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Nov. 6, 2009
Rabbi Berel Wein: Choosing to hear
JWisdom.com Zero to 1/60th: How to Empower An Hour with Gavriel Aryeh Sande (7 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick The mullahs' big week
Suzanne Fields A Fallen Wall for Fallen Man
Nov. 5, 2009
The Kosher Gourmet: Three scrumptious -- but simple -- butternut squash dishes
JWisdom.com Hidden Hints: Unlocking Faith & Prayer with Rabbi Jay Yaacov Schwartz (10 minutes)
Nov. 4, 2009
Tom Hamburger and Kim Geiger: Should prayers be covered?
JWisdom.com When God played peacemaker With Rabbi Sroy Levitansky (5 minutes)
Nov. 3, 2009
Martin Peretz: Beware, Barack. Beware, Rahm. Beware, Axelrod
JWisdom.com Are you are closet idolater? With Sara Yoheved Rigler (10 minutes)
Nov. 2, 2009
Paul Greenberg: The Holocaust is now on Facebook
JWisdom.com Abraham's Strange Change With Rabbi Yitzchok Fingerer (5 minutes)
Oct. 30, 2009
Rabbi David Aaron: Secret to Immortality
Caroline B. Glick Silencing dissent in America
Oct. 29, 2009
Lini S. Kadaba: Do tactics avert flu or reduce humanity?
JWisdom.com We Must Revamp our Religious Vocabulary With Gavriel Aryeh Sanders ( 10 minutes)
Oct. 28, 2009
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Atheists in Bubbleland
JWisdom.com Why what we wear impacts who we are With Rabbis Mordechai Becher, Menachem Golberger and Aliza Bulow ( 10 minutes)
Oct. 27, 2009
Paul Greenberg: The United Nations Is Outraged Again, Or: Department of Mideast Static
JWisdom.com The Science of Love With Rabbi Jonathan Rietti ( 7 minutes)
Oct. 26, 2009
The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Damaging disclosures with a twist
JWisdom.com Wisdom and Wonks With Rabbi Eytan Feiner ( 7 minutes)
Oct. 23, 2009
Rabbi David Aaron: Are you ready for the ultimate pleasure?
JWisdom.com Watermark and oneness with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 4 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick Stop using limited powers in a way that expands our enemies' advantages over us
Oct. 22, 2009
Steven Emerson: Terror Cases Share Desire to Kill Americans
JWisdom.com No More More Family Fights --- Really? By Sarah Chana Radcliffe ( 5 minutes)
Oct. 21, 2009
Tonya Alanez: Holocaust denier sues survivor, calling Auschwitz memoir 'vicious lies'
JWisdom.com Meditating Jewishly: A Panacea for Success by Sarah Yoheved Rigler ( 7 minutes)
Oct. 20, 2009
Dennis Prager: Obama and Dalai Lama: Why Israel Worries about U.S. President
JWisdom.com Abraham was not religious By Rabbi Yitzchok Fingerer ( 6 minutes)
Oct. 19, 2009
JWisdom.comWhy Good People Do Bad Things By Rabbi Eytan Feiner ( 7 minutes)
Oct. 16, 2009
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: The Perfect Number
JWisdom.com Hearing Voices By Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 5 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick How Turkey was lost
Oct. 15, 2009
Jeff Jacoby: Peace vs. the 'peace process'
JWisdom.com: Former MTV producer and stand-up comedian Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff: Taming a Control Freak (A VERY fast 15 minutes)
Oct. 29, 2003
Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Graffiti On History's Walls (MUST-READ!)

Jewish World Review August 1, 2008 / 29 Tamuz 5768,

We have the power to alter another's destiny — use it well

By Rabbi A. Henach Leibowitz


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Maximize your innate Divine gifts


“And he will live there until the death of the Kohen Gadol …. .”

                        —  Numbers 35:25


If a man kills another by accident, the perpetrator is exiled to live in an ir miklat — a city of refuge. As long as he remains there, he cannot be harmed by the relatives of the deceased, who seek to avenge the blood of their family member. The unintentional murderer must stay in the city of refuge until the Kohen Gadol (Chief Priest) dies.


