Tuesday, Mar-Cheshvan 11, 5778 / October 31, 2017
The famous story of the destruction of the two cities, Sodom and Gomorra, is in this week's Parsha, Vayeira. Sodom and Gemorra were the major cities, in addition, three more cities were destroyed.
G-d said, "The cry [caused by the injustice and evil] of the people of Sodom and Gomorra is great and their sin is exceedingly grievous." But before G-d punishes them He says, "Shall I hide from Abraham that which I am doing?”
When Abraham heard that G-d was about to destroy Sodom and Gomorra, he prayed to G-d to rescind His decree. Abraham asked G-d to spare the cities in the merit of the righteous people who lived there. But G-d told him that he would spare the people if he found ten righteous people there, but He cannot find even ten righteous people there. Abraham had no choice but to give up.
Here we see the significance of ten – a Minyan. Ten righteous people in Sodom, would have saved everyone. From this we learn the importance of praying with a Minyan (quorum of ten).
The three daily prayers are attributed to our forefathers: The morning (Shacharit) prayer to Abraham; The afternoon (Mincha) prayer to Yitzchak; and the evening (Ma'ariv) prayer to Jacob.
Although one can pray at home or office, our sages emphasize the importance and great benefit of praying in the synagogue with the Minyan – a group of ten.
From the Talmud: A woman came to the Talmudic sage Rabbi Yossi ben Chalafta and said, "I am very old, at this point, my life is very difficult. Rabbi, please pray that G-d take me from this world!"
Rabbi Yossi ben Chalafta asked her, "What did you do to merit long life?"
"Each day I come early to the synagogue. Nothing has ever held me back, " she replied.
"Don't attend synagogue for the next three days, he told her." She did as Rabbi Yossi suggested and on the third day she passed away. Thus, we see the great reward for praying in the synagogue.
From the talmud: Rav Kahana and Reb Chiya were praying. When Reb Chiya finished his prayers, Rav Kahana was still praying, but Reb Chiya didn’t leave his place; he didn’t want to disturb Rav Kahana by walking in front of him. When Rav Kahana finished, he asked, why do you pray so long?
Rav Kahana answered, "I am a descendant of the household of Eli the Priest, who was cursed that his descendants will not reach old age (Samuel I 2:31-32). Thus, I pray with great concentration; for prayer can help to rescind a bad decree, when nothing else is effective." Indeed, as a result of his prayers, Rav Kahana lived to a very old age.
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY