Parshas Ki Seitzei 5785
- Torah Tavlin
- Sep 5
- 1 min read
רני עקרה לא ילדה ... כי רבים בני שוממה מבני בעולה ... (ישעי'נד-א)
In this week’s Haftorah, Yeshaya HaNavi exclaims, “Sing o’ barren woman who has not borne; burst out into song and jubilate.” This prophecy relates Hashem’s comparison of the holy city of Yerushalayim to a barren woman devoid of children. However, the irony is seemingly quite apparent. How could Klal Yisroel ever be expected to rejoice over a desolate Yerushalayim?
R’ Moshe Chaim Ephraim of Sedilkov zt”l (Degel Machaneh Ephraim) quotes his grandfather, the holy Baal Shem Tov zt”l, who explains that a tremendous lesson in Tefillah could be gleaned from Yeshaya HaNavi’s seemingly contradictory statement.
When a person goes through a difficult period in life, he is oftentimes left feeling distant and alone, all the while thinking that his situation seems so far gone that no amount of prayer or charity can ever save him. Unfortunately, this is quite far from the truth, for one must remember that Hashem listens to all Tefillos and there is no such a thing as an empty prayer.
Thus, the lesson being imparted by Yeshaya HaNavi is that even when a person’s situation is desperate and his frantic Tefillah appears to be akin to those of a barren woman, Hashem still says "רני" - sing and rejoice, "כי רבים בני שוממה מבני בעולה" - for his desperate and haphazard prayers, which are likened to those of a desolate woman, are still considered more precious by Hashem than many thought-out and settled prayers - like those of a married person with children.