04 Jul PINCHAS: THE POWER OF TEFILLAH

We find an
interesting pasuk in
the parashah of
Akeidas Yitzchak
(Bereishis 22:7).
“Then Yitzchak spoke
to Avraham his
father and said
‘Father – ‘And he
Avraham) said,’
Here I am, my son.
And he (Yitzchak)
said ‘Here are the
fire and the wood,
but where is the
lamb for the
offering.’”
What is the significance of the
introductory portion of this pasuk? Why
doesn’t the pasuk simply write that
Yitzchak asked Avraham, here is the
fire…?
The Divrei Yisrael zt’l answers, “When
Yitzchak called out to his father, Avi
,and Avraham replied Hineini B’ni, this
made an impression in heaven, for all
generations, that when a Yid cries out to

his father in heaven and says Avi,
‘Father!’ from the depths of his heart, it
will arouse Hashem’s immense
compassion and Hashem will reply,
Hineini B’ni , ‘I am here, my son, to
answer all your requests.’”
The Klausenberger Rebbe zt’l heard
the following story from his father, Reb
Tzvi of Rudnik zt’l:
There are two cemeteries in Krakow. In
the older cemetery are buried many
ancient scholars, such as the Bach, the
Megaleh Amukos, and the Rema. A
local Krakow woman wanted to be
buried in the older cemetery, but that
was almost impossible. For hundreds of
years, no one was buried in the old
cemetery. Even the rabbanim of Krakow
were buried in the new cemetery. But
this woman didn’t give up. Three times
a day, by shacharis, minchah, and
maariv, she came to the beis knesses and
davened that Hashem have compassion
on her, and she be buried in the old
cemetery. She was so obsessed with this
desire that all children in Krakow knew
to greet her, “Good morning, aunt. May

you be buried in the old cemetery.”
This is what she trained them to say.
At the weddings of her children,
grandchildren, and great-grandchildren,
she would ask the chasan and kallah to
bless her that she be buried in the old
cemetery.
It was really insane because why was
this so important to her? Furthermore,
it was almost impossible to be buried in
the old cemetery. But she was stubborn
with her wish.
On the day she left the world, there was
a heavy snowstorm and snow piled high
on the ground. The chevrah kadisha
couldn’t carry her to the new cemetery,
so she was buried in the old cemetery.
Reb Tzvi of Rudnik commented about
this story, “This taught me that even
when one davens for something insane,
Hashem will listen to his tefillos and
answer them. So great is the power of
tefillah!”
Rebbe Avraham Dov of Avritch, the
Bas Ayin zt’l, arrived in Eretz Yisrael
around Elul time. His boat docked in the

north of Eretz Yisrael, and he planned to
stay in Tzefas until after the yomim
tovim and then move on to Yerushalayim.
However, on Chol HaMoed Succos, he
changed his mind and decided to remain
in Tzfas.
This change of plans occurred when he
heard a woman tell her son, “On Simchas
Torah we will bench geshem, and I’m
certain that Hashem will listen to the
tefillos. Bring the mattresses down from
the roof so they won’t get ruined in the
rain.”
The Bas Ayin said that he chose to
remain in Tzefas to be among people
who believed so firmly in the power of
tefillah.