Pharaoh, the king of Mitzrayim, said (1:9) הנה עם בני ישראל רב ועצום ממנו, "Behold, the nation Bnei Yisrael are more numerous and stronger than we are." The עילאי דבי אריה says that Pharaoh was saying that the Yidden are stronger than Hashem! Hashem makes a gezeirah, and the nation annuls it with their tefillos.
The Arvei Nachal (Pesach 2) proves this from the Bris Bein HaBesarim. Hashem said to Avraham that they will be enslaved for four hundred years, as it states (Bereishis 15:13) ועבדום וענו אותם ארבע מאות שנה, "They will enslave them and oppress them, for four hundred years." But they davened to Hashem, as it states (2:23) ויאנחו בני ישראל מן העבודה ויזעקו ותעל שוועתם אל האלקים מן העבודה, "Bnei Yisrael sighed from the labor, and they cried out, and their cry ascended to Hashem from the labor," and the decree was changed and amended. They were freed from Mitzrayim after 210 years of exile.
A bachur asked the Sar Shalom zt'l for a segulah for attaining emunah. The Sar Shalom replied that tefillah is the best segulah. When one davens and sees that his tefillos are answered, this strengthens his emunah.
The Ramban says something similar in this week's parashah. Moshe asked Hashem (3:13) הנה אנכי בא אל בני ישראל ואמרתי להם אלקי אבותיכם שלחני אליכם ואמרו לי מה שמו מה אומר אליהם, "Behold I come to Bnei Yisrael and I say to them, 'The G-d of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they say to me, 'What is His name?' what shall I say to them?"
The Ramban explains that they asked for proof that Hashem exists and watches over them. What can Moshe tell them that will prove that it is so?
Hashem replied (3:14) ויאמר אלקים אל משה אהיה אשר אהיה ויאמר כה תאמר לבני ישראל אהיה שלחני אליכם, "Hashem said to Moshe, 'אהיה אשר אהיה.' He said, 'So shall you say to Bnei Yisrael, 'אהיה has sent me to you.'"
The Ramban explains that Hashem said they don't need proof other than that Hashem answers their tefillos. When they see that Hashem listens and answers their tefillah, they will know that Hashem is there and that He watches over them.
We quote the Ramban: "Hakadosh Baruch Hu replied, 'Why do you ask Me for My name? They don't need any other proof, that I will be with them when they have tzaros, than from the fact that when they call Me, I answer them. That is the greatest proof that Hashem is close to Bnei Yisrael whenever we call out to Him." The Ramban concludes, "This is a beautiful commentary."
The Midrash on Tefillah at the Yam Suf
The Midrash (Shemos Rabba 21:26) teaches that when the Yidden were at the Yam Suf, "Hakadosh Baruch Hu wanted to hear their tefillos one more time, ולא היו רוצים, but the nation didn't want to daven. What did Hashem do? He incited Pharaoh to chase after them as it states (Shemos 14:10) ופרעה הקריב, 'Pharaoh drew near' and Bnei Yisrael immediately shouted out to Hashem."
What is the reason the nation didn't want to daven? Also, the Midrash adds that Hashem wanted to hear their voice as they davened before in Mitzrayim. What was unique about their tefillos in Mitzrayim that Hashem wanted to hear those tefillos again?
The Beis Yisrael (Beshalach, ד"ה ויצעקו יא) asks these questions. He begins his answer with a lesson from the Rebbe of Kozmir zy'a: "When one doesn't have a complete daas (intellect, his mind isn't sharp at the moment to think too deeply) when he davens, he will pray like a child who can't yet say words, but he can call out and say אבא אבא, 'Father! Father!' A father has immense love and compassion for his child when he hears his child call him in this way. The same is with tefillah... The primary tefillah is when one calls out to Hashem like a child who doesn't know how to speak, and he calls out to Hashem and says אבא אבא, 'Father! Father!' This will certainly arouse Hashem's compassion."
The Beis Yisrael explains that when the Yidden were in Mitzrayim, they davened to Hashem in this simple mode. They called out to Hashem and shouted, "Tatte! Tatte! Father!" They didn't have daas, deep insights when they davened, as it states in sefarim (שער חג המצות פ"א) that when the Yidden lived in Mitzrayim, their daas was in exile. So, their tefillos were simple cries to Hashem. All they could do was shout, "Tatte! Tatte!" and this aroused Hashem's compassion.
The Beis Yisrael teaches, "When they left Mitzrayim, there was redemption to their daas, and they were now able to daven with kavanos and immense intelligence. But Hakadosh Baruch Hu wanted to hear once again the mode of tefilla that He heard when they were in Mitzrayim when they shouted 'Father! Father!' But Klal Yisrael didn't want to daven in this mode. They wanted to daven with a lot of concentration and intelligence, כוונות ומוחין." This is why the Midrash says the nation didn't want to daven. This means that they didn't want to daven a simple tefillah. They were now on a higher level and wanted their tefillah to be in a higher form.
Simple Tefillah and Hashem's Compassion
But Hashem wanted to hear once again that special, simple tefillah. Therefore, Hashem brought Pharaoh to pursue them. The Yidden felt captured in the desert. The sea was before them, and the Mitzrim were behind them. Due to their fear, they couldn't daven with immense intellect, only with simplicity. They shouted, "Tatte! Tatte! Father!" Hakadosh Baruch Hu said that this was the voice He was waiting to hear.
After lighting Chanukah lecht, the Beis Avraham of Slonim zt'l would say chapter (91, יושב בסתר עליון) of Tehillim. When he came to the words יקראני ואענהו, "When he calls Me, I will answer him," he said, "Hashem tells us that we should call out to Him and He will grant us our requests. If Hashem doesn't answer our requests, it is because we aren't calling out to Him." Even when we daven, we lack the recognition that no one can help us other than Hashem.
The Gemara (Brachos 32:) says, "If a person sees that his tefillos weren't answered, he should daven again..." It is explained in the name of the Chasid Yavetz that when a person loses something important to him, like his eyeglasses (or in our days, a good example will be when he loses his cell phone), he will look all over for it. But if he knows for certain that he lost it in a specific room, he won't look for it in another room. He will stay in that room and continue to search there. The same is true with tefillah. When a person knows that his salvation will come from tefillah, he won't search for other ways to attain his salvation. If he davened once and the tefillos weren't answered, he will daven again and again because he knows that this is where he can find his salvation.
The Brisker Rav zt'l discussed this Gemara, that if one davened, and he wasn't answered, he should daven again, and he asked why he should daven again. If his tefillos weren't answered the first time, why should he think that his tefillos will be answered the second time he davens?
He answers that when he davens again, he shows that he believes in tefillah. That merit alone can make him worthy for his tefillos to be answered.
Some people plan to make ten types of hishtadlus to obtain their needs, and one of the ten is tefillah. When tefillah doesn’t work, they try one of the other methods. The proper approach should be that one knows that tefillah is the key to his salvation, and there is no other way. Therefore, he will daven repeatedly until he attains his salvation.
