Your Tefillos Are Very Real And Very Powerful

My wife saw a beautiful story in the sefer Nishmas by Rabbi Yisroel Besser. A number of years ago when there were attacks and fighting going on in Eretz Yisrael, as there is now, somebody came over to Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv zt”l and asked, “What should I be doing now? Should I be going to rallies? Should I be writing letters? Should I just daven?” Rav Elyashiv looked at her and said, “Rak L’hitpallel?” Just daven? T’filah isn't “just.” Zeh kol mah sheyesh! Zeh hakol! T’filah is everything we have right now. Rav Elyashiv’s message is so clear.  We all want to do something to help out the situation and we sometimes think that T’filah is a last resort, pondering, “If I can't do anything ‘productive,’ then I'll just settle for davening.” However, the reality is that t’filah is the most productive thing that we could do. Our prayer is the thing that's going to bring about the yeshuah.

At a local chizuk gathering I recently attended, Rabbi Ephraim Eliyahu Shapiro shared a beautiful piece from Rav Elyashiv himself. In parshas Matos when klal Yisrael was going to war against Midian, a medrash tells us that for each of the 12,000 soldiers that were going out to fight, there were 12,000 people that were necessary to daven on their behalf. It was one to one. Every single soldier that was fighting needed another Jew to pray on their behalf. Rav Elyashiv points out that in this war HaKadosh Baruch Hu himself told them to go fight. Klal Yisrael had the aron and the tzitz that provided extra protection, and even with that they still required one person to daven for every single soldier. Rav Elyashiv concludes saying that now that we're standing in a moment of sakanah (danger) and we don't have the aron nor the tzitz to go with us to war, doesn't that mean that the sakanah is even greater, and then we need even more than one for one when it comes to davening for our soldiers. He writes that the same holds true when it comes to our Torah.

Now is the time that we absolutely need to be mechazek ourselves in our Torah and in our t’filah to help every single soldier that's out there because that is where the protection truly comes from.

A number of years back when we were living in Kew Gardens Hills, I walked into minchah at Yeshiva Kesser Torah and I noticed that there was a piece of paper floating around the tables that caught people’s attention. I took a look and I saw something very interesting. During that time there was fighting in Gaza as well, and this was a letter that was penned from a soldier in Gaza, written from the front lines to all klal Yisrael with a very powerful message, and this is what I read… “Today our hearts are pounding in fear. Who of us will die and who will return safely? We are your messengers in fighting. We are fighting so you can live peacefully with your children, so you can stay alive. We are your protection; will you be ours? We are going to this dangerous mission knowing some of us will not come back but will rise to their next position in a storm to Heaven as Eliyahu Hanavi did. We are going with devotion and dedication. We are asking you to be our protection with your prayers. Protect us by going above and beyond yourself through ruchniyus and good deeds. Pray for us. Pray that you won't see another mother burying her son. Pray that you won't see our wives as widows raising our children in tears. Pray that our children will grow up knowing who their fathers are. Pray that we will eliminate the terrorists who aim to destroy us, and that we will not injure innocent women and children. Please we are begging you, as you are reading this don't just go on to the next thing you are doing. Say a chapter of T’hilim. Wake up David Hamelech to ask Hashem for full g’ulah and peace for all the world. Take upon yourselves another good deed and please pass this on. I'm certain that your prayer will make a difference. Remember, we are in it together. We are on the front lines carrying weapons and you are fighting along with us in your prayers.  Each word of your prayer gives us strength, protection, and success.” Signed, A soldier in Gaza.

That soldier understood the power of t’filah so clearly, and since the breakout of the current war on Shemini Atzeret, we have heard numerous messages from soldiers on the front lines expressing the same feelings. They want our t’filos; they need our t’filos, and yes, YOUR prayers make a very real difference in protecting the chayalim and all am Yisrael during this difficult time and bringing an end to this very challenging circumstance. May we merit to see a yeshuah b’karov for all klal Yisrael.

 By Rabbi Yaakov Moskowitz