The wealthy man replied, "For years, I watched wealthy people proudly walking around with their scholarly sons-in-law, so I also wanted a son-in-law who is a talmid chacham. I paid a lot of money and got one. I don’t have a daughter, but at least I have a son-in-law, a talmid chacham..."
The nimshal is, before Shavuos, everyone takes haircuts, cuts their nails, and puts on new clothing... They want to be the chasan...but they mustn't forget that they don't have anything without the kallah, which is the Torah.
38. Reb Menachem Rikanti zt'l yearned and pined to know Torah. For this purpose, he fasted many days and davened with all his heart. But he was born with a weak mind and wasn't succeeding in Torah. Nevertheless, he never gave up. He fasted, davened, and tried with all his might. When he was in his eighties, he dreamed that an elderly person gave him a cup of water and told him to drink it, which he did. In the morning, he was a new person. His heart was open to understanding Torah, and within a year or two, he wrote his holy sefarim, renowned throughout Klal Yisrael.
The Chazon Ish zt'l taught that we shouldn’t lose hope in a child's ability to grow in Torah. The Chazon Ish explained that when his grandmothers lit the Shabbos lecht, they davened that their descendants should succeed in Torah. And the moment these tefillos are answered, everything will turn around. The Chazon Ish said that a person can cross the street, and when he began crossing the street, he had a weak mind, and when he reached the other side of the road, he became wise and sharp, and able to understand Torah because that was the moment that the tefillos were answered.
One of the Rebbes of Munkatch (Shaar Yissaschar) zt'l writes, להאריך החסידים הצדיקים נוהגים הזה הקדוש החג דשבועות ביומא רבה אהבה בברכת, "Tzaddikim say the brachah עולם אהבת at length on Shavuos."
Rebbe Mendel of Riminov zt'l said that in the desert, from Rosh Chodesh Sivan until matan Torah, the Yidden were saying the brachah of ahavah rabba, begging Hashem, בתורתיך עינינו והאר, "Enlighten our eyes in Your Torah." This is how they prepared for matan Torah.
The Pele Yoetz (Atzeres) writes, "How good it is to pour out your heart [before Hashem on Shavuos] that your children should earn the crown of Torah, ולעשות לשמור וללמד ללמוד, that they will learn Torah, teach it, and keep the Torah."
Rebbe Shmelke of Nickelsburg zt'l said it is impossible to tell a true chiddush in Torah unless one has kavanah when he says ahavah rabba and חונן אתה in Shemonah Esrei.
A student asked, "I said a good chiddush today and I didn't have kavanah by ahavah rabba and חונן אתה."
Rebbe Shmelke asked him to repeat the chiddush. The student proudly said the chiddush, but Rebbe Shmelke showed him that the chiddush was faulty. Because it is impossible to say a true Torah chiddush without tefillah.
And when you daven for success in Torah and all other areas of ruchniyos, don't be stingy and don't count your words. Ask for a lot because Hashem can give you whatever you ask for. It states (Tehillim 81:11), פיך הרחב ואמלאהו, and Rashi translates it, "Open your mouth wide, ask for all your hearts desires, ואמלהו, and I will grant all your requests."
The Gemara (Brachos 50.) says this pasuk refers to success in Torah. So, open your mouth wide, ask for a lot, ואמלאהו, and Hashem will give it to you.
Sefer Chasidim (131) states, "If someone davens for something that will increase Hashem's praise — such as success in Torah or anything else that is Hashem's will — and he pours out his heart in tefillah, Hakadosh Baruch Hu will answer his tefillos, even if he doesn't deserve it."
The Gemara (Bava Metzia 59.) states, "From the time the Beis HaMikdash was destroyed, the gates of heaven are closed." Reb Yisrael Salanter zt'l said this is solely when requesting worldly matters. But when one davens for ruchniyos, the gates are open.
