Preparing for Tefillah Through the Koach Hatorah:
The pasuk states (Esther 9:25): “And when she came before the king, he commanded through a book that his evil thought that he had devised against the Jews return upon his own head, and to destroy him and his sons on the gallows.”
Sefer Tiferes Shmuel quotes Sefarim Hakedoshim that say that the best way to avoid having distracting thoughts arise in one’s head during davening is to study Torah before starting the tefillah. This idea is hinted to in this pasuk, which can be read as saying that when one goes to “the King” – a euphemism for Hashem – in order to daven, he should “command with a book”, meaning that she should learn from a sefer. In this way his “evil thoughts” which disturb his tefillah will be returned away from him and will no longer distract him.
A Segulah to Avoid Unwanted Thoughts:
On this topic, it is known that the Vilna Gaon zy”a would advise people to daven from a siddur, as this is a segulah to avoid distracting thoughts. This can also be discerned from this pasuk that can be read as saying that if one is “with the book” meaning that he is reading from a siddur, his evil and distracting thoughts will be turned away.
Waking Up at Midnight:
The pasuk states (Esther 6:1): “On that night, the king’s sleep was disturbed.” The Meor Vashemesh writes that this is a hint that everyone should wake up in the middle of the night to learn Torah and daven to Hashem. This is because the middle of the night is the time when Hashem is reveling with the souls of tzadikim in Gan Eden. At this time, He remembers their zechusim, which leads Him to be merciful to Klal Yisroel.
He concludes, “Anyone who makes the effort to get up at this time and immerse himself in Torah l’shma will have Hashem hear his voice. At this time, all zechusim are read before Him, and this shuts the mouths of the prosecutors.”
The Power of Every Word and Thought:
The Gemara states (Gittin 57B) that there were descendants of Haman who studied Torah in Bnei Brak. The Shem M’Shmuel (Parshas Tetzaveh 5680) writes that the reason Haman merited this reward was because, as the Medrash relates, when he was leading Mordechai on the horse through the city streets, he said, “I said in my tranquility that I will never falter. Hashem, with Your will, You set up my mountain to be might, You hid Your countenance and I became frightened. (Tehillim 30:7)”
The wicked Haman admitted that everything that occurred was from Hashem. When he did this, he awakened the good portion of himself that had been hidden within him, and it separated from the bad parts of him. This good portion left him and eventually was reincarnated in his descendants, who went on to study Torah.
The Shem M’Shmuel concludes, “This teaches us that even if someone is in a very bad situation, he should know that even one good word or thought is very powerful. Even if it doesn’t help him, it will come a day when it will be a strong help because one cannot imagine or describe how powerful these things are.”
