I heard the following story from the baal hamaaseh, a tzaddik and a respected individual. He told me the following:
We have family in Vienna, and this year (ה"תשפ) I traveled with my family to Vienna, to be with them for Pesach. Immediately after yom tov, we traveled to kivrei tzaddikim in the area, and then we traveled to Kerestir. We arrived in Kerestir late at night. We immediately went to daven at the kever, and then we headed to the hotel. It was already passed midnight, and we had to get up early to be in time for Shacharis, which we saw on a sign, begins at 8:00.
After Shacharis and breakfast, we went back to the tzion to daven, and then we traveled to Uhel, to the kever of the Yismach Moshe zy'a.
The Minchas Elazar replied, "I will tell you the truth. Initially, I thought that being silent was a hospital rule, so I agreed to abide by it. However, I discovered that there is no such rule. Last night, shortly after I fell asleep, I was awoken by the shouts of a patient in the hospital. I couldn't sleep the entire night because of him. I discovered that it is ok to shout in the hospital."
The doctor smiled and said, "But you are a wise Rabbi. Why do you say something so foolish? That person has a terrible disease, all his bones are broken, and he shouted bitterly out of pain. Generally, there is quiet in the hospital."
The Rebbe replied, "You are truly a great doctor, and you studied from great professors. They taught you to understand the pain of broken hands and feet. But what do you know about the broken heart of a Jewish person? You will never understand the pain that a Yid has when he waits close to two thousand years for the geulah, and he suffers the hardships of galus, which become worse each day. My shouts also came from an intense pain, from a very broken heart. The patient last night couldn't control himself, and I also couldn't control myself. The shouts emerged on their own."
Rebbe Pinchas Koritzer (Imrei Pinchas Hashalem, Bo) zt'l teaches: The Zohar states that every day, there is a moment when the Or HaGanuz, the concealed light, is revealed, and all tefillos said at that time are answered. Therefore, the Midrash (Devarim Rabba 2:12) states that a person should daven continuously, and if his tefillos weren't yet answered, he should daven another time. He should daven again and again, until his tefillos are answered. This is the meaning of the words 'ה אל וקוה לבך ויאמץ חזק ,'ה אל קוה. Keep davening, even a hundred times. The explanation is that if one davens all the time, perhaps he will merit to say one tefillah at the time that the Or HaGanuz shines, and then the tefillah will be answered. We don't know the time that the Or HaGanuz shines. Nevertheless, he writes, there is an assumption (repeated in the name of the Baal Shem Tov zy'a) that the Or HaGanus shines before the netz hachamah. Everyone can ask their requests at that time.
Another time the Or HaGanuz shines is in Parashas Bahaloscha. The Imrei Pinchas (Bahaloscha) writes, "In parashas Bahaloscha, the concept of the Or HaGanuz is aroused." So, we can deduce that the entire week before this Shabbos is also a special time for the tefillos to be answered.
The Vilna Gaon zt’l reveals yet another opportunity for us to benefit from the Or Haganuz. He writes in a letter, "Every moment a person closes his mouth, he merits the Or HaGanuz, which no malach or creation can measure." This is a source for the concept that when a person is על מעביר מדותיו, he doesn't answer back when there is a machlokes, he has the power of tefillah, and all of his brachos and tefilos that he says at this time will be answered. The Or HaGanuz shines at this time, and he has the power of tefillah.
