The Purpose of Prayer

Parshas Korach

Posted on June 8, 2021 (5781) By Rabbi Naftali Reich | Series: Legacy | Level: Beginner

There was never any question as to who was right and who was wrong. When Korach challenged Moses for the leadership of the Jewish people, it was a brazen attempt to usurp a position to which he had no right. Hashem had chosen Moses to be the leader of the Jewish people, grooming him from infancy for that exalted role. Korach had no such legitimate claim.

 

How did Moses react to this challenge to his authority? In this week’s portion, we read that he prayed to Hashem that He spurn the sacrificial offerings of Korach and his followers. “I have not appropriated so much as a donkey from any of them,” Moses concluded in his prayer, “nor have I done them any harm.”

 

The question immediately arises: Why did Moses have to defend himself against Korach in his prayer? Even if Moses had been less than perfect, Korach would have been rejected by Hashem as a usurper.

 

Let us consider for a moment the concept of prayer. A person is gravely ill or in serious financial trouble. In desperation, he turns to the Creator and begs Him for relief in this time of crisis. But surely, the crisis itself has been brought into being by the same Creator. How then do we have the audacity to ask Him to reverse Himself? What gives us the right to ask Hashem to heal us when He is the one who deliberately made us ill? Are we asking him to admit that He made a mistake, Heaven forbid? Obviously not. What then is the point of our prayer?

 

Let us consider one more point. Our Sages instituted the requirement to pray to Hashem thrice daily. We ask for his help a thousand times a year, regardless of whether or not we have any pressing needs at the time. Clearly, there is a deeper purpose to prayer.

 

The commentators explain that the overriding mission of our lives during our brief sojourn in this world is to connect with Hashem, to develop a close relationship with Him, to bring ourselves to transcendent levels of spirituality for all eternity. How do we accomplish this?

 

One of the most direct avenues to Hashem is prayer. Through prayer, we open our hearts to Him every day, three times a day. We turn to Him as our loving Father in Heaven and pour out all the pain, the fear, the yearning and, yes, the joy that floods our hearts. If we truly engage our emotions in our prayer, if we experience an uplifting personal connection, then our prayer connects us to Him, regardless of whether or not we receive a positive response to our request.

 

Prayers that result in personal growth are successful prayers. Sometimes, that very personal growth can effect changes in the divinely ordained order of things, but the efficacy of the prayers does not depend on these changes.

 

When Korach challenged Moses for the leadership of the Jewish people, Moses immersed himself in prayer, seeking comfort in a deeper closeness with Hashem. This led him to profound soul searching and, in his great humility, to a thorough examination of his treatment of Korach’s congregation. But even so, he could not recall doing anything to provoke this rebellion. These words then were not an argument and a justification. They were the natural result of true prayer.

 

A desperate woman approached a great sage. “My child was born with a terrible deformity. Please help me! What shall I do?”

 

“I want you to pray for your child,” said the sage. “Pray at least once every day, and for at least an hour each time.”

 

“And will He then perform a miracle for me?” asked the woman.

 

The sage spread his hands. “Anything is possible. We will see.”

 

A month later, the woman returned, her face wreathed in a serene smile. “The prayer has really helped,” she said. “My child’s condition has not changed, but I have. I can accept it now, and go on with my life.”

 

“Ah,” said the sage. “Then He did indeed perform a miracle.”

 

In our own lives, we often have occasion to pray to Hashem to extricate us from one crisis or another. Hopefully, our prayers will be answered in the way we want, and we will be spared pain and anguish. But even if Hashem decides not to grant our request, our prayers do not have to go to waste. If we pray in the proper frame of mind, our prayers will inevitably enrich us spiritually and bring us closer to Hashem. They will help us rise above the vicissitudes of the transitory world and become connected to the eternal truths of the universe.

 

Text Copyright © 2008 by Rabbi Naftali Reich and Torah.org.

Rabbi Reich is on the faculty of the Ohr Somayach Tanenbaum Education Center.

 

 

 

Listen for Your Prophecy

Parshas Shlach

Posted on June 3, 2021 (5781) By Mordechai Dixler | Series: Lifeline | Level: Beginner

Many years ago, a young man was suggested to a family looking to find a good match for their daughter. He was scholarly, well-mannered, and had a great future ahead of him. The young lady’s family seriously considered introducing her to the young man, until her mother discovered that her prospective son-in-law walked with a permanent limp. On that basis alone, she insisted they call off the match.

 

Soon after this, the mother was bringing some warm milk for her husband to drink before his morning prayers. Before she reached her husband, she fell and broke her leg. She commented to a friend of hers, “You know why this happened to me? It’s because my husband shouldn’t be drinking milk before saying his morning prayers!” (True story, related by HaRav Chaim Shmuelevitz zt”l).

 

This week’s Torah portion begins with the story of the spies, who were sent to scout out the promised land and who returned with a negative report. Last week’s reading concluded with the story of Miriam, punished for speaking negatively of her brother Moshe (Moses). The juxtaposition of these two stories, says the Medrash, is to highlight that the spies saw what happened to Miriam. They could have learned from her situation that bad speech had negative consequences, but they did not heed the obvious message.

 

We don’t have prophets in our time to relay to us, in clear and direct language, what we are doing wrong and how G-d may want us to improve. However, things happen all around us every day, and our Sages teach that none are accidental. Sometimes, the message in events is obvious, and we have to truly not pay attention, like the mother with her broken leg, to miss it.

 

Other messages, though, require we look more deeply into what might, at first glance, appear to be simple coincidence. Everything around us is orchestrated by our Creator, and if we pay attention, we will often hear the message He intends to convey.

 

 

Let the Wick Catch Fire

Parshas Behaaloscha

Posted on May 26, 2021 (5781) By Rabbi Berel Wein | Series: Rabbi Wein | Level: Beginner

We are familiar with the Rashi’s comment in the second verse of this week’s Torah reading that the Priest who lit the candelabra was to keep the fire close to the wick, until the wick itself caught fire and rose by itself. This is a lesson not only regarding the lighting of the great candelabra in the Temple but is also a metaphor for many life situations. Unless the wick itself truly catches fire and holds the flame on its own, the effort expended in attempting to light this wick will ultimately be fruitless and unsuccessful.

 

This metaphor is true in family life as well, for if our children and grandchildren are unable to be successful on their own, then the parents have somehow failed their responsibility regarding their children. This is also true in the realm of education. Students who can never be productive on their own, no matter how much knowledge they have, will not be a source of pride to their teachers.

 

We have witnessed many times in life that people who were somehow voted to be the most likely from their class to be successful in the future, do not fulfill that hope and expectation.

 

Their flame did not kindle itself and is of limited illumination and value. There are many factors that go into this eternal problem of generations of students. However, the result is what usually counts, and everyone agrees that success is measured by the ability to eventually achieve by one’s own efforts.

 

This week’s Torah reading itself provides an example of this idea, of making certain that the flame will take hold on its own and not flicker and later disappear. We are taught that the Jewish people undertook what should have been a short march from the mountain of Sinai to enter the land of Israel. They are seemingly well mobilized for the journey and embark upon it with apparent enthusiasm. Nevertheless, this journey turns into a trek of 38 years of bitterness, hostility, rebellion, and eventual demise of that entire generation. Simply put, the flame that was with the Jewish people at the Exodus from Egypt and the revelation at Mount Sinai did not hold fast enough to be able to survive the tests and vicissitudes of life and the events that lay ahead.

 

It would be the task of the later generations to summon the will and tenacity necessary to see to it that the tools necessary for the national growth and development of the Jewish people in the land of Israel would be strong enough to maintain itself on its own. That remains the challenge in Jewish life throughout the long centuries of our existence, and especially over the tumultuous centuries that we have recently experienced. Tenacity of purpose and strength of will have been and remain the key weapons in our arsenal of survival and triumph, and we will see the flame of Israel strengthen and rise once again in our days.

 

Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi Berel Wein

Fear of the Unknown

Parshas Behaaloscha

Posted on May 30, 2018 (5778) By Rabbi Berel Wein | Series: Rabbi Wein | Level: Beginner

Human beings are by their very nature creatures who are eternally dissatisfied and fearful. It is a rare person that, even at a joyous family occasion, can grasp the moment and fully enjoy it.

