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The help comes only from Hashem
 

A Sincere T'filah Can Change the World

On this page there are chizuk stories(see below)that help one understand that the gates of heaven never close for tears.It starts of with an inspirational video that is song by the kinderlach. It helps one realize that when we wonder from where does the help come from, as we look and cry out for it. David Hamelech writes that we have to know that it all comes from Hashem. All our help and everything comes from Hashem. Hashem aranges it all. So close your eyes and listen and tell Hashem you believe in Him and trust in Him that it all comes from Him.

Psalms Chapter 121 תְּהִלִּים

א  שִׁיר, לַמַּעֲלוֹת:
אֶשָּׂא עֵינַי, אֶל-הֶהָרִים--    מֵאַיִן, יָבֹא עֶזְרִי.
1 A Song of Ascents. {N}
I will lift up mine eyes unto the mountains: from whence shall my help come?
ב  עֶזְרִי, מֵעִם יְהוָה--    עֹשֵׂה, שָׁמַיִם וָאָרֶץ. 2 My help cometh from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
ג  אַל-יִתֵּן לַמּוֹט רַגְלֶךָ;    אַל-יָנוּם, שֹׁמְרֶךָ. 3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved; He that keepeth thee will not slumber.
ד  הִנֵּה לֹא-יָנוּם, וְלֹא יִישָׁן--    שׁוֹמֵר, יִשְׂרָאֵל. 4 Behold, He that keepeth Israel doth neither slumber nor sleep.
ה  יְהוָה שֹׁמְרֶךָ;    יְהוָה צִלְּךָ, עַל-יַד יְמִינֶךָ. 5 The LORD is thy keeper; the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand.
ו  יוֹמָם, הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ לֹא-יַכֶּכָּה;    וְיָרֵחַ בַּלָּיְלָה. 6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.
ז  יְהוָה, יִשְׁמָרְךָ מִכָּל-רָע:    יִשְׁמֹר, אֶת-נַפְשֶׁךָ. 7 The LORD shall keep thee from all evil; He shall keep thy soul.
ח  יְהוָה, יִשְׁמָר-צֵאתְךָ וּבוֹאֶךָ--    מֵעַתָּה, וְעַד-עוֹלָם. 8 The LORD shall guard thy going out and thy coming in, from this time forth and for ever.

#1. A Shidduch Made Through Prayer……… 

This is a true story (names were changed); the wedding took place on the night before Chanukah this year 24th day of Kislev (5771) …… 
A few months ago one of my students left Monsey to find a job in Philadelphia similar to one of his friends who did the same a few months earlier and was doing rather well for himself.
Avrohom started working in a restaurant in Philly which was owned by a Jewish Russian family.  One day they had a Bris scheduled and the owner asked his daughter Sarah, who was living in Brooklyn to come home and help with the Bris. 
At the Bris just as the baby was brought into the room Avrohom  decided to walk out. Sarah asked him why he was leaving the room? Avrohom responded that he gets nauseated at the sight of blood.  Sarah explained that this was a very auspicious moment as Eliyahu Hanovi comes to every Bris and it is a special time to Daven if one wants answers to his or her Tefilos! 
Avrohom walked out of the room and something in his heart told him to return anyway. He took a Siddur and walked back into the room and started Davening near the back of the room. Sarah was impressed with the way he was Davening so intently. This began a new relationship between Avrohom and Sarah.  (Avrohom and Sarah are both Baalei T’Shuvah)
A few months after this relationship began, Avrohom and Sarah announced their engagement.  
About 2 weeks before their wedding while Sarah was staying at our house for Shabbos, she tells my wife this story. She continues the story………On the day of their engagement she asked her Chosson ……… “By the way What were you davening for so intently when you came back into the room on the day that we first met? Avrohom responded that “I was davening for you to find a good Shidduch!” 
We are taught:
“Kol Hamispallel B’Ad Chaveiro V’Hu Tzorich Li-oso Davar Neeneh Tchilah!”
“When one prays for his friend and he needs a similar thing Hashem answers him first!” 
Many times we only think of ourselves, however if we were to focus on helping others or Davening for others Hashem will respond to us in kind! 

