Parshas Vaeschanan – Tefilah
When I was in 8th grade, my grandfather became very sick. He had heart failure and needed a real refuah sheleima. As a young boy just past my bar mitzvah, I was inspired to daven for his recovery, and I can still remember today how passionately I davened for him in “r’faeinu,” in “shma koleinu,” and at the end of “shmona esrei.”
When I began 9th grade, my grandfather was niftar. For some time after, I remember feeling very deflated and not motivated about davening because “it didn’t work.”
In this week’s Parsha, Moshe Rabbeinu davened 550 teffilos to be permitted into Eretz Yisroel, but Hashem didn’t allow him. The Balei Mussar highlight that although what he was davening for wasn’t granted to him, Moshe Rabbeinu didn’t relent from davening and he wasn’t despondent. But why not, if “it didn’t work”?
The Balei Mussar explain that Moshe Rabbeinu understood that even if what he was asking for wasn’t granted, that didn’t mean that Hashem didn’t accept his teffilah. There is no such thing as a teffilah that isn’t accepted by Hashem, and even if all of what you were asking for wasn’t granted, that’s not to say that some wasn’t.
We are coming off the heels of Tisha B’Av, and as of this moment, the geulah which we were all davening for unfortunately hasn’t come. We must learn from Moshe Rabbeinu not to relent or become despondent because every teffilah was accepted by Hashem, and even if all of what we were asking for wasn’t granted, that’s not to say that some was or will be.
HAVE A WONDERFUL SHABBOS!
Rabbi Anton
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