Parshas Eikev: The Scream of Prayer

“And I looked and behold you had sinned against Hashem your G-d; you had made yourselves a molten calf. You had turned quickly away from the path which Hashem had commanded you.” (Devarim 9:16)

“And I fell down before Hashem … I neither ate bread nor drank water because of your sin that you sinned in doing that which was evil in the Eyes of Hashem … ” (ibid. 9:18).

“So I fell down before Hashem for forty days and forty nights … because Hashem had said He would destroy you”(ibid. 9:25)

“Falling down” is prayer. Similar to the verse “And Esther fell down at his feet and besought him with tears to remove the plots of Haman.” (Esther 8:3) This is a special sort of intense entreaty that includes great submission until from total self-abnegation one falls before Hashem. (Rav Shimshon Pincus She’arim B’Tefillah)

At various points in our lives we encounter closed doors. Paths that are blocked. Alarmed we search for the right key that will open the door and solve the problem that has sprung up at the crossroads.

We use every trick in the book to gain entry. We turn and twist kick and pull. We contact various people and try endless options.

And above all — prayer. Because what are efforts worth without prayer?

But sometimes to our horror we discover that the locked door is a wall. And there is no key no way to penetrate this wall. A great darkness falls upon us a paralyzing fear that blinds the eyes and grips the heart with helplessness and brings us to a desperate recognition: Our hands are empty of any keys at all.