#2. There was once a lady sittng by her dying child.  She was crying and pouring her heart out to Hashem.  She heard that a holy rav had come to town.  She asked her husband to go and get a bracha (blessing) from him.  The man got up and went to the rav.  After explaining his urgency to the gabbai (rav's attendant), he was told to sit and wait while the gabbai went into the rav to let him know.  The gabbai knocked and opened the door to the rav's study.  The rav immediately signaled him to leave. 

The gabbai went back to the man and told him to wait.  An hour passed.  The man again pleaded with the gabbai, telling him, "my child can already be dead.  Please, please help me."  the gabbai went back to the rav's study and was again signaled to wait.  The gabbai returned to the man and told him again to wait.  In the meantime, back home, the mother was still pouring her heart out to hashem. 

 A short time later, the rav's study door flew opened.  The rav excitedly came out and told the man that everything is okay, the child is fine, and that he should go home.  The rabbi said, "your wife's simple tefilos just reached the heavenly throne (kisei hakavod). The man was so startled, he thanked the rav, and ran home.  

The gabbai asked the rav to explain what just happened.  The rav told the gabbai , "I saw up in shamayim that the baby was destined to die and there was nothing to be done, but because of the mother's simple tefilah, the decree was changed. 

Hashem desires our simple faith in him, to believe that he can do anything.  The lady said with sincerity, "please, Hashem, look down at my baby.  See how much he is suffering.  Please help him.  That simple tefilah changed the decree. The child grew up and lived a long life with Hashem,torah and mitzvot.

Lichvod Klal Yisrael remeber a simple t'filah can change the decree.

#3. Yankel Am Ha'Aretz For the gates of heaven never close for tears
In a little town somewhere in Europe
Just about a hundred years ago
Lived a simple man his name was yankel
And this is how his story goes

Yankel couldn’t learn a blatt gemara
Why he barely knew to read and write
Deep in his heart he loved to do the mitzvos
But somehow he never seemed to get things right

He didn’t know his brachos couldn’t say shma by heart
Hed daven shmoneh esray with his feet spread wide apart
Everyone would laugh and snicker when he passed them by in shul
Here comes yankel am ha’aretz could there be a bigger fool

All the children would make fun of yankel
Teasing him as if he were a child
But he never ever lost his temper
On his face there was always a smile

Now the rebbi tried to learn with yankel
So the young man would know how to cope
In one ear but then out the other
The rabbi gave up there simply was no hope


His ivreh was atrocious the place hed always lose
Hed show up on yom kippur wearing shiny polished shoes
Everyone would laugh and snicker when he passed them by in shul
Here comes yankel am ha’aretz could there be a bigger fool

Stubborn yankel he just kept on trying
They all told him it’s a hopeless cause
But he kept saying one day ill know how to
Learn the torah and keep its laws

Now one night the rabbi fell asleep in shul
Only to wake up when he heard a sigh
It was yanke by the aron kodesh
There were teardrops running from his eyes

He was saying master of the world I know you hear my prayer
And I accept my fate in life your judgments always fair
Yet one thing I must ask you where else am I to turn
Could I not serve you so much more if I knew how to learn

The rabbi sent yankel to learn in yeshiva
They all thought hed lost his sanity
Hell be back in a week for certain
All the rabbi said was wait and see

Yankels now a famous scholar it just took a few short years
For the gates of heaven never close for tears
And everyone stands to shake his hand as he passes them in shul
Here comes yankel Talmud chacham how could we have been such fools

#4. But use your tears and learn how to cry!

During a lecture he delivered on Tisha B’av afternoon a number of years ago, Rabbi Fishel Shechter related a personal story that a woman had related to him:

“A number of years ago one of my children died and I was devastated. I became so depressed that I refused to leave my house. I was sure that I would never get over it and would never be able to get on with my life. Two months went by and things did not improve at all; in fact my misery and self-pity only deepened.

