What Mitzvah Can Be Fulfilled During a Terror Attack? 10 Points About Prayer in Times of Distress

1. Ramban: "It is a positive commandment from the Torah... that we should pray to Him in times of distress, and our eyes and hearts should be directed to Him like the eyes of servants to their masters' hands. This is a commandment for every distress that comes upon the community, to cry out before Him in prayer and with sounding [of shofar]... It is a commandment for times of distress that we believe that He, may He be exalted, hears prayer and saves from distress through prayer and crying out" (Ramban's objections to Sefer HaMitzvot, Positive Commandment 5).

2. Rambam: "It is a positive commandment from the Torah to cry out and sound trumpets for every distress that comes upon the community, as it is said, 'Against the adversary who oppresses you, you shall sound the trumpets.' That is, anything that distresses you such as drought, plague, locusts, and the like, cry out and sound the alarm for them." The Rambam continues: "This is one of the paths of repentance, that when distress comes and they cry out and sound the alarm, everyone will know that it is because of their evil deeds that evil has befallen them, as it is written, 'Your iniquities have turned away...' etc., and this is what will cause them to remove the distress from themselves." (Rambam, Laws of Fasts 1:1-2).

3. Rabbi Soloveitchik explains the Rambam's words: "The Rambam believes that our daily existence is always marked by distress and anguish, which arouse in a sensitive person a sense of despair, heavy oppression, due to the lack of meaning, taste, and satisfaction in his life. This is a constant distress that exists every day. The word 'distress' symbolizes more than some external calamity... There is no doubt that the cry of the psalmist, 'From the straits I called upon God,' refers to an internal state of pressure and distress, more than to such factors coming from outside."
Rabbi Soloveitchik adds: "From this feeling of confusion and disappointment springs prayer. When it comes in a state of comfort and security, it becomes a contradiction in terms... The source of true prayer is rooted in the feeling of loneliness, helplessness, and dependence." (Chapters in the Thought of Rabbi J.D. Soloveitchik, pp. 61-62).

4. The Zohar states that it is a commandment for a person to tell their Creator the troubles of their heart. "From here on, a person should express the troubles of their heart, as it is said, 'May Hashem answer you on the day of distress,' like a pregnant woman sitting in her labor pains, so that all will turn to be advocates for the person, and therefore it is written, 'Happy is the people that this is so for it...' (Remez 547)

5. It is further stated in the Zohar that "There is nothing in the whole world that stands before (Hashem) except the repentance and prayer of a person, and Rabbi Yehuda said there are three types of repentance in this verse: prayer, crying out, and tears, and all are written in this verse: 'Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry; do not be silent at my tears.'" That is, even a tear is considered prayer and does not return empty.

6. When Moses saw the distress of his sister Miriam, he prayed a short prayer: "O God, please heal her." Many laws of prayer are learned from this short prayer, such as when praying for the sick, there is no obligation to mention their name. Another matter learned from Moses' prayer is the importance of prayer and crying out in time of distress: "Hashem said to Moses, 'Moses, there is a time to be lengthy and a time to be brief; 'O God, please heal her' is to be brief, and 'I fell down before Hashem' is to be lengthy.'"

7. The Zohar teaches an additional point from Moses' prayer: Even in times of distress, one should precede their request with two praises to the Creator of the world and only then ask for their request. Indeed, Moses began his prayer with the words "O God, please" and then asked his request.

8. The great Mussar masters clarify that when a Jew approaches prayer, they must strengthen in their heart three beliefs, and one who does not believe in them is considered an apostate: First, they should believe that Hashem has the power to hasten for them whatever they want. Second, that our Father in Heaven wants to give us all our desires. And third, that even the lowest among us has the power to effect change through prayer.

9. In the Zohar on Parashat Ha'azinu, it is stated that one should express their request verbally: "For this reason, every prayer and request that a person asks before the Holy One, blessed be He, needs to be expressed with the lips, for if one does not express them, the prayer is not a prayer and the request is not a request. And once the words come out, they break through the air, rise and fly, and become a voice, and one who takes them takes them, and unites them to the holy place at the head of the King."

10. In the Babylonian Talmud, Rabbi Yitzchak's words are brought: "Why were our forefathers barren? Because the Holy One, blessed be He, desires the prayers of the righteous."

And in Midrash Tanchuma: "The Holy One, blessed be He, does not desire to hold any creature guilty, but rather asks that they pray before Him, and He will accept them. And even if a person is not worthy to have his prayer answered and to receive kindness, since he prays and increases in supplications, I will show kindness to him."

The "Chafetz Chaim" writes on the above Midrash: "What emerges from our words is that all the many troubles that come upon us, from which we are not saved, are because we do not cry out and increase in prayer for them. For if we had prayed and poured out our speech before the Holy One, blessed be He, certainly our prayers and requests would not return empty. And a person should not be satisfied with praying the Eighteen Benedictions three times a day, but rather several times a day one needs to pour out prayers and requests with oneself when at home from the depths of the heart. For the three prayers have already become routine in one's mouth, and one does not give them much attention; whereas if every person reflects between themselves and takes an accounting of their soul about their situation and standing, the greatness of their poverty and many troubles, and above all - that they earn only for meager bread and rationed water, then they will pour out their heart like water before Hashem, and the prayer will then come out with deep intention and with a broken heart and a lowly spirit - such a prayer will certainly not return empty. And then, when their soul is bitter about their poor situation and standing, and they plead before the Holy One, blessed be He, they should also remember the distress of Hashem, who also, as it were, has no rest, and in all our troubles He is troubled, and suffers insult because of us, as it is written (Isaiah 59): 'Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, etc., but your iniquities have separated,' etc. And then ask for mercy also for the exile of the Divine Presence, that it should return to its palace and place, and that we should merit that the glory of Hashem be revealed in the world, and the verse will be fulfilled: 'Let the heavens rejoice and the earth be glad, and let them say among the nations, Hashem reigns.'"