Part I
The Rambam writes: "It is possible for a person to commit a
sin, or many sins, until he gives his account before the True
Judge, and that the punishment for these sins, committed of
his own volition and knowledge, is to prevent him from doing
teshuvoh and to deny him permission to undo his
wickedness, in order that he will die and be destroyed
because of the sins he committed. That is what HaKodosh
Boruch Hu said through Yeshayohu, `The heart of this
people became fat . . . '
"Similarly, it says, `But they mocked the messengers of
Hashem, and despised his words, and scoffed at His prophets,
until the wrath of Hashem arose against His people, till
there was no remedy.' In other words, they sinned of their
own free will, increasing their transgressions, until they
were punished by having the possibility of teshuvoh
taken away from them — teshuvoh which
constitutes the remedy." (Hilchos Teshuvoh 6:3).
What is to happen to those people who have been prevented
from doing teshuvoh? Is there really no hope left for
someone who has been sentenced to the punishment of losing
the ability to undo past wrongs? Has he already been cut off
from the land of the living, chas vesholom, without
the slightest chance of salvation?
Doing Teshuvoh Even after a Gezeiroh Preventing It —
Via Tefilloh
If we consider the matter further, we will find that the
Rambam himself suggests a way out. These are his golden words
in Halochoh 4: "In a similar vein, righteous people
and prophets ask Hashem in their prayers to help them find
the truth, as Dovid said: `Teach me Your way, Hashem,'
meaning, let not my sins prevent me from perceiving the way
of truth, through which I will know your ways and the
unification of your Name.
"Similarly, he said, `Let a willing spirit uphold me,'
meaning: Allow my spirit to do Your Will, and do not let my
transgressions be the cause of preventing me from doing
teshuvoh. Rather, let me keep my free choice until I
return, when I will understand and know the way of truth.
Other similar pesukim are to be interpreted in the
same fashion."
It is obvious that the Rambam is not referring to
tzaddikim who pray that they should not commit any
sins which will cause them to lose the possibility of
teshuvoh, since he writes, "Do not let my
transgressions be the cause of preventing me from doing
teshuvoh, but let me keep my free choice." Thus the
prayer, "let a willing spirit uphold me," is referring to
sins which have already been committed. Dovid Hamelech fears
that sins committed by him may already, chas vesholom,
have resulted in the prevention of teshuvoh. He
therefore asks Hashem that his freedom to choose to do
teshuvoh not be taken away.
We may well ask how tzaddikim who fear that they may
have reached the stage where a verdict has been made
preventing them from doing teshuvoh, chas vesholom,
can expect to overturn a Divine Law. How can their prayers be
of any avail if the Divine punishment for such sinners is the
removal of the permission to return?
On the other hand, if they have not committed such sins, what
is the point of their prayer?
In truth however, this presents no difficulty. The Rambam's
ruling is only that the punishment for such sins is the
inability to repent, meaning that the sentence passed on such
a person is the prevention of teshuvoh, in order that
he may die and be lost because of his transgression. However
this decree is no different from any other evil decree. All
hope is not yet lost of finding ways to overturn the decree,
of finding favor in Hashem's eyes that He may have pity on
him — either through charity, through crying out, or by
means of several other suggestions made by Chazal, which are
effective in overturning the evil decree made against a
person!
This sinner too, even though the True Judge has decreed that
he be prevented from doing teshuvoh, nevertheless if
he will pray and beseech Hashem from the depths of his heart
to help him to repent, this can overturn this terrible
punishment of the prevention of teshuvoh, causing him
to return to Hashem, Who will have pity on him, so that he
may return to our G-d, for He is full of forgiveness.
Eliyohu and the Prophets of Baal — The Effect of
Prayer
This can shed light on a difficult matter in the story of
Eliyohu and the prophets of Baal.
The Medrash (Bamidbar Rabbah 23:9) describes how the
cow which had been taken by the prophets of Baal for their
sacrifice did not want to go, and opened its mouth to speak
to Eliyohu in front of the whole Jewish people. They were
unable to make it move from its place until Eliyohu told it
to go with them, for Hashem's Name would also be sanctified
through it. That made the cow move.
However, this was not enough to make the Jewish people
recognize Hashem; that only happened afterwards, when a
heavenly fire descended upon the altar and the whole nation
fell on their faces shouting, "Hashem is G-d!"
The sequence of events seems strange. The whole nation saw
clearly that Hashem is G-d, before the descent of the
heavenly fire, when they witnessed the incident of the cow,
which contained awesome miracles. What then, were they
waiting for? Why, upon seeing these miracles, did they not
immediately cry out, "Hashem is G-d!"?