“I was invited to a wedding but I told my husband that I wasn’t going. I simply couldn’t. My husband knew how badly I needed to get out and, when he saw that he could not reason with me, he literally pushed me out of the house and locked the door. I banged on the door but my husband would not allow me back in. He called out that my dress and makeup were at a neighbor’s house and that I had to go to the wedding

“Seeing that I had no choice, I begrudgingly got dressed and went to the wedding. When I saw everyone dancing happily I became very upset. I felt that they had no right to be so happy. With a complete feeling of dejection, I walked over to a phone booth and picked up the phone. Tears streaming down my face, I said, “G-d, I don’t want to be here. Please get me out of here!”

“While I was standing there crying, one of the elderly women who was sitting at the door of the hall collecting charity noticed me and walked over to me. She placed her arms on my shoulder and gently asked me, “Mein kint, vos vaynst du- My child why are you crying?” I shot back at her, “You never lost a child!” She gently replied, “Really? I lost ten children during the war!  Why are you crying?” I looked at her in astonishment, “And you never cried?” “Oh, I cried! But I learned that there is no point of crying over the past. I learned to take advantage of my tears and to use them to cry for others. Whenever I cry I think about those who need salvation and I pray for them with my tears.”

Then she put her arms around me and said, “No one should tell you to stop crying. But use your tears and learn how to cry! Use your tears to pray for everyone you know who is suffering” Then she walked away.

For a few moments I just stood there lost in thought. Then I picked up the phone again and began to cry profusely. I thought about everyone I know who is going through a hard time and I cried for them. I thought about those who were in the hospital when I was there with my child and I cried for them. I cried for Klal Yisroel and I prayed for the future and for salvation and redemption.

“When I finished crying I never felt so happy in my life. I stepped into the center of the circle and I danced like I never danced in my life!”

#5."In a king's palace there are hundreds of rooms, and on the door of each room there is a different lock that requires a special key to open it. But there is a master key which can open all the locks. That is a broken heart. When a person sincerely breaks his heart before Hashem his prayers can enter through all the gates and into all the rooms of the celestial palace of Hashem." (Or Yesharim

 

 

#6 

Prayer is for everyone - even if it is your first time.

 

 

 

Rav Binyomin Pruzansky told the story of a mother who was on a deserted beach in Tiberias watching her two daughters, aged 10 and 8, playing in the water.  As she watched them splashing around, she called out warning them not to go too far into the water.  The older girl took the younger girl by the hand and moved her back away from the water, but in the process she lost her footing and was tugged by a powerful undertow.  Her mother, who did not know how to swim, watched in horror and started screaming, "Help!  Save my daughter!"

 

She immediately ran up to the street and stopped a passing car.  She begged the driver, a middle-aged man, to save her daughter, who was drowning in the sea.  The man ran toward the water, and started swimming forcefully and steadily toward the girl.  The mother stood at the shore crying and praying, and finally she looked up and saw the man carrying the girl toward the shore.  She breathed a sigh of relief, but was then struck by horror a split second later.  This was her younger daughter, who must have gone into the water to try to save the older girl.  The mother thanked the man for saving the younger girl, and explained that her older daughter must still be somewhere in the water.  The man looked around and saw another figure in the distance.  He swam toward her at full speed, and when he finally reached her, he saw that she was barely conscious.  He held her hand and started swimming back to the shore.

 

As he swam, he heard the mother shouting, "Her head!  Her head is still in the water!  Pick up her head!"  The man immediately lifted the girl's head, feeling terrible that he had been negligent and allowed the girl's head to remain underwater.

 

Hatzalah quickly arrived and brought the daughter to the hospital.  The mother tearfully prayed in the waiting room while the doctors struggled to bring the girl back to consciousness.  Finally, the doctor came out wearing a huge smile.

 

"You are the proud recipient of a miracle," he said.  "Your daughter is going to be just fine.  We just did an MRI and found that her brain activity is perfectly normal. "

 

The woman was ecstatic.  A few weeks later, the family made a huge se'udat hoda'ah to celebrate the miracle.  The woman was able to track down the man who had saved her daughter's life, and he attended the event as the honored guest.

 

As he spoke, everyone in the audience listened attentively.

 

"I grew up on a secular kibbutz," he said.  "I never really believed in G-d, and I never really prayed.  In fact, we used to laugh at people who prayed.  We thought it was all a fairy tale.

