When we place our full reliance in our tefillos to Him...it kiveyachol compels Hashem to have rachmanus and answer our tefillos

WE

are about to enter a 48-hour time period that will define the character of the entire year to come: its blessing, success, and accomplishments. For the most part, we connect with the vast power of the two days of Rosh Hashanah through tefillah. Our heartrending tefillos extend far longer than they do on a typical day, or even on a typical Yom Tov, as we storm the heavens for life, happiness, and prosperity.

But in order to maximize the effect of our prayers, we must gain a critical perspective on the nature of true, authentic tefillah.

The Gemara in Rosh Hashanah (10b-11a) teaches of three momentous events that transpired on that day: Sarah, Rochel, and Chanah — all who struggled with infertility — merited their salvation; Yosef was freed from imprisonment; and the slavery was diminished for our ancestors in Mitzrayim.

The Gemara is not listing a series of occurrences that all chanced to happen on Rosh Hashanah. The Gemara is telling us that these examples held something unique in common.

We can gain an understanding into what that was by reviewing a powerful gemara in Bava Metzia (85b). The Gemara there tells of a calf being taken for slaughter. Frightened, it ran to take shelter in the cloak of Rabi Yehudah Hanasi. He coaxed it out and told it, “Zil, l’kach notzarta — Go, for this you were created.” The Gemara says that because Rebbi did not have mercy on the calf, he was punished with immense suffering.

The mefarshim explain that, in theory, Rebbi wasn’t wrong; the calf was indeed created for slaughter. But since it turned to Rebbi as its sole savior, his rachmanus should have overwhelmed any other concern he had.

This is true for a person, and it is true for Hashem as well. When we place our full reliance in our tefillos to Him, not depending on anything or anyone else, it kiveyachol compels Hashem to have rachmanus and answer our tefillos.

Now, let us analyze the stories of each of the people, or groups of people, mentioned in the gemara in Rosh Hashanah.

First, Sarah. In parshas Lech Lecha, Avraham says to Hashem, “V’anochi holech ariri — And I go childless.” Chazal teach that Sarah was upset by his phrasing this statement in the singular. She had hoped that Avraham would include her in his anguished cry to Hashem — he should have said “and we will go childless.” His exclusion of Sarah made her realize that she could not rely on his tefillos. It was up to her to daven to Hashem — for He, and only He, could bring about her salvation.

Likewise, with Rochel, we find a reliance on her husband. In parshas Vayeitzei, she says to Yaakov, “Havah li banim v’im ayin, meisah anochi — Give me children and if not, I will die!” Yaakov responds with what seems an extreme harshness: “Hasachas Elokim anochi asher mana mimeich pri beten — Am I in the place of Hashem that I can deny you children?”

Why would Yaakov respond in such strong terms? The Ramban explains that when Rochel exclaimed “Give me children,” she was demanding that Yaakov daven. And while there is nothing wrong with requesting a tzaddik to daven on your behalf, Rochel was placing too much faith in her husband’s tefillos. She failed to recognize that she must rely only on Hashem, not the tefillos of another.

The Malbim writes that Chanah endured a similar tension. At first, she relied on her pious husband, Elkanah, to affect salvation on her behalf. Only after Elkanah tried to console her by saying (Shmuel I 1:8), “Chanah, why are you crying…am I not as good to you as ten sons?” did she realize she could no longer rely on her husband’s tefillos. It was up to her to place her full trust only in Hashem.

With Yosef, we see this theme clearly manifest. Yosef explicitly asks the sar hamashkim to “remember him” (Bereishis 40:14). Only after the sar hamashkim fails to deliver on this request does Yosef turn to Hashem as his only hope.

Klal Yisrael in Mitzrayim had to learn this lesson as well. The pasuk (Shemos 2:23) says, “The king of Mitzrayim died, and Bnei Yisrael groaned from the work, and they screamed and their cry rose to Hashem.” Rashi explains that the term “died” here is to be understood homiletically — it actually means Pharaoh contracted tzaraas. But Rav Itzeleh Volozhiner learns a profound lesson from the basic translation, and the sequence of the phrases. After Pharaoh “dies,” Bnei Yisrael’s tefillos are heard by Hashem. Why? Because until that point, Bnei Yisrael blamed their plight on Pharaoh. With his death, they figured, they would surely be redeemed. But when that didn’t happen, they realized that only Hashem could help them. They thus davened with full reliance only on Hashem to bring their salvation.

When the Gemara tells us that Sarah, Rochel, Chanah, Yosef, and Bnei Yisrael in Mitzrayim all saw salvation on Rosh Hashanah, it is revealing that their tefillos on Rosh Hashanah had a different kavanah. They davened with the realization that Hashem, and only Hashem, can help them.

And through those awesome tefillos, in that awesome time, they saw tremendous yeshuos.

May the same be said for all of us, and may we merit to daven this Rosh Hashana with full reliance on Hashem, knowing that ein lanu al mi l’hisha’ein ela al Avinu shebaShamayim. And in that merit, may we all be zocheh to see our personal yeshuos, and our national yeshuah, with the coming of Mashiach bimheirah v’yameinu, amein. 

Rabbi Yoel Marton is the rav of K'hal Hampshire Hills in Jackson, NJ. He is the author of Ohel Sarah on hilchos niddah, Dafei Halacha on hilchos Shabbos, and Dafei Halacha on hilchos brachos.

 (Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 1079)