The pasuk says (13:45) ֵאָמוְט ...ַנֶּגַעה בּוֹ ֶרֲׁשא ַַצָּרוּעוְה ָאְריִק ֵאָמט , "The person who has tzaraas... he is to call out 'Tamei! Tamei!'" Why is this necessary? Rashi writes that he must tell people that he is tamei, to warn them to be cautious not to become tamei from him.
The Gemara (Shabbos 67a) tells that he must tell others that he is tamei, so they will know about his distress and daven for him. The Gemara (ibid.) states that when a tree cannot hold its fruits (the fruits fall off the tree before they ripen), the tree owner should paint it with a red marker. This is to inform those passing by to daven for the tree. The source for this custom, the Gemara says, is from the pasuk ָאְריִק ֵאָמט ֵאָמוְט. The metzora should tell people that he is tamei so they will daven for him. Likewise, when one’s tree is dropping its fruit, or when faced with any other problem, tell people about it, and they will daven for you.
There is no logical explanation, other than that my tefillah and my recognition that I am dependent on Hashem had immediate results. All the children were silent. I told them to begin davening, and they all listened, without exception. Afterwards, when I taught them, they all paid attention. Everyone participated. By the end of the week, the students knew the material I taught them, and by the end of the year, they had grown exceptionally in Torah. I am sure that this occurred in the merit of tefillah and because I realized that I couldn’t do anything alone without Hashem's help.
On the need to daven for one's fellow man, we share the following story. One of the baalei hamaaseh is the melamed whom we quoted in the footnote above:
When cheder was out for summer vacations, this melamed would often go to Eretz Yisrael. One year, his neighbor asked him for a favor. He said, "When you go to Amukah, to the kever of Reb Yonason ben Uziel, which is known to be mesugal for shidduchim, please daven there for my four older sons." The neighbor was a good friend, so he didn't hesitate to ask this favor, and the melamed naturally agreed. Indeed, he came to Amukah and davened for his neighbor with all his heart and soul, with tears and immense kavanah. Even for his own relatives, he never prayed with so much intensity. He davened for the four older bachurim, each one by their name.
The melamed says, "When I left the tzion, I got into the car waiting for me and immediately called my neighbor. His wife answered the phone and said her husband would be available in an hour. I called an hour later and told him about the fervent prayers I davened for his children in Amukah. The neighbor replied emotionally, "Nine months ago, a shidduch was suggested for my eldest son, but the girl's father said that he wasn't interested. Just an hour ago (when the melamed was at the tzion in Amukah), they called back that they were interested in pursuing the shidduch!"
Seeing that his tefillos were taking effect, the melamed went on to daven at Reb Meir Baal HaNeis. The melamed tells, "When I finished davening at Reb Meir Baal HaNeis, they had already completed the shidduch, broke a plate, and shouted mazal tov.
There is an addition to this story, because two years later, the melamed once again went to Eretz Yisrael for his summer vacation and went to Amukah. This time, he davened for his own son, who by then had gotten to the age of shidduchim. The moment he left the tzion, his wife called him from his home in Monsey. She told him to come home immediately because a very good shidduch was suggested for their son, and the other side was interested in pursuing the shidduch. He returned home the next day. One day later, the shidduch was completed. He felt that this was like hakaras hatov: at the same place he helped his neighbor's son find his shidduch, his son also found his shidduch.
Reb Ben Tzion Gutfarb Shlita said that his mother once asked him to go to Reb Chaim Kanievsky zt'l and ask him the following question. She had been davening for a certain salvation for a long time, but her tefillos hadn't been answered so far. She wanted to know whether she should take it as a sign that Hashem doesn't want to fulfill her request, and she should stop davening for it, or perhaps it means that she should daven again and again until she receives her salvation?
Reb Ben Tzion traveled to Bnei Brak to perform the mitzvah of kibud eim, and ask Reb Chaim this question. Reb Chaim replied that the answer is written in the Gemara (Brachos 32b): "If a person sees that he davened and his tefillos weren't answered, ויתפלל יחזור he should daven again, as it states (Tehillim 27:14) 'ה ֶלא ַוֵּהוְק ָלִבֶּך ֵץֲמוְיַא ֲזַקח 'ה ֶלא ַוֵּהק."
Reb Chaim added that the Gemara states ויתפלל יחזור, "Go back and daven." It doesn't state להתפלל ימשיך, "continue davening." The Gemara is implying that he should go back and daven, as though this was the first time he was davening.
This is because when people see that their tefillos aren't answered, their nature is to daven again, but with less kavanah and with less fervor than they had the first time. The Gemara tells us ויתפלל יחזור, go back and daven like the first time. Each time you daven, consider it the first time, with an outpouring of your heart. In this manner, your tefillos will be answered.
We can compare this lesson to a story that Reb Yaakov Landau zt'l, the Rav of Bnei Brak, repeated. When he was young, he was in the beis medresh of the Maharash of Lubavitz zy'a during a hachnasas sefer Torah. The joy was immense, and there was a lot of animated dancing. There was a man there who didn't understand the reason for all the joy since there were already several Sifrei Torah in the aron kodesh. He said tiredly, "Another sefer Torah", as if to say, "What do we need it for?" The Maharash replied with holy emotion, "Another sefer Torah!" Not a small matter at all. Another sefer Torah was being brought to the beis medresh!
As it relates to our discussion, when one davens, it shouldn't be just "Another tefillah." It should be "Another tefillah!" Each tefillah and request should be expressed with all one’s heart and soul. This approach will break through all barriers in heaven preventing his tefillah from going up, and he will have his salvation.
Lessons from the Gemara
There are several lessons that we can learn from this Gemara. Reb Yechezkel Levenstein zt'l learns from this the power of a small tefillah. Those passing the tree didn't spend the entire day davening. They probably said a short tefillah for the tree's well-being, as they passed by, and apparently it was sufficient to turn things around. Sometimes there is a תפילה יום, a whole day devoted to tefillah. Sometimes, people say the entire Tehillim, etc. This is very recommended, but people don't always have time. We learn from this Gemara that short prayers are sufficient and accomplish a lot. We also take out from here the importance of davening for your fellow man.
The Tiferes Shlomo (Yisro ויאמר ה"ד) teaches: It states (Shir HaShirim 2:14) ֵבָרע ֵ ךְקוֹל כִּי ֵ ךְקוֹל ֶתא ִינִיִיעְׁמַשה, "Let me hear your voice of tefillah, because your voice is ערב..." The word ֵבָרע can be translated as, "because you daven for others." (ֵבָרע refers to the unity and responsibility for all Yidden to care for one another. לזה זה ערבים ישראל כל, every Yid is responsible for his fellow man.) Thus, the pasuk tells us that each Yid should daven for the wellbeing and benefit of his fellow man.
Also, Shmuel HaNavi said to the Jewish nation (Shmuel 1, 12:23) ֲדֹלֵחמ 'ַהל ֲטֹאֵחמ לִּי ָהָלִילח ָנֹכִיא גַּם ֶםַדְכבַּע ַּלֵּלְפִתלְה , "Also, I, far be it from me to sin against Hashem and refrain from praying on your behalf...." This tells us that if one doesn't daven for his fellow man in need, it is called a חטא, a sin, chalilah. Tiferes Shlomo writes, "The tefillos that are heard the most in heaven are the tefillos that one says for his fellow man"!
