Kosel Ellul 5772

40 Days

All Gates

Every

At Every Every Single Day, During the forty Days of Mercy beginning from Rosh Chodesh Elul all the way through Yom Kippur, messengers of Kupat Ha’ir will be present at each of these holy sites: the Kosel Hama’aravi, Me’aras Hamachpeilah, Kever Rachel, Meron, the tziyun of the saintly Shela”h, Amukah, and the tziyun of the saintly Ohr Hachaim.

At each of these places, they will mention each and every name submitted by contributors to Kupat Ha’ir along with its accompanying request. Day after day, slowly and fervently, they will pray for these names to be remembered letovah before Hashem during these holy days and be inscribed and sealed for a good and sweet year.

In addition, during every day of this forty-day period, Maran Hagaon Harav Chaim Kanievsky, shlit”a, will pray on behalf of these names

Letova velevrachah.

Fateful Days

How great is the yeshuah that we request.

How critically important it is for us. How crucial. A new year is ahead of us. 365 days stand before us like a closed book. Fifty weeks of uncertainty. Tens of thousands of minutes, each one of which might herald blessings or, G-d forbid, the opposite. Our eternal lives are at stake, our children, all our loved ones. Life and death, ruchniyus and gashmiyus, health and sickness, blessing and tragedy – all these will be decided during one specific period of time.

We are no fools: we are well aware that it is during this period that our fate for the entire coming year will be decided, and in many ways, this means our eternal fate as well. Some events lead to irreversible changes; each of us can think of a few examples.

Some of us feel a real sense of fear. Others are still quite calm, but even they sense that time is running out. It’s easier to bury one’s head in the sand and pretend everything is “business as usual,” but deep down, we know that this isn’t true. Nothing is “usual” at all. Very soon, the most critical days of the year – for both our lives and for the world as a whole - will be upon us.

The days are gone when it was necessary to cry out and warn everyone that the Yom Hadin was approaching. True, no longer do we hear about how the fish in the sea begin trembling on Rosh Chodesh Elul; no longer do we hear about women in the ezras nashim who swooned when Rosh Chodesh Elul was announced in shul during Birkas Hachodesh.

However, in our hearts, we are all afraid.

We are all trembling. We don’t swoon easily, nor do we weep or visibly tremble in

y Day

ry Place public. But deep down, a hysterical worm is niggling away at us non-stop. We are very far from relaxed and complacent.

Soon these days will be upon us, and as Yidden, we have ways to greet them.

Like a son confiding in his father, A Yid goes to Avraham Avinu’s kever, places his head on the matzeivah and cries out from the bottom of his heart. We know that our parents – the saintly Avos and Imahos – want what is best for us more than anyone else and their zechuyos propel our tefilos to be lovingly and willingly accepted by Hashem.

Before the Kisei Hakavod

Not only the Avos and Imahos care deeply for us. There were Gedolei Hador throughout the generations who carried the burden of Klal Yisrael on their shoulders and prayed fervently on their behalf. We flock to those kevarim too, during these times when everything hangs in the balance, asking their occupants to storm the heavens on

The Kosel

our behalf.

And then, of course, there’s the Kosel Hama’aravi itself, the site from which the Shechinah never budges, the site at which the world was established and the site at which all yeshuos originate… at the Kosel, we pour our hearts out directly to our Merciful Father in heaven, begging and pleading with Him to shower us with blessings.

At the same time, we also try to receive an audience with the Gedolei Hador, shlit”a.

The Gedolei Hador who guide us through life. The Gedolei Hador whose every word we heed. Their merits as the einei ha’eidah pave a sure path to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. The fact that they are living with us in the same generation, sharing the nisyonos and difficulties unique to our times, affords them the powers we so desperately need: the power of kedushah, of tefillah, of tears and of pleading.

All of the above are pathways to one place: the Kisei Hakavod. All the places mentioned are tunnels dug for us to help us

How much we long to visit the Kosel even just one time. How deep is our emotion when we are there; how strong is the connection we feel to Hashem. For forty consecutive days, your tefillah will be sent soaring heavenward to Hashem. We will daven from wherever we happen to be, our prayers will join those recited at the Kosel, and together, the two will come before Hashem. It is written that the Shechinah is at the Kosel at all times; now your messenger will be there at all times as well, pleading on our behalf every single day.

flee from the gezar din hovering over us.

