"Every Jew Comes to the World to Perform Miracles and Wonders" - Parshat Miketz by the Gaon and Tzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a

"God has made me forget all my father's house" (Genesis 41:51). Every Jew comes to the world to perform miracles and wonders. Hashem created the world only so that there would be miracles and wonders; He created the world solely for this purpose. Miracles and wonders are not only for when there is no choice and no other way left!

Rebbe Nachman the Holy says in Torah 97: "Prior to the creation of the world, Hashem Yitbarach delighted and adorned Himself with the prayers of Tzaddikim." Hashem saw that there would be Tzaddikim who would accomplish whatever they desired, who would change all the systems of nature and all the laws of nature through their prayers. This was the drive the Holy One, Blessed be He, had to create the world—for the sake of the pleasure He would derive from the Tzaddikim engaging in prayer and altering nature. Even before the creation of the world, Hashem amused Himself with the miracles and wonders that each person would perform through their prayers; this was His amusement and His delight, and for this, He created the world. Rebbe Nachman continues and says, "And this is the meaning of 'Gilead is Mine' (Psalms 60:9)—that the delight Hashem Yitbarach had prior to creation was revealed." 'Gilead' implies Gilui Ha'idun (the revelation of delight), for Hashem Yitbarach has no delight like the delight He experiences when He sees a person praying, succeeding in achieving what they want, and drawing down miracles and kindness into the world.

If a person wants to change nature and perform miracles, they must pray with humility and lowliness, with submission, knowing: "I am a small man, smaller than any Jew in the world." Then, they can accomplish anything through their prayer. This is the secret of why Joseph named his son "Menashe"—"For God has made me forget (nashani) all my toil and all my father's house." On the surface, how can we understand Joseph? How could he give his son such a name, "Menashe," meaning "I forgot my father, I forgot all the brothers, all the mothers, I forgot everyone, all my father's house"? Does Joseph give a name to signify forgetting his father? However, according to what Rebbe Nachman explains in Torah 97, we can understand this secret: Joseph merited the aspect of "Menashe"—which is humility and lowliness. This is the explanation of the verse "For God has made me forget all my father's house"—which refers to lineage (yichus), "and all my toil"—which refers to toil in the service of the Creator. A person strengthens themselves in prayer and in the service of Hashem because they have an important father, an important mother, an important grandfather. But Joseph the Tzaddik said, "I serve Hashem! I do not pray because I have an important father or grandfather; I pray for the sake of Hashem. My strength is that Hashem created me, that there is a God in the world. Hashem Yitbarach is living and enduring; I see Him living and enduring, therefore I serve Hashem." Joseph the Tzaddik lived from Hashem; he did not live from his father or mother, but only from Hashem. In this way, he reached all his spiritual levels. Therefore, he called his son "Menashe"—an expression of forgetting and oblivion, "He made me forget all my toil and all my father's house." To merit ruling through prayer and performing miracles in the world, a person must forget all their lineage and all their toil in the service of Hashem [relying solely on Hashem's grace].

Rebbe Nachman revealed that there is such a power in the world, which is the power of prayer, and with this power, a person can achieve whatever they want—anything at all. Every single Jew can reach this level—to rule through their prayer. "And Your people are all righteous" (Isaiah 60:21)—this applies to every single Jew. Every Jew is a tzaddik; every Jew can effect change through prayer; every good thing a Jew desires, they can bring about in the world. Every one of Israel can generate miracles and wonders through prayer; this is the purpose of creation, and this is the will of Hashem—that each and every person should generate miracles and wonders. Hashem is the Master of Miracles; Hashem is the Master of Wonders. He planned everything even before the creation of the world. All the miracles and salvations—Hashem prepared them before creation, but to reveal them, to activate them, to bring them from concealment into revelation, prayers are needed. If you do not pray, the miracles will not be revealed. Hashem prepared endless miracles and endless wonders for everyone. Prayer is the strongest thing in the world; there is nothing stronger than prayer. No gates are locked before prayer; no force can stop prayer. Prayer is like knives and swords that cut through all the firmaments of the heavens and all the screens. All your salvations are ready; everything is ready—just ask, pray, and Hashem will hear you! Every Jew should have endless miracles—one just needs to pray, to ask.

