstrate that mankind is a special kind of creature, every human being has some influence with Hashem. It’s a remarkable idea! A human being says something, he asks Hashem for something, and Hashem is listening to him!

Kol Shekein a Yehudi

Of course a Yisroel is even more tremendous. חֲבִיבִין יִשְׂרָאֵל – A Jew is so much more beloved by Hashem (ibid.) As much as He listens to gentiles it’s nothing like how He listens to Am Yisroel. אַתָּה שׁוֹמֵעַ תְּפִלַּת עַמְּךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּרַחֲמִים – To the tefillah of Yisroel He not only listens to but He listens b’rachamim, with mercy.

And not only a Yisroel who’s a big tzaddik with a white beard and a silk robe. It’s true for all of us. I’ll tell you a little secret. You’re not a tzaddik, let’s say. It could be you are, but let’s say you’re not a tzaddik, and you’re crying out to Hashem. You know what crying does? It makes you a tzaddik! That’s what crying out does for you.

The more you talk to Hashem and become aware of Him, the more of a tzaddik you become. If you call out from the bottom of your heart and you do a lot of it, that’s how you become a tzaddik. So now your tefillos are the tefillos of a tzaddik. It means that all of us can change things with our davening.

Saved By a Prayer

I can tell you in my own poor little life, I look back and I see how many times I said a tefillah and it came true right away. Right away! It’s remarkable! I can tell you stories upon stories – I won’t waste your time now – of my own experiences.

I was walking once in Manhattan Beach. I never was there before. It was a strange neighborhood to me. How will I get home? I didn’t know the way.

I was asking Hashem, I said to Him, “Help me get home.”

All of a sudden a man driving his car came by. “Are you Rabbi Miller?” he says, “Can I help you? You need a ride anywhere? Can I take you home?”

Another time I lost my wallet. I never carry any money but this time I was carrying forty dollars in my wallet. I couldn’t find it. What happened to it?

So I went back to the store where I had been before. The storekeeper and I looked between all the boxes. No, not there.

I gave him my telephone number, “If you find it, call me up.”

I started walking home. I walked a block and a half and then I said, “No, I have to walk back. I’ll look on the street.” So I davened. I asked Hashem to open my eyes, I should find my wallet. I walked back and as soon as I got to the block of the store, sure enough there was my wallet right near my shoe. Right near my shoe. So He listens. Absolutely He listens.

Utilize the Opportunity

Now these are small things. I can tell you dozens of stories like that. There’s no question that Hashem is listening. כִּי אַתָּה שׁוֹמֵעַ תְּפִלַּת עַמְּךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּרַחֲמִים – You’re listening with rachamim. He listens, absolutely. Of course if there’s a big tzaddik his tefillos are better but anybody can daven. When it comes to tefillah everyone is important. כִּי אַתָּה שׁוֹמֵעַ תְּפִלַּת כָּל פֶּה – Hashem hears the prayers of everyone. That’s in Nussach Sefard. He listens to everybody’s tefillos. So no matter who you are, it pays to cry out to Hashem.

And so we have to utilize that. Hashem is listening like a kindly Father: Vus zugstu mein kind? Think that way when you’re davening. He’s listening to you. To a goy He hears; not with rachamim but He hears. But your words? He’s listening intently. He’s extremely interested in your davening.

Unselfish Prayers

Only that people make a mistake – I’m talking about myself too – and we think almost exclusively about ourselves. Now, there’s nothing wrong with davening for what you need but that’s only half of the story. Because the best tefillah is the unselfish one, when you’re praying for someone else. And it’s so important because the scales of heaven can be tipped sometimes even by the smallest thing! One more tefillah sometimes can make a difference. Sometimes that one more tefillah can be the thing – your tefillah for a fellow Jew can make a difference.

We’d be surprised if we could know how much tefillos aided other people. It’s not something small to daven for your fellow Jew. The doctors are trying to do this and that and very many times doctors are surprised that the man survives. They said it’s useless but he survived. A girl was waiting for a shidduch for years and out of nowhere the yeshuah came. Tefillah works!

