The Power of Prayer

Starting from Shemini Atzeres, we added into our silent prayer- the shemoneh esray, a refrain stating that Hashem is the source and absolute controller of rain and wind, we haven't however started praying for rain. In the Diaspora, Jews begin requesting rain from the 5^th of December, where as in Israel the addition to shemoneh esray that asks for rain begins on the 7^th of Cheshvon- 2 weeks after the conclusion of Sukkos. The Talmud relates that we wait these 2 weeks to ensure that the last of the Jews who had come to Jerusalem in order to celebrate the festival of Sukkos, could have reached the Euphrates river, the most distanced border of Israel and therefore won't be inconvenienced if it were to start raining- now and only now can we begin to pray for rain! In effect, attending to the needs of the entire nation were put on hold so that a few returning tourists don’t get wet! How could this be?

The rabbis were worried that if the nation would pray for rain at a time that was inconvenient for another Jew- all of their efforts would be wasted, because this "soon to get wet" traveler would offer a counter prayer and thereby "ruin" the requests of the nation! What was so special about the prayers of this man? The answer is- he really and truly meant it! The power of prayer is immense if only we would sincerely mean it.