24 Jul VAETHANAN: EVERY PRAYER IS EFFECTIVE

Parashat Vaethanan
begins with Moshe
recalling his
impassioned prayer
to be allowed to enter
Eretz Yisrael. Our Sages teach that Moshe
recited 515 prayers at this time, alluded to
by the word “Vaethanan” (“I pleaded”),
which has the numerical value of 515.
Finally, after reciting 515 prayers, G-d told
Moshe to stop praying, because he was not
being allowed entry into Eretz Yisrael.
The question naturally arises, why didn’t
G-d stop Moshe earlier? If G-d was
determined to forbid Moshe from entering
the land, why did He wait until Moshe
recited 515 prayers before stopping him? If
the prayers were going to be unanswered,
would it not have been preferable for
Moshe to do something more productive?
Didn’t he have work to do that was more
valuable than prayers which were destined
from the outset to be unanswered?
The Gemara speaks of prayer as
“something which stands at the height of
the world, but people belittle it” (“Omed
Be’rumo Shel Olam U’beneh Adam

Mezalzelin Bo”). In other words, prayer
is underrated. People do not afford it the
importance and value that it deserves. Too
often we treat prayer as just an obligatory
ritual, or as an optional religious activity,
without recognizing its immense value and
power.
There are several reasons why people
belittle the importance of prayer. First,
because we do it so often, it becomes
routine and monotonous, and we thus fail
to invest the time and emotional energy
it deserves. Secondly, the daily prayers
require a strict, regimented schedule that
is difficult for many people to follow, and
thus they give it up.
But the main reason why people do not
afford prayer the importance and attention
it deserves is because they have grown up
with a fundamentally flawed perspective
on prayer. Many of us are always told that
if we want something we should pray for
it, and continue praying until our prayers
are unanswered. We were thus trained
to perceive prayer as nothing more but a
means of achieving what we want. And
thus when we do not get what we pray for,

we give up. This causes us to “belittle”
prayer. We see that our prayers don’t work,
and thus conclude that it’s not useful.
But this is not what prayer is about. Prayer
is inherently valuable, and every single
prayer has some positive effect. It might
not be the effect we had in mind, but it
is effective. We might compare prayer to
rainclouds. There is plenty of moisture in
the sky, but we do not know precisely when
or where any given drop will fall. Our
prayers enter the heavenly “prayer bank,”
as it were, and form a “prayer cloud.” G-d,
in His infinite wisdom, decides when and
how each prayer will be used. We do not
have access to this information, but we do
know that each and every word of prayer
that we recite is inherently valuable and
will have some effect at some point.
There was once a boy who fervently prayed
for an ill patient named Yosef Ben Shimon.
He recited his prayers tearfully and with
genuine emotion, and was devastated
when Yosef Ben Shimon passed away,
figuring that his payers were recited for
naught. He did not know that across the
country, in California, there was another

ill patient named Yosef Ben Shimon. He
fully recovered from his illness, and after
his recovery he had a daughter. That girl
grew up and married the fellow who had
recited for the other Yosef Ben Shimon.
His prayers were answered, but not in the
way he thought. Because of his prayers,
his future wife came into the world.
Prayer is “Omed Be’rumo Shel Olam.”
Every single prayer hovers in the sky,
waiting until the moment when Hashem
determines it should have its effect. We
must therefore cherish prayer and utilize
this great gift, without ever belittling it.
We must rest assured that our prayers will
have an effect, and this should motivate
us to approach Tefilla with the seriousness
and emotion that it deserves.