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18a) that an outcry to Hashem is effective and instrumental even
after judgment has been decreed. That means that Hashem’s will
to give a person life remains even after heaven has decreed that he
must die. Therefore, a person’s outcry is useful. That outcry does
not change Hashem’s will, but reveals Hashem’s true will, and it is
the vessel to receive Hashem’s will.
It is a basic foundation of faith that we must believe in Hashem’s
compassion. This is what Moses and all of the tzaddikim revealed:
that Hashem has infinite compassion and infinite love for every
creature—even for the most egregious of sinners, even for wicked
people and for the nations of the world. Hashem is gracious, and
He has compassion on a person who does not deserve compassion.
In fact, that is the essence of His greatness: that He has compassion
on every person who truly trusts in His compassion and truly cries
out to Him—whoever that person may be.
To imagine that the Creator does not want a person to live,
heaven forbid, is a major, unparalleled form of disrespect. It is
improper even to raise that as a possibility. Is there such a thing as
a normal father who does not want his son to live, no matter what
he may have done? How much more is that true of Hashem, Who
is “the King Who desires life” (siddur).
Hashem, Who gave us the Torah and mitzvot, and Who wants
us to keep the mitzvot with all of their details, tells us that when
there is a danger to life, and even if that danger is unconfirmed, we
desecrate the Sabbath and transgress the entire Torah. The Rambam
states that if a person does not believe that Hashem’s will—as
expressed in the entire Torah and mitzvot—is that we should live,
that person is infected by heresy. He teaches, “It is forbidden to
hesitate to desecrate the Sabbath for a gravely ill person. As the
verse states, ‘that a person do them and live in them’—and not
die in them. Thus, you learn that the laws of the Torah are
not vengeance against the world, but compassion, kindness
and peace in the world. As for the heretics who say that this
constitutes a desecration of the Sabbath and is thus forbidden, the
verse says of them: ‘I, too, gave them rules that were not good
and judgments through which they should not live’ (Ezekiel 20:25)”
(Hilchot Shabbat 2:3).
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of this nation in accordance with the greatness of Your kindness,
and as You have forgiven this nation from Egypt until now”
(Numbers 14:19). Moses said: “Just as You forgave them until this
point, forgive them now as well.” This raises a question: Is that an
argument? On the contrary, if, after all of the times that Hashem
forgave them, they sinned again, they do not deserve to have Him
forgive them now. But Moses knew very well that Hashem wants
to forgive the nation of Israel because He wants people to do
teshuvah. Therefore, Moses did not request forgiveness because
the nation of Israel deserved it. On the contrary, he requested
forgiveness because they did not deserve it—and that is because
granting this forgiveness reveals Hashem’s compassion. As the
verses state: “May the power of Hashem be increased now as You
spoke, saying: Hashem is patient and extremely kind….” (ibid. 17-
18). Moses meant to say: “Now is the time to reveal all of the traits
of compassion that You taught me. Now You must forgive the
people, because this is Your way and Your true will.”
And indeed, the Holy One, blessed be He, forgives and acquits.
He told Moses, “I have forgiven in accordance with your word,”
and He continued, “As I live…” (ibid. 20-21). The Gemara puts
these two phrases together and presents a wonderful interpretation:
“This teaches that the Holy One, blessed be He, told Moses:
Moses, You have revived Me with your words” (Berachot 32a).
This means that Hashem told Moses, “This was truly My entire will:
to forgive and have compassion on the nation of Israel. But I cannot
forgive without prayer and outcry. Your outcries and arguments, as
it were, ‘helped’ Me forgive them as I truly wanted to. Therefore,
as it were, you revived Me with your words!” So too everyone
who asks Hashem to help him spiritually is, in a sense, eliciting
Hashem’s will. Therefore, you can entreat Hashem with all your
might, because you are, as it were, looking to help Hashem do what
He wants to do: “Master of the universe, I ask that Your true will
be actualized, because in this way Your name is made great, and
that is Your true will and Your salvation, as it were!”
To Pray for Hashem
From this, something very wondrous may be derived. The way of