Absolutely, a person is capable of helping his fellow Jews by means of tefillah; he’s capable of extending people’s lives, of helping them make a living, of making good shidduchim. We don’t realize that it was somebody’s tefillah that helped. Like we say in the Akdamus of Shavuos, וְהַנְיָא בָּעוּתָא – Tefillah helps. When a person davens, he’s mechuyev not only to think that Hashem is actually listening, but that it helps. We have a lot of pull with Hakadosh Baruch Hu. כִּי אַתָּה שׁוֹמֵעַ תְּפִלַּת עַמְּךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּרַחֲמִים – Hashem listens to our prayers with mercy. And therefore, never despise the power of a tefillah.

Part III. The Obligation to Pray

The Sin You Didn’t Know About

Now you might think that this entire subject is middas chassidus; that everything we’re saying here is for certain people, great people. But the truth is that it’s much more than that. It’s an obligation; we’re all mechuyav to pray for our fellow Jews. Not only it’s a good deed or a mitzvah; it’s a chiyuv – it means that if you don’t do it it’s a sin.

We learn that from Shmuel Hanavi. Shmuel Hanavi was speaking to the Bnei Yisroel and he said, גַּם אָנֹכִי חָלִילָה לִּי מֵחֲטֹא לַה’ מֵחֲדֹל לְהִתְפַּלֵּל בַּעַדְכֶם – Far be it from me to sin against Hashem and refrain from praying on your behalf (Shmuel I 12:23). He called it a cheit to not pray for a person who needs help. “Chalilah that I should do a sin and not daven for you.” And on this possuk the Gemara (Brachos 12b) says: כֹּל שֶׁאֶפְשָׁר לוֹ לְבַקֵּשׁ רַחֲמִים עַל חֲבֵרוֹ וְאֵינוֹ מְבַקֵּשׁ נִקְרָא ‘חוֹטֵא’ – Anyone who is capable of davening to Hashem on behalf of his friend but he doesn’t, so he’s called a sinner.

Now that’s a big chiddush. Because we understood that it’s a good thing to daven for a friend. If someone is in need of a refuah, it’s a wonderful thing if you daven for that person. If someone needs a shidduch and you daven for that person, that’s excellent. But what Shmuel is saying here is a novel idea: that you must daven, that you’re a sinner if you don’t do it.

Doing the Minimum

So now you know what to do if you hear that someone needs a yeshuah. Let’s say you find out that someone you know has a child who is sick. You can’t help him? You’re not capable of doing anything? So at least pray for him! At least that you can do!

Ask Hakadosh Baruch Hu to help him. Ask for the child’s name and make sure to be mispallel for him. Your friend doesn’t have to hear it. Stand in a corner somewhere and speak to Hashem. Find a telephone booth. You can even take the receiver in your hand if you want and make a long distance call to Hashem: “Please Ribono Shel Olam, send a refuah shleima to so and so, b’soch shaar cholei Yisroel.”

And not once and then you forget about it. Many times! You should carry papers with you that have the names of cholim and other nitzrachim and from time to time look into the papers and be mispallel. It’s very important to live with that attitude of praying for our fellow Jews.

The Secret of the Siren

When you hear the siren of an ambulance speeding down the street, don’t just take it as one of the phenomena of daily life. The wail of the siren, it should be to you as if the sick man himself is crying out to you, “Please help me!” That’s how you should consider the siren.

Of course the man who is driving the ambulance is making more noise so he should advertise his company. He doesn’t need all that noise but he’s doing it anyhow; he wants you to see what a good company it is. But you should listen to it as the wail, the outcry, of that afflicted person who is battling for his life. The oxygen is being administered to him and his heart is barely beating! “Help me!” he cries to you.

