The pasuk in Parshas Toldos says, “And Yitzchak entreated Hashem opposite his wife, because she was barren...” (Bereshis 25:21). Chazal say that Yitzchak stood in one corner and Rivka stood in another corner and they both davened. However, the pasuk continues “...Hashem listened to him, and his wife conceived.” Rashi comments on the fact that the pasuk does not say that “He listened to them,” but rather, “He listened to him.” Rashi notes: There is no comparison between the prayers of a tzadik (righteous person) who is the son of a tzadik, and the prayers of a tzadik who is the son of a rasha (wicked person).
On the face of it, this teaching of Chazal, which Rashi quotes, contradicts a well-known Gemara. The Talmud states: “In a place where ba’alei teshuva (people who were not originally religious and ‘returned’ to religious Judaism) stand, completely righteous people cannot stand.” (Berachos 34b). This teaching seems to clearly say that a tzadik who is the son of a Rasha is on a higher spiritual level than a second generation tzadik. According to that, Rivka’s prayers that she should become pregnant should have been more readily accepted than the prayers of her husband Yitzchak.
How do we reconcile these two teachings? I saw a very important principle of prayer in a sefer called Me’Orei Ohr.
There is a fellow here in Baltimore who is an expert glass blower from Italy. His works appear in museums. He is a seventh-generation glass blower. Glass blowing is in his veins. He saw it done in his parents’ house. He saw it done in his grandparents’ house. It is an art. If I tried it, all I would get is broken glass. Even if I were to take lessons and learn how to do it, I would never reach this fellow’s level of expertise, simply because I am starting from scratch with no prior exposure to this art form.
Similarly, sometimes people are natural-born athletes. The person’s father played in the NFL. He played in the NFL. When such people live it their entire lives, something rubs off. They have a leg up on other people, who may try to become professional athletes without such a background.
L’havdil, tefilla is also an art. Tefilla is not just opening a siddur and mouthing the words of Shemoneh Esrei. It is a skill, an art form. So, in terms of spiritual level, perhaps Rivka was on a higher spiritual level by virtue of her being a ba’alas teshuva, than Yitzchak, who was born into a spiritually inclined family. However, in terms of the efficacy of tefilla – how to go about davening– what emotions a person employs, etc., Yitzchak lived that in his father’s house. His prayers were not accepted because he was on a “higher madreigah” than his wife, but simply because he was more aware of the art and science of how to daven, a skill he learned in his family’s home. He knew “the art of glass blowing,” except that it wasn’t glass blowing, it was the power of tefilla.
