Welcome to Bitachon . We continue with another important lesson from the pesukim in Ki Tavo . Vanitzak el Hashem Elokei Avoteinu / We cried out to Hashem the God of our fathers, and He heard our voices. And we quote a pasuk in Shemot where it says Vayishma Elokim et Maakatam / God heard their groans. Vayizkor Elokim et Brito/and God remembered His covenant et Avraham et Yitzchak v'et Yaakov/With Abraham, Yitzhak and Yaakov. So we see clearly here that it was not enough for us to just pray. Our prayers aroused the zechut Avot . Interestingly, this is the second pasuk mentioned in the Zichronot section of Musaf of Rosh Hashanah , telling us that Hashem heard the cries of Bnei Yisrael b'Mitzrayim and remembered Avraham Yitzchak and Yaakov . So what is this combination? Why do we need both prayer and Zechut Avot? Why can't Zechut Avot work on its own? Why can't prayer on its own work? The answer is that the Jewish people, on their own at that time, and probably quite often for us as well, can not make it with our prayer alone. That's why every single prayer, that we pray three times a day starts with Elokeinu v'Elokei Avoteinu , our God, and the God of our fathers, Avraham Yitzchak v'Yaakov . The Rambam in Moreh Nevuchim , section 3, chapter 43, says something fascinating. He says that the reason why we merited to go into Eretz Yisrael was, בחסד האלוה וביעודיו לאבותינו , בעבור שהיו אנשים שלמים בדעותם ומדותם - רצוני לומר , " אברהם , יצחק ויעקב - Because of the kindness of God, and His promise to our forefathers. Why? ba'avur shehayu anashim shleimim, They were people that were perfect, b'dei'otam, in their mindsets, their cognition, u'midotam, and their character traits, This refers to Avraham Yitzchak v'Yaakov . And he says, שזה גם כן הוא ממה שהתורה תלויה עליו - רצוני לומר , שכל טוב שהיטיב האלוה לנו וייטיב - אמנם הוא ' בזכות אבות This is a fundamental that the Torah hinges on. That any goodness that God did for us in the past, and will do for us in the future, in truth is b'Zchut avot. It's in the merit of our forefathers. This is definitely something to inspire us that we don't have to necessarily have our own zechuyot . We need zechut avot . Well, if that's the case, that I need zechut avot , why pray? Why do anything? The answer that's given is, In order to have zechut avot, God has to recognize you as one of their children. If we want to use the zechut of Avraham Avinu, you have to look a little bit like Avraham. Imagine your friend's son comes to see you, but you don't know it's his son. He asks for a favor. When you see him, you say, ' Hold on. You look like so-and-so. You remind me of so-and-so. ' He says, 'Yeah, that was my father.' 'Oh, that was your father? For sure, I'm going to take care of this for you. If you're his son, I'm going to do it. ' But if someone walks in with no resemblance to his father, it's not going to ignite that feeling. The same is true with Avraham Yitzchak V'Yaakov . We're their children. We have to look like them. We have to act like them. Matai yagiu ma'asai l'ma'asei Avraham Yitzchak v'Yaakov . And this is the beautiful point- That's why we need prayer. Because when we pray, we look like Avraham Yitzchak v'Yaakov . They cried out to God, and we're crying out to God. Rashi uses a particular lashon describing the Jewish people praying at Kriat Yam Suf . In Shemot 14:10 it says, Vayitzaku . The Jewish people cried out. They cried out at Kriat Yam Suf. Rashi quotes the Mechilta, Tafsu umnut avotam/They grabbed the trade/the craft of their forefathers. Avraham prayed. Yitzchak prayed. Yaakov prayed. Says Rav Wolbe, What does it mean that they took the trade of their forefathers? He says, an uman is a craftsman . It's something that your family does. It's naturally in your blood. If your father is a carpenter, and your grandfather is a carpenter, you're a carpenter. You just naturally fall into that. Prayer is the craft of the Jewish people. Avraham Yitzchak and Yaakov did it. Imagine someone was a great violinist, and his father was a great violinist. Now the grandson starts playing the violin, not quite like his father or grandfather, but he's holding on to his family trade. You'd say, That reminds me of his father. That reminds me of his grandfather. He was a great violinist. When we start to pray, that's the one-two punch. Because when we're pray, we are taking the trade of our forefathers, and that ignites their remembrance. So it's not just that our prayers are answered because we prayed. We're doing two things when we pray. We pray, and we're also acting like the avot , which ignites the zechut avot .