But you don’t know anything about medicine. What can you help? The answer is you can daven! Say something! Say a tefillah: “Oib er is a Yid – if it’s a Yisroel there, then Hakadosh Baruch Hu should send him a refuah shleimah b’soch kol Yisroel.”

A National Obligation

So somebody asked, “What about if he’s an Italian? Then you shouldn’t pray for him?” The answer is, do Italians pray for Italians? They don’t do that. An ambulance passes by, which Italian prays? Ah nechtiga tug. We pray for Am Yisroel. That’s our obligation, a special obligation for our nation, to pray for each other.

And not only for the cholim. If you know that someone is in some difficulty, difficulty with parnassah or with the law or trouble with his neighbor, whatever it is, all kinds of difficulties people have, you should feel it’s your duty to intervene and pray for them.

Look how many girls need shidduchim. How many people can’t find shidduchim for their daughters? You ever think of davening for all the fathers who need to marry off their daughters? Did you ever spend five minutes davening for the girls? Young men too are looking for shidduchim. They’re in a quandary. They’re always calling me on the phone asking me, “What should I do? It’s not going.”

Sometimes all we can do is daven for them. If you can do more, absolutely you must. That’s what Avraham said. Number one is help me l’maaseh; speak to Efron for me. But if you can’t do something right now at least you can take a few minutes and daven for all the girls and boys who need shidduchim. That’s our contribution, the minimum contribution. Constantly it should be on our minds to fulfill that obligation of praying for our fellow Jews.

The Constant Opportunity

And that brings us to one of the great opportunities of life that we don’t appreciate enough and that’s Shemoneh Esrei. Shemoneh Esrei means very many things to us; very many achievements are available in the davening. But one of the important ones is that we’re always praying for each other.

It’s a remarkable thing that all of our prayers are so arranged that we’re praying for Jews constantly. When we daven, we daven in plural; the whole davening we say b’loshon rabim. You don’t say רְפָאֵנִי ה’ – unless you say nusach Galicianer. It’s רְפָאֵנוּ ה’ – Heal us! Plural! Us! When you say בָּרְכֵנוּ אָבִינוּ – Bless us, our Father, so some people think us means ‘me’, the majestic me. רְפָאֵנוּ and בָּרְכֵנוּ means, ‘Bless me,’ ‘Heal me.’ “We means me,” he thinks.

Public Prayer

No. We means we; all of the loyal Jews. עַל כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל עַמֶּךָ – The whole Jewish people. You’re praying for your neighbors. You’re praying for chassidishe Jews in Williamsburg. You’re praying for the Young Israel Jews in Scarsdale. For the Lakewooder Jews and Monsey Jews. And for the Teimani Jews and the Flatbush Jews and Eretz Yisroeldige Jews. We want all of the Am Yisroel to have yeshuahs. That’s why when we stand Shemoneh Esrei we’re saying everything in plural.

Now, it’s not a bad idea, in order to get into the hergel, the practice, to think at least about your fellow Jews right around you, in the shul. Maybe it’s too big to think of everybody but at least in this minyan where you are.

So you say, “Well, of course. I intended everybody.” You intended nobody. You weren’t even thinking. Maybe yourself you were thinking about. Maybe.

Expanding the Prayer

So make it a habit as you’re saying רְפָאֵנוּ ה’ וְנֵרָפֵא, you’re thinking also about the man next to you. You’re asking that his heart should be healthy. His kidneys should be healthy. His eyes should be healthy. It didn’t even occur to you! Heal us means all of us; all the people in my shul, and their wives and their children, they should have healthy hearts. No one should get that dreaded disease.

Mention names of those you know. It should be a practice of yours at the end of your Shemoneh Esrei to take out that paper from your pocket and read off the names. If you know the nusach you can say it in the middle of refaeinu, the tefillah for sick people. You can shed a tear too! They need it and it will help.

Sometimes, you can expand your tefillos outside of the shul, outside of the neighborhood. Think of all the hospitals where there are so many Jews right now waiting for help. So why shouldn’t you daven for them? “רְפָאֵנוּ ה’ וְנֵרָפֵא! All frum Jews should be well!”

