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Thought for the Day: Prayer is Not a Response to Crisis; Prayer Seeks Crisis

At the beginning of parshas Toldos (Bereishi 25:21) we are told:

וַיֶּעְתַּ֨ר יִצְחָ֤ק לַֽיהֹוָה֙ לְנֹ֣כַח אִשְׁתּ֔וֹ כִּ֥י עֲקָרָ֖ה הִ֑וא וַיֵּעָ֤תֶר לוֹ֙ ה' וַתַּ֖הַר רִבְקָ֥ה אִשְׁתּֽוֹ

This can be translated as: And Yitzchak prayed to the Lord opposite his wife because she was barren, and the Lord accepted his prayer, and Rivka his wife conceived. To really understand this verse, we need to add some words, and read: And both Yitzchak and Rivka prayed to the Lord, with Isaac on one side opposite his wife. They were praying because she was barren; and the Lord accepted his prayer, and Rivka -- his wife -- conceived.

R' Bachya notes that the Torah orders events by cause first, followed by effect; making the cause the main thing and the effects as subordinates to the cause. Therefore, says R' Bachya, this verse is telling us: Yitzchak was davening, so his wife, Rivka, davened across from him, and so she was barren, and so HaShem overturned nature (that's really what 'וַיֵּעָ֤תֶר לוֹ֙ הֹ means), and so Rivka, his wife, conceived. That is, HaShem so loves the prayers of the Avos that He made three of the matriarchs barren.

What does that mean? R' Bachya goes on to explain why each of the matriarchs had to wait so long for children anyway. Sarah's conceiving needed to be delayed so that: (1) Yishmael could be born; and (2) so that her name could be changed to contain a  ה -- which was necessary because HaShem created the world with a ה (B'reishis 2:4, Rashi there, second explanation), so the addition ה to Avraham and Sarah demonstrates that Klal Yisrael is above nature. Rivka's conceiving had to be delayed so that Avraham would leave this world before Eisav went off to his evil ways. (The day that Avraham died, Esav went out to murder, commit adultery, and avodah zarah.) Rachel's conceiving needed to be delayed to bring out the tribes of Dan, Naftali, Gad, and Asher from Bilhah and Zilpah.

What does all that mean? Of course, I don't really know; but I'll give it the ole college try. Because of (at least) what was mentioned above, the delay in the matriarchs giving birth was inevitable; all part of the master plan. HaShem could have just told them that, just as He told Avraham that his descendants would be enslaved in a foreign nation and then emerge with great wealth -- both materialistically and be receiving the Torah. Just as He told Yaakov that he would be returning from Lavan's house. Just as He has told us that Eretz Yisrael is our home land. Instead, HaShem left them in the dark with the knowledge that (for the time being) they could not conceive.

Why would HaShem leave them in the dark? So they would daven with more passion with more love for HaShem (see Parshas Lech Lecha, B'reishis 12:2, and Rashi there). Because HaShem loves our תפילות.

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