We all know what midas hadin is about. We have all witnessed horrific tragedies, the likes of which our forefathers never experienced.

We all know firsthand what the tanna’im were referring to when they described the hardships that would take place before Moshiach’s arrival. We live in a very hard time, and the pathways to the Kisei Hakavod are our only hope…

Each and every one of these places – the Kosel, the mekomos hakedoshim, the gravesites of the giants of previous generations and the prayers of the Gedolei Hador who live amongst us today – each of these is really enough on its own. All of them offer the possibility of extricating oneself from desperate straits and reaching the Kisei Hakavod, of pleading with Hashem like a son before his Father and meriting a sweet year. If only we have the merit of taking advantage of this opportunity!

But who can say “My heart is pure?”

Who today truly appreciates the power of prayer and will purify himself properly in order to daven with fear and awe in every fiber of his soul? Who among us can feel that he has done everything humanly possible and is therefore ready to face the Day of Judgment?

The Best Possible

It is written clearly in the halachos of the Yamim Nora’im that people go to kivrei avos to ask them to plead for mercy on our behalf. Throughout the generations, Am Yisrael would flock to kever avos on erev Rosh Hashanah and erev Yom Kippur Kippur.

As always with regard to Kupat Ha’ir, when something is to be done, it is done in the best way possible. If it is written that one should go to kivrei avos avos, we go to the gravesites of the avos ha’olam ha’olam, to Me’aras Hamachpeilah and to Kever Rachel, to the kever of Rabi Shimon bar Yochai in Meron and to that of Rabi Yonason ben Uziel in Amukah, to the kever of the saintly Shela”h in Tverya and to that of the Ohr Hachaim on Har Hazeisim in Yerushalayim. In each of these places, the names of contributors to Kupat Ha’ir are prayed for with great fervor.

In each of these places, tefillos will be recited this year, too, every day from Rosh Chodesh Elul all the way through Yom Kippur. Day in, day out, with no letup, to create the continuity that compounds the power of tefillah immeasurably. Every single day, the tefillos will rise heavenward; every single day, your names will rise and come directly before Hashem.

No one can be simultaneously at the Kosel, Me’aras Hamachpeilah, Kever Rachel, Meron, Tverya, Amukah, Har Hazeisim and the home of Maran Hagaon Harav Chaim shlit”a No one can arrange for Kanievsky, shlit”a. himself a forty-day prayer program like this one, in which he personally visits all these sites every day. Only contributors to Kupat Ha’ir merit having their names come before

Kever Rachel “Hashem requests, ‘Still your voice from crying’, and we request: ‘Don’t stop crying!’” So wept Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz, zt”l, at the Kever of Rachel Imeinu. And Rachel indeed never stops crying. Hakadosh Baruch Hu promises her: “You will receive reward for your actions at the end of days,” but Rachel requests the yeshuah we so desperately need, now. That’s why she’s buried at crossroads. So that everyone facing a crossroad in life can come there and daven. A messenger from Kupat Ha’ir stands there every day and rouses Rachel to cry and plead on your behalf. Her cry ascends from there and joins with your tears.

Me'aras Hamachpeilah Hakitzu, shochnei afar… Whenever Am Yisrael faced a difficult time, Me’aras Hamachpeilah was the place from which to storm the gates of heaven.

Since the time of Yehoshua bin Nun and Kalev ben Yefuneh, who went there to plead for themselves and the entire nation, this location is etched into the holy Torah as a makom tefillah, a place where people go to pour their hearts out in prayer. Your shliach will be there and daven at the gravesites of the holy avos and imahos day after day to plead on your behalf.

And when our fathers and mothers pray on our behalf – who can withstand them?

Hashem every day throughout this period, from all the different pathways and gates.

They deserve it

And there is good reason why they deserve this zechus.

Contributors to Kupat Ha’ir are people whose hearts and money pave the way to this merit.

