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Text Excerpt
אמר רבי חנן: אפילו בעל החלומות אומר לו לאדם למחר הוא מת — אל ימנע עצמו מן הרחמים. שנאמר: ״כי ברב חלמות והבלים ודברים הרבה כי את האלהים ירא״.
Similarly, R' Ḥanan said: Even if the master of dreams, in a true dream, an angel (Ma’ayan HaBerakhot) tells a person that tomorrow he will die, he should not prevent himself from praying for mercy, as it is stated: “For in the multitude of dreams and vanities there are many words; but fear God” (Ecclesiastes 5:6). Although the dream may seem real to him, that is not necessarily the case, and one must place his trust in God.
מיד ״ויסב חזקיהו פניו אל הקיר ויתפלל אל ה׳״.
Having heard Isaiah’s harsh prophecy, immediately “Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall and prayed to YHWH” (Isaiah 38:2).
מאי ״קיר״? אמר רבי שמעון בן לקיש: מקירות לבו, שנאמר: ״מעי מעי אוחילה קירות לבי וגו׳״.
The Talmud asks: What is meant by the word “wall [kir]” in this context? Why did Hezekiah turn his face to a wall? R' Shimon ben Lakish said: This symbolically alludes to the fact that Hezekiah prayed to God from the chambers [kirot] of his heart, as it is stated elsewhere: “My anguish, my anguish, I am in pain. The chambers of my heart. My heart moans within me” (Jeremiah 4:19).
רבי לוי אמר: על עסקי הקיר, אמר לפניו: רבונו של עולם, ומה שונמית שלא עשתה אלא קיר אחת קטנה החיית את בנה, אבי אבא שחפה את ההיכל כולו בכסף ובזהב על אחת כמה וכמה. ״זכר נא את אשר התהלכתי לפניך באמת ובלב שלם והטוב בעיניך עשיתי״.
R' Levi said: Hezekiah intended to evoke matters relating to a wall, and he said before God: God! and if the woman from Shunem, who made only a single small wall on the roof for the prophet Elisha, and you revived her son, all the more so should you bring life to the descendant of my father’s father, King Solomon, who covered the entire Temple Sanctuary with silver and gold. In his prayer, Hezekiah said: “Please, YHWH, please remember that I walked before You in truth, and with a complete heart, and what was good in Your eyes I did. And Hezekiah wept sore” (Isaiah 38:3).