Tears
The Arizal taught that it is important to cry on Rosh Hashanah. The Chasam Sofer says that (Tehillim 89:17) יוםה לכ גילוןי שמךב, "With Your name they rejoice every day," is roshei teivos ה"בכי, crying, because we should cry tears of joy.
Reb Pinchas of Koritz zt'l said that when one is happy, he is able to cry whenever he wants to.
The Gemara (Bava Metzia 59.) states, "From the day the Beis HaMikdash was destroyed, the gates of tefillah were closed, but the gates of tears weren't locked." When we daven with tears, our tefillos are guaranteed to ascend to heaven, and our tefillos will be answered.
In many old machzorim, some tefillos (called techinos) are written in Yiddish. These were written specifically for women, who in the past often couldn’t read lashon hakodesh. However, in the past, there were also many am aratzim among the men who couldn't read lashon hakodosh. Yet no one composed techinos for them. Why is that? It is because we need the tefillos of women because they daven with tears, and tears break through all barriers.
Reb Elyah Lopian zt'l said he received a kabbalah that on the yomim nora’im, the women who stay home to take care of their children have a private channel that elevates their tefillos before Hashem’s throne. This is partially because of the unique quality of tefillah with tears, which women excel in. These tefillos are always answered.
We tell this story to demonstrate the power of tears. Tears touch the heart. When there are tears, you want to say yes. Keviyachol, something similar occurs when we cry before Hashem. Our tears open all gates, and our tefillos are answered.
The Satmar Rebbe zt'l told the following mashal:
A prince was imprisoned in a distant land because he had rebelled against his father, the king. The queen yearned to see her child, so she traveled a long distance and spoke to him son from outside the prison walls. The son described the horrible conditions under which he was kept there. The queen took pity on him and threw him a key so he could unlock the gate and go free, but the key didn’t work.
"Perhaps it's the wrong key," the prince said.
"It’s the right key," she replied. "The problem is you've been in jail for so long that the key became rusty. The only solution is for you to cry. Your tears will wash away the corrosion, and the lock will open."
The nimshal is that davening with tears breaks through all heavenly locks and gates.
The Yismach Moshe told the following mashal:
"A king got angry at his servants, and they didn’t know how to appease him. The sar hamashkim (the king's cup-bearer) came up with an idea. "I will serve the king his favorite wine. The king will become happy and will certainly forgive us." The good wine is our tears. When we have tears, Hashem is appeased, as it says, בדמעות מתרצה מלך, "The King who is appeased through tears."
42. אלקים is Hashem's name that represents judgment.
A boss told his salesperson, "When a retail customer asks for a price reduction, you can deal with him yourself; you know how I do business and what I would say. However, if a merchant comes to the store and wants to negotiate a large deal, send him to me, and I will deal with him."
Therefore, we say in Selichos, בדמעות מתרצה מלך לפני דמעותינו הכניסו דמעה מכניסי, "[The malachim] who bring in tears, bring our tears before the King who is appeased with tears." We tell the malachim that they can bring our tears before Hashem, but nothing more than that. Malachim cannot comprehend the depth, sincerity, yearning, and pain of Yiddishe tears; only Hashem can receive them.
The Rebbe of Piaseczna zt'l hy'd said during the Holocaust, "Did a malach ever experience the pain of being beaten and hit as Yidden do? Does a malach know the humiliation of being pursued and hunted? Did a malach ever experience hunger pangs?"
Therefore, we tell the malachim to daven for us (תחינה והרבה השתדלו), but when it comes to our tears, they should kindly just bring them before Hashem.
Reb Shlomo Kluger zt'l taught that one should pray before Rosh Hashanah that he should be able to cry on Rosh Hashanah. He said that this is alluded to in the pasuk (Tehillim 42), דמעתי לי היתה ...חי ל"לא לאלקים נפשי צמאה. Reb Shlomo Kluger explained, נפשי צמאה, "My heart thirsts; לאלקים, that on the day of judgment, דמעתי לי היתה, I should be able to cry."
Elef HaMagen (582:45 and see Maaseh Rav, Gr'a 207) writes that if one cannot cry, he should pray on Rosh Hashanah in a sobbing voice. This will stir his kavanah and arouse his merits Above. As it states (Tehillim 6:9), בכיי קול 'ה שמע כי, "Hashem heard the voice of my cries."
The Gemara (Bava Metzia 59) states that even when the gates of tefillah are locked, the gates of tears remain open. Reb Eliyahu Dessler zt'l offers a beautiful explanation on this Gemara. He says that the gates of tefillah are also always open. That isn't the problem. The problem is that we daven without a heart. The heart is closed, so the tefillos don't go up. How do we open the heart? By davening with tears. When we daven with tears (or in a crying voice), that opens our hearts and awakens our kavanah, and when we daven with kavanah, the gates of heaven are wide open to receive our tefillos.
We eat honey on Rosh Hashanah. The Rebbe of Gostinen zt’l said that ש"דב is roshei teivos נאדךב מעתיד ימהש, "Place my tears in Your pouch." Tears on Rosh Hashanah make everything sweet.
