Ask for a Lot
When we daven, we should ask for a lot. Don't be stingy with your requests because Hashem can provide for us all our needs and requests.
An angel once told a person, "Ask for whatever you want, and your wish will be granted." This person was blind, poor, and childless. What should he ask for? He can only ask for one thing, but he needed three. So, the wise man said, "I want to see my great-grandchildren eating from golden dishes." For this request to be fulfilled, he would need eyesight, wealth, and children. When one is given the opportunity to ask, he should ask wisely.
Czar Nicolai sometimes dressed like a simple person and mingled with the populace to hear what people thought of him. Once, he sat with four people at a bar. He asked them, "If the king would grant you whatever you want, what would you request?" One said, "I'd ask for a million dollars." Another said, "I would ask for a mansion." A third said that he would ask for a bank. The fourth said, "I request that you leave us in peace and stop bothering us with your foolish questions. You’re not the king and can't give us anything." When the king returned to his palace, he wrote letters to all four people. To one, he gave a million dollars; to the second, a mansion; to the third, a bank; and the fourth, he wrote, "You wanted to be left in peace; your wish is granted, and I will do so." During these days, at the beginning of the year, when the King encourages us to request our needs, we should be wise like the first three men and not like the fourth one, who failed to recognize the opportunity before him.
Poor people don't usually get too much when they collect money in beis midrash. The mispalelim generally give small donations — a quarter, a dollar, maybe five dollars. But when a needy person visits a wealthy person at home, he receives far more. Why? Reb Tzadok HaKohen zt’l explains that when the poor go around the beis midrash, they don’t expect to receive much, and that’s why they don’t get much. But when the poor man goes to the rich man’s home, he expects to receive more, and therefore he receives more. The lesson is that one receives according to his expectations; therefore, when we daven, we should raise our expectations, and then we will receive more.
A candy store owner once told a young child that he could take a handful of candies from the candy jar free of charge. The child refused to take the candy himself, so the storekeeper scooped up a handful and handed it to him. When he returned home, he explained why he didn't take the candy himself. “The storekeeper's hand is much larger than mine.” The nimshal is that we request that Hashem open His hand and grant us kindness. Hashem's hand is much larger than ours. When Hashem gives us His kindness it will be far more than what we can take or imagine on our own.
Reb Naftoli of Ropshitz zt'l told the following: Once, a soldier saw a soldier of the opposing army raise his rifle to shoot Czar Nicolai. The loyal soldier shouted, which caused Nicolai's horse to jump, and the bullet hit the horse instead of Nicolai. "You saved my life," Nicolai said to the soldier. "How can I repay you?" The soldier replied, "I don't get along well with my commander in the army. I want to be moved to a different brigade." "Your request will be fulfilled," Nicolai said, "but you are a fool because you could have requested so much more. Even if you would have requested to be the general, I would have granted your request." Reb Naftali of Ropshitz zy'a said that people are also foolish when they ask for small things from Hashem, like a bit more money, or a drop more success, and the like. They can ask for much more, and Hashem will grant them their requests.
The Midrash ("תתן נתן" ראה לעז מעם ילקוט) tells a story that took place when Alexander Mokdon came to Eretz Yisrael. A Yid came forward and greeted and blessed Alexander. Alexander appreciated the gesture and rewarded him with a city. Alexander's servants asked, "He is a poor man. He would have been satisfied with a smaller present, too. Why did you give him a city?" Alexander replied, "When one gives a gift to express appreciation, the present's worth should be according to the eyes of the giver and not according to the receiver’s perception." The Lev Simchah zt'l repeated this Midrash and explained that when Hashem gives us gifts, it is according to how Hashem understands a present. We say in טל תפילת (on Pesach): שמינו העמד כערכך דוד, "Beloved, according to Your assessments, establish our name." This means that Hashem should give us kindness as He understands kindness, for that will be much greater than when it is according to our limited perception.
