2076 —פירוש התפלה עבור משאלות וכוונות של אחר

B"H, 11 Nissan, 5713. Brooklyn.

Shalom u'Vrachah!

In response to your letter from the 16th of Adar, in which you raise a question regarding the wording of an invitation you received from Haraha"ch vavac"h iy"a nu"n one involved with tzt"z etc. Moreinu HaRav Ben Tzion Shem Tov, shadar, who blesses that his son should be G‑d-fearing, a chassid, and a scholar according to my intention and will. Therefore, you were puzzled about the meaning of connecting a blessing for a Jew's heartfelt wishes with the intention and will of another.

It is known that prayer is service of the heart, as our Sages say (Taanit 2a), and it must be verbalized; therefore, one's mouth and heart must be aligned so that the prayer is effective. It is also understood from our prayer texts that the more one specifies their prayer, the better; one should not suffice with general prayers. That is why we have twelve middle blessings (in Shemoneh Esrei) instead of one general request, and even within these blessings there are many detailed requests. Therefore, someone who does not trust themselves to specify their prayer properly for whatever reason—and believes that one of their friends truly wishes them well and understands their needs more specifically and deeply—can formulate their prayer and request so that it will be fulfilled according to the intention and will of that friend.

We find similar things in halachah in several areas; one example is in heter iska (a halachic business partnership), where it is written "as established by our Sages," and even an unlearned person can write this, and it is valid according to Torah law because he entrusts his intent to the Sages.

b) Furthermore, who knows the inclination of a person's heart or the schemes of the yetzer hara (evil inclination), which is very skilled and approaches each person according to their situation (see Shabbat 105b). The yetzer hara seeks many ways to confuse a person—especially at auspicious times when there is concern that one's prayer will be accepted—so there is greater risk that confusion or ulterior motives may mix into one's request or prayer. The more spiritual or removed from material matters the request is—such as asking for G‑d-fearing children—and especially when adding further requests such as being a chassid (going beyond even what G‑d-fearing entails), or being a scholar (using Torah knowledge to become G‑d-fearing and chassidic)—the more likely it is that the yetzer hara will try everything possible to disturb the prayer. If not through speech, then at least in thought. This aligns with what Rambam writes at the end of Hilchot Temurah: The Torah anticipated human nature and some evil inclination; even if someone vows or consecrates something, perhaps he retracted or regretted it. The only solution for this is to entrust one's prayer to another person who has no personal interest but truly seeks his good; then speech and intention go together.

There are also several examples for this in revealed Torah; one such example is from our Sages (Nedarim 25a): "Know that I am making you swear not according to your own intent but according to my intent and according to Heaven's intent."

c) You also ask: Isn't it obvious that prayers should generally be for fulfilling G‑d's will without specifying how? With respect: this isn't so. As above, from all our established prayers by Anshei Knesset HaGedolah we see that requests are specified as much as possible; what was not further specified was only so there would be one text for all Jews—but even this text is very detailed.

See Rambam Hilchot Tefillah chapters 1 and 6.

I must admit I was unsure whether to answer these questions at all because unfortunately in all times—and especially nowadays—there are many whose real intent behind such questions (especially when asked about unfamiliar practices) is simply an excuse; when they ask themselves why they avoid something, it's easiest to say they have questions about it. In such cases answers aren't very helpful since there will always be more questions. But since I do not know you personally I assume your intentions are good—to clarify something you haven't encountered before in my letters though similar things exist elsewhere as above.

Blessings for a kosher and joyous Pesach holiday.

P.S.: Of course, if you have any comments on what was said above I would be interested to read them and will try my best to respond as well.

Note: I specifically brought these two examples above because an oath relates to man's service beginning at bar mitzvah—when he becomes obligated from Sinai—and heter iska concerns interest permitted through halachic mechanisms, as explained in my father-in-law's maamar "Taamah Ki Tov Sachrah," year 5709.

Enclosed: A copy of my general letter for Pesach this year which will surely interest your honor.

Summary

The Rebbe teaches that specifying one's prayers—even entrusting them to another—is valuable both spiritually and halachically. This helps overcome personal limitations or distractions from the yetzer hara so prayers can be offered with pure intent.