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means that heaven is not pleased with a person’s work, because
he is not doing what is required of him. Therefore, heaven sends
him sufferings in various areas of his life in order to awaken him.
But when he works on one goal in a fundamental manner, there is
no judgment against him—even though he sets aside other worthy
goals—because heaven knows that he has a great deal to rectify,
and he cannot rectify everything at once. Heaven is happy that
he has chosen one area to rectify, and heaven is patient with him
regarding all of the other issues that he is not working on. But
if a person does not choose one issue to work on, heaven sees
that he will never actually rectify anything. Therefore, it sends him
suffering in order to awaken him. Thus, when a person engages in
fundamental work on one issue, that shields and guards him, and
sweetens all of the judgments against him.
No normal father expects his son to do things that are beyond his
abilities and powers. Similarly, Hashem does not unfairly demand
that a person must work on all of his issues immediately, because
that is not in his power. When a normal father sees that his son is
applying himself as best he can, he has no complaints about his son—
on the contrary, he is very pleased with him. So too the Holy One,
blessed be He, is very pleased with everyone who applies himself as
best he can. He has no complaints against him, no accusations and
no judgment. If the trait of judgment will argue that this person is
not doing so-and-so, immediately it will be rebuked, “What do you
want from him? Overall, he is working and progressing regarding
such-and-such an issue. With time, he will achieve success, and then
he will go on to work on mastering other areas in his life.” When
a person has no judgments against him, his life is good and sweet.
Patience
We must review and recall this simple truth: It is impossible to
rectify everything at once. The evil inclination loves to make a
person forget this simple truth in order to torment and break him.
But we must know this most important principle regarding all of a
person’s work in this world.
The Holy One, blessed be He, made man finite, and it is His will
Chapter Six: | 185
prayed and was answered, and the other prayed and was
not answered. Why was one answered and the other not
answered? One prayed with a perfect prayer, and he was
answered. The other did not pray with a perfect prayer,
and he was not answered.
We would all like to know the great secret: what does having 6
our prayers answered depend on? All of us pray and all of us want
to see results from our prayers. Is there a way of praying that is
guaranteed to work and that will be accepted in every situation?
The Gemara reports that the sages already answered this question.
Rabbi Meir tells about two people who were seriously ill. They both
had the exact same illness to the exact same extent, and they both
prayed. One was healed, and the other passed away. Rabbi Meir
also tells about two defendants (in a gentile court) accused of the
same capital offense. Both prayed. One was acquitted and set free,
and the other was convicted and executed. Rabbi Meir’s intent is
to explain the difference. Certainly, they all sensed the great danger
they were in, as though a sharp sword was hanging over their necks,
and certainly they all wanted to live. It was clear that they had no
alternative but one counsel only: to pray. They all believed that
Hashem, only Hashem, could help them, and so they all prayed to
Him. That being the case, it is hard to understand why one of each
pair was saved and the other was not saved.
The Gemara and the commentaries explain that Rabbi Meir
presumes that the heavenly court had already decreed and sealed
the judgment of death against all four men. Nevertheless, for two
of them prayer helped and nullified the decree, but for the other
two it did not help. Why? Rabbi Meir answers that the two who
were saved prayed a perfect prayer, whereas the two who died
did not. Rashi explains succinctly that “a perfect prayer” means
“having intent.” When I learned this Gemara, I was very puzzled.
What does it mean that the two who died lacked intent? Didn’t
they want to live? I thought a very great deal about the words of
the Gemara. Certainly, they wanted to live. So why was one of
each pair answered and the other not? I made a few conjectures,
but none of them satisfied me and seemed adequate. I did not feel