It has been my practice, with the help of Hashem, throughout my rabbonus, to give a variety of shiurim throughout the night of Shavuos. This year, from 2:30 to 4:00 a.m., we had a lively question and answer session. I’d like to share with you, my dear readers, one of the inquiries that created quite a spirited discussion.
The question went like this. “Is it proper for shuls to allow collectors to come in and approach people for money while they are davening? Isn’t this an unfair distraction when people are trying to concentrate on talking to Hashem?” With righteous indignation, some pointed out that car services park in front of the shul with groups of collectors who appear in waves, grossly disturbing the flow of everyone’s davening. The prayer service, they observed, already moves at a quick pace, and if people are busy with finding money, getting change, and dealing with niceties, they fall behind in their prayers. Wouldn’t it be better to ban such activities?
I recalled, that many years ago, as the Rav of the Agudas Yisroel of Staten Island, I was approached with a similar appeal to prevent this type of interruption. They proposed that perhaps we should act like another shul in the neighborhood which had needy people wait outside the shul and collect as the congregants walked outside. In this manner, the meshulachim would not interrupt people’s davening.
I replied rather firmly that, as long as I was the Rav of this shul, this change will never happen. Surprised by my vehemence, they asked me why. I told them that the Shulchan Aruch says that when we daven, we should view ourselves as an, “Ani, omeid al hapesach – A poor man standing by the door,” as the verse describes prayer, “Tefillah l’ani k’yatof – A prayer of the poor when he feels faint.” Our time, precisely while we are praying, is especially suited for this handy middah k’neged middah, measure for measure: “Look Hashem, as I pray and offer my hand to the poor, so too please hearken to my prayer, the prayer from a poor man like me.” The verse also says clearly, “V’ani, b’tzedek, echezeh panecha – And I, with charity, appear before You.” This is the proper accompaniment to our prayer.
I believe that Hashem is sending these unfortunate people to us as a gift to enhance and strengthen our prayers. As we say, “V’ani sefillasi l’cha, Hashem, eis ratzon – And I, may my prayers be before You, at a time of favor.” This idea, that the ani is sent to improve our prayer, is consistent with the idea that Rabbi Akiva told Turnusrufus when he asked Rabbi Akiva, “If Hashem loves the poor, why doesn’t He take care of them?” Rabbi Akiva answered, “So that the rest of us will have the benefit of giving charity and be saved from the punishment of Gehenom.” So, we see the concept that the poor are sent for our benefit. It is a great time of favor for us when we extend a helping hand to another one of Hashem’s children.
The Kitzur Shulchan Aruch brings from the Medrash Shir HaShirim, “Tirah d’lo tiftach l’anya, tiftach l’asya – The door that does not open for the poor person will need to open for a doctor.” Thus, the poor person breaking into our prayer reverie should not be viewed as disturbing, but as helping us and saving us. Furthermore, the specter of a row of meshulachim standing in a line outside a shul in a posture of begging always seemed to me degrading in the extreme.
But another thing struck me during this year’s Shavuos night, when so many people joined the fray as to the impropriety of such prayer disturbance. I asked them if they thought that this sense of irritation is coming from the yetzer tov, the good inclination, or the yetzer hara, the evil inclination. Are the champions of banning the meshulachim equally as vigilant to keep their phone away from their davening? Does checking their cellphone occasionally at the buzz of a text raise their ire over prayer distraction? Or, is it possible that their irritation is being slyly motivated by the yetzer hara who is not happy at all by the daily spiritual libations of so much tzedakah?
This, by the way, is the normal modus operandi of the yetzer hara. The Gemara in Masechtas Berachos [61] teaches us that the yetzer hara is domeh l’zvuv, the evil inclination is similar to a fly. This comparison is quite surprising, since the Gemara in Masechtas Baba Basra teaches us that the yetzer hara is also the satan and the malach hamaves, the prosecutor and the executioner. As such, we would more readily think that it should be compared to a scorpion, a tarantula, or a rattlesnake. However, one of the reasons it’s compared to a fly is precisely because it does not appear threatening. As the Vilna Gaon, zt”l, zy”a, informs us in Even Shleimah, the yetzer hara doesn’t tell people of quality directly to do bad. They wouldn’t listen. He therefore mixes in good to confuse us, like in our case where he tries to convince us to take the attitude, “The nerve of these poor people who come to disturb our davening!”
When I look up wearing my tallis and tefillin and I see a hand extended toward me, I thank Hashem appreciatively that, but with the grace of G-d, it could’ve been my hand begging and he could’ve been sitting comfortably and davening. And then I try to give, grateful for the opportunity to show Hashem that I help those who are needy, and I reflect, “Please, Hashem, help me and answer my prayers for I am also in need.”
May Hashem bless us that we should always be able to give and never need to take, and be blessed with long life, good health, and everything wonderful.
Transcribed and edited by Shelley Zeitlin.