It is possible for a Jew to acquire a portion in the World to Come in a single hour, and it is possible to do the same with a single contribution at the right time and to the right place. It is impossible to describe the greatness of this acquisition! It is impossible to grasp how many zechuyos are transferred to the “accounts” of contributors to Kupat Ha’ir in the merit of their contributions! To get even the faintest idea, one has to be familiar with Kupat Ha’ir’s astounding scope of activities, to know how much they do, to be aware of how many mitzvos and merits are created with every family it helps. You would need to know that people who contribute regularly to Kupat Ha’ir have the merit of literally supporting the organization and that all the merits acquired by Kupat Ha’ir are therefore listed in his “account.” Kupat Ha’ir is a factory that creates tens of thousands of the very best quality zechuyos, the kind Hashem loves best.

Tzedakah given in a discreet and respectable manner. Tzedakah given to orphans and widows, to the sick and to talmidei chachamim.

Tzedakah that improves a person’s situation immediately, enabling him to recover and stand on his own two feet. Multiply all this by thousands of families annually, and consider the fact that the chessed performed with recipients accompanies them and generates additional zechuyos.

It is with good reason that this zechus creates the chance to be a part of this awesome prayer program, which is completely beyond derech hateva. Forty consecutive days - and not just any days, but the very holiest ones of the year, forty yemei ratzon upon which prayers will soar heavenward from all these gateways to Shamayim: the Kosel, Me’aras Hamachpeilah, Kever Rachel, Meron, Amukah, Tverya, Har Hazeisim and from the mouth of the Gadol Hador, shlit”a, as well.

At each of these places, fervent, pleading prayers will be recited every day. At each of these places one or more emissaries of Kupat Ha’ir will stand and pour their hearts out in prayer. And at each of these places, every single day anew, your name – your name! – will ascend before Hashem, amidst great love, tzedakah and chessed, from a place that is a light unto the world, accompanied by the merits of the holy tzaddikim zy”a and ybl”ch the tzaddik that is with us, over and over again.

The King’s Son…

The greatness of a prayer session like this one, when carried out with integrity and responsibility, with truly righteous and caring emissaries who show up every single day and daven earnestly – is beyond the grasp of the human mind. It is only fitting, because your contribution, too, enables us to accomplish things that are beyond human comprehension.

We have grown accustomed to understanding even simple, obvious concepts with the aid of a parable. If a prince were to enlist all his father’s most loyal subjects, both those alive and deceased, and all of them together would prostrate themselves before the king and plead

on behalf of the prince – not just for one day but for forty consecutive days during the period when the king feels the very closest to his son – will these fervent requests, coming from the king’s most beloved subjects so many times, be turned down?

The saintly Avos! The Imahos! Rachel Imeinu, who received a promise from Hashem that he would answer her cry! The greatest tzaddikim of past generations and yblc”h the Gadol hador of our generation – all are Hashem’s loyal subjects, all are pillars of this world!

Forty days, from Rosh Chodesh Elul until

After Neilla on Yom Kippur. And the merit of tzedakah paves the way, and overcomes all obstacles.

Just thinking about it causes a shiver of excitement to run down one’s spine.

Every single day at Kever Rachel, Me’aras Hamachpeilah, the Kosel, Meron, Amukah, Tverya and Har Hazeisim?

These tefillos act as a protective barrier, enveloping and protecting and endowing their spirit to the contributor, bringing him to the Yom Hadin in an altogether different condition…

Meron People come to Meron from all over the world. The tremendous light emanating from there illuminates every crevice in the soul as well as the upper world. It is a light that purifies and uplifts. Rabi Shimon is a pillar of prayer, as the wideopen gate to heaven at Meron attests.

When the Brisker Rav, zy”a, was in need of an urgent yeshuah, he sent his students to Meron. A messenger from Kupat Ha’ir will be there, too, for forty consecutive days – the greatest days of the year – and we, too, will merit yeshuos.

The Unique Tefillah of Maran Hagaon Harav Chaim Kanievsky, Shlit"a Every single day of these yemei ratzon verachamim, Maran Rav Chaim Kanievski, shlit”a, will recite a special prayer on behalf of contributors. He will pray for forty days, day after day including Rosh Hashanah, erev Yom Kippur and Yom Kippur, too. Forty tefillos and you will be part of each and every one of them. Forty tefillos from the mouth of the Gadol Hador.

Every single day of the forty days, all these tefillos will soar to Shamayim.

Shamayim Each of them will include you. At the Kosel, Avos from the mouth of Maran Harav Kanievsky… at kivrei Avos, if there’s anything you can do for yourself with the approach of the Yamim Nora’im, this is it. The zechus of tzedakah creates worlds.

