I’m sure you all remember the Rashi on “Vayay’ahser lo Hashem…….lo v’lo lah” Where Yitzchak and Rivka daven for a child and HKB”H only listens to the tefillos of Yitzchak and not Rivka, because as Rashi explains “aino domeh tefillas tzaddik ben tzaddik le’tefillas tzaddik ben rasha”. One cannot compare the tefillos of Yitzchok who was a tzaddik ben tzaddik to the tefillos of Rivka whose father was a rasha.
This seems more than a bit unfair to Rivka and even shocking. Why should her prayers be ignored just because of her father?
Further, Rashi seems to contradict a well known gemara which states that in the place that a ba’al teshuva stands, even a completely righteous person cannot stand (be’makom she’ba’al teshuva omade, ain tzaddik gamur yachol la’amode”) The argument for this is that it is easy enough to be observant if one grows up in an observant environment, but a ba’al teshuva, who tries to become observant later in life is usually forced to make changes in his or her lifestyle and circle of friends which can be quite difficult.
I saw something interesting which may explain this.
Perhaps it is NOT easier for someone who is frum from birth to be a tzaddik than for a ba’al teshuva! A ba’al teshuva, whatever his difficulties might be, has an enthusiasm for an exciting new way of life, new experiences, new friends which carries him through. On the other hand, someone who has grown up in an observant environment (like me) may find it much more difficult to MAINTAIN the enthusiasm for davening three times a day. Even if he is a tzaddik, who may be a son of a tzaddik and so on all the way back to the Vilna Gaon himself, he may be doing mitzvot by rote (like me) because it is the only way he knows.
When an important task is new to us, we perform it meticulously. After we have grown used to it, we tend to find shortcuts and cut corners, in ways which are detrimental to our performance.
Yitzchak’s tefillos therefore, were answered not BECAUSE he was the son of a tzaddik, but because HE was a tzaddik EVEN THOUGH he was the son of Avraham and had been doing mitzvot all his life. His enthusiasm for mitzvot was maintained throughout his life, which can be a very difficult thing to accomplish.
If we keep this lesson in mind, HKB”H will indeed answer ALL OUR TEFILLOT!