Everything I wrote to you in answer to your question, “I Prayed but Have Still Not Been Saved,” applies even if you prayed at the grave of a tzaddik. It may be that the Holy One, blessed be He, knows that fulfilling your request would not be for your benefit; in that case, praying at a tzaddik’s grave makes no difference. The same applies to all the other points written there.
Likewise, the instruction to increase prayer and not despair is especially true at the graves of tzaddikim, where the merit of the tzaddik assists one. The students of the holy Rabbi Asher Freund zt”l relate that one must return and prostrate himself repeatedly, rather than conclude from a lack of response that it will no longer help, Heaven forbid. See the Haggadah of Pesach Yechaveh Da’at, p. 350, where the Rishon LeTzion, Rabbi David Yosef shlit”a, testified that when Maran Rabbeinu Ovadia Yosef zt”l suffered impaired vision, “he traveled to Tzfat, rented a hotel room, and each night went in the darkness of night to the grave of Maran the Beit Yosef, etc. He did so for at least a week, and suddenly his vision returned without any treatment.”
So that the beit midrash not remain without a new insight, I shall present an important detail concerning prayer at the graves of tzaddikim, from my small work Shoshanei Tziyon, still in manuscript. If you are careful about this detail, perhaps your prayers will be accepted with mercy and favor, with the help of Heaven.
The Necessity of Teshuvah When Praying at the Graves of Tzaddikim
Before prostrating oneself at the graves of tzaddikim, one must undertake complete teshuvah. If one has not undertaken teshuvah and prostrates himself, he has accomplished nothing[1]. As mentioned elsewhere, based on the holy Zohar, prayer at graves without teshuvah and humility of heart may constitute “seeking the dead,” Heaven forbid. Therefore, some write that one should recite verbal confession[2], or at least say, “I have sinned, acted perversely, and transgressed”[3].
Teshuvah Also Helps Bring About Acceptance of Prayer
It is always fitting to undertake teshuvah before every prayer and supplication, for through this one’s prayer is more readily accepted[4].
When Precisely Should One Undertake Teshuvah When Praying at Graves of Tzaddikim?
It is proper to undertake teshuvah before entering the cemetery[5]. Some recommend studying mussar works while traveling to the graves of tzaddikim[6]. There is also great benefit in contemplating teshuvah beside the actual gravesite[7]. Hold fast to this, and do not let go of that.
Men of piety would make extensive spiritual preparations before arriving at the graves of tzaddikim, approaching the holy gravesites with awe, reverence, trembling, and perspiration. As we have already brought elsewhere, see there, for there is no need to repeat it here. Some pious people even removed their shoes because of the great sanctity of the place[8]. However, we should not follow the practice of removing shoes, as it was entrusted only to select individuals, and even they did not do so everywhere.
Additional Details Regarding Undertaking Teshuvah at Graves of Tzaddikim
One authority wrote that before prostrating oneself at the graves of tzaddikim, one should be especially careful to repent for flattery, falsehood, lashon hara, and mockery, because these are groups that do not receive the Presence of the Shechinah, and the Shechinah rests at the graves of tzaddikim[9].
There is another segulah for the acceptance of prayer at the graves of tzaddikim, as discussed elsewhere: undertaking a positive resolution beside the tzaddik’s gravesite, in accordance with the practice of Maran Rabbeinu Ovadia Yosef zatzukal.
Sources:
[1] This is written by the kabbalist Rabbi Shandukh Sasson zt”l in Davar Be’ito, vol. II, folio 23b: “Therefore, it is fitting that we arouse ourselves to teshuvah at that time [namely, at prostration at the graves of tzaddikim]… For through the awakening below in teshuvah and refinement, the lower waters awaken the souls, and the souls then awaken mercy from the Holy One, blessed be He… Therefore, if one goes and prostrates himself at the graves of tzaddikim without teshuvah and awakening, he has accomplished nothing, for there is no one to be awakened.” So too wrote Rabbi Sasson Abdul Aziz Mizrachi zt”l in Ba’ati LeGani, vol. V, p. 159, and Rabbi Yisrael Aharon Margaliyot zt”l in a letter printed in Hitgalut Kivrei HaTzaddikim, pp. 26–28. Olamo Shel Tzaddik, p. 107, relates that Rabbi Salman Mutzafi zt”l would rebuke visitors at a tzaddik’s grave: first return in complete teshuvah, recite vidui humbly, study the tzaddik’s teachings for at least half an hour to arouse his merit, and only then ask for Klal Yisrael, perhaps including one or two personal requests.
