Description: Pegiah 02
She’arim BiTefillah
Pegiah 2
The Gemarah in Maseches Taanis relates a discussion between the Amoraim, Rav Shmuel bar Nachmaini and others. There was a famine and a plague raging, and they had to declare a fast day. The other Amoraim said, it’s impossible to declare a fast day for both issues, we have to choose one or the other. Let’s daven that the plague ends, and we will suffer through the famine. Rav Shmuel bar Nachmaini disagreed, he said let’s daven that the famine ends and there will be food, because Hashem won’t grant food to dead people! It will automatically be included in the prayer for food.
This is fascinating! Why can’t we have a fast day for more than one reason? Don’t we daven Shemonah Esray three times a day, and each one has 13 different, unique requests? Apparently, there’s no problem asking for more than one thing, and why should there be? Hashem is fully capable of fulfilling all requests!
But the concept here is that they were declaring a fast because simple davening wasn’t sufficient. They needed to storm the heavens. They needed to daven with all their strength and beg and beg until they were answered. They seemed confident that they would be answered. This means they needed to fully focus on one need only, because any dilution of that would defeat the purpose – it wouldn’t be a tefillah of pegiah.
We see by Avraham Avinu, when he went to daven for Sodom, the word used in the pasuk is ‘vayigash Avraham’ literally meaning, he approached. But the word ‘vayigash,’ doesn’t simply mean approach, it is only used when someone faces off with someone else, like ‘vayigash Yehudah,’ when Yehudah went to begin his argument with Yosef. Rashi therefore explains, that Avraham wasn’t just davening to Hashem, he was preparing for ‘war’ with Hashem! What does that mean, to ‘war’ with Hashem? It doesn’t mean to use harsh words in tefillah. It means that when a nation goes to war, they are singularly focused on the objective, they have a strategy, they know their enemy’s weaknesses, and have a very specific approach to obtain their goals. This is focus in its truest sense – when your life and the success of the campaign hinges on it! That’s what it means that Avraham went to ‘war’ with Hashem. It means he engaged in this form of tefillah, where he threw everything he had, every ounce of strength and power to beg Hashem to answer him. That’s why it isn’t possible to daven for more than one thing – that would be a battle on two fronts!
This is halachah l’maaseh in methodology of approaching tefillah. This is what our fathers and forefathers, our mothers and grandmothers did, in time of great need. They stormed the heavens, and they davened and davened and davened without letting up – again and again – all for one specific need – until it was answered! Tehillim was finished again and again, tears were shed, Shemonah Esray was said, brachos were sought – every single angle possible, and every ounce of strength was put towards waging this ‘war’ on heaven to give in to this request.
She’arim BiTefillah
Pegiah 2
The Gemarah in Maseches Taanis relates a discussion between the Amoraim, Rav Shmuel bar Nachmaini and others. There was a famine and a plague raging, and they had to declare a fast day. The other Amoraim said, it’s impossible to declare a fast day for both issues, we have to choose one or the other. Let’s daven that the plague ends, and we will suffer through the famine. Rav Shmuel bar Nachmaini disagreed, he said let’s daven that the famine ends and there will be food, because Hashem won’t grant food to dead people! It will automatically be included in the prayer for food.
This is fascinating! Why can’t we have a fast day for more than one reason? Don’t we daven Shemonah Esray three times a day, and each one has 13 different, unique requests? Apparently, there’s no problem asking for more than one thing, and why should there be? Hashem is fully capable of fulfilling all requests!
But the concept here is that they were declaring a fast because simple davening wasn’t sufficient. They needed to storm the heavens. They needed to daven with all their strength and beg and beg until they were answered. They seemed confident that they would be answered. This means they needed to fully focus on one need only, because any dilution of that would defeat the purpose – it wouldn’t be a tefillah of pegiah.
We see by Avraham Avinu, when he went to daven for Sodom, the word used in the pasuk is ‘vayigash Avraham’ literally meaning, he approached. But the word ‘vayigash,’ doesn’t simply mean approach, it is only used when someone faces off with someone else, like ‘vayigash Yehudah,’ when Yehudah went to begin his argument with Yosef. Rashi therefore explains, that Avraham wasn’t just davening to Hashem, he was preparing for ‘war’ with Hashem! What does that mean, to ‘war’ with Hashem? It doesn’t mean to use harsh words in tefillah. It means that when a nation goes to war, they are singularly focused on the objective, they have a strategy, they know their enemy’s weaknesses, and have a very specific approach to obtain their goals. This is focus in its truest sense – when your life and the success of the campaign hinges on it! That’s what it means that Avraham went to ‘war’ with Hashem. It means he engaged in this form of tefillah, where he threw everything he had, every ounce of strength and power to beg Hashem to answer him. That’s why it isn’t possible to daven for more than one thing – that would be a battle on two fronts!
This is halachah l’maaseh in methodology of approaching tefillah. This is what our fathers and forefathers, our mothers and grandmothers did, in time of great need. They stormed the heavens, and they davened and davened and davened without letting up – again and again – all for one specific need – until it was answered! Tehillim was finished again and again, tears were shed, Shemonah Esray was said, brachos were sought – every single angle possible, and every ounce of strength was put towards waging this ‘war’ on heaven to give in to this request.