Thursday, May 17, 2012
The Power of Prayer
9:41 PM | 
Posted by
Rabbi Chaim Coffman |
By Rav Moshe Sternbuch
Divine
justice
“After the death of two sons of Aharon, who brought an offering before Hashem and they died” (16:1).
Here the possuk makes it clear that Nodov and
Avihu were punished for having entered the kodesh hakodoshim, but in parashas
eikev it says “And at Aharon Hashem grew very angry to destroy him; I
prayed for Aharon, too, at that time”. Chazal explain that possuk
as follows: at the time of the chet hoeigel it was decreed that Aharon
would be punished for his involvement in the chet through the death of
all of his four sons, but Moshe Rabbeinu managed to mitigate the decree
by means of his prayer, so that only two of his sons would die. The question
though remains, did Nodov and Avihu die because of their own sin (whatever it
was, depending on the different views in chazal) or because of their
father’s sin?
Sometimes a person may deserve to die, but his wife,
children and students would suffer from his death. In a human court of law, if someone
deserves to be handed down the death punishment, a judge or jury do not have
discretion to consider the ramifications of the death penalty on the killed
person’s family or friends. With us it says “The commandments of Hashem are
true, they are righteous altogether” (Tehilim, 19:10). If those who are
dependent on a person do not deserve to die, he remains alive for their sake.
Similarly, the Brisker Rov zt”l asked what it means that Hashem is “full of lovingkindness and
truth” (in the Thirteen Divine Attributes). What sort of praise is it to state that Hashem
does not lie? He answered that it means that His truth is just and fair towards
all parties involved, something which a mortal system of justice is incapable
of achieving.
If Aharon would not have had a sin of his own to be held
out against him, his sons would not have died despite their own sin, because
their father would not have deserved to endure the suffering of losing his sons.
On a related note, Rav Eliyohu Lopian zt”l told Rav Sternbuch several times that
a person should engage in as many possible activities that benefit the public,
so that even if he deserves to be punished, his punishment might be deferred
because those who benefit from his activities do not deserve to be punished.
Fighting
routine
“Speak to your brother Aharon that he not come at all times into the Holy…so that he not die, for in a cloud I shall appear on the Ark-cover”. (16:2). Rashi: “Because the revelation of My Shechinah is there, he should be careful not to accustom himself to enter”.
The force of habit and routine weakens our ability to maintain a sense of excitement and awe, so that even Aharon Hakohen was forbidden to enter the kodesh hakodoshim at any time lest he become too accustomed to the intensity that pervaded it. Before entering he had to make sure that he felt an appropriate awareness of Hashem's presence there.
Similarly, before praying we should endeavor
to internalize the fact that we are about to pray before the King. “Hashem is
close to all who call upon Him, to those who call upon Him in truth” (Tehilim,
145:18). Rav Eliyohu Lopian zt”l would note that since Hashem can read our
thoughts they are equivalent to speech as far as Hashem is concerned, so if
when we pray we are thinking of matters not connected to our current prayer, it
is as if we are communicating in a garbled language with the Almighty. Hashem
is close to those who call upon Him in
truth, who seek closeness to Him
and exclude extraneous thoughts as much as possible when they pray, thereby "speaking"
in a language which He "understands".
In general, our only hope of avoiding
the tendency to perform mitzvos in a perfunctory manner is to treat each
day as if we were born anew and approaching our avodas Hashem for the first time.
What
To pray for
“No man shall be present in the Tent of Meeting when he comes in to atone” (16:17).
When the kohein godol was in the holiest place his thoughts were not meant to be concentrated exclusively on the requirements of his fellow men, but rather on the honor of Hashem and kiddush shem shomayim.
The
Chofetz Chaim zt”l offered a parable. There was once a King who
wished to tour his kingdom to find out about the requirements of his subjects
and do what he could to meet them. When he reached the Royal prison, each
prisoner came with his own request. One asked for better food, the second one
wanted more comfortable living accommodations, another one wanted to be allowed
visitors more frequently and so on. The King agreed to each request. Finally,
one prisoner said: "I would like to be released!” The King smiled broadly and
said he agreed to this request too. Before he left he shouted at the remaining
prisoners: "Fools, why did you not have the sense to make the same
request?"
