Now, you're not stopping to help them at all. You’re not going to knock on the door and offer your help, to clean the dishes. You have your own business that interests you. Maybe you’re on the way to the yeshiva or to the office and you can’t stop. And even if you could; they probably wouldn’t let you in. So you’re not going to do anything for them.
By the way, there are a lot of things you can do for them even if you’re not going to go inside. Let’s say you see that the lid of their garbage can blew off into the street. So it's a mitzvas aseh min haTorah to pick it up for them before a car will smash it. וַ הֲ שֵ ׁ ב ֹ תָ – It’s a mitzvah of hashovas aveidah. If it's not dangerous to walk out in the street, so go out in the street and pick it up and put it back. Otherwise it will be smashed in a minute by the next car.
Don’t disdain that because whatever you can do, you must. That’s the first thing. But let's say you wouldn't even do that. You’re not picking up the garbage can and you’re not helping them with other things. So I'm not going to praise you for that but at least you can pray that the garbage can should not be smashed. At least you can pray for his property.
Speak In Detail
Not only for his garbage can; as you pass by, pray that there should be parnassah in that house. There should be shalom between the husband and wife forever. Ask Hashem that they should all be healthy in that home, that they should live long. They should have a lot of nice children too. All of them should be smart and they should have no trouble in the cheder. And the boys and girls should get the best shidduchim and they should always have parnasah b’revach. They should all grow great in Torah and mitzvos and after one hundred and twenty years they should all go to Olam Haba.
Isn't that a nice thing to do? Does it cost money to daven for them? So why shouldn't you? לִ י פִ גְ עו ו – Pray for your fellow Jew! That much you can do! That's what Avraham said: “In case you're too lazy to help me out at least לִ י פִ גְ עו ו, pray for me.” You're mechuyav to do that.
Man Speaks, Hashem Listens
And don’t think your tefillah doesn’t mean anything. Because that’s another thing we learn from Avraham Avinu. He was dealing with Canaanim after all; they were Canaanim, the Bnei Cheis. So here is this great man, the prince of Hashem, and he’s asking the Canaanim that they should daven for him? “At least pray for me,” he said. What’s that about? What is it even worth? It’s an important point to consider: Why should Hashem take in consideration a tefillah said by a goy?
So I'm going to put down a very big foundation. And it’s very important if we’re going to appreciate the subject of davening for our fellow Jews: חָ בִ יב אָ דָ ם שׁ ֶ נִּ בְ רָ א בְ צֶ לֶ ם – Humankind are beloved by Hashem, שׁ ֶ נִּ בְ רָ א בְ צֶ לֶ ם – for they were created in the image of Hashem (Avos 3:14). That's a tremendous statement. It hits us like a bombshell! Every adam is chaviv in the eyes of Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Everyone!
And in order to emphasize man’s greatness Hashem tells us that He listens to his tefillos. In order to demonstrate that mankind is a special kind of creature, every human being has some influence with Hashem. It’s a remarkable idea! A human being says something, he asks Hashem for something, and Hashem is listening to him!
Kol Shekein a Yehudi
Of course a Yisroel is even more tremendous. חֲ בִ יבִ ין יִ שְׂ רָ אֵ ל – A Jew is so much more beloved by Hashem (ibid.) As much as He listens to gentiles it’s nothing like how He listens to Am Yisroel. ָ ה אַ ת רַחֲמִים יִשְׂרָאֵל בַת עַמְּךְ פִלָּה שׁוֹמֵעַ ת – To the tefillah of Yisroel He not only listens to but He listens b’rachamim, with mercy.
And not only a Yisroel who’s a big tzaddik with a white beard and a silk robe. It’s true for all of us. I'll tell you a little secret. You're not a tzaddik, let's say. It could be you are, but let’s say you're not a tzaddik, and you're crying out to Hashem. You know what crying does? It makes you a tzaddik! That's what crying out does for you.
The more you talk to Hashem and become aware of Him, the more of a tzaddik you become. If you call out from the bottom of your heart and you do a lot of it, that's how you become a tzaddik. So now your tefillos are the tefillos of a tzaddik. It means that all of us can change things with our davening.