Hashem made a condition with all of creation before the world was created: that when a Jew stands in prayer, they will be granted all their requests, everything they ask for. Hashem made a condition with the sea even before creation that it would split before the Children of Israel. Hashem made a condition with the fire and told the fire: "Know that there will be Chananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, and you have no permission to burn them." And when Hashem created the lions on the sixth day, He told them: "I am creating you on the condition that you do not devour Daniel, and that you do not devour any Tzaddik." He made a condition with all the lions in the world for all generations that if a Jew stands and prays, no lion has permission to touch him. So, Hashem made conditions before the creation of the world that whatever a person asks for, whatever they pray for, Hashem will give them—anything. Do you want an apartment, wealth, healing, children? Hashem will give you everything—just pray, open your mouth, everything is promised to you. Even before Hashem created you, He already prepared everything for you—all the miracles, all the salvations. The only conduit is prayer; the vessel is prayer.

Every day, Hashem creates a new delay for a person, a new problem—the child is sick, Heaven forbid, the wife is sick, there is no parnassah (livelihood). This is all so that the person will come to pray, and through this, there will be a miracle, and another miracle. For this purpose, Hashem created the world. The work of every Jew is to be completely nullified to Hashem. That is why it is hard for a person to pray, because it is hard for them to nullify themselves to Hashem, hard for them to lower themselves before Hashem. A person thinks: "How will Hashem help me? Will He give me parnassah? I'll manage on my own. I have a brain, I have two hands, I have two legs, do I need Hashem?..." Woe is us! Regarding this, the curse was spoken: "Dust shall be its food" (Isaiah 65:25), for the snake does not need to pray and does not need to ask. This is essentially the snake's punishment: wherever it goes, it finds food; food is available to it like dust, and it does not need to pray, because Hashem does not want to hear it. All animals cry out to Hashem—"As the deer longs for brooks of water" (Psalms 42:2), the deer cries to Hashem, the deer searches for brooks of water, asks for water, so it cries to Hashem. "Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter" (Isaiah 38:14)—the horse chatters to Hashem. All animals cry to Hashem. The only animal that does not cry to Hashem is the snake. If a person does not cry to Hashem, does not pray properly, knows how to manage alone, and does not need Hashem's help—then may Hashem have mercy, this is the curse of the snake!

A person prays three prayers a day, stands for Mincha for two minutes, Ma'ariv for five minutes, and that's it. He goes home and suddenly sees the child is sick, the wife is sick, there is no parnassah. Then he asks, "Why is my wife sick? Why do I have no parnassah? After all, I have peyos and a beard, etc." But everything depends on prayer. What about the prayer? Where is the prayer? Did you ask Hashem "Heal us"? Did you say "Bless us" slowly? Start opening your mouth, say the words slowly, do not hurry, do not run. For every Jew, all miracles and wonders are ready—they just need to start asking. One should not look for the shortest minyan and then run home saying, "My wife is waiting for me, I must run." In the end, when he arrives home, his wife is also sick, may Hashem save us. Stand for the Shemoneh Esrei slowly, arrive home, and you will find a healthy wife, healthy children; you will see miracles and wonders.

True humility is "There is none else beside Him" (Ein Od Milvado)—only Hashem. Humility is knowing that only Hashem can help me. If a person knew how great Hashem is, how Hashem is Infinite (Ein Sof), how much He can help him, he would pray to Hashem and accomplish everything in the world. In three prayers, one can accomplish everything. One needs to ask for all their wishes, all the things needed in life. Pray! Ask! Do not have pity on the Holy One, Blessed be He; do not pity Him. Hashem wants you to ask for all the requests in the world, and you are pitying Him? A person asks, "Give me a month to live," "Give me a little parnassah." No! Ask for everything! Ask for everything you need—for yourself, your wife, the children, shidduchim (marriage matches), parnassah. Ask for everything, pray, perform wonders—because Hashem created the world only so that there would be miracles and wonders.

Courtesy of the "Tzam'ah Nafshi" leaflet 052-763-9126