 

"A few months ago, I suffered a heart attack, and I was spending some time in Tiberias as part of my recovery.  My doctor had advised me to swim every day to improve my health and get into shape, and I went swimming each day during my vacation in Tiberias.  If I hadn't gotten into such good shape, there is no way I could have been able to swim that quickly to rescue the girls.

 

"When I was coming back with the older girl, and I realized that I had allowed her head to remain in the water, I was devastated.  I couldn't believe I could be so negligent, and I felt so guilty.  When we got back to shore and I saw she wasn't breathing, I didn't know what to do with myself.  I felt that I caused her to lose consciousness.  I told my wife what happened and how devastated I was, and she tried calming me down, but to no avail.  I decided to do something I had never done before.  I got back into my car and drove to the beach, to the spot where the incident occurred.  With tears in my eyes, I looked up to the sky and prayed, for the first time in my life.  I said: G-d, I know I have never prayed to You before, but I need Your help.  I promise that if You save that little girl, I will never stop praying to You for the rest of my life.  Afterward, I called the hospital to find out what happened, and the nurse told me that just a moment earlier the doctors succeeded in reviving her, and they felt she would fully recover.  Hashem heard my prayers, and I will, in turn, keep my promise to continue praying and never stop."

 

Prayer is for everyone - even if it is your first time.

#7 keep davening

 Rav Leib Pinter once gave a Mashal of a wise king who, unfortunately, had not been blessed with a child who would inherit his throne, and he wanted to find someone that would be an appropriate person to succeed him when he passed away. The king decided to make a test that would involve all of the young boys of his kingdom, and everyone excitedly looked forward to the challenge. After all, who would pass up the opportunity to be the successor to the king? When the boys had all gathered at the appointed time, the king handed out a packet of seeds to each boy and instructed him to plant his seeds in a flower pot. The one whose flowers bloomed the fullest in a certain amount of time would become his successor. Each boy left with his seeds and planted and nurtured them the best they could. When the time came for the king to judge the growing flowers, everyone went to the palace with their flower pots. Everyone succeeded in producing a very impressive and colorful array of flowers, and they all happily lined up to show the king their work. But, for some reason, the king was not happy with what he saw, as nothing seemed to impress him. Finally, the king noticed one boy who was standing quietly and sadly next to a flower pot that had only soil in it, without any flowers growing. The king went over to him and asked where his flowers were, and the boy explained that regardless of how hard he tried, he just could not get his seeds to grow into flowers. He said he changed the dirt, added various fertilizers, watered the seeds regularly and gave them plenty of sun light, but nothing worked. Through tears he said, “I even Davened that the seeds should start blooming, but I was not answered.” He said that he knew he wouldn’t win the contest, but he came to see who the king would chose as the winner. The king began to smile and he said to the boy, “You will be my son. You will be the one to inherit my throne!” When everyone heard this, they were all in a state of shock. Why would the king select the one boy whose flowers did not grow?! The king turned to the people to explain his choice, and he said, “All of the seeds that I handed out had been boiled in water, and they were not able to grow into anything. Therefore, all the boys who presented me with flowers that they claimed grew from the seeds, lied and cheated. They switched the seeds I had given them for other seeds, or simply put already blooming flowers in their flower pots. The one boy who maintained his integrity and was not willing to lie or cheat just to win, was this boy, whose seeds did not grow. He has the seeds of truth, and because he has the quality of honesty, he will be the one to follow me as king!” This same idea applies with regard to Yeshuos, salvations from Hashem. We Daven to Hashem for help in every way we can think of, but sometimes it seems that Hashem does not respond to us. Yet, we continue to Daven, to believe that Hashem will help us, and to hope that our problems will quickly end. We continue this with the firm belief that salvation can only come from Hashem. If we persist in our devotion to Hashem and never stop asking for His help, our faith becomes stronger and our commitment will be nurtured— even if we don’t see flowers beginning to bloom, because we are doing exactly what the King has asked us to do. And ultimately, our tears and Tefilos will bring about an incredible salvation from Hashem— one that we could never have even anticipated, because we will be answered as a child of the King!