We are now in Divrei HaYamim perek ה , pasuk כ which discusses one of the wars of the Jewish people, as they were entering Eretz Yisrael. וַיֵּעָזְר֣וּ עֲלֵיהֶ֔ם וַיִּנָּתְנ֤וּ בְיָדָם֙ הַהַגְרִיאִ֔ים וְכֹ֖ל שֶׁ֣עִמָּהֶ֑ם They were helped and the people from Hagar and all those with them were delivered into their hands. Why were they successful at war? כִּ֠י לֵאלֹהִ֤ים זָעֲקוּ֙ בַּמִּלְחָמָ֔ה וְנַעְתּ֥וֹר לָהֶ֖ם כִּי־בָ֥טְחוּ בֽוֹ׃ Because they cried out to God in battle, and He accepted their prayers because they trusted in Him . This is a pasuk of Bitachon that tells us a story. Hashem accepted their prayers because they trusted Him. The term used here, V’Naator is interesting. More common would be kabel , God accepts prayers What's this term V’Na’ator? The Tur and Or HaChaim, siman תקעט , tell us that on fast days, at the end of the Kaddish, we add the words TeAnu VTeAtru/ You should be answered, and your prayer should be accepted from the heavens .The Sephardic custom is to add this as well to our Kaddish on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. Furthermore, the Radak, in his Sefer Shorashim , writes that the custom in his area on Motzei Yom Kippur was that when someone said Shalom to you, you’d answer, “ Te’Aneh V’Te’Ater which was a way of saying Your prayer should be accepted. So what is this word? The first time the word V’TeAter shows up in the Torah is when Yitzhak Avinu is praying for a child. It says in Bereshit 25,21 : וַיֶּעְתַּ֨ר יִצְחָ֤ק לַֽיהֹוָה֙ לְנֹ֣כַח אִשְׁתּ֔וֹ כִּ֥י עֲקָרָ֖ה הִ֑וא וַיֵּעָ֤תֶר לוֹ֙ יְהֹוָ֔ה וַתַּ֖הַר רִבְקָ֥ה אִשְׁתּֽוֹ ֶ VaYeAter Yitzhak / Yitzhak prayed because his wife was barren, VaYeAter Hashem/And Hashem accepted his prayers… The word VaYeAter is used both when Yitzhak prays and when Hashem responds to him. And Rashi says that the word VaYeAter means He pushed hard. He put a lot of effort into his prayers, and Hashem responded. He accepted that pushing, consistent prayer. Hashem was appeased, and, so to say, seduced into changing His mind. So VaYeAter is an intense prayer. The Gemara adds another interesting point. The word Atar means pitchfork , and the Gemara in Yevamot 64 A tells us that the prayers of Sadikim are compared to a pitchfork because just like a pitchfork flips the wheat from the top to the bottom, so too, the prayers of Sadikim flip God's attributes. God could be in the Middat Harogez , an attribute of anger, and the prayer of the Sadik turns it into Middat Rachamim How do you do that? The Meiri says, similar to Rashi, Never give up hope, never despair of prayer. The door is never locked. Keep on pushing and pushing and pushing. That's the concept of VaYeAtar , which is used for sadikim . But what can a regular person do? The sefer Shomer Amunim , in a derush on Bitachon, Perek 7, says something very interesting in the name of the Baal Shem Tov: Sometimes something happens to a person that doesn't look right. Of course, Gam zu L’Tova, it is good , but right then, it doesn't look right. Is it good or is it bad? He says this person was given a difficult challenge, which he says can bring to good. It's Gam zu letova. But in Shamayim they are waiting to see how this man will react, how strong his Bitachon and Emunah will be. If the person relies on Hashem and says For sure, Hashem is not sending anything bad, for sure, this is somehow going turn into good , it will turn into good. It just hasn't been revealed yet. If this happens, he says, You sweeten the judgment. This is another way to invoke the ability to flip it over. We see this all from our pasuk , which holds this important lesson. וַיִּנָּתְנ֤וּ בְיָדָם֙ הַהַגְרִיאִ֔ים וְכֹ֖ל שֶׁ֣עִמָּהֶ֑ם וַיֵּעָזְר֣וּ עֲלֵיהֶ֔ם /They were given into their hands. Why? כִּ֠י לֵאלֹהִ֤ים זָעֲקוּ֙ בַּמִּלְחָמָ֔ה וְנַעְתּ֥וֹר לָהֶ֖ם / They cried out to God, And God changed his mind. He flipped from judgment to mercy. Why? כִּי־בָ֥טְחוּ בֽו / Because they relied on Him. The pasuk is clearly teaching this lesson of the Baal Shem Tov, that there's a power that we have to turn over Hashem’s middot based on either consistent prayer or bitachon. It seems like they had both, because this pasuk mentions two things. It says they cried out to Him- which means they prayed , and also, they relied on Him.. Noam Megadim on Parashat Vayelech asks, if a person doesn't have either of these abilities; if he’s not holding at consistent prayer, and his bitachon is not holding there, how is he going to turn over God's Middat HaDin? He quotes the Gemara in Rosh Hashanah 17A, that Whoever is able to be easygoing and give in to other people's wishes, because he controls his anger, (so to say, the way he acts to people,) God acts to him that way . And that's yet another way to turn over the Middat HaDin, even if you're not holding on either of these levels. It’s interesting that are all things that we invoke during the high holiday season. One of the things that suggested is to be easygoing and not be makpid , because then Hashem won't be makpid with you. But this is always a good rule, not just for the high holidays. To recap-we have three pieces of advice of what one should do when there seems to be a judgment over him. 1- consistent prayer 2- bitachon 3- to be easygoing with other people.