The Power of Tears — Esau’s 2½ Tears and the Mystery of the Three Coins in Shacharit

The Power of Tears — Esau’s 2½ Tears and the Mystery of the Three Coins in Shacharit

In the book Sha'arei Orah, Rabbi Joseph Gikatilla writes: “In the Sefirah of Yesod, associated with the Name of the Almighty, ‘Kel Chai’ (the Living G-d), there is a Hekhal, a place called the ‘Gate of Tears,’ about which it is said: ‘Even when the gates of prayer are closed, the gates of tears always remain open.’ It is written in Tehillim (36:8): “Mah yakar chasdecha Elokim, u-vnei adam בtzel כnafecha יechesayun” — (How precious is Your kindness, O G-d; mankind takes refuge in the shadow of Your wings.) The initial letters of the last three words are: בtzelכnafechaיechesayun — an acronym for the word בכי — “weeping.” (Rabbi Nachman, Sefer HaMiddot) For more than 2,000 years, since the destruction of the Temple, we have faced a problem with prayer: the Gates of Prayer are locked. Before the destruction, prayer ascended directly to the Almighty. After the destruction of the Temple, prayer ascends only through a minyan (when there are more than ten people). But the Sages say that the Gates of Tears have not been closed — they are always open. Vain Weeping When a person cries for no reason, the Almighty causes him to have a reason to cry (as in the story of the spies). The Talmud says that tears possess the greatest power in the world. Why? The Cause of Tears The cause of tears is the sensitivity of the heart; when the heart is overflowing with emotion, the outlet is through tears. After all, people cry both in sorrow and in joy. The Sages also draw our attention to the fact that tears are salty because of the power inherent in them to destroy negative things — situations and emotions. Through tears, all negativity leaves the body. Indeed, after a person cries, he feels relieved. Moreover, the Sages say that when a person cries, he becomes satiated — he does not even want to eat. Orpah’s Four Tears The story of Naomi and her daughters-in-law is well known. When her two sons and her husband died in the land of Moab, she decided to return home to the Land of Israel. Her daughters-in-law also wanted to go with her. But Naomi insisted that they return to their parents, and one of them, Orpah, gave in. Four tears fell from Orpah’s eyes at their parting. The Talmud says that Hashem rewarded her for this: she had four sons. Esau’s 2½ Tears and the Mystery of the Three Coins in Shacharit We should also recall the story of Jacob, who received the birthright by presenting himself as Esau. When Esau found out, he wept and shed two tears. The Sages say that a third tear welled up but did not fall. These 2½ tears rose to Heaven, and Hashem promised to grant him strength and success unlike anything Jacob would have. The success of Esau’s descendants today — European civilization — is the result of this blessing. the Arizal, the Holy, may his merit protect us, teaches that during Shacharit, in the prayer “VaYevarach David,” when the words “Bakol u-veyadecha koach u-gevurah” are mentioned, whose initial letters form the acronym of Hashem’s Name בוכו, we should give tzedakah — three coins: first we give two coins, and then one more. The Mekubalim teach that these three coins counteract Esau’s 2½ tears — they annul the power of his tears. Hannah’s Tears Hannah, the mother of the prophet Samuel, had no children for 19 years, while Peninnah, the second wife of her husband Elkanah, had ten. This caused Hannah great pain. Moreover, Peninnah constantly provoked her so that Hannah would pray through tears. Although Peninnah’s intentions were good — she was pushing Hannah toward even greater prayer — when Hashem heard Hannah’s tearful prayer, she gave birth to a son, while Peninnah’s children began to die. Rachel’s and Leah’s Tears The Torah tells us about Leah’s “tender eyes,” for she often wept (Bereishit 29:17). Rachel, by contrast, is described as “beautiful in form and beautiful in appearance.” The Sages say that Leah had no eyelashes; they had fallen out from crying. Whenever she heard about the “exploits” of Esau, to whom she had been destined, she cried all day long. Through her tears, Leah overturned the heavenly decree and merited Jacob as her husband, becoming the