Praying for Boys

Not only health; pray for the wisdom of our nation. חָנֵּנוּ מֵאִתְּךָ – Favor us from You, דֵּעָה בִּינָה וְהַשְׂכֵּל – with knowledge, understanding and wise conduct. The first brachah, the request for understanding and wisdom is plural because it’s not only for you. You’re asking for all the boys in the yeshivah; you’re praying to Hakadosh Baruch Hu they should have good heads.

You know how important a good head is? A boy with a poor head gets so discouraged in the yeshivah, especially with the rebbis who are saying big pipulim; they’re not saying plain pshat. A rebbi thinks it’s beneath his dignity to say plain pshat – he wants to show he’s Rabbi Akiva Eiger and so he’s saying deep pilpulim; I don’t know how good they are but he’s trying anyhow. And the poor, bewildered talmidim understand nothing; instead of getting the plain pshat, they understand nothing.

So a few very good boys succeed, a few baalei kishronos. But that’s not good enough for us. We want every single one to succeed! We have to pray for all those boys that are being frustrated and being disappointed and very many of them are turned off because they don’t understand what’s going on. We pray אַתָּה חוֹנֵן לְאָדָם דַּעַת … חָנֵּנוּ מֵאִתְּךָ – Hakadosh Baruch Hu please give a blessing to Jewish boys in the yeshivah. You can daven for the illuyim too, yes, but don’t forget to daven for the weaker boys.

Praying For Girls

And Jewish girls too. We want them to be matzliach in the Bais Yaakovs. There was a girl here who couldn’t keep up with her studies and they wanted to send her from Bais Yaakov. The father came running to me. “What can I do?” he said. “I can’t put her in public school! Gevald! What are they doing to my child?!”

They said “we can’t keep her. She’s too far behind.” So they made a deal finally. They let her go just to English alone. But it was a terrible thing, a calamity. The girl couldn’t keep up.

And so we have to pray. So many of our children need our tefillos. They have nisyonos, troubles, and they need our help. If you can do something, absolutely you must. That’s number one. But in very many cases there’s only so much we can do. But to daven, to pray, to cry out, to shed a tear even, that’s something we all can do and therefore there’s no end to the opportunities in this career of praying for our fellow Jews.

And so whoever you are – every man and woman, every boy and girl – and wherever you are – whether it’s in the beis hakenesses or whether it’s in the street – every opportunity should be used. People need help. You can’t help them? But this much you have to do. Daven! Besides for achieving for yourself a greatness of character and a perfection of the neshama, it helps them too! And so with your prayers you can be a savior; with tefillah you can be an oheiv Yisroel and accomplish yeshuas Yisroel.

Have a Wonderful Shabbos

This week’s booklet is based on tapes:

135 – Calling in Truth | 554 – Giving and Getting Blessings | 715 – Desire the Unattainable | 864 – Seven Objectives of Tefillah | E-259 – Improving the World

 

Let’s Get Practical

Praying for Others

We learned about the great responsibility of praying for others. This week I will bli neder begin to practice what Rav Miller recommended; to begin writing down the names of people I know who could use prayers. During Shemoneh Esrei I will remember to think of others as I use the lashon rabim, moreover, after Shemoneh Esrei, I will review the list and try to pray earnestly for each one.

 

Q:

What do you think about people who label America a white Christian country?

A:
Absolutely! That’s what we want. Jews should not resent the fact that many claim this to be a white Christian country. We should say “Gezunterheit!” More power to you! We are satisfied with that. Let it remain a white Christian country!

It’s a tragic error when these ultraliberal Jews battle religion in the schools. Let them have religion! It’s their country. We can’t take over their country. Certainly it’s a Christian country and it must remain so. The salvation of America is that it should remain a Christian country because to be a Christian country is ten thousand times better than being a G-dless country – because atheism is ten thousand times worse than idolatry.

TAPE # 47