Illustration Credit: Rivka Tsinman
Prayer in the Parashah תְּפִלָּה
Praying for others
In our parashah the Hebrew word for praying, לְהִתְפַּלֵּל (lehitpalel), appears for the first time in the Torah:
וַיִּתְפַּלֵּל אַבְרָהָם אֶל הָאֱלֹהִים וַיִּרְפָּא אֱלֹהִים אֶת אֲבִימֶלֶךְ וְאֶת אִשְׁתּוֹ וְאַמְהֹתָיו וַיֵּלֵדוּ׃
כִּי עָצֹר עָצַר יהוה בְּעַד כׇּל-רֶחֶם לְבֵית אֲבִימֶלֶךְ עַל דְּבַר שָׂרָה אֵשֶׁת אַבְרָהָם׃
וַיהוה פָּקַד אֶת שָׂרָה כַּאֲשֶׁר אָמָר וַיַּעַשׂ יהוה לְשָׂרָה כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֵּר׃
וַתַּהַר וַתֵּלֶד שָׂרָה לְאַבְרָהָם בֵּן לִזְקֻנָיו…
Avraham prayed to God, and God healed Avimelekh and his wife and his servants, so that they could give birth.
For God had closed every womb of the household of Avimelekh because of what had happened with Sarah, the wife of Avraham.
Then God remembered Sarah as God had promised, and God did for Sarah as God had spoken.
Sarah became pregnant and gave birth to a son to Avraham in his old age…
Avraham first prays for the women in Avimelekh’s kingdom to be able to become pregnant. And then, one pasuk later, we hear that Sarah, who also wanted to have a child for so long, becomes pregnant!
In the Gemara, Rava teaches a lesson based on this:
כָּל הַמְבַקֵּשׁ רַחֲמִים עַל חֲבֵרוֹ וְהוּא צָרִיךְ לְאוֹתוֹ דָּבָר, הוּא נַעֲנָה תְּחִלָּה... אֲנָא אָמִינָא מֵהָכָא "וַיִּתְפַּלֵּל אַבְרָהָם אֶל הָאֱלֹקִים וַיִּרְפָּא אֱלֹקִים אֶת אֲבִימֶלֶךְ וְאֶת אִשְׁתּוֹ וְאַמְהֹתָיו," וּכְתִיב, "וַה' פָּקַד אֶת שָׂרָה כַּאֲשֶׁר אָמָר."
If someone prays on behalf of another person, and the asker needs that kind of help also, they will get answered by God first…. I learn this from, “Avraham prayed to God and God healed Avimelekh and his wife and his servants,” and then, right after that, the Torah says, “God remembered Sarah as God had promised.”
- Why do you think it’s extra powerful to pray on behalf of someone else?
- Who could you pray for, other than yourself? What do you want other people to experience that you yourself might also want?
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