04 Mar KI SISA: TEFILLAH

The Gemara (Brachos
32.) says that
immediately after
Hakadosh Baruch
Hu told Moshe that
the Yidden made
an egel, he began
praying for Hashem’s
compassion. Hashem
said (32:10) “and
now let go of Me,
and let My anger
flare against them…”
The Gemara says,
“If the pasuk hadn’t
written it, we wouldn’t be able to say it.
These words teach us that Moshe grabbed
onto Hakadosh Baruch Hu like someone
grabbing onto his friend by his clothes
and said, “Ribono Shel Olam, I won’t let
go until You forgive them.” This teaches
us the power of tefillah. It can reach a
level that is like grabbing onto Hakadosh
Baruch Hu and telling Him that you won’t
let go until He does your will.
After this tefillah, Moshe descended from
the mountain, reproved the nation, burned
the egel, and took other steps to rectify
their grave sin. Then Moshe returned to

Har Sinai to daven again. He said (32:32),
“And now if You would but forgive their
sin! – but if not, erase me now from Your
book that You have written.”
Rashi explains that Moshe requested that
his name be erased from the entire Torah,
“So people won’t say about me that I
wasn’t worthy to daven for the nation.”
But, behold, Moshe was the humblest
person who ever lived. Why did he think he
was worthy of his tefillos to be accepted?
Furthermore, due to his humility, why
would he care if people ridiculed him and
claimed he wasn’t worthy of davening for
the nation?
The Beis Aharon (Likutim 144:) answers
that Hakadosh Baruch Hu listens to the
tefillah of every person – regardless of
his level. It was important to Moshe that
Hashem answer his tefillah to prove that
Hashem listens to the tefillos of even the
lowest person. If his tefillos were not
answered, people at low levels would lose
their faith in prayer.
The Ben Ish Chai (Od Yosef Chai, Matos)
tells the story of a simple, G-d fearing
person who didn’t understand lashon
hakodesh. Once, he was in the beis

haknesses, and heard the chazan sing,
ailu v’ailu nesrafin b’beis hadashen in a
beautiful tune. The words mean, “Both
these korbanos are burned in the house of
ashes.” The simple person didn’t know the
translation but figured that since the chazan
sang them so melodiously, they must be
a special blessing. Wanting to bless his
children in a beautiful way, he memorized
these words, and every Friday night when
he benched his children, he would say with
immense kavana ailu v’ailu nesrafin b’beis
hadashen.
Once, a talmid chacham stayed in his home
on Friday and heard the simple man bless
his children and say, ailu v’ailu nesrafin
b’beis hadashen. Frightened by the
implication of these words, the chacham
said to the simple man, “Why are you
cursing your children?” He warned him not
to say this “blessing” ever again.
That night, the scholar had a dream, and
heaven informed him that he was wrong
for stopping this simple man from reciting
these words. Because he was saying these
words with temimus, Hashem would
rearrange the letters and turn them into a
blessing for his children. (This story is

also written briefly by the Or HaChaim
HaKadosh, Rishon l’Tzion, Mishlei 3.)
Similarly, Sefer Chassidim (18) tells a story
of a kohen who used to say, – Yevarechecha
Hashem Veyishmerecha means “Hashem
should destroy you ch”v”! The chacham
of the beis haknesses told this kohen that
he may no longer say birchas kohanim
because of this terrible error.
But Hashem wasn’t happy that he stopped
him. “He was shown from heaven that he
would be punished if he didn’t permit this
kohen to say birchas kohanim.”
The Sefer Chassidim explains, “The
Creator who examines man’s heart only
wants the heart. Even when he doesn’t say
the words correctly, it is considered like
he said them correctly. And those who say
pesukei d’zimra in a loud, sweet voice,
although they say the words erroneously,
they are accepted like sweet incense, and
Hakadosh Baruch Hu delights with them.”