B"H
Tuesday, Mar-Cheshvan 11, 5785 / November 12, 2024
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 to two more cities that 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 even ten righteous people couldn’t be found 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. Later, Reb Chiya asked him, “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.
Today, the 11th of Cheshvan is the Yartzeit (day of passing) of our matriarch Rachel. May her memory bring blessings to us all, especially our brothers and sisters in Israel.
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY
UNITED WE STAND WITH OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN CAPTIVITY. MAY THEY ALL BE RELEASED NOW