 

Even as the bridal couple stands under their marriage canopy, observers and the families of those concerned are already fretting about what the future will hold for the young couple.

 

Rarely can a person truly live and enjoy the present.

 

In the Torah reading of this week the generation that left Egypt, received the Torah on Sinai and witnessed all of G-d’s miracles on a first-hand basis, nevertheless begins to fray and fall apart.

 

Their main concern, the doubt that hovers in their minds throughout the 40 years of existence in the Sinai desert, is how they will fare when they finally do reach and settle the promised land of Israel.

 

This task appears to be so daunting that it frightens them. The reassurance given them by Moshe, that G-d will continue to perform miracles on their behalf does not resonate with them. Their frustration will eventually burst forth in the Torah reading of next week with the story of the spies and their evil report regarding the land of Israel. The father-in-law of Moshe himself leaves them and no arguments or persuasions can change his mind. In its way, this was a crushing blow to the morale of the Jewish people and only confirmed their doubts as to whether they have a future in the land of Israel.

 

In effect, the mindset of the people was that today’s miracles do not guarantee the presence of miracles tomorrow and that the land of Israel is too risky an adventure to entertain.

 

The fear and disaffection for the land of Israel lies at the root of all of the upheavals and rebellions that we will read about this Shabbat and in the coming Torah readings as well. They may complain about food, their leaders and all sorts of other gnawing issues that trouble them but that is only a cover for their fear of the future and for the unknown that the land of Israel represents to them.

 

This is a situation that exists even today in the Jewish world. It is a lack of self-confidence that we paper over with bravado. Deep down we are aware of the precarious nature of our situation and of the hostility of the world towards our state and us. To a great extent we whistle when passing the graveyard because of our lack of faith in ourselves, our future and even in the G-d of Israel.

 

We cannot be satisfied with the moment because of our concerns, no matter how unwarranted they may be regarding the future. Naturally, we are somewhat traumatized by our past and it is not a simple matter to simply ignore the problems and enemies that loom over us.

 

Nevertheless, we are bound to rely upon our faith that all will yet turn well for the Jewish people and the state of Israel and we attempt to live our lives and order our priorities accordingly.

 

Shabbat shalom

Rabbi Berel Wein

 

 

A Life Saving Lesson

Parshas Naso

Posted on May 24, 2018 (5778) By Rabbi Label Lam | Series: Dvar Torah| Level: Beginner

Why is the Subject of the Nazir juxtaposed to the subject of the Sota? To teach you that anyone who sees a Sotah in her destruction should refrain from wine. -(Rashi)

 

There’s a glaring question in this statement of Rashi. With a little information, it will become apparent. A Nazir is someone who goes on a specific 30 day spiritual diet to “detoxify” himself.

 

The situation involving a Sotah is one which arises when a husband suspects and formally investigates whether his wife has placed herself in a position of impropriety. When a doubt still lingers over whether there was actually an act of infidelity, she is offered a sort of truth serum to resolve the doubt. If she drinks the Sotah water and is found innocent, then she is promised a blessing of children. If, however she drinks it and she is in violation, then she swells up and dies.

 

Let’s say you saw a friend drive up to a certain non-kosher drive-thru window and buy himself a DOUBLE CHEESE WHOPPER AND A MILK SHAKE! He then surreptitiously pulls his car to the side and (without a blessing) opens his mouth wide to take the first bite. You watch in amazement as a dark rain cloud gathers spontaneously as if it had a mind and mission of its own. As your friend begins to sink in his teeth…WHAM! A bolt of lightning is launched from the cloud leaving him and his whopper a charred piece of toast.

 

Are you now more or less committed to the discipline of keeping kosher? The fright of that experience is enough to put a pause before eating anything of doubtful kosher status. The lesson could not have been taught more clearly. Why then if someone witnesses the Sotah in her hour of doom, do they then need a spiritual realignment? After all, he’s seen “the hand of G-d” in action. Why should he of all people become a Nazir? He is the last one that needs to take on this regimen.

 

Reb Levi Yitzchok from Berditchov tzl. had been working on himself, in a private setting, trying to overcome some challenge, on whatever high level he was struggling, when he resigned to accept that it was just not possible for him to change.

