Our parashah opens with Moshe’s heartfelt prayers to be given the great privilege to enter Eretz Yisrael. The Ba’al Haturim notes that Va’etchanan, “” implored,” is the gematria of 515, the same gematria as the word shirah, song. What’s the connection? Rashi (Berachos 4b) explains that a person should first draw himself close to Hashem with praise; only afterward should he pray for whatever he needs. This is the ideal model for prayer.
We see that Chazal used this model when formulating our prayers, since the first three blessings of the Shemoneh Esrei consist of praises to Hashem; only afterward do we ask for our personal requests. The Tiferes Shlomo teaches, “Through song and praises to Hashem, we can open the gates of Heaven; when these gates are open, we can request whatever we need” (Tiferes Shlomo, Ki Sisa). For this reason, explains the Seder Hayom, Chazal instituted that we recite so many requests in the Sim Shalom beracha, at the end of the Shemoneh Esrei. Since it immediately follows the blessing of Modim, in which we express our gratitude to Hashem, the gates of blessing have thus been opened, and we are therefore in a position to ask for many requests. This is even though the last three berachos are not designated for requests. We can really learn from this idea that before asking for a specific need, we should first try and thank Hashem.
Rav Yitzchok Dovid Grossman, grandfather of the renowned Chief Rabbi of Migdal Ha’Emek, was once returning from a trip from Poland, back to Eretz Yisrael. Unfortunately, the small ship he was traveling on collided with a big ship. The hostile crew decided it was only possible to save certain passengers by placing them on the big ship, and only wanted to save the non-Jewish passengers. The Jewish passengers, they figured, would be left on the small ship, which would shortly capsize.
All the members were petrified, except for Rabbi Grossman, who opened his siddur and, since the event occurred at the advent of Shabbos, began to recite Kabbalas Shabbos with tremendous serenity and passion. He subsequently got up to dance out of gratitude to Hashem for all the goodness He had performed for him and for all that He does. Fueled by gratitude, he danced with remarkable enthusiasm, despite their precarious situation. By no means short of a miracle, their little boat did not capsize and sailed safely to the shores of Eretz Yisrael. However, the bigger ship wasn’t as fortunate, and it capsized (Living Legend, p. 222).
