Tears for Tefillah

Sometimes you just get frustrated. It's a fact of life. Things don't always go the way you want them to go and you just feel lost. You try to hold back the tears but you can't. And you just start to cry.

It's not a bad thing to cry. It's actually healthy. It's a way to let your emotions out and you feel better after wards. But sometimes you are crying for things that in reality are petty. Little things. Or many little things that piled up and by the time the day is done you are spent and need to just get it all out of your system. It's not one big thing but many small things that went wrong and then one tiny little frustration was the straw that broke the camel's back.

Tears are very powerful. It says, "Sha'arei dema'os lo ninalu" - the gates of tears are never closed. When a person davens with their heart, with their emotions and their tears, their tefillos go straight up. So if the gates of tears are never closed, why are there gates in the first place?

Because sometimes a person cries for silly things. Petty things. Like at the end of a frustrating day. You just have to let your emotions out and you just cry. But shouldn't you take advantage of the power of tears and do something worthwhile with them?

So how about this. When you feel you need to cry for those annoying things that went wrong during your day, use that powerful opportunity for tefillah so you can bring about something really big. Instead of just letting those tears slide down your cheeks and disappear into thin air, let those tears travel upwards...to the heavens...and accomplish something with them.

When you are annoyed and those tears are falling down your cheeks, take a moment to use those tears to daven for something you need. Or for someone you know who needs something. Or for the entire Jewish Nation who is waiting for our ultimate dream to come true!

Today, the straw broke my back (for the what number time this week?!). There are so many little annoyances that can come along with raising children. It's so normal. It only makes sense that a mother like me will start to cry. But while I was crying together with my baby, I thought to myself, why not use this opportunity to daven for her future? And that's what I did. For those two extra minutes, I hugged my daughter real tight and begged Hashem to give her a good life.

So although I hope for all of you never to have to shed a tear, I know it's only normal for the little things that go wrong on a regular day to take its toll on a person. And while you will be crying, take a moment to daven for something you are waiting for...because you never know which tefillah will make that yeshuah, that salvation you so desperately are waiting for finally happen.

I'm gonna run...I hear Chaya Gitty crying...