The answer is found in the Rambam, who brings as an example
of those who have the possibility of teshuvoh taken
away from them the Jewish people in the days of Eliyohu, "who
committed many sins, therefore the possibility of repentance
was taken away from those who were full of transgressions, as
it says, `For You have turned their heart backward,' meaning:
You have prevented them from repenting" (Ibid. halocho
3). This explains why they did not repent and declare
Hashem's sovereignty when they witnessed the miracles with
the cow, since a Heavenly decree had been enacted preventing
them from doing teshuvoh!
Afterwards however, they did repent, and recognized that
"Hashem is G-d," because Eliyohu Hanovi, when making his
altar, prayed, "Answer me, Hashem, answer me." His prayer was
that the people should repent (according to the
gemora, he davened that events should not be
attributed to witchcraft, so that they would recognize Hashem
and repent), and indeed, his prayer was effective and the
people repented!
The Extent of Tefilloh's Powers!
The extent of the power of tefilloh can be seen from
Rabbeinu Yonah's commentary on Pirkei Ovos (1:2),
where he cites Dovid Hamelech's request in Tehillim
(51:17), which we now recite as an introduction to every
Amidoh prayer, "Hashem, open my lips, and my mouth
shall declare Your praise."
It is well-known that prayer is a substitute for a
korbon. However, tefilloh is actually much more
effective than a sacrifice! A korbon only atones for
sins committed unwittingly, but as for intentional sins, "the
sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination!" Tefilloh,
by way of contrast, atones even for sins committed
intentionally!
Rabbeinu Yonah explains that this is what Dovid said in the
perek which starts with, "A mizmor of Dovid;
when Nosson the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in
to Bas- Sheva," "Ribono Shel Olom, even though I
sinned intentionally and not unwittingly, still I am
praying!" That is why Dovid had to preface a special request,
"Hashem, open my lips . . . "
We too, before starting our Amidoh, ask Hashem to
accept our prayers even though we have sinned intentionally!
This is a very remarkable thing and many people are unaware
of it! Here we have an example of the power of
tefilloh, which effects atonement even for intentional
sins and even in a situation where a korbon is not
effective.
We may then be certain that prayer has the power to help even
someone who has committed many transgressions, and upon whom
it has been decreed that he can no longer repent. Through
tefilloh, his teshuvoh will be accepted!
The Power of Tefilloh
Another incident which made me feel the potential of
tefilloh is when HaKodosh Boruch Hu said to
Moshe, after the sin of the Eigel (Devorim 9:14), "Let
Me alone, that I may destroy them," and Moshe
kevayochol grabbed onto HaKodosh Boruch Hu by
means of his prayer — not allowing Him to destroy the
people! Admittedly, this was the tefilloh of Moshe
Rabbeinu, but still, this gives us an idea of the power of
prayer!
I also found a Medrash Rabbah (Eichoh 3:60) on the
posuk (3:44), "You have covered Yourself with a cloud,
so that no prayer can pass through." Says the Medrash,
"Rabbi Akiva was standing in judgment before Turnusrufus.
Yehoshua Hagarsi was also standing there with him, praying. A
cloud descended and surrounded them. He said, `It seems to me
that the only reason this cloud has descended and surrounded
us, is to prevent my master's prayer from being heard!' This
is written in the posuk, `You have covered Yourself
with a cloud, so that no prayer can pass through.' "
Prayer, then, can penetrate the heavens, to the extent that
heaven found it necessary to "defend" itself with a cloud, so
that no prayer could kevayochol be heard.
Tefilloh With and Without Proper Kavonoh — Life and
Death
What type of prayer has the power to penetrate heaven?
Tefilloh coupled with the necessary concentration and
devotion! I heard the following in the name of HaGaon
Hatzaddik HaRav Eliyohu Lopian zt"l:
The gemora says in Rosh Hashonoh (18a), "Rabbi
Meir says, `Two people take to their bed suffering equally
from the same disease, or two people ascend the scaffold to
be punished for the same offense; yet one gets up and the
other does not, one escapes death and the other does not. Why
does one get up and the other not? Why does one escape death
and the other not? Because one prayed and was answered and
the other prayed and was not answered. Why was one answered
and the other not? One prayed a perfect prayer and was
therefore answered. The other did not pray a perfect prayer
and was not answered.' " Rashi says that a perfect prayer is
one prayed with devotion.
It is clear from the gemora that neither of them had
any merits to help them be cured and saved. Both had been
sentenced in Heaven to death. The only difference between
them was whether their prayer was a "perfect" one! In other
words, as Rashi says, one prayed with his whole heart, full
of devotion, and the other did not! This teaches us that the
difference between a tefilloh with and without
kavonoh is the difference between life and death! This
is an awe-inspiring thought!
Similarly, we may be certain that if a person prays with deep
devotion, he will be saved from death, and his repentance
will be accepted.
End of Part I
