Yom Kippur - 5785

Yom Kippur - 5785

Rabbi Hal Miller

  He who answered .... may He answer us

During the week(s) leading up to Rosh Hashanah and again to Yom Kippur, we

say Selichot. During the closing portion each day, we recite the piyut Aneinu. It is

followed by Mi she'anah, "He who answered". What did each of those people ask

for that God would have answered them? Where did this come from?

The Gemora Taanit [15a] expands various verses from Tehillim and Neviim in our

context (beginning with Tehillim 120), covering some of these people. For "Avraham on

Mount Moriah", God answered Avraham's prayer that He accept a substitute for the

sacrifice of his son, and God relented. For "the forefathers at the Sea of Reeds", Shemot

[6:5] states that God remembered the people in Egypt when they cried out. For "Yehoshua

in Gilgal" God collapsed the walls of Yericho while Israel was camped in Gilgal and they

blew the shofar. For "Shmuel in Mitzpeh" where Shmuel prayed that God would save

Israel from the Plishtim that were about to attack. For "Eliyahu on Mount Carmel" when

God sent a fire from the heavens to Eliyahu's sacrifice during the confrontation with

the false prophets in response to Eliyahu's prayer. For "Yonah in the innards of the fish"

when Yonah called out to God. For "David and his son Shlomo in Yerushalayim", when

David prayed for relief from a famine and Shlomo's prayer for sustenance during a

famine.

But what about the others on our list?

"Yitzchok when he was bound atop the altar", this is the same incident as  mentioned for

Avraham, but Yitzchok prayed as well that he not do anything to ruin his father's service.

"Yaakov in Beit Eil" is the incident of the angels on the ladder, when Yaakov awoke after

the prophetic dream and vowed to tithe all that God would give him in the future. "Yosef in

the prison" prayed for God to give him the interpretation of the dreams of the butcher and

baker. "Moshe in Choreiv" prayed that God would save the people from His own wrath at

the golden calf episode. "Aharon when he offered the censer" to close out the rebellion of

Korach. "Pinchas when he arose from amid the congregation" prayed for assistance in

stopping the licentious behavior of the people when he killed Zimri. "Elisha in Yericho" when

he asked for some of the prophetic vision of Eliyahu. "Chizkiyahu, king of Yehudah, in his

illness" when Yeshayahu told him he would die, he prayed and received an additional 15

years of life. "Daniel in the lions' den" who was to be torn to pieces. "Mordechai and Esther

in Shushan the capital", the story of Purim when they prayed for relief of the decree of

Haman. "Ezra in the exile" when he prayed that God would cause Daryaveish to grant him

permission to go back to the land and build the Temple. "All the righteous, the devout, the

wholesome, and the upright" is not specific to any incident, rather covers "all the rest" of

the prayers that God has answered over the generations.

These prayers are examples for us to learn from to structure our own prayers, and even to

remind us to pray in the first place.