What Should We Ask for on Zos Chanukah?
A Day of Divine Will
The Heiliger Ruziner said that even a simple and regular Yid can daven on Zos Chanukah for things that the greatest tzaddikim can only receive on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The day holds such incredible revelation that every single Yid’s tefillos will be accepted On High. It’s a day of pnimiyus and inner connection, a day of extraordinary closeness to the Ribbono Shel Olam, a day when the doors are open to our every request.
This being the case, we must have the wisdom to know what to ask for.
Praise for Much, Ask for Little
Let us study a short passage of a Gemara and we will discover how to daven on this special day.
The Gemara tells us (Berachos 50a) that when we bentch with a zimun, we must say חיינו ובטובו, with a beis, and not with a ומטובו, mem. This slight difference makes all the difference in the world. Reciting the word with a letter mem indicates thanking Hashem from His good from which He has given us life, and if he says that then the Gemara states we know that he’s an bor, and ignoramus.
Rashi explains that the problem with this expression is that it suggests he is thanking Hashem only for the basics of life’s needs, which is but a small portion of Hashem’s benevolence and blessing granted to him. This Yid should have praised Hashem for so much more than the minimum.
However, the Gemara differentiates between thanking and asking, and when it comes to asking we should ask for just a little. Rashi explains that we should come as paupers requesting charity by the door, only asking for a small amount. Such a person pleads with humility, and doesn’t dare ask for too much.
Spiritual Plenty
Yet there’s one area, explains the Gemara, where we are enjoined to ask for a lot from Hashem, and that is in ruchniyus. For Torah and avodah, for kedushah and taharah, we have every right and duty to come to Hashem with big requests.
This is what the Gemara teaches and guides us to do.
Utilizing the Day
If Zos Chanukah is a day when we can get our prayers answered more than any other day, then we must surely utilize the day to daven for ruchniyus. The day itself cries our ואמלאהו פיך הרחב, open your mouth and I will fill it (which is the pasuk the Gemara above quotes).
So what should we ask for? We must ask for that which Chazal tell us to ask: for divrei Torah, holiness and spiritual growth. We must ask for the knowledge of Hashem, and for the Ribbono Shel Olam to remove the barriers which cloud our hearts.
The Villager Who Knows No Better
This can be likened to a villager with no השגות of materialism, who arrived at a festive banquet. The waiters made the rounds from table to table, carrying trays and trays of delicacies. As they approached the simple man, they asked him “What can we serve you?” He looked at all the delicious delights, and said, “Do you have some bread and water?”
A wise man who was sitting nearby understood what was happening, and he told the waiter, “He doesn’t know what to ask for because he has no exposure or experience with these fine foods. Please come back in 15 minutes. I’ll explain some things to him and then he’ll know what to order.”
We’re all the villagers in the story. Our understanding of ruchniyus can be likened to the understanding of the wagon drivers of yore. When it comes to pleading for ruchniyus from Hashem our levels and goals are embarrassing when truly considered by those who are much closer to Hashem. This is a crying shame because this last day of Chanukah is a day when we can ask for anything.
The Ribbono Shel Olam is offering us the greatest delicacies and delights, with true inner connection to Him, but we don’t even know how to appreciate it. Even if we’re already asking for ruchniyus, we don’t understand what to ask for. For how should we know what to ask for, if we have never tasted it?
In Their Words
Therefore, since we don’t possess the appropriate maximum hasagos on our own, it’s best to utilize the deep and beautiful words of Dovid HaMelech and from other previous tzaddikim who supplicated Hashem for ruchniyus. They did taste it, and therefore they knew how to ask, and what to ask for.
In addition, we should make the following statement a major part of our tefilos. We should tell Hashem that, “We don’t know how to ask properly but, You, Ribbono Shel Olam, You do know what I need. You know the greatest depths of Torah that I can attain. Please help me get there!
Our poor man’s tefillah will surely get us through the doors that are so open wide on this exalted day.
