Here is a story that began last year, on the night of Purim Kattan, ד"תשפ when some yungerleit from Ashdod went to Kever Rachel to daven for their friend, a very special yungerman, Reb Chananya Gross z'l, who was ill, r'l. Their tefillos didn't save Reb Chananya, who was niftar on Tisha b'Av, however, two of the yungerleit who davened for him had their own, personal salvations nine months later. One of them was married for four years and didn't yet have children. The other was waiting for more children, as his youngest was already seven. They davened for their friend on Purim Kattan at the kever of Rachel Imeinu, and on the day of Rachel Imeinu's yahrtzeit, nine months later, they each had a child.
This story is a reminder to us that tefillos always help. Sometimes, tefillos are used for another purpose, but tefillos are always effective.
Reb Meir Weissmandl Shlita (Rav of Nitra, Monsey) learned in Lakewood Yeshiva when he was a bachur. During one of the days of selichos, a bachur approached him to ask if he wanted to say the selichos with the Ribnitzer Rebbe zt’l. Reb Meir had already begun reciting selichos. He had said Ashrei and the first three pasukim that begin with הצדקה 'ה לך. However, since he wanted to daven with the Rebbe, he closed his selichos and waited to travel with the other bachurim to the Ribnitzer Rebbe.
Before beginning the selichos, the Rebbe asked the ten people who were at his minyan whether any of them had already said selichos. (The rebbe was makpid to say selichos with a minyan that had not yet said the selichos.) They all replied that they didn't say selichos. The Ribnitzer Rebbe asked them again, "Did anyone say selichos today?" They replied that they hadn't. The rebbe went to the amud and opened the selichos, but didn't begin. He turned around again and asked whether anyone had already said selichos. Again, they all replied that they hadn’t.
The Ribnitzer Rebbe went over to Reb Meir and asked, "Are you sure you didn't say selichos today?" Reb Meir replied, "The truth is that I began to say selichos, but I stopped after three pasukim because I wanted to come with my friends to say selichos with the Rebbe." The Ribnitzer Rebbe replied, "Nu, if so, you have already said selichos."
The main part of selichos that needs a minyan is the מדות ג"י, and Reb Meir hadn’t even said לנו סלח, the parts of teshuvah that are in the selichos. He had hardly begun. Nevertheless, he said something; he said a drop and the Ribnitzer Rebbe could sense that he had already said selichos. We learn from this story how every tefillah helps, every small tefillah creates an impression.
Reb Yaakov Kamenetzky zt'l told a story that occurred one hundred and twenty years ago. An orphan girl lived in Mir, Poland, and wanted to marry a ben Torah, someone who would devote his life to studying Torah. She didn't have a father to help her find a shidduch, and she didn't have money to pay for a dowry. So, although years passed and all her friends had already married, she remained single. She could have married someone who wasn't so devoted to Torah, but she refused to give up on her dream.
She worked in a library and saved the money she earned for the dowry. The money was accumulating slowly, but it wasn’t nearly enough for a dowry. One day, she sat in the library, feeling sorry for herself. She realized that she wouldn't succeed on her own to raise enough money for a dowry and that only Hashem could help her. She began to daven, with much sincerity. Of course, she had davened previously for a shidduch. She davened for a shidduch and for a dowry every day, but this was the first time she davened with all her heart and soul because she now understood that Hashem was her only hope. As an orphan, she pleaded to the היתומים אבי, the Father of orphans, that He help her.
She came up with an innovative idea. She took out a paper and a quill and wrote a letter to Hashem. In her letter, she described the distress and the yesurim she went through daily: being a lonely orphan, waiting for her shidduch, without enough money for a dowry. She wrote, "I want to marry a chasan who will study Torah, someone with good middos, but what can I do if I don't have a father to help me? Should that prevent me from having a home immersed in Torah?" At the end of the letter, she wrote, "You are Hashem, and You can do anything. You don't lack money, and You don't lack good bachurim. You can help me. I rely on You alone. "Your daughter who is devoted to You, Sheina Miriam."
She placed the folded letter in an envelope, and she addressed the envelope to "My Father in Heaven." Then she went to the forest outside the city of Mir. She held the letter above her head and waited for a strong wind. When the wind arrived, she let go of the letter and watched her letter fly in the wind. She returned home with emunah that the letter reached its destination. Hakadosh Baruch Hu would take care of the matter.
A few days later, one of the best bachurim of Mir was trying to understand a deep concept in the Gemara. He decided to take a stroll in the forest, outside the city of Mir, and in that setting, he would try to attain clarity. Suddenly, he saw a letter tucked inside a bush. "Who does this belong to?" he wondered. "Perhaps I can return it to the owner." He took the letter out of the bush and was astonished to see that the letter was addressed to "my Father in Heaven"! He opened the letter and read it several times. He was impressed by the girl's sincerity. She wasn't seeking a talmid chacham due to peer pressure. He understood that it was her genuine desire to marry a talmid chacham.
He returned to yeshivas Mir and spoke to the Rosh yeshiva, Reb Eliyahu Baruch Kamai (who later became the rav of Mir). He told him about this shidduch that came to him from "heaven". The process and inquiries began, and the shidduch transpired. She was six years older than him, but that didn't prevent the shidduch from happening.
As she had hoped and prayed for, her husband was truly a tzaddik and talmid chacham. His name was Reb Yitzchak Yechiel Davidovits zt'l, and he served as the mashgiach of yeshivas Minsk. He was the rebbe of Reb Yaakov Kamenetzky, Reb Yaakov Yitzchak Ruderman, and Reb Avraham Kalmanovitz zt'l.
The lesson here is that tefillos help. When we invest in tefillah, there will be results.
