There are two aspects of Aseret Yeme Teshuva that we must understand. The first, obvious one is Teshuva. The other is the power of our prayers during these ten days.
We have today, Tuesday and Wednesday left to work on this.
The Rambam writes
אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁהַתְּשׁוּבָה וְהַצְּעָקָה יָפָה לָעוֹלָם. בַּעֲשָׂרָה הַיָּמִים שֶׁבֵּין רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה וְיוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים הִיא יָפָה בְּיוֹתֵר וּמִתְקַבֶּלֶת הִיא מִיָּד.
Although repentance and crying out to G-d is always good, during these ten days, it’s extremely nice, and gets accepted immediately.
And he quotes:
דרשו ה׳ בהמצאו .. קראו ביותו קרוב
Search out for G-d where He can be found and call out to Him
So there are two aspects to Aseret Yeme Teshuva
1-Return to Him
2-Call out to Him.
We should be spending more time praying during Aseret Yeme Teshuva than regular days. Take some time, a half hour, to take out a Tehilim, and pray for those who need a Refuah, a shidduch, a baby, a Yeshua. Pour your heart out for someone in need. On Aseret Yeme Teshuva, our prayers are more accepted.
One may ask: Why pray for someone else?
The Pele Yoetz, Rav Eliezer Papo, wrote a very long prayer (it takes about 45 minutes) for the Aseret Yeme Teshuva (see attached). The reason he wrote the prayer, he says, is that it says in the Gemarah in Berachot:
כל שאפשר לו לבקש רחמים על חבירו ואינו מבקש נקרא חוטא
Anyone who can pray for his friend and doesn’t, is called a sinner.
The commentaries ask... why does it say “anyone that can pray”? Can’t everyone pray for others? Not necessarily. Not everyone is on the level to pray for others. Some people don’t have the kavana, or the concentration. Or maybe they’re not such Sadikim that their prayers would be answered.
But during the Aseret Yeme Teshuva, everyone has the power to do this. He goes on to quote that the Kohen Gadol was punished if someone who had killed by accident ran to city of refuge. The person was obligated to stay there until the Kohen Gadol died. So there were people praying for the Kohen Gadol to die early, so they could get out. Why did their sentence have to hinge on him?
The Gemarah says in Makkot יא ,
היה לו לבקש רחמים שיגמור דינו לזכות ולא ביקש
It’s because he should have prayed for the generation, that such a thing shouldn’t happen.
Therefore, it was his responsibility.
We aren’t the Kohen Gadol of course, but for these ten days, we get uplifted to Kohen Gadol status. When the Shofar blows, every individual becomes like a Kohen Gadol, standing before G-d. For all of these ten days, we are closer than ever to Hashem. So, at this time, it’s befitting for all of us to pray for Klal Yisrael at large.
“Therefore,” says the Pele Yoetz, “I wrote a special prayer, to pray for Jewish people at large. At least say it during Aseret Yeme Teshuva.”
We can pray for anything. If you read this prayer, you’ll see we can even pray that an older person’s teeth don’t fall out!
We can pray for anything and everyone.
We need a lot of things.
As it says, צרכי עמך מרובים
“The needs of your nation are great.”
And the more we pray for others, the more selfless we become. That’s another great merit.
It says that when the Kohen Gadol was entering the Holy of Holies, he plugged himself and all of the Jewish people into kedusha/ holiness.
Before the holy day of Yom Kippur, we all ask mechila/forgiveness from each other. This is brought down in the Mishna. Why are we so busy asking forgiveness?
Because at this time, the Jewish people as a whole, are connected to G-d.
We have to be a part of Jewish people, and one of the ways we show that is to pray for others. We all know somebody that needs something.
Take some time out during what’s left of the Aseret Yeme Teshuva and pray for someone else’s problems, from bottom of your heart. It’s a great thing to do during Aseret Yeme Teshuva.
Tizku Leshanim Rabot
