Sh"Sh - Vaetchanan 5769

Post Tisha B'Av 5769

It's amazing how a world can be there and then gone. Tisha B'Av World seems to have disappeared. So has most of my beard. And yet, I sigh a sigh for Zion.

A dear friend of mine once said that galus is wanting to do the right thing but not knowing what it is. There are many kinds of exile - from Israel of course, from G-d, from others, from ourselves. Every type of exile is a tragedy worthy of mourning and hoping and praying for redemption.

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Vaetchanan 5769

The Ohr Hachaim in the beginning of Parshat Vetchanan writes that there are 4 conditions required for tefillah to be answered.

1 - Tefillah must be a request for mercy (tachanunim) like a poor beggar knocking on a door. This is based on Mishlei 18:23, “Tachnaum yedaber rash”- a poor person asks for entreaties.

2 - A person must ask from the true source of mercy, only from God. A person should not put his trust in any other person, only in God, the creator, who alone watches over people.

3 - Timing: As Dovid Hamelech wrote (Tehllim 69:14) “Vani tefilati lecha Hashem et ratzon”.

4 - Be precise in your prayer. This relates to a story from Esther Rabbah about a worn out traveling man who prayed for a donkey for carrying-to carry him because he was tired of walking, but received a weak donkey that he needed to carry, instead it carrying him.

These 4 stipulations are implied by the opening words of Parshat Vaetchanan.

1 - “Vaetchanan”-teaches us that our prayers must be tachanunim, an act of begging for mercy
2 - “El Hashem”-This teaches we should turn with our requests only to God.
3 - “Baet Hahi” this teaches that the timing of our prayers matter greatly because who would know a better time then Moshe
4 - “Leimor” this teaches that you have to be careful to say precisely what you want.

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Moshe seems to mirror what Hashem said to him. He was told to not ask anymore, to not alter the plan. He tells the people not to add or subtract from the Torah presented to them. God tells him to look and see the land, he tells the people to look and see the Torah.

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4:9 The Kotzker Rebbe says that if you read the pasuk carefully, it means be careful lest you talk about studying Torah, but not actually study it. Then you will forget it and it will fall away from your heart. And then you will create another generation of children like you, who will talk about studying Torah but not actually study it and continue to forget it. And that will be your sad legacy - talking about learning, but not actually learning.