We too pray for health, for a
living, for nachas
from our children and so on, instead of praying for the main thing: kvod shomayim (Heavenly honor) and
an end to the golus.
If we did so, all our other requests would automatically also be met.
Disregarding
WHAT the Romans dO
“You shall not follow the practice of the Land of Egypt in which you have lived, nor shall you follow the practice of the Land of Cana’an, to which I am bringing you, and you shall not follow their statutes” (18:3). Rashi (on “and you shall not follow their statutes”): “This refers to their customs, matters which are [social] obligations for them, such as [attending] theaters and stadiums”
Over
the generations different societies have come up with various means of inciting
others to stoop to their levels of behavior. When television started becoming
widespread people had to be told about all the prohibitions someone who
brought this device into his home would be transgressing and the ramifications
of ignoring them. More recently the Internet has unfortunately succeeded in
ensnaring victims in its venomous net. The possuk is warning us to
beware of any anti-Torah “social obligations” which undermine the very fabric
of Torah life.
The
Torah in this week’s parasha (20:15) commands us to kill an animal with
which immorality has been practiced. The gemoro asks what the animal has
done to deserve such punishment and answers that the animal is killed so that
passers-by should not say this is the animal, which was responsible for
so-and-so’s death by sekilo. We may wonder why it would be such a bad
thing for the depraved person to be spoken about.
The
point is that when we see an object of sin it lessens the severity of the sin
in our eyes, and can even increase our desire to commit it, especially when it
comes to arayos regarding which Chazal tell us that no one has an
inbuilt guardian (apotropos) to protect him in this area. The animal has
to be killed in order to make sure that people will not see it.
We
are obligated to highlight the terrible repercussions of failing to do whatever
we can to prevent us and our families from being exposed to forbidden material,
but when someone is already sinning, the possuk in this week’s parasha
(19:17) says, You shall certainly rebuke your friend, [but] you shall not
bear a sin on his account. When we rebuke someone who is already sinning,
instead of talking about the bitterness of their sin, it is more effective to
convey to them the incomparably sweet and pleasant lifestyle experienced by
those who follow the Torah's directives.
Parents
and children
“You shall be holy… you shall fear your mother and father” (19:2-3).
Anti-Torah forces argue that the younger generation is wiser than its parents. Such propaganda can have terrible effects. Rav Sternbuch remembers hearing children in Eretz Yisroel more than 50 years ago referring to their parents as "chamorim” (donkeys). The Torah is warning us that it is not enough to honor our parents, but we have to fear them, always remembering that the Torah compared the honor we must accord to our parents with that which we accord to Hashem.
The yoke of heaven
“I have distinguished you from the nations to be Mine” (20:26). Rashi: Rabbi Eleazar ben Azariyoh says: From where do we know that a person should not say: "I am disgusted with pig meat, I do not want to wear kilayim", but rather he should say: "I desire it, but what can I do, my Father in Heaven has decreed upon me that I may not? The verse says: "And I have distinguished you from the nations to be mine," that your separation from them should be for My Name's sake -he separates himself from sin and accepts on himself the yoke of the
This medrash may be taken as proof of the Maharal’s theory that even though the Jews had accepted the Torah voluntarily and said "na’ase venishmo”, Hashem had turned the mountain on top of them like a barrel, because keeping the commandments by coercion like servants is a higher level.
As pleasant as they are, the mitzvos are first and foremost a yoke, and we are not free agents to desist from them. This acceptance of the yoke of mitzvos is a fundamental component of our faith, and is one reason why a person who performs mitzvos once he is commanded to do so is on a higher level than a person who performs them without being commanded. Those who lack the awareness of this yoke, even if they perform mitzvos, will not attain the same spiritual level or the same reward.
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