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This week’s Torah Portion, Parshas Toldos, begins with the story of the birth of Yaakov and Esav (Jacob and Esau).

``Yitzchok was forty years old when he took Rivkah, the daughter of Besueil, the Aramite, of Padan Aram, sister of Lavan, the Aramite, for a wife. And Yitzchok prayed to Hashem on behalf of his wife, for she was barren.`` (Bereishis [Genesis]25:20-21)

This verse should have been written in reverse; “And Yitzchok’s wife was barren and he prayed to Hashem on her behalf”, why did the Torah precede the fact that Yitzchok prayed before giving the reason for his prayer?

The Commentator, Rabbeinu Bachya explains that the Torah wanted to reveal that Rivka’s barrenness was not the cause of the prayer; rather the prayer was the cause of her barrenness. G-d’s purpose in making our Matriarchs (Sarah, Rivkah and Rachel were barren as well as Channah [Hannah], the mother of Shmuel the Prophet) was so that they should pray before realizing their aspirations to build the Jewish nation. This built up within the genes of their children, the Jewish people, the ``natural reflex`` of prayer.

This is what the Rabbis meant when they stated that ``the Holy One Blessed is He lusts for the prayers of the righteous`` and the teaching in the beginning of Tractate Sukkah (14a) “The prayers of the righteous are likened to a hoe. Just as a hoe overturns the grain on the threshing-floor from top to bottom, similarly, sincere prayer transforms G-d’s attribute of harshness to that of mercy.” Prayer has the power to transform nature.

Source: Rabbeinu Bachya on Chumash, Parshas Toldos

Hashem Alone Holds the Key to Childbirth

Hashem created the Mothers of our nation without the ability to conceive in order to pressure them to seek His salvation. When one knows with all their heart that the solution for their desperate situation resides with one partic­ular individual, he will call, write, or ``bang down the door`` if necessary, to solicit help for his plight. The ardent nature of his entreaties reflects his belief that this is his only avenue of salvation.

The Torah tells of numerous individuals whose deep faith that Hashem was their only Source of help brought them to bang down the door of Heaven. Their prayers, fueled by this total trust, are a template for our own tefillah.

The Medrash tells us that Chanah (Hannah) and Elkanah [the parents of Shmuel (Samuel) the Prophet] were childless for nineteen years, throughout which time Chanah prayed for children to no avail. It was only when her husband ex­claimed, ``Why do you weep, Chanah? Am I not better to you than ten sons?`` that she realized he no longer had any hope of her having a child.

Alone, she then poured out her heart to Hashem, con­vinced that only a miracle would enable her to have a child. This time her prayers were answered, and Chanah gave birth to a child who grew up to be one of the greatest leaders of the Jewish nation, Shmuel HaNavi.

Rav Moshe Ahron Stern, Mashgiach (Spiritual Dean) of the Kaminetzer Ye­shivah, probed further into this episode. Why, he asked, did Chanah receive so much more than she asked for? Her re­quest was to be blessed with an ordinary child; nonetheless, her son became a unique leader who was instrumental in the establishment of the monarchy - he was the one who anoint­ed David HaMelech (King David) whose dynasty will reign for all eternity.

Rav Stern explains that Chanah did not merely ask Hashem for help - she placed all her hope and trust in Him, knowing that only a miracle would produce results.

The remarkable potential, with which her child, Shmuel HaNavi, was blessed, arose from the power of his mother`s tearful entreaties.

Rabbi Chaim Shmulevifz was praying at the Tomb of Ra­chel on her yahrtzeit, the eleventh of Cheshvan, when he heard a woman praying on the other side of the partition.

``Mama Rachel, you know what it means not to have chil­dren. You know the hardship of living many years with­out children. Can`t you help me?`` These were the only words he heard.

Rabbi Shmulevitz subsequently sent a talmid to the woman`s home with the following message: ``Your prayers have been accepted in Heaven. You will have a boy next year and I wish to be sandek at the bris``. And so it was.

In telling this story, Dayan Aharon Dunner of England ex­plained why her prayers were answered. This woman was not a saint, but merely a simple person who felt that she needed something, that only Hashem could help her, and that she had absolutely no control over her life. Her prayer was relevant to her - she prayed with all her heart and soul and that truly made a difference.

The Torah not only instructs us to pray - it shows us by example how to make our prayers a true instrument of salva­tion.

When we tell Hashem, You and You alone can help me, we turn wishes and hopes into answered prayers.

Source: Praying With Fire by Rabbi Heshy Kleinman (Chapter 8)