After
Yom Kippur is over and a person's judgment has been sealed, he may find it a
little more difficult to pray with the same intensity. He may think, whatever
is going to happen this year has already been decided.
In
the past, we've spoken about how even after the judgment has been sealed,
tefillah is still necessary. Even the berachot that Hashem has already decreed
for a person require tefillah to bring them down. Furthermore, tefillah is
powerful all year long. Even decrees that have already been made can be changed
through tefillah. But there's another aspect of tefillah that's even more
important. Tefillah is not just a means to get what we need. Tefillah is a
great avodah that elevates us.
The
Me'iri writes that through deep, heartfelt tefillah, a person can achieve טהרת הלב, purification of his heart. In fact, the
Torah describes tefillah as an avodah of the heart: "וּלְעָבְדוֹ
בְּכָל לְבַבְכֶם — to serve Hashem with all your heart." Rabbi Menashe Reizman
asked, how does asking Hashem for our needs purify our hearts? If I need
parnassah and I ask Hashem for it, or I need a refuah and I ask Hashem for it,
why should that make my heart pure?
He
brings from the Rishonim that one of the main aspects of the avodah of tefillah
is coming to the clear recognition that everything we need is completely
dependent upon Hashem. I cannot help myself without Hashem, and nobody else can
help me without Hashem. Whatever I need—my health, my parnassah, my family, my
success, my protection—is entirely in His hands. When a person stands before
Hashem with that recognition and truly humbles himself, that tefillah becomes a
tremendous avodah shebalev, and that purifies his heart.
The
Torah tells us regarding the widow and orphan that when they cry out to Hashem,
He listens to their cry. The Ramban asks why Hashem specifically pays such
careful attention to the cries of the widow and orphan. He answers that they He
answers that the widow and orphan have no reliance upon themselves and
therefore they truly turn to Hashem when they pray. Furthermore, when someone
is being hurt, he may feel that perhaps his father will help him or another
relative will come to his aid. But the widow and orphan know they have no one
else to turn to, and therefore when they cry out to Hashem, it is with complete
reliance upon Him. Hashem says, so to speak, that cry I pay very careful
attention to.
A
person doesn't have to be a widow or orphan to pray that way. Everyone can
recognize how completely dependent he is upon Hashem. A person may have family,
money, connections, intelligence and all different kinds of abilities, but none
of those things can do anything for him unless Hashem enables them to. David
HaMelech was a king. He had wealth, armies and power, yet he said to Hashem, "כִּי עָנִי וְאֶבְיוֹן אָנִי — I am poor and
destitute." David HaMelech understood that all of his power meant nothing
without Hashem. When he stood in tefillah, he stood like a pauper who had
nothing of his own and needed everything from Hashem.
That
is an avodah that we can perform every single day of the year, before Yom
Kippur and after Yom Kippur. Every time we stand before Hashem, we have another
opportunity to ingrain in our hearts: I need You. I can't do anything without
You. Everything I have comes from You, and everything I will ever need will
only come from You.
That
kind of tefillah does much more than just bring us what we are asking for. It
brings us closer to Hashem. It humbles us before Hashem. It strengthens our
bitachon, and it purifies our hearts.
