Machshavot HaLev - Yeshivat Lev HaTorah

31
Lech Lecha
The Avot and Shemoneh Esrei
Zev Grushko
I n Parshat Lech Lecha (12:2), it says “הכרב היהו ךמש הלדגאו ךכרבאו לודג יוגל ךשעאו“
“And I will make of you a great nation; I will bless you, and I will make your name
great, and you will be a blessing.”
Rashi )הכרב היהו ה”ד( there says that this whole pasuk is referring to the fact that we
mention the names of the avot (Avraham, Yitzchak and Yakov) in Shemoneh Esrei.
The three terms that the pasuk uses correspond to the three avot and when the pasuk
says “vehyei beracha” it means that we end the beracha by mentioning Avraham by
himself.
In Shemoneh Esrei, the first bracha is known as Avot. Its purpose is to recall the
greatness of the avot and to use their merit so that Hashem will answer our tefillah.
A reason why we would use their merit to connect to Hashem is due to the fact that
they personify the oneness of Hashem. Rabbi Shimon Ostropoli (quoted in Talelei
Oros) shows us this by using an amazing gematria. Rabbi Shimon says that if you
are to take all the letters of the names of the avot it equals thirteen Hebrew letters.
These letters correspond to the thirteen midot ha-rachamim (13 attributes of mercy).
Perhaps when we are davening this beracha in Shemoneh Esrei we should also have
in mind that along with the merit we have from the avot, we also have the merit of
thirteen midot ha-rachamim to back us up as well.