Shemoneh Esrei 25: The Opportunity of Ameilus
Before proceeding forward with the brachos of our requests, let us step back and contemplate the opportunity presented to us within these brachos. One obvious opportunity is being able to stand before our Master, Who controls every aspect of our lives, and ask for our needs. A second opportunity is to strengthen our emunah and bitachon and come closer to Hashem. As we conclude each of these brachos, with every “אתה–Atah” we address Hashem directly, deepening our knowledge and feeling that only Hashem can grant us health, parnasah, etc. This opportunity has been discussed in the very essence of Tefilah and will be elaborated on, b’ezras Hashem, in the future.
This week, our focus turns to the opportunity of fulfilling the mitzvah that Chazal teach us is a “כלל גדול בתורה–klal gadol baTorah”: the mitzvah of “ואהבת לרעך כמוך–V’ahavta l’rei’acha kamocha” (Vayikra 19:18).
Rabbeinu Yonah writes in Shaarei T’shuvah (3:13):
"...כי חיב אדם לטרוח בדרישת טוב לעמו ולשקוד בעמל נפשו על תקנת חברו..."
“…ki chayav adam litroach bi’drishas tov l’amo v’liskod ba’amal nafsho al takanas chaveiro…”
“…for one must exert himself to seek out [to do] good for his nation, and to be diligent with the toil of his nefesh for the benefit of his friend…”
Rav Matisyahu Salomon (sefer Matnas Chelko) notes (since this piece in the Shaarei T’shuvah is speaking about the greatness and severity of g’milas chesed in general) that Rabbeinu Yonah should have written “amal gufo” rather than “amal nafsho,” since we generally think of g’milas chesed as helping someone physically. Rav Matisyahu then writes that Rabbeinu Yonah’s intent here was regarding one who davens for his friend. (Perhaps, as support, we can suggest Rashi in Maseches B’rachos 5b, where Rashi teaches us that “nefesh zo tefilah” – the word nefesh refers to tefilah.)
What we see from Rabbeinu Yonah is the following:
1. Davening for others is a fulfillment of the mitzvah min haTorah of g’milas chesed, which he says (quoting Sukkah 49b) is even greater than the mitzvah of tz’dakah.
2. Tefilah on behalf of others requires diligence and ameilus. These are two words that we are accustomed to hearing relating to learning Torah. Rabbeinu Yonah teaches us that chesed and tefilah too must be done with diligence and toil.
Each of these middle brachos of Shemoneh Esrei provides us the opportunity to be diligent and toil in thinking about our communal needs as well as the individual needs of others. This requires us to spend time (outside of the actual time of tefilah) thinking about what others around us are struggling with, so that we can approach Hashem with our requests that are focused on their needs. This too strengthens our emunah, as we inculcate the belief that our tefilos on their behalf can help them in a very real way, since we know that their salvation is totally in Hashem’s control. At the same time, these tefilos will be a fulfillment of the crucial mitzvah of g’milas chesed and ואהבת לרעך כמוך. What an opportunity!