The words of simple people, spoken with temimus and with good intentions, are also very powerful. In Shomayim, these words are given great value.
Sefer Od Yosef Chai (Parshas Matos) relates the story of a simple man who was so unlearned that he didn’t even know how to daven and couldn’t understand the meaning of basic words in lashon hakadosh. When he went to shul, he wouldn’t open a siddur, as he did not know how to read.
Hashem blessed this man with more than ten sons, and he wanted to bless them every Shabbos. However, since he didn’t know any pesukim, he wasn’t sure what words to use to bless them.
In the shul the man attended, there was a man who davened with much enthusiasm. He would recite “Eizehu Mekomian” in a pleasant voice every day. When he got to the words “eilu v’eilu nisrafin b’bais hadeshen” (these and these were burned in the house of ashes), he would raise his voice and say the words loudly. This unlearned man thought that if this smart man dwelled on these words, they must be a very good bracha. He learned how to say these words and, from then on, he would bless his sons with these five words every Shabbos.
One week, a guest was saying in the ignorant man’s house. This guest was a talmid chochom and he was shocked to hear his host blessing his children with the words “eilu v’eilu nisrafin b’bais hadeshen.” He screamed at him, “What are you doing? You are cursing your sons and saying that they should be burned!”
That night, it was revealed to the talmid chochom in a dream that he had done a bad thing. It was explained to him that since the man had no idea what he was saying, Hashem took his words and rearranged the letters so that they would be great blessings.
Regarding this, the pasuk states (Shir Hashrim 2:4): “He skips (diglo) upon me with love.” This can be understood to mean that Hashem skips and rearranges letters to change their meaning from curses to blessings if the words are said with love and temimus.