 

Immediately afterward he stepped out into the street where he witnessed an argument between a wagon driver and a store owner. The store owner wanted the wagon driver to unload the goods into his store. The driver insisted, “I can’t!” The store owner barked back. “It’s not that you can’t! It’s that you don’t want to!” The fight went on like this with ever increasing intensity, “I can’t!” “It’s not that you can’t! It’s that you don’t want to!” Then a surprise!

 

The store owner quietly reached into his pocket and waved a few bills and said, “What if I offered you 50 Zlotas? Would you be able to?” The wagon driver answered soberly, “I’ll give it try.” Reb Levi Yitzchok marveled that the wagon driver was indeed then quite capable of doing the job. It was not that he was not able. It really was because he did not really want to. He also understood that this incident played out before his eyes to instruct him about his own circumstance. If he could only meditate on and deeply realize the true value of the accomplishment at hand then he could gain enough power to leverage himself to do the impossible.

 

Reb Levi Yitzchok realized immediately that if he saw this event it was meant for his eyes. He was being shown this scene for a pointed reason. That’s how great people think! The Torah wants us to think like Tzadikim too. If this person who was in the Beis HaMikdash one day happened to have seen what he saw, then it was designed and prepared and acted out before his eyes for a special reason.

 

Imagine, now, you are hustling on the highway at a very fast pace when traffic slows to a crawl. Eventually the cause of heavy traffic is known as you have your turn to rubberneck while passing the scene of an overturned car. The police and EMT people are standing around looking quietly morose. It seems the worst has happened. For the next 10 minutes your foot wishes to press even harder on the gas pedal but you recall that deadly scene and arrest yourself. After a time it is already an ancient memory. You might wonder, why HASHEM showed you that picture, or why you had to hear some other piece of distressing news and then figure out how you can take that tragedy and switch it for a life saving lesson.

 

Learned From Their Mistakes

Parshas Naso

Posted on May 31, 2004 (5764) By Rabbi Yaakov Menken | Series: Lifeline | Level: Beginner

“And it was on the day that Moshe completed the construction of the Tabernacle… that the princes of Israel, the heads of the parental houses, who were the princes of the tribes… they brought their offering before G-d, six covered wagons and twelve oxen, each wagon for two princes and one ox for each, and they brought them before the Tabernacle.” [7:1-3]

 

Rashi quotes the following Medrash: “Rebbe Nosson asked, why did the princes decide to donate first [before the rest of the nation] at this point, while in the case of the building of the Tabernacle they did not give first?”

 

The answer is that they donated first this time, because they learned that what they did the previous time was a mistake. While they appeared to be very generous, saying that they would fill in all the funding gaps, the bottom line is that they sat on their hands while everyone else donated — at which point there was nothing left to do. Rebbe Nosson continues:

 

“Rather, this is what the princes said: ‘Let the congregation give what they will give, and whatever is missing, we will complete.’ Since they saw that the congregation completed everything, as it says [Ex. 36:7], ‘And the labor was sufficient…,’ they asked, ‘Now what is left for us to do?’ They brought the precious stones for the cape and breastplate [of the High Priest, because nothing else was left]. Therefore, here they gave first.”

 

Even the best of people, it seems, can fall into a trap of laziness when described in good terms, such as “caution” or “giving someone else the first opportunity.” According to the Ramchal, zerizus, or zeal, is the first requirement for positive action on the path towards growth.

 

In The Path of the Just, the Ramchal follows the path set by Rebbe Pinchas ben Yair in the Talmud [Avoda Zara 20b]: “Torah brings a person to caution, caution brings to zeal, zeal brings to [spiritual] cleanliness…” First we studied caution, which helps us to avoid negative actions (Aveiros). The next step is zeal, which demands that we immediately do positive actions (Mitzvos) whenever one comes to our hands. “Zrizus” is not merely energy, but the desire to act quickly in a very focused direction. I wonder what it says about our society when there really is no word for this trait, save one that is most often used to describe irrational extremists…

 

In any case, the princes failed to act immediately when the Tabernacle was constructed. It appears that they were being extremely generous – “whatever is missing, we will complete” – but there was a bit of laziness, a failure to act, in their proposal, so they nearly missed the chance to participate.