In the special Haftarah for the Shabbos Shuva – the Shabbos that falls in between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur we find Hoshea appealing to the Jews to do Teshuvah [Repentance]:
“Return Yisroel to Hashem you G-d … And let our lips substitute for bulls. Syria will not save us …. for it is with You that an orphan finds mercy”.
This is the classical source that prayer is in place of the offering which one would have to bring to achieve full Teshuvah on ones sins. One of the ways in which prayer facilitates and enables Teshuvah is that through articulating in our prayers who the Almighty is – and what He does for us we realise Who we have erred against; this will enable us to have complete regret – a vital component of Teshuvah. Furthermore prayer awakens in us the greatness of our Creator, and our puniness in relation to Him, it is this understanding that will lead us onto a path of Teshuvah, a path of submission to want to do His Will. In fact this is how offerings and prayer interrelate; we bring ourselves up as an offering, and we submit ourselves to a higher being. In truth, we should be offered up, the animal is just symbolic, and so too sincere prayer should bring us to the realisation of how we should be totally subservient to the Almighty Creator.
But taking a closer look at the verse, we must ask why are we told that our davening should be like that of an orphan?
The commentators explain that Hoshea is teaching us that the very essence of true prayer is to be totally dependent on Hashem. Just like an orphan who relies one hundred percent on Him as he has no one else to help him.
A number of years ago in a fiery talk given before the blowing of Shofar on Rosh Hashanah I heard this same idea. We are told how after the Sin of the Spies every Tisha Be’av (9th of Av) the Jews in the wilderness who had been decreed to die over the next forty years would dig themselves a grave and sleep in it. They knew that every year a certain amount would have to die in the grave until the entire generation of the spies would be finished. The following morning, Moshe would call out “let the living be separated from the dead” – and those who survived the night would have another year to live. This scenario went on until the final year. Then again the remaining Jews dug their graves but this year they all woke up – no one had died. After doing this for several nights to ensure they had the right date they realised that Hashem had forgiven them.
What did these last few do different then the others to merit being spared? Rav Druk suggested the following idea. Every other year when they davened what might have been their last Evening Prayers before lying down in the grave, there was always a thought at the back of their mind that maybe “it won’t be me this year”. However in that last year – they all knew without a doubt that it was really their last Prayer ever. This prayer was one where they realized that they were totally dependent on the Mercy of Hashem. Their davening would be complete submission to Hashem, just like an orphan who is totally helpless. Such prayers can achieve the impossible and therefore they davened to be spared and were answered.
If we can internalise this message then our prayer will be much more powerful. We should never underestimate the power of a heartfelt prayer. Exactly when we think that all is lost our prayers reach a new height. Let me share with you a story about someone who prayed for the impossible, which I received from the Rabbi involved.
Rabbi Diamond of Deal, NJ related an incredible true story that happened recently. An elderly lady in a nearby nursing home passed away. Her children, who always visited her and took care of her, did their duty and did a proper Jewish Tahara and burial. On the 5th day of sitting Shiva, the phone rang and the daughter sitting Shiva answered the phone. On the other end of the phone was her mother who she just buried. The daughter in shock immediately fainted. The phone rang again and it was her mother again, complaining that no one came to visit her that week. The family then rushed to the nursing home and it turned out there was a mix up at the nursing home and it was her roommate that passed away and not this lady.
So now the nursing home had the grim job of informing the children of the other lady that their mother died 5 days ago. The nursing home called and was trying to break it to these children slowly, but before they could even tell the children what happened, the children callously answered that if this call has anything to do with their mother they are not interested. These children said “All day long our mother wastes her time and just prays and prays and says Psalms”. The children then added –“And the one thing she prays for is that when she dies she should have a proper Jewish burial. But,” the children cruelly said, “we will outsmart her and when she dies we will spite her and make sure she will not have a proper Jewish Burial”.
The nursing home then explained to them it was too late as she already received her proper burial!
Rabbi Diamond said, look at the power of prayer and to the extent Hashem will turn the world around to answer a prayer. Here this pious religious lady only prayed for one thing, a proper burial, knowing it was almost impossible, yet she didn’t give up. So Hashem orchestrated this whole mix up to respond to the prayers of this lady. Rabbi Diamond said any one of our prayers can have the same potential and power.
Good Shabbos, Yaakov