Rebbe Ber'inyu zy'a of Sadigura would say that the preparation for tefillah is to think about the following four pesukim that have the word מה in them:
- הארץ בכל שמך אדיר מה, "How mighty is Your name throughout the earth". (Tehillim 8:2)
- תזכרנו כי אנוש מה, "What is frail man that You should remember him?" (Tehillim 8:5)
- ליראה אם כי מעמך שואל אלקיך 'ה מה, "What does Hashem Your G-d ask of you? Only to fear..." (Devarim 10:12)
- לראיך צפנת אשר טובך רב מה, "How abundant is Your goodness that You have stored away for those who fear You." (Tehillim 31:20)
To explain, Rebbe Ber'inyu told a mashal of a king who went hunting with his servants. The servants brought all the things that the king might need on this outing, including arrows, guns, food, and drink, and a gold pipe – because the king enjoyed relaxing with a pipe when he was outdoors. But he forgot to bring along matches to light the pipe.
The king took a break on the forest floor and wanted to smoke a pipe, but was very upset when he discovered that there weren't any matches. He asked his servants to look for a person passing by, to ask him for a match.
The servants found someone relaxing, smoking his pipe. He had matches with him, but refused to lend one to the king. The servant said, "Think about who is asking for the favor. It is the great king! And think about who you are, a poor, powerless person. Think about what he is asking for. He is only asking for a match that costs a few pennies. And think of the reward the king can give you for giving him a match. How can you say no?"
Similarly, before one davens, he should think about before Whom he will be davening. Before the Mighty Hashem, as it states (Tehillim 8:2) הארץ בכל שמך אדיר מה, "How mighty is Your name throughout the earth." Also, one should think about who he is. Behold, it states (Tehillim 8:5) תזכרנו כי אנוש מה, "What is a frail man that You should remember him." Also, one should think (Devarim 10:12) 'ה מה ליראה אם כי מעמך שואל אלקיך, "What does Hashem, Your G-d, ask of you? Only to fear Hashem..." The request isn't so large. Furthermore, contemplate (Tehillim 31:20) צפנת אשר טובך רב מה לראיך, "How abundant is Your goodness that You have stored away for those who fear You." This final pasuk tells us the strength and the potential of tefillah. It has the potential to turn nature around, and you can receive all the desires of your heart. So, who wouldn't run to have an opportunity to daven with kavanah!
It states (Mishlei 21:30) עֵצָה וְא ֵין ת ְּבוּנָה וְא ֵין ח ָכְמָה אֵין 'ה לְנֶגֶד. Rebbe Moshe Kobriner zt'l said that אֵין in Yiddish means "one." The pasuk is saying that there is only one wisdom and only one solution to the problems of life. And that is 'ה לְנֶגֶד, to pour out the heart before Hashem.
Stories of Relying on Hashem Alone
A story happened to a person I know. This man was childless for years. He went to many doctors, without success. Finally, he came to "Professor Moshiach," who is a renowned expert in this area. Professor Moshiach told him that according to the rules of nature, he can't bear children.
He was very broken; and what should he tell his wife? He decided that he would first go to Reb Chaim Kanievsky, zt'l, and hopefully his yeshuah will come from there. However, Reb Chaim told him that he couldn’t help him. The man left Reb Chaim’s house and entered the nearby Lederman Shul, which was empty at that time, and shouted, "Ribono Shel Olam! Oy Ribono Shel Olam! Not Professor Moshiach, and not Reb Chaim. Only You and I are here now, and I don't rely on anyone in the world, only on You. Save me. Help me."
Today he is the father of nine children, ke"h.
I heard an amazing story from a great rav from Yerushalayim. He told me about a young child who had outstanding middos; however, unfortunately, his heart and mind were closed, and he couldn’t understand Torah. For example, his melamed told him several times consecutively, "There was a person called Noach. He built a large teivah that had space for people. Noach entered the teivah, and was saved from the mabul." Then the melamed asked the child, "Where did Noach go?" and the child replied, "Under an umbrella." This is an example of how hard it was to teach this child anything, and it began disturbing the dynamics of the classroom. But the melamed didn't have a reason to send the boy out of his class, since he was always well-behaved. The parents of this boy beseeched tzaddikim and mekubalim, and went to experts in chinuch, but nothing helped. The child's "closed" head wouldn't open, not even a drop.
The cheder sent a painful letter to the parents, telling them that they were running out of options, and since the child was hindering the growth of his classmates, they would have no other choice and have to ask them to keep their child home.
A week or two later, the melamed saw that the child stopped asking foolish questions (which generally disturbed the class) and started studying with hasmadah, and seemed to understand everything he was learning. The child even excelled above the good students of the class, wondrously. The melamed was shocked. This began during parashas Metzora. The melamed told his colleagues in the "rebbes' room" during the break, "Perhaps the child understands the language of birds (which is taught in parashas Metzora). Let's see what will be next week, when we learn Acharei – Kedoshim." The following week, the miracle recurred. The child understood everything, asked clever questions, and became the best student in the class.
The menahel (principal) of the school called up the parents and told them that he wanted to meet them at their home. The parents were worried when they heard that the menahel wants to speak with them. They thought he wanted to tell them to keep their child home. So they begged, "Please, give us another week. A drop more time. Before you lose hope on our son, give him one more chance."
The menahel said, "I have to meet you." When he arrived, he asked them, "Where did you take your son?" The parents replied, "We went to so many people and many experts. Who didn't we go to?" The menahel replied, "I am not referring to the past. I am discussing the present. To whom did you go with your son in the past two weeks? To which chinuch expert did you go to?" The father looked at the mother, and the mother looked at the father, and then they said, "Some weeks ago, when we received your letter that you are about to send our son home, we said, 'We went to so many experts, and no one helped. No one can help our son. Let's stop going to "experts" and let's pray to Hashem. We went to the Kosel HaMaaravi, each of us in our corner, and poured out all the pain in our hearts as we said sefer Tehillim. Rivers of tears poured from our eyes. That is when our son's heart and mind opened to understand Torah. He understood everything he learned, perfectly, clearly, and deeply.'"
The child continued on in the cheder and then went to a very good yeshiva. He is now a talmid chacham and has the potential to become one of the gedolei hador. How great is the power of tefillah when one relies on Hashem alone!
Reb Aryeh Shechter zt'l told how his family was saved from the holocaust. "Year צ"תר, some years before the Holocaust, my mother altered her and her husband's birth certificates to say that they were both born in Hungary. She knew that without Hungarian birth certificates, they would be banished from Hungary. Poland wouldn't accept them in, either, and then the thieves of the road would finish the job...
But the Hungarian government caught on that the documents were forged. A long and tiring court case of eight years followed. At times, my parents were imprisoned, and a long jail term hovered over their heads.
At the end of eight years, came the final court case, which would determine their fate. My father asked his lawyer what he thinks the outcome of the case will be. The lawyer said, "If you are sentenced to less than six years in prison, we can consider that a great success."
When my father heard this, he said to the lawyer, "Take the money I owe you, and remain at home. Don't go to the court. I will take care of myself." The lawyer indeed agreed. He got his money, and he didn't have to work for it in the courtroom.
On the day of the judgment, my father came to the courthouse alone. The judge asked him, "Where is your lawyer?" My father replied, "I don't need a lawyer. I can speak for myself." The judge said, "If so, let's hear what you have to say that will help your case?" My father replied with courage and with bitachon, "Hashem leads the world. He is the One who places into the minds of judges what they should think and what they should say. Therefore, I pray to the Creator...