matriarch of six tribes. the Zohar HaKadosh says that Rachel also wept — to this day, she cries for her children, the people of Israel. Throughout history, we, the people of Israel, have gone to Rachel to weep. The Sages ask: Why does Leah not cry for us now? The Zohar HaKadosh says that Leah cried at the beginning. Whoever cries at the beginning does not cry at the end. The Jewish people have a tradition of praying Tikkun Chatzot at Chatzot Layla. This midnight prayer is a lament for the destroyed Temple. Interestingly, this prayer consists of two Tikkunim — Tikkun Leah and Tikkun Rachel. The Cry of an Infant The book “Zer Zahav” (“Golden Crown”) speaks of the power of a baby’s cry after circumcision. This is hinted at by the words of Tehillim (6:19): “Suru mimeni kol po'alei aven, ki shama Hashem kol bichyi” — (Depart from me, all evildoers, for Hashem has heard the sound of my weeping.) “The sound of my weeping” refers to the baby’s cry after circumcision, and it has the power to ascend on high without any interference from the klipot. This is an Et Ratzon (a time of heavenly favor). A person’s prayer that he joins to this cry will be accepted. This segulah is also mentioned in the books “Brit Avot” (“The Covenant of the Fathers”) and “Olel ot Ephraim” (“The Infants of Ephraim”). The Sound of Weeping The Sages teach us that if a person cannot cry during prayer, he should at least produce the sound of weeping. Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotzk related that when his friend Rabbi Yitzchak Kalish of Vorka died, he expected his friend to come to him in a dream and share with him the structure of the worlds beyond this life. When Rabbi Yitzchak still did not appear in a dream, the Kotzker Rebbe decided to ascend to the spiritual worlds himself to find his friend. He traveled from palace to palace, but his friend was nowhere to be seen. Finally, he discovered the Rebbe of Vorka standing by the sea, leaning on his cane, while the sea emitted a terrible sound. “What are you doing here, my friend?” asked the Kotzker Rebbe. “Do you not recognize this?” replied the Rebbe of Vorka. “It is an ocean of tears of pain and suffering, longing and hope.” It was then that the Kotzker Rebbe recognized the sound of bitter weeping. Rabbi Yitzchak continued: “I promised that I would stand by this ocean until G-d dries all the tears in the world.” The Tears of Rabbi Yehuda Ptaya When the Nazis tried to enter the Land of Israel through Egypt, many people already knew of the horrific crimes they had committed in the concentration camps of Europe. One night, the Admor of Gur (may his merit protect us) went out into the streets of Jerusalem, overcome with grief over the greatest calamities that had befallen the people of Israel. By Divine Providence, he passed by the synagogue of Ezra the Scribe and heard loud weeping coming from inside. The Admor entered the synagogue and saw Rabbi Yehuda Ptaya, may the memory of the righteous be a blessing, sitting on the floor, reciting Tikkun Chatzot and sobbing uncontrollably as he mourned the destruction of the Temple, the murder of the righteous, and the exile of the Shechinah. Suddenly, the Admor of Gur saw that the students of Rabbi Yehuda had placed two glasses before him, into which streams of tears flowing from their teacher’s eyes were falling; the glasses were full. The Admor was filled with astonishment and said: “If there were several more righteous people among the Jewish people who mourned the destruction of the Temple in this way, the Holocaust could not have occurred.” The Mekubalim’s Segulah — Sweetening the Judgments Through Tears When there are harsh judgments and major problems, one can perform “Mamtikin HaDinim” — sweetening the judgments through weeping; through crying, all that is salty and negative is released. For this purpose, especially at the kivrei tzadikim, one should pray with such intensity that tears arise — tears of remorse and teshuvah. One should wipe the tears from one’s eyes with the right hand, and then pass the right hand across the forehead from right to left. In this way, all the sins recorded on a person’s forehead are erased. Erased by tears, they sweeten the judgments. (Translated from an article by Rabbi Eliyahu Shmuel, rabbi of Tzur Hadassah)