Rabbi Eliyahu Schneider
One of the featured speakers at the recent Thanksgiving Day Flatbush Hakhel Yarchei Kallah Event was Rabbi Eliyahu Schneider, mora d’asra of K’hal Sha’ar Tosfos Yom Tov. The topic of his lecture was “Practical Ideas for Really Improving Tefillah in These Times of Change.”
Rabbi Schneider began his lecture by noting that Hashem has sent us amazing situations in the past few years (i.e. the recent U.S. Presidential elections and the matzav (difficult situation) in Eretz Yisroel.
The ultimate challenge for Klal Yisroel (the Jewish nation) was the marriage of Yitzchok Avinu and Rivka Imeinu. She was an akara (barren,) and Yitzchok because he was a Temima. (called so by G-d) as a result of his having been offered on the mizbeach, altar in the incident of the Akeida could not marry a second wife. Therefore, the entire future of Klal Yisroel was in great jeopardy if this couple could not have children.
Rabbi Schneider noted that we see in the response to Yitzchok’s prayers, that Hashem blessed him and his wife with children. We know that both Yitzchok and Rivka prayed for children. Yet, Hashem only answered the prayers of Yitzchok, a Tzadik (righteous person the son of a righteous person [Avraham Avinu), whereas Rivka was a Tzedekes bas rasha, a righteous person the daughter of a wicked person.
Seemingly, Rabbi Schneider suggested that one might have thought that Rivka’s prayers should have been more appreciated by Hashem, since she overcame a more difficult barrier or challenge in life. Yet, in reality it was Yitzchok who had a greater challenge to overcome the challenge of not falling into the trap of davening by rote.
Yitzchok’s greatness was that he made each davening with the excitement of one who was just beginning to pray like a righteous person who is the child of a wicked man (i.e. Rivka.) Our challenge, Rabbi Schneider said, is to make each of our prayers like that of a person who has just discovered the importance of praying [and pouring out our hearts] to Hashem.
All too often we relate to pure tefillah as a reaction to a serious challenge or series of difficulties that come up in one’s life. We find today that Hashem is giving us challenges in order to inspire us to daven with greater sincerity. The purpose of the tzorah (troubles) is to cause us to daven and not that we daven because of the difficulties. We find that Hakodesh Baruch Hu wants to hear our tefillah, prayers and that is why He gave us tzoras.
That is why Hakodesh Baruch Hu wants to hear our tefillah and that is why, Rabbi Schneider says He gives us tzoras. That is why Hakodesh Baruch Hu inspired the Egyptians to chase after the Bnei Yisroel, the Children of Israel at Krias Yam Suf, the splitting of the Sea of Reeds; in order to inspire us to call out to Him with our prayers.
Rabbi Schneider emphasized that we have to understand that even if everything appears to be going smoothly in one’s life, we must still call out to Hakodesh Baruch Hu with our sincere tefillah so that Hashem won’t need to catch our attention with unpleasant tzoras such as the October 7th disaster in Israel [or the 2020 election of a government that was exceedingly hostile to the Jews and Israel.]
The Abishter, our Father in Heaven is begging us to daven to Him because He wants to give us the geulah, the redemption from our long and bitter golus, exile of the Jewish people. Such davening, prayers should not be for a particular pro-Jewish leader or for a particular victory in war in Israel. To pray for such purposes and not for the geulah is a big mistake.
The Rambam writes that our ancestors were not worthy of being redeemed from the bondage in Mitzrayim, Egypt. However, Rabbi Schneider pointed out that because the enslaved Jews davened to Hakodesh Baruch Hu for the geulah, those tear-filled prayers persuaded Him to free them via the miracle of Yetzias Mitzrayim.
Rabbi Schneider concluded by pointing out that since you are going to daven anyway, why not make the effort to go beyond the routine and daven by increasing the quality of our prayers with better kavanah (concentration) and with the knowledge that the Ribbono shel Olam (the Master of the World) truly wants our improved prayers and to reward us with the gift of geulah.
