We are now quoting pesukim from Divreh Hayamim One (chapter 5, pasuk 19), about a story that occurred in the time of the Yehoshua, during the 14 years when the tribes of Gad and Reuven were fighting on the other side of the Jordan. They left their wives and children behind, and they went to war for 14 years.
And the Midrash Rabba Bereshit (98,15) explains their tremendous sacrifice. They left children who were 10 years old and didn’t come back to see them until they were adults, aged 24. As a sign of their sadness, the Midrash says that both the fathers and the sons allowed their hair to grow long.
And just as the fathers were coming back home, their sons were attacked by three clans of Arabs, (from three different families from Hagar, Yetur, Nafish and Nodav). But the Arabs had also grown their hair long, so as the fathers came back and saw a war going on, but they could not differentiate between friend and foe. So Hashem put into the mouths of the children, and placed their hearts, to pray.
They said, “ Anenu Hashem, Anenu Answer us, Hashem answer us
Elokei Avraham, Elokei Yitzhak, Elokei Yaakov, anenu.”
How did they know who's who? They heard that cry out to God. When the sons cried out, the fathers recognized who their sons were, and they came to their children's aid:
Together, they wiped out these Yishmaelim , and captured their territory and their wealth.
It actually says that there were a hundred thousand Arabs taken over by 44,760 Jewish soldiers.
The Arabs became panic stricken when they saw the defeat that Hashem provided. And when it says why it happened, the pasuk says, they were helped against them and the Yishmaelim were put into their hands because they cried out to Hashem in battle. And Hashem heard their prayers Ki Bat’chu Bo/because they put their trust in Him.
There are many important lessons here:
Lesson number one is you need Tefila to be successful at war.
Lesson number two is it's not enough to have Tefila, you have to rely on Hashem.
Lesson number three is God put into their minds (or hearts) to cry out, not just to pray. And that crying out brought about the miracle of the fathers recognizing the sons calling out to Hashem.
Like the famous story that happened after the Holocaust, when the Jews wanted to try to find the children that been hidden in the monasteries. The children had been hidden for so many years, but when they would say Shema Yisrael, the children would cry out, Shema Yisrael and that’s how they knew who they were.
So here we have fathers and sons, separated for 14 years, and what saves them is their Bitachon and their prayer. They were able to differentiate who they are by the Anenu Hashem Anenu, the crying out to Hashem.
Furthermore, this displays to us how Hashem is actually getting into our minds and our hearts when we pray, as we say,
L’Adam Marhe Lev/ man can prepare his heart,
U’MHashem Ma’aneh Lashon/ the words come out from Hashem.
And that's what happened in this story. Hashem inspired these children, who had been separated from their fathers for so many years, to cry out the Jewish cry, “Anenu Hashm Anenu,” and they were saved. This is a beautiful story, hidden in Divreh HaYamim and expounded upon by the Midrash Rabba, giving us these important lessons of pesukim that we read to strengthen our bitachon-
Ki Bat’chu Bo/ because they put their reliance in Him.
Have a wonderful day.