The zechus of tefillah opens gates and melts barriers. All these will stand in your good stead.

May we be fortunate enough to merit this.

40

Days at the Kosel

Without A Moment’s Letup From Rosh Chodesh Elul Until Motzoei Yom Kippur

Throughout the forty days, the eis ratzon, from Rosh Chodesh Elul until motzoei Yom Kippur, messengers of Kupat Ha'ir will be at the Kosel and pray on behalf of contributors without a moment's letup. Shift will follow shift to ensure constant continuity. There will be no speaking of mundane matters, no pause for any reason at all. Just a continuous holy chain of reciting Tehillim every hour of the day and night, twenty-four hours a day for forty days.

This forty-day period includes the days of selichos, the great day of erev Rosh Hashanah, the days of kapparos, Yom Kippur itself and even the hour of Ne'ilah. Literally all the time, when members of Am Yisrael wherever they may be are davening - with the blast of the shofar on Rosh Hashanah, while fasting on Yom Kippur, with the avodah of the Kohen Gadol and with Unesaneh Tokef, with krias haTorah and with the various tefillos mussaf – at all these times, your messenger will stand at the Kosel and daven for you simultaneously.

Your tears will ascend to Shamayim from wherever you are while the prayer uttered at the Kosel will ascend from there. The tefillos will meet under the Kisei Hakavod, ascending, entering, turning din into mercy, inscribing and stamping you for a year filled with good health and simchos, a year of geulah and yeshuah, a year of light and joy and contentment.

Forty days, countless chapters of Tehillim recited with incomparable consecutiveness opposite the gates to Shamayim. Forty days, a single lump of pure gold, appearing before the King of Kings, and to merit…

The forty-days-without-letup prayer program on behalf of contributors to Kupat Ha'ir begins on the eve of Rosh Chodesh Elul, at 8:00 p.m. and ends after the shofar blast of Neilah.

Forty consecutive full days without a moment’s letup. Bli neder. Throughout the prayer, messengers of Kupat Ha’ir will recite the entire sefer Tehillim consecutively, without talking. As soon as they finish, a new shift will begin reciting Tehillim from the beginning. When that shift finishes, yet another shift will begin reciting sefer Tehillim from the beginning, and so on, without a moment’s letup.

Every single day, after the completion of 12 sifrei Tehillim, - while tehillim is being recited by the next shift - the names of contributors will be recited slowly and carefully, each with its accompanying request. Utmost care is taken to pronounce each name correctly.

This way, there is not a moment’s pause in the recitation of Tehillim, and there is enough time to daven and mention all of the contributors’ names, slowly, every day.

The same scene occurs on Shabbos and Yom Tov, on Rosh Hashanah and on yom Kippur, without a moment’s letup. Sefer Tehillim is recited at a moderate pace, with each recitation taking two hours.

The messengers are distinguished talmidei chachamim. All of them have Torah positions and their prayers are of note.

They all take their mission as messengers of Kupat Ha’ir very seriously.

To the extent possible, they occupy the same spot on a steady basis, and they can be seen a every hour of the day and night.

Dear Kupat Hair!

Please mention my name during the 40 yemei haratzon Every single day and at every one Of the following eight locations: The Kosel Hama’aravi, Me’aras Hamachpeilah, Kever Rachel, the tziyun of the Ohr Hachaim Hakadosh, Kever Ha’Shlah, Meron, Amukah and Maran Hagaon Harav Chaim Kanievsky, shlit”a At each of the gravesites, each name will be mentioned every single day, slowly and carefully, along with its accompanying request For a contribution of $360 per name.

Please mention my name during the 40 yemei haratzon

Every single day at one of the following locations: The Kosel Hama’aravi,

For a contribution of $120 per name

Me’aras Hamachpeila Kever Rachel the tziyun of the Ohr Hachaim Hakadosh Kever Ha’Shlah Meron Amukah For a contribution of $180 per name.

Please daven for me at the Kosel Hama’aravi for 40 consecutive days without a moment’s letup With a contribution of $500 per name

Names may be submitted to our hotline until 12:00 p.m. on Monday, erev Rosh Chodesh Elul

1-888-KUPATHAIR 5

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www.kupat.org

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