In Tractate Ta’anit, 23a, the Sages describe, through a real-life example, the conditions a person must have for their Tefilot (prayers) to be heard. Around the year 100 CE, there lived in Israel a very special man named Abba Hilkiya, who was the grandson of the famous Honi haMe’agel. Abba Hilkiya was famous because his prayers were always received by God.
During a year of severe drought, the prestigious Sages of Israel, the Tannaim, sent a delegation of two Rabbis to see Abba Hilkiya and ask him to pray for rain. Abba Hilkiya was very poor and worked in the fields. When the Rabbis encountered him, they greeted him, but to their surprise, Hilkiya did not respond to their greeting. The Sages also observed other extravagant behaviors: when he finished his work, he carried his tools and headed home. His outer garment, a kind of cloak or poncho, he carried folded over one of his shoulders, but instead of placing the work tools over the garment to ease the weight, he carried the heavy tools on the unprotected shoulder. Along the way, when he left the pasture and began walking along a path with thorny plants, he lifted his pants above his knees. When he arrived home, his wife came out to greet him, very well dressed and groomed. When they sat down to eat, he took out a piece of bread and divided it: he gave one piece to his wife, one piece for himself, and one piece to each of his two children. All this time, he still had not exchanged a word with the visiting Rabbis, who were astonished.
After finishing the meal, he called his wife and revealed that he knew the Sages had come to ask him to pray for rain. But, because of his extreme humility, he did not want them to attribute the rain to his prayers. Discreetly, the couple went up to the rooftop and began to pray, each one in a different corner. And as soon as they began praying, a cloud appeared on the side where his wife was praying. And it began to rain.
Abba Hilkiya came down from the rooftop and only then addressed the Sages. He said to them: “Well, as you can see, it has begun to rain. So if you came to ask me to pray, it seems it is no longer necessary.” The Rabbis said to him: “We know that you have prayed, and that it is thanks to your merit that HaShem caused the rain to fall. But before we leave, we would like to ask you some questions.” “Of course!” said Abba Hilkiya. The Sages began their questioning: “Why, when we greeted you, did you not return our greeting?” “Because I work by the hour,” he replied, “and it would not be fair to my employer for me to interrupt my work to start a conversation.” “Why didn’t you carry your tools on your garment and instead carried them on your bare shoulder?” Abba Hilkiya responded: “Because I cannot afford to buy my own cloak, and the one I use is borrowed, and if I used it to cushion the weight of the tools, it might get damaged due to my negligence.” “And why did you lift your pants instead of protecting your legs in the thorny fields?” “Because if the thorns tear my body, my body heals. But if my clothes tear, I would not have the means to replace them.” “And why was your wife so well groomed when she came out to greet you?” “Because my wife preserves her beauty exclusively for me: she knows that my eyes are only for her.” “And why did you not offer us to dine with you?” “Because I only had that piece of bread. And I did not want to falsely offer you to dine with me, knowing that you would refuse, and thus claim the credit for having invited you.” “And why did you go straight up to the rooftop?” “Because I did not want you to think that the rain came because of my merit.” “And why did the first cloud appear from your wife’s side?” “Because she has much more merit than I do. When a poor person comes to our house and asks for help, I give them a coin to buy food. But my wife always has some prepared food ready so that the poor can eat immediately and not faint from hunger.”
This is the very summarized story of Abba Hilkiya and his wife.
We thus see that, according to our Sages, there are individuals who have the gift that God listens to and answers their Tefilot.
This power does not depend on superstitions, magic, astrology, or amulets. According to our Sages, God heard this man’s prayers primarily because of his extreme honesty, integrity, and kindness. Secondly, because they did not use this “power” for their own material benefits, as they lived in extreme (and perhaps voluntary) minimalism. The Sages also highlight in this story the loyalty between Hilkiya and his wife and their constant concern for strengthening that “sacred” relationship between husband and wife. Both behaved with great simplicity, fled from fame and glory, and did not have a gram of vanity. And in the case of Abba Hilkiya’s wife, they highlight her material generosity and boundless sensitivity.
The Gemara teaches us this great lesson: there are no “tricks” or “shortcuts” for HaShem to hear and answer our Tefilot. The “segula” that matters most to HaShem, and the one that gives us the most merit for our prayers to be heard by Him, is our integrity, our humility, our Shalom Bayit, and our generosity.
These are the virtues that grant us the power to open the gates of heaven and have our prayers reach the Almighty.
Everything else is just bla bla 🙂.
