Summary

The more we show G'd that we rely upon Him, the greater is the chance the He will grant our requests. G'd only let the Jewish people take over the land of Israel little by little. G'd waited till Noah was five hundred years old to let him have children, so that his oldest son, Yefes, would not be old enough to be eligible for Divine punishment at the time of the flood. Our patriarchs and matriarchs had to wait many years before G'd granted them children. G'd, so to say, stores all prayers, and when the generation or offspring of the righteous needs salvation of any kind, this may come about in the merit of one of the many prayers that G'd brought the righteous to offer. In order to get close to G'd we must pray with sincerity. Everyone should formulate their own prayer for their personal needs, as a personal prayer in general is more sincere.

Grant our requests

Last week we explained that we do not pray to inform G'd of our needs, but to connect with Him. Through our prayer we acknowledge our dependency on G'd, and that He is the real source for all our needs. The more we show G'd that we rely upon Him, the greater is the chance the He will grant our requests. Obviously, there are situations where G'd does not give us what we ask for, for reasons known only to G'd Himself.

Little by little

However, sometimes we are privy to G'd's reason for not doing what we would expect or for not granting a request. When the Jewish people entered the land of Israel, after their fourty years' sojourn in the wilderness, they had to conquer it from the local inhabitants. Although G'd had promised the land to our patriarchs, it was a very slow and tedious process. This could have been a very disappointing experience for the new inhabitants of the Promised Land. Why did G'd make it so difficult? This was not how things had been when Moses led the Jewish people. In last week's parasha, Moses describes how easily they had conquered the lands of Sichon and Og, the two kings of the Amorite (see Devarim 4:46-49 and Rashi Bamidbar 21:22). However, in this week's parasha, Moses prepared the Jewish people for this experience and told them why G'd would only let them take over their country little by little. As it says (Devarim 7:22): "And G'd will drive these nations out before you little by little. You will not be able to finish them off fast, so that the animals of the field will not multiply over you." The Jewish people was a relatively small nation compared to the inhabitants. Therefore, if everyone left, it would have created huge areas that would not be inhabited where wild animals would have roamed and wreaked havoc.

Noah's first child at 500 years old

We find another example towards the end of Parashas Bereishis. There the Torah goes through the ten generations from Adam to Noah. They all lived for hundreds of years and started having children when they were approximately a hundred years old. The only exception to this was Noah, who had his first child when he was five hundred years old. One can well imagine how Noah and his wife Na'amah felt. Noah was the most righteous person at the time, and of all people he did not have any children for four hundred years. No doubt Noah and Na'amah poured out their hearts and prayed to G'd to have a child, but nothing happened. Rashi (Bereishis 6:32) quotes the Midrash Rabbah (Bereishis 26:3) who addresses this phenomenon. The Midrash explains that G'd was well aware the He was going to bring a flood upon mankind, and only Noah and his family was going to be saved. G'd reasoned, says the Midrash, if Noah's children would be influenced by society and sin, they would have to die like everybody else. Obviously, this would cause a lot of pain to Noah. On the other hand, if they would keep themselves above society, and follow in their righteous father's footsteps, then Noah would have to build several arks to make room for all of his descendants. G'd therefore waited till Noah was five hundred years old to let him have children, so that his oldest son, Yefes, would not be old enough to be eligible for Divine punishment at the time of the flood.

Patriarchs and matriarchs wait for children

We find a similar situation by our patriarchs and matriarchs, who had to wait many years before G'd granted them children. This was very hard for them, and they constantly beseeched G'd and tried everything possible to bring offspring into the world. The Talmud (Yevamos 64a) asks why G'd made them barren for so many years. The Talmud answers that G'd specially did so in order to encourage them to pray. For, says the Talmud, G'd craves the prayers of the righteous. Obviously, G'd has no cravings for His own sake and only brought this situation about for the benefit of our great ancestors and us, their descendants. These three couples were chosen by G'd to be the triple foundation for the Jewish people. This foundation had to be completely solid so that all future generations could build upon them. Every time one of our patriarchs or matriarchs prayed, they solidified this foundation as they got closer to G'd and got a better understanding of our dependency on Him. The Talmud (Berachos 26b) teaches that each of our patriarchs developed one of our three daily prayers, each one with its special significance. Who knows if these prayers would have been formulated if not for the fact that G'd pushed the patriarchs to their limit and brought each one to make a special prayer.

G'd stores all prayers

However, the Talmud did not say that G'd craved the prayers of our patriarchs. Rather, the Talmud said that G'd craves the prayer of every righteous person. G'd pushes and encourages those who are righteous to get closer to Him, and to reach their own potential. As we mentioned last week, no prayer is in vain, and no prayer is lost. G'd, so to say, stores all prayers, and when the generation or offspring of the righteous needs salvation of any kind, this may come about in the merit of one of the many prayers that G'd brought the righteous to offer.

Pray with sincerity

In addition to this, G'd rewards a person for every prayer that is uttered. When G'd brings a difficult situation upon us, we have many choices how to react. If we utilize this situation to seek G'd and pour out our hearts in prayer, G'd reciprocates either by bestowing upon us what we ask for, or by rewarding us generously for getting closer to Him through our prayer. And each prayer makes a difference. Rabbi Moshe of Trani writes in Beis Elokim (House of G'd) that sometimes it may take many prayers to achieve what we would like. And obviously the more sincere the prayer, the more powerful it is. It is not easy to focus and concentrate every time we pray. This especially applies to the Shemoneh Esrei that we say three times a day, one day after another. Therefore, it may take several prayers before we reach the level of sincerity that will have the desired effect. King David already points out that in order to get close to G'd we must pray with sincerity. As it says in the verse in Ashrei that we quoted last week (Tehillim 145:18): "G'd is close to all who call Him, to all who call Him in sincerity."

Personal prayer more sincere

But every prayer by every person makes a difference. The words of Tehillim and the other prayers in our daily service have special power. On top of that everyone should formulate their own prayer for their personal needs, as a personal prayer in general is more sincere. In this way, we maximize our effort to the best of our ability. And we can rest assured that G'd listens to every word.

These words were based on a talk given by Rabbi Avraham Kahn, the Rosh Yeshiva and Founder of Yeshivas Keser Torah in Toronto.

These words were based on a talk given by Rabbi Avraham Kahn, the Rosh Yeshiva and Founder of Yeshivas Keser Torah in Toronto.

Shalom. Michael Deverett