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The Problematic
Prayer for Tzahal
Menachem Gottlieb

mengott@013net.net

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The prayer was written by Rav Goren ztl.
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He Who blessed our forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob - may He bless
the fighters of the Israel Defense Force, who stand guard over our land and
the cities of our God from the border of the Lebanon to the desert of Egypt,
and from the Great Sea unto the approach of the Aravah, on the land, in the
air, and on the sea.

May Hashem cause the enemies who rise up against us to be struck down before
them. May the Holy One, Blessed is He, preserve and rescue our fighting men from
every trouble and distress and from every plague and illness, and may He send
blessing and success in their every endeavor.
May He lead our enemies under their sway and may He grant them salvation and
crown them with victory. And may there be fulfilled for them the verse: For it is
Hashem, your God, Who goes with you to battle your enemies for you to save you.
Now let us respond: Amen.

and may He send blessing and success in their every endeavor.

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?1) Can the wicked be successful

Psalms Chapter 37
7 Resign thyself unto the LORD, and wait
patiently for Him; don't be angry with him
who prospers, with the man who executes
wicked plans.

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Jeremiah Chapter 12
1 You are righteous, O Hashem,
though I may express a grievance to
You; but I will speak with You of
judgments: Why does the way of the
wicked prosper? And [why are] all
?the betrayers tranquil

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Note: Success is accomplishing one's objectives.

2) Does one have to be exact in his words of prayer? What if a

?person does not mean what he says

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IT HAPPENED THAT THE PEOPLE SAID TO HONI, THE CIRCLE DRAWER etc. Once it
happened that the greater part of the month of Adar had gone and yet no rain had fallen. The people
sent a message to Honi the Circle Drawer, Pray that rain may fall. He prayed and no rain fell. He
thereupon drew a circle and stood within it in the same way as the prophet Habakuk had done, as it
is said, I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower etc. He exclaimed [before God],
Master of the Universe, Thy children have turned to me because [they believe] me to be a member
of Thy house. I swear by Thy great name that I will not move from here until Thou hast mercy
Upon Thy children! Rain began to drip and his disciples said to him, We look to you to save us from
death; we believe that this rain came down merely to release you from your oath. Thereupon he
exclaimed: It is not for this that I have prayed, but for rain [to fill] cisterns, ditches and caves. The
rain then began to come down with great force, every drop being as big as the opening of a barrel
and the Sages estimated that no one drop was less than a log. His disciples then said to him: Master,
we look to you to save us from death; we believe that the rain came down to destroy the world.
Thereupon he exclaimed before [God], It is not for this that l have prayed, but for rain of
benevolence, blessing and bounty. ...... Thereupon Shimon b. Shetah sent this message to him,
Were it not that you are Honi I would have placed you under the ban;

At the brit, we bless the baby

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- Just as he has entered into the Covenant, so may he enter into Torah,
marriage, and good deeds.
(source Shulchan Aruch 265:1.)

3) Can words have serious negative effects?

Genesis 31/32





:
The one with whom you find your gods shall not live. In the presence of our kinsman,
recognize for yourself what is with me, and take [it] for yourself." For Jacob did not know
that Rachel had stolen them.
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shall not live: And from that curse, Rachel died on the way (Gen. Rabbah 74:4).

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4) Does G-d answer our prayers and give us what we want

even when it is bad for us?
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?5) Those who lack in compassion are omitted

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For You are our Father, for Abraham did not know us, neither did Israel
recognize

us; You, O Lord, are our Father; our redeemer of old is your name.

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Raba lectured: .in the time to come the Holy One, blessed be He,
shall say unto Israel, Go now to your forefathers, and they will reprove
you. And they shall say before Him, Sovereign of the Universe! To
whom shall we go? To Abraham, to whom Thou didst say, Know of a
surety [that thy seed shall be a stranger ... and they shall afflict
them ... ], yet he did not entreat mercy for us? To Isaac, who blessed
Esau, And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt have dominion, and yet
he did not entreat mercy for us? To Jacob, to whom Thou didst say, I will
go down with thee into Egypt, and yet he did not entreat mercy for us?
To whom then shall we go now? [Rather] let the Lord state [our wrongs]!
The Holy One, shall answer them, Since ye have made yourselves
dependent upon Me, though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as
white as snow.!

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Genesis - 27/40
And you shall live by your sword, and you shall serve your brother, and it will be,
when you grieve, that you will break his yoke off your neck."
Rashi: and it will be, when you grieve: [ ] is an expression of pain, as in (Ps. 55:3):I will
lament
( ) in my speech ; i.e., when the Israelites will transgress the Torah, and you will
have cause to grieve about the blessings that he took, you will break his yoke, etc. [From Targum
Onkelos]

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6) Amalek strategy: Fool the Jews into praying for the wrong

requests.

Bamidbar - Numbers - Chapter 21

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The Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the south, heard that Israel had come
by the route of the spies, and he waged war against Israel and took from them a
captive.

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who lived in the south: This refers to Amalek, as it says, The Amalekites dwell
in the south land (13:29). They changed their language to speak in the
language of Canaan so that the Israelites would pray to the Holy One, blessed is
He, to deliver the Canaanites into their hands, and [since] they were not
Canaanites [their prayers would have no effect]. But Israel saw that they were
dressed like Amalekites though they spoke in a Canaanite tongue. So they said,
We will pray generally [for success], as it says, If You deliver this people
into my hand. - [Midrash Aggadah , Yalkut Shimoni from Midrash
Yelammedenu .

7) Avraham does not bless Yitzchak since he did not want to

bless Eisav
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Rashi: Now it came to pass after Abrahams death, that G-d blessed
Issac his son, etc.: He consoled him with the consolations of the mourners
(Sotah 14b). Another explanation: Even though the Holy One, blessed be He,
delivered the blessings to Abraham, he was afraid to bless Isaac because he
foresaw Esau emanating from him. So he said,May the Master of blessings
come and bless whomever He pleases. And the Holy One, blessed be He,
came and blessed him. - [Tan. Lech Lecha 4

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8) Can these prayers instituted within the last 70 years be

?changed
Rav Goren canceled the prayer for the medina in his Beit Knesset.

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Some modern day Rabbis have begun to speak out.

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An improved version

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