| Stories of the broken hearted |
Rivkah a mother of 10, Rivka lives and works in a local store. The wages, unfortunately, are far from enough to pay rent and a few of the bills. In her house the children are hungry. The refrigerator is literally empty.
Every evening the children..........>> |
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Going to the Western Wall for forty consecutive days to pray for any specific need, and the special power this has to bring salvation to the petitioner, is an accepted custom in all circles of the Jewish Community, and an old Jewish tradition.
 Even though the most extensive search will fail to reveal written sources for this tradition, nevertheless the custom is widespread and deeply rooted amongst the great Sages and the pious of the latter generations, who attached great reverence to the practice, even in situations where all other means of salvation had failed.
Nothing could deter them from walking to the Wall - neither the pouring rain nor the burning sun; their determination to complete the forty consecutive days was absolute. We also consulted with the Elders of Jerusalem, who recall this as being a holy custom, revered and esteemed by all, as well as a long-established tradition, passed down from generation to generation.
There is a well known story about someone who tried to question a particular custom which was being practiced by the Jewish people. He complained to the late Rebbe of Belz: the holy Reb Aharon, that it had no source in the Bible. The Rebbe cut him short, saying: “It is true it has no source in the Bible. However, its source is holier still – in the Oral Tradition of the customs of Israel, in whose ways we have been guided all these thousands of years of our exile”.
Indeed, many wondrous stories have been handed down as to the miracles wrought by forty days of prayer at the Western Wall – whether in relation to cures from illness, childless couples being blessed with children, finding one’s ‘basherter’, as well as various other salvations.
The special characteristics of the number forty as being propitious, amongst other things, for the answering of prayers, has a holy and exalted source. This idea appears many times in the Torah and in other books of the Bible, in early books of Rabbinic thought and interpretation, as well as Hasidut.
The propitious character of forty days of consecutive prayer is first reflected in the heavenly declarations which are uttered forty days before the formation of a human embryo; and again later, when Moshe was called to ascend Mount Sinai for forty days and forty nights. Similarly, we find the days of judgment and mercy which begin on the 1st of Ellul and end on the Day of Atonement also add up to forty.
Even if there be no one amongst us who understands what the real significance of the number forty is, we can, nevertheless, be sure that there is a lofty hidden significance to the number, and particularly in relation to its capacity to help our prayers be heard. The practice of continuing to recite our prayers for forty consecutive days has a great and wondrous capability to open the Gates of Heaven and reach the very throne of Hashem’s glory, thus engendering blessing upon the entire world.
Do we really need any further proof from the Scriptures of the propitious custom of pouring out one’s heart in supplication to Hashem for forty consecutive days, which is especially  powerful when performed at the Western Wall – that holiest of sites from which the Divine Presence never departed? Without doubt, there is no location in the world as propitious for the channeling of prayers as the Western Wall. Indeed, all the prayers of the Jewish people the world over are directed towards the site of the holy Temple, by way of which they ascend heavenwards, to the Master of the Universe. As it says in the holy Zohar: “It is possible to experience positive results through one’s prayers there (at the site of the holy Temple) like a child who asks for his needs of his adoring mother.”
Similarly, it says in other holy books that prayers recited at the site of the holy Temple ascend in a direct path to the Throne of Glory (cf Pirke D’rebbe. Eliezer). In Kli Yakar (Breishit 13:17) “Many virtuous people have yearned to stand in that holy place; they longed to touch its (the Temple’s) stones”.
The righteous and holy Sages of Israel are accustomed to pour out their prayer and supplication before Hashem for forty consecutive days, since they well know the potential power of the forty days, and especially at the gateway to Heaven – the Western Wall. Indeed, great miracles were wrought for these Sages, as is well known and documented.
The heavenly spheres were as familiar to the late Reb Shlomke of Zweille as the streets of his native neighborhood of Beit Yisrael. Yet despite his own personal piety, he was, for many years able to hide who he was, and masquerade as a simple person. He saw in the practice of going to pray for forty consecutive days to the Western Wall a mechanism for annulling evil decrees. This was one of the directives he would advise people who came to him with all sorts of troubles and woes. There is even a story of a childless couple who once came to him begging that he should bless them for a child. Reb Shlomke told them that he saw the idea in a certain book that when one goes to pray for forty consecutive days to the Western Wall his prayers are answered. However he did not reveal the name of the book.
In fact, Reb Shlomke was often known to encourage people to go and pray at the Western Wall, which he described as the ‘Central Post Office’ via which mail is directed to its proper destination.
Reb Shlomke revealed another important secret to us:
that the power of the segula is in no way diminished if the prayers are performed by a representative, rather than directly by the person himself. This concept is a well proven fact, which has been attested to time and again by people who experienced it.
There is a well known story involving one of the luminaries of the Mussar movement of the previous generation. One of his daughters had already reached the age of four, but could still not walk on her feet. Her family had already exhausted all possible efforts in prayer and supplication, in addition to consulting with the highest medical authorities, but all to no avail. The girl could not at all support herself on her feet, and her parents were at a loss what to do.
One day the mother, who was a pious woman in her own right, went to see the Zweiller tsadik in relation to her poor daughter, for whom she had already done all that she could, but without success. She cried bitterly: “The doctors say that my child will never walk!” The saintly Zweiller Rebbe reflected for a moment, then turned to the crying mother and said: “You should go and pray at the Western Wall for forty consecutive days, and then your prayers will surely be answered”.
A pained look crossed the mother’s face, as she thought to herself: “How will I be able carry out this directive: I am a mother of small children, and my husband’s duties keep him away from home almost the whole day?”
As though he could read her thoughts, the Rebbe responded: “I will go on your behalf”.
And so it was that on the fortieth day itself, the woman called out to her husband and family: “Today is the fortieth day!”
No sooner had the words left her mouth than the little girl stood up on her feet and began to run youthfully to her mother! From that day onwards she continued to walk like any normal, healthy child (cf Tsadik Yesod Olam, by Rabbi David Werner).
As stated, this story featured the Zweiller tsadik, who always had a strong tie with the Western Wall. He would never miss a single day visiting the wall, even during troubled times of riots and bombings. There was even an occasion when Arabs started shooting at him as he was on his way to the Western Wall! When the man who was accompanying him began to panic in fear for his life, the Rebbe called out to him: “Hold onto my belt (gartel) and no bullet will harm you”.
It is also recounted that the Zweiller Rebbe once showed one of the Sages of Jerusalem how the Western Wall sheds salty tears during the period of the three weeks (between the 17th Tamuz and the 9th of Av).
Reb Shlomke of Zweill adopted this holy custom (of praying at the Western Wall for forty consecutive days) as a tried and tested way to achieve salvation to such an extent that he became well known for it.
Similarly, the famed and exalted Jerusalemite tsadik Rabbi Zalman Nachums, whose piety touched the very heavens, used to whisper to those who came to him seeking salvation about this magical propitious custom (segula) of going to pray at the Western Wall for forty consecutive days.
In our times, when one catastrophe befalls us after another, why should we not follow in the footsteps of our fathers and Sages to carry out this holy practice? - Yet not everyone can merit to fulfill this themselves.
Just as was always the case in earlier times, there must be people who will carry out this holy mission on behalf of others. As it was stated in the famous teaching of the Chatam Sofer on the verse: “And they (the Angels) receive permission from one another, and say: ‘Holy..etc’” – that a person’s representative carries the same authority as his own – even in matters of speech.
Our generation has merited that for a nominal fee it is possible to appoint a representative who will go to do one’s bidding with dedication and responsibility for forty consecutive days. May the salvation not take long in coming, with Hashem’s help, amein.
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