Hashem Desires the Heart
Rebbe Shlomo of Bobov zy'a said in the name of his holy father, the Kedushas Tzion zy'a hy'd, that there is a Midrash (it is also written in the sefer Emunas Yisrael, Avodah #8, printed year 5580) that talks about a boy who was an orphan from a very young age. He wasn't raised among Yidden, so he knew nothing about Torah and mitzvos. But he remembered that he was a Yid. He also remembered one word from his father's home – "tamei." His father told him this word is lashon hakodesh – from the holy language.
When the child became older, he felt an intense desire to serve Hashem, but he didn't know how. So, every day, he would jump over a well, and as he did so, he shouted "Tamei! Tamei!" He did this for a long time until he was exhausted and couldn’t continue.
Once, this child met with one of the tana'im. The tana asked him why he did this. The child replied, "I do so every day because I very much want to serve Hashem, and this is the only holy word I know. I learned it in my father's home."
The tana replied, "You are doing a very great deed, but 'tamei' isn’t an ideal word. It isn't a word of 'praise'. It is a negative word. I will teach you something else to say: a word of praise." He taught him to say "tahor". He advised him to continue his avodah jumping over the well, saying "tahor."
The lad wasn't very clever, and it took him a long time until he could say tahor. Then the tana blessed him and went on his way.
Sometime later, the child forgot the word tahor. He knew that tamei wasn't a good word, so he couldn't say that, but he also couldn't say tahor because he forgot the word. He didn't know what to do, and he was very distressed. Also, the nachas ruach that this child brought to heaven with his "avodah" was lacking.
Heaven revealed to the tana that he should quickly tell the lad to return to his avodah with the word tamei, as he had done until then. Heaven told him that if he didn't give over this message, the child's life would be in danger.
The tana immediately passed on the message to the lad, and the lad returned to his old avodah, jumping over the well as he shouted tamei. Once again, he brought a nachas ruach to Heaven with his avodah.
The Bobover Rebbe zt'l concluded, "If this child accomplished so much by shouting tamei, how much nachas ruach does Hashem receive when one shouts, 'I want to be clean and tahor before Hashem!" How much nachas ruach this will bring to our Father in heaven!" (Especially when it is done in our times, year ה"תשפ.)
Stories from Sefer Chasidim
A similar story is written in Sefer Chasidim ('ו 'ד אות). It teaches about the nachas ruach Hashem has from our mitzvos, even when they are far from perfect, because Hashem desires the heart. Furthermore, the story will show us the power of desire, the greatness of wanting to do a good deed before Hashem. We quote the Sefer Chasidim:
"Every mitzvah that a person can do, he should do. And whatever he can't do, he should think that he wants to perform the mitzvah. There was a person who worked as a shepherd, and he didn't know how to daven. Every day, he would say, 'Ribono Shel Olam! You know, if You had animals and would give them to me to watch, I would charge everyone, but I would watch Your animals for free because I love You and because I am a Yisrael.' Once, a talmid chacham was walking by and heard the shepherd say these words. The talmid chacham said, 'Fool, don't daven like that.'"
"The shepherd asked, 'So how should I daven?"
The Chacham immediately taught him how to recite brachos, kriyas Shema, and Shemonah Esrei, so he would stop saying what he was saying until then. But when the talmid chacham left, the shepherd forgot everything he was taught, and couldn't daven. He was also afraid to say the prayers he used to, because the tzaddik told him he shouldn't.
"In a dream, the talmid chacham was told that he must tell the shepherd to return to his old tefillah. 'If you don't do so, bad will befall you, because you stole away this person's Olam HaBa.'
"He immediately went to the shepherd and asked him which tefillah he was saying lately. The shepherd replied, 'I didn't say any tefillah. I forgot what you taught me, and you told me that I shouldn't say my previous tefillah...' The talmid chacham repeated the dream and told him to return to saying his tefillah, the original one he had been saying.
"This shepherd didn't learn Torah, he didn't perform a mitzvah, but he wanted to do a good deed. [He wanted to guard Hashem's animals for free, if there was a need for it]. This desire was considered to be a very great deed, בעי ליבא רחמנא כי, Hashem desires the heart. Therefore, a person should think about doing good deeds before Hakadosh Baruch Hu."
Sefer Chasidim (18) teaches, "Our Creator, who examines the heart of man, doesn't ask from a person more than what his heart should be for Hashem. If he doesn't know how to daven properly, he will receive credit like he davened properly and with kavanah. Also, someone who says pesukei dezimra out loud, in a sweet voice and with kavanah, but he doesn't know how to say the pasukim correctly, and he says the words wrongly, his prayers will create a nachas ruach, and Hakadosh Baruch Hu will be extremely happy. Hashem will say, 'How beautifully he sings before me, according to his abilities.'"
Sefer Chasidim tells a story about a kohen who didn't know how to say birkas kohanim properly. Instead of saying וישמרך (Hashem will guard you), he said ישמדך (which means Hashem will destroy you, chalilah). A certain talmid chacham didn't permit this kohen to say birkas kohanim in beis medresh anymore. He explained that not only wasn't he giving a brachah, but rather he was giving a curse, r'l.
Sefer Chasidim writes that the talmid chacham was wrong for stopping this man from saying birkas kohanim. "Heaven showed this chacham that he would be punished if he didn’t allow the kohen to return to say birkas kohanim." The kohen was doing the best he could, and it became a nachas ruach for Hashem.
Similarly, the Ben Ish Chai (Od Yosef Chai, Matos) tells a story about a G-d fearing person who didn't know lashon hakadosh. He didn't understand what the words of the tefillah meant. Once, he was in a beis kneses, and he heard a chazan sing the words נשרפין ואלו אלו הדשן בבית, "Both of them are burned in the place of the ashes."
The simple man assumed that these five words must be a tremendous blessing, which is why the chazan sang these words so beautifully. Therefore, the simple person memorized the words, and when he blessed his children on Friday night, he would say with kavanah בְּב ֵית נִשְׂרָפ ִין וָא ֵֽ לּ וּ א ֵֽ לּ וּ ֶׁןה ַדָּֽש, "Both of them are burned in the place of the ashes."
Once, a talmid chacham, a gadol b'Torah, came to his home for Shabbos, and heard him bless his children with these words. The talmid chacham became very afraid. He asked, "Why do you curse your own children that they be burned in the place of ashes? You are cursing them instead of blessing them!" That night, the chacham was shown in a dream that he didn't act correctly. He shouldn't have stopped this simple person from his custom. He was saying these words with good intention, and Hashem took the words and turned them around to be a brachah. What’s important is one’s intention, and he wanted to bless his children.
This story is also written in brief by the Or HaChaim HaKadosh (Rishon l'Tzion Mishlei 3), and he writes, יסיר 'ה ,'ה לרצונו לבו יכוין אשר כל כי למישור המעקשים, "Whoever intends his heart for Hashem's will, Hashem will remove the crookedness and make it straight."