The Talmud (Makkos 11a) explains that the term of the exile is linked to the Chief Priest's life span because the Kohen should have prayed for Hashem's mercy that there be no accidental deaths. Obviously, the Kohen's prayers were somewhat lacking and he now bears the burden of this shortcoming.


The Talmud proves the validity of this responsibility by relating that a man was once killed by a lion near the home of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, and the Prophet Elijah blamed Rabbi Yehoshua for not praying sufficiently for his people.


We know that there is really no such thing as an "accident." Everything that happens to a person is ordained by the Divine. The Talmud teaches that one doesn't stub his toe or hurt his finger unless it is preordained in Heaven (Chullin 7b). The man who was killed by the accidental killer, as well as the unfortunate soul who was eaten by a lion in Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi's neighborhood, were decreed by G-d to die at that given moment.


If each of these violent acts were destined to occur by the Divine master plan, how could even the most fervent prayers of the Chief Priest stop them from happening? If the Divine weighed the facts and decided that a man's life must come to an end at that exact moment, how could Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi stop the Heavenly decree?


With this teaching, the Talmud enlightens us about the ultimate power of prayer. A heartfelt, meaningful plea to the Divine has the ability to change the course of what "should" have happened.


The Divine is a G-d of compassion and He does not lightly decide that a man should die. Every action is based on precise, exact consideration of the thousands of factors and is absolutely justified in its impact on every person who will be influenced by the ripple effect. Nevertheless, prayer has the ability to change the cosmic balance, to tip the scales of Divine Justice in the other direction and override this original decision.


Had the Chief Priest or Rabbi Yehoshua prayed with more feeling, the Divine would have torn up the decree and spared the victim's life.


One might think that this lesson only applies to a Chief Priest or a great, saintly Torah scholar like Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi — but what about a regular person? The Sforno (Genesis 32:1) tells us that the Torah relates the wicked Laban's blessing to his daughters, "because a father's blessing to his child with all his soul, will undoubtedly have more effect [than the blessings of others] because it harnesses the power of his tzelem Elokim — the Divine image or spark within the person giving the blessing." This is true about the blessing or prayer of a wicked, deceitful scoundrel like Lavan. Imagine the potential of a "regular" person who taps into the Divine power of his tzelem Elokim !


As the philosophical tract Mesilas Yesharim (Duties of the Heart) teaches (Chap. 19), "If a person says, 'Who am I and of what significance am I that I should pray about the exile and about Jerusalem? Will my prayers cause the exiles to gather together and the redemption to sprout forth?' The answer is nearby, as it says, 'For this reason man was created alone, so that every individual will say "For my sake alone the entire world was created"' (Talmud, Sanhedrin 37a) — for it already brings pleasure to the Divine that his children ask and pray for this. And even if their request is not granted, because the time is not yet ripe or for some other reason, they did their part and the Divine rejoices in it."


Apparently, as long as one's prayers had the proper Intent and concentration that would have made the redemption happen (had it not been for other interfering factors), the Divine is happy with the person's prayers as if he had done the job. Anyone can receive this zechus — the merit of having brought the Redemption!




Every one of us has the earth-shaking power of prayer within us that can change Heavenly decrees, save lives, and even be credited with bringing the Messiah. We need only to reach inside ourselves and harness the unique force of that Divine spark — the tzelem Elokim — through the power of prayer.

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One of America's senior Torah sages, Rabbi A. Henach Leibowitz has been the dean of the Rabbinical Seminary of America, in Queens, New York for more than 50 years. The institution has branches and affiliates all across North America and Israel.

This article was prepared by two of the sage's disciples, Rabbi Aryeh Striks and Rabbi Shimon Zehnwirth, and excerpted from the just released book, "Pinnacle of Creation: Torah insights into human nature".


Previously:

The Crowning Glory of Creation
The Divine's eternal, unconditional love
Perverting sincerity
Do 'clothes make the man'?
Divine vindictiveness?

© 2007, Mesorah Publications, Ltd.