The Unique Prayer at the War Against Midian

By Rabbi Moshe Krieger, Yeshivas Bircas HaTorah (www.bircas.org)

In Parshas Matos, Hashem commands Moshe to take revenge on the Midianites, and Moshe assembles an army of 3,000 men from each tribe, 36,000 in all. Of each group of 3,000, 1,000 men set out to battle, another 1,000 men guarded the fighters’ supplies, and another 1,000 men stood near the battlefield to pray for the soldiers (Bamidbar Rabba 22:3).

These numbers beg the question: Why was there a command to have an exact ratio of one davener per soldier? Wouldn’t it have been better for all the Jews to daven for their brothers who were fighting the war? And even if not all the Jews could stand alongside the battlefield and daven, shouldn’t they have at least davened in the machaneh, where the nation was encamped?

Last year we brought Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz’s answer, that if one does not truly feel pain over what he is asking, his prayer is less likely to be answered. Therefore, the daveners stood alongside the battlefield, where they witnessed exactly what the soldiers were going through. Moreover, each one prayed for only one soldier, which made them feel even more the responsibility each bore for “his” man on the battlefield. Of course, the rest of the Jews could daven in the machaneh, but their tefillos would be less effective.

Rav Yechezkel Levinstein answers differently, that the thousand people praying alongside the battlefield were intended to teach Klal Yisrael the importance of tefilla. Had people davened in the machaneh as the soldiers were fighting, when the army would have returned home victorious, many would have felt that it was the soldiers who had gained the victory. Instead, the soldiers themselves saw how they were only part of the war effort, and that they needed their brothers alongside, each one praying for him. The daveners, as well, saw with their own eyes that it was their tefilla that was influencing the direction of the war. This unique command that daveners set out to the battlefield with the soldiers, each davener with his specific soldier, was designed to highlight the importance of tefillah.

The sages (Brachos 6b) state that “tefilla stands at the pinnacle of the world and yet people denigrate it.” Tefilla should be viewed as an awesome power that has been given over to us. Three times a day we have an opportunity, indeed an obligation, to meet with the Master of the World and actually speak to Him! The Nefesh Hachaim (2:10) cites the Zohar, which states that “every word of prayer that we utter passes through all of the heavens, ascending directly to Hashem, and He responds with a might voice.”

How could such an awesome privilege be denigrated? If a person misses a tefilla, or comes to daven wearing short pants or a T-shirt, or chats with his neighbor in the middle of davening, these are not minor infractions—these are grave sins! The King of the world is coming to meet us and we don’t care?

Rav Aharon Kotler would quote Yoma (53b), that at the end of the silent prayer, we take three steps backwards, “as if taking leave of the king,” and if one fails to do so, the sages say “it would be better had he not davened at all.” When saying over this Gemara, Rav Kotler would become visibly agitated: “Look! If even this small display of honor is lacking, one’s entire tefilla is nullified. How much worse is it if a person actually chats in the middle of davening, or stands before the King dressed inappropriately! Such a tefilla is not just nullified — the davener has literally disgraced Hashem!”

Since tefilla is such a privilege, we should do it in the best possible way. First, we are obligated to daven with a minyan. Even in exceptional circumstances, we must nevertheless try to daven with a minyan. Certainly, we shouldn’t plan outings or vacations in places where we know that there will not be a minyan.

Next, we must daven with kavana. Kavana doesn’t just come automatically. It needs work. We should try to prepare our tefilla, looking it over beforehand and not just grabbing a siddur and rushing into it. Strictly speaking, only the first bracha of the Shemonah Esrei must be said with kavana, but we should obviously make every effort to see to it that our entire Shemonah Esrei is said with kavana.

Also, we must come to davening on time. This is a meeting with Hashem! If some powerful public official would schedule an appointment with us, would we come five minutes late? Wouldn’t we try to be there at least 5-10 minutes early? We must recognize that tefilla is no less important. It justifies at least the same amount of effort as such a meeting, and in fact much more.

Rebbetzin Bas Sheva Kanievsky was known in particular for her prayers, which helped to redeem many Jews from their troubles. She would regularly receive names of people to daven for, which she did without fail until she was told that she could stop. She davened with tremendous feeling; all the names she had received to daven for she remembered by heart. Her example inspired the many women who came to her to put more efforts into their own davening.

“Of course I will daven for you, but you should daven as well. If you daven only two tefillos a day, try to daven all three. Try to add something,” she would tell women. One of her daughters noted: “My mother never left a will, but if she would have, I’m sure it would have said: There is no problem that cannot be solved through tefilla. Tefilla can uproot worlds. Chalila not to make use of it!”

May we value the power of tefilla and use it!