The Ramchal, in a manuscript prayer composed for recitation at graves of tzaddikim, first established a lengthy text for undertaking teshuvah, followed only afterward by a brief text for requests concerning redemption and personal needs. In the introduction, he explained that vidui before requests prevents the prosecutor from delaying the prayer. Similarly, the kabbalist Rabbi Avraham Berachyah Modena zt”l, in Ma’avar Yabbok, Siftei Tzedek, ch. 7, placed a prayer of teshuvah before the prayer texts for graves of tzaddikim.
Taharat HaKodesh of Rabbi Aharon Roth zt”l writes that holy places—including graves of tzaddikim and the Western Wall—are auspicious times and places for requesting one’s spiritual purpose only when a person is cleansed of sin, or at least continually cleanses his soul through teshuvah and intense longing for Hashem. Sanctity receives sanctity; one who comes with preparation for teshuvah returns from a holy place with renewed awareness, whereas one who comes with a defiled soul and without teshuvah is included in the rebuke: “Who asked this of you, to trample My courtyards?”
The holy Zohar, Parashat Acharei Mot, teaches regarding prostration at the graves of tzaddikim that only those who are fit to make their needs known should do so, because they have directed their desire to attach soul to soul. Thus, the more sanctified and cleansed from sin the visitor is, the more fitting he is to attach his soul to that of the tzaddik buried there and to arouse the tzaddik’s neshamah to plead for the living. Rabbi Menachem Azariah of Fano zt”l writes in Ma’amar HaNefesh, part III, ch. 4, that to derive the full benefit from prostration at a tzaddik’s grave, one must be among those about whom Heaven proclaims, “Be careful with him and his Torah, for he is completely righteous.” Nevertheless, through undertaking teshuvah at that time one attains some measure of this quality. As the Gemara in Kiddushin 49b teaches, one who says, “on condition that I am righteous,” may be considered righteous even if previously presumed wicked, perhaps because he contemplated teshuvah. The Hagahot Mordechai, Or Zarua, and numerous responsa write that through contemplation of teshuvah a person immediately becomes a completely righteous person with respect to the entire Torah, although atonement for prior deeds still requires suffering and self-affliction.
[2] Torat HaTikkunim, vol. II, p. 48.
[3] Rabbi Salman Mutzafi zt”l, Siftei Tzaddikim, p. 24. See there, ch. 7, p. 214, that before prostrating oneself at the gravesite of Rashbi in Meron, one should recite the Great Vidui found in the Yom Kippur Machzor, Shacharit.
[4] “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to Hashem, but the prayer of the upright is His desire” (Mishlei 15:8); “Hashem is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayer of the righteous” (ibid. 15:29). The holy Zohar, Parashat Vayechi, 228b, teaches that one who has sin and wishes to pray for mercy must first direct his heart and thoughts to rectify himself from that sin, and only afterward pray. See also Tikkunei HaZohar, Tikkun 6, 22a; Midrash Tehillim on Psalm 116; Sefer Chassidim; Rokeach; Rabbi Yitzchak Arama; Reshit Chochmah; Maharam Alshich; Shevet Mussar; Beit Tefillah; the Chida; Ralbag; and others, all of whom teach that teshuvah and vidui must precede requests, so that prayer may be accepted.
[5] Siftei Tzaddikim of Rabbi Salman Mutzafi, p. 24. This is also indicated by the plain meaning of the Zohar cited above regarding the concern of seeking the dead: one must approach the graves already in a state of humility and contrition.
[6] Otzar HaMichtavim of the Pnei Menachem zy”a, no. 327.
[7] This follows from Rabbi Shandukh Sasson in Davar Be’ito, cited above. So too, Torat HaTikkunim, vol. II, p. 48, writes that teshuvah and vidui should be done “beside the grave,” as the first stage of prostration; only afterward should one give tzedakah, study, pray, and so forth.
[8] This practice is first recorded concerning the grave of Rabbi Chaim Kapusi zt”l in Egypt. Even Sapir, in Admat Cham, folio 11a, testifies that Egyptian Jews would not go to his grave wearing shoes; from afar they would remove their shoes and crawl to the grave on hands and knees, for it was exceedingly holy to them. Similar accounts are recorded regarding the Baba Sali zt”l at the grave of Rashbi in Meron, Rabbi Chaim Sanuani zt”l, the author of Divrei Yatziv at the Arizal’s gravesite, the Beit Aharon of Karlin, the Avir Yaakov of Sadigura, and the Me’or Einayim. It is possible that removing shoes was for full bodily prostration rather than because of the sanctity of the place.
[9] The kabbalist Rabbi Shearyah Devlitzky zt”l, Derosh Darash, vol. II, derashah 30, p. 16.
This response was translated automatically from Hebrew and has not yet been reviewed by a person. Therefore, it may contain inaccuracies and should not be considered a definitive reference.
