The Shl"H has a special tefilah to recite on erev rosh chodesh Sivan for the sake of one's children and grandchildren. In addition to davening for one's children and one's grandchildren, perhaps one can also daven on this day for one's cheilek of Torah as well. The gemara (Yevamos 63) writes that Ben Azai did not marry (or remain married) because he refused to have any distraction from his learning. Asks the gemara, what about the mitzvah of peru u'revu?
אמרו לו לבן עזאי יש נאה דורש ונאה מקיים נאה מקיים ואין נאה דורש ואתה נאה דורש ואין נאה מקיים אמר להן בן עזאי ומה אעשה שנפשי חשקה בתורה אפשר לעולם שיתקיים על ידי אחרים
It's not clear what the answer of the gemara is. So what if מה אעשה שנפשי חשקה בתורה? You wouldn't use that as an excuse for not putting on tefillin, or eating matzah on pesach, so why is it an excuse for not fulfilling peru u'revu?
R' Yosef Engel in the Gilyonei ha'Shas says (null) a remarkable chiddush. What Ben Azai meant is that he was in fact mekayeim peru u'revu, as the chiddushei Torah that one produces are like one's offspring!
I am not the first to point out that in our times we probably need to daven a little more frequently than once a year for our children, our grandchildren, or even our chiddushei Torah, but at least do so today. I don't know why the SHl"H chose R"CH Sivan as the day for this tefilah, but I can tell you that the Chasam Sofer thought it was a significant day, a day of teshuvah, a day on which he would fast. In parshas Yisro the Torah tells us (19:1-2):
בַּחֹדֶשׁ הַשְּׁלִישִׁי לְצֵאת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם בַּיּוֹם הַזֶּה בָּאוּ מִדְבַּר סִינָי.
וַיִּסְעוּ מֵרְפִידִים וַיָּבֹאוּ מִדְבַּר סִינַי וַיַּחֲנוּ בַּמִּדְבָּר וַיִּחַן שָׁם יִשְׂרָאֵל נֶגֶד הָהָר.
Rashi comments: מה ת״ל? לחזור ולפרש מהיכן נסעו, והלא כבר כתוב שברפידים היו חונים (שמות י״ז:א׳), בידוע שמשם נסעו. אלא להקיש נסיעתן מרפידים לביאתן למדבר סיני, מה ביאתן למדבר סיני בתשובה, אף נסיעתן מרפידים בתשובה.
Rashi tells us that both the day Bn"Y left Refidim as well as the day they arrived at Sinai were special days of teshuvah (why they needed teshuvah on the day they arrived when they already had done teshuvah the day before is a topic for another time). Since they arrived on rosh chodesh, as we read in the first pasuk, the day they left was obviously erev rosh chodesh. Take advantage of these special days.
The Chofetz Chaim has a beautiful lesson in our parsha regarding davening for one's children. The two largest shevatim counted in our parsha are Yehudah and Dan. The Chofetz Chaim pointed out that Dan had only one son, Chushim, who was hard of hearing. Anyone who compared Dan's situation with that of his brothers would think, "Nebach, what a terrible lot in life." Fast forward just a few generation and look at what became of that "nebach!"
Why did Dan increase in number more than the other shevatim? The Chofetz Chaim explained that davka because Dan had only that one son, Chushim, who was disabled, he poured his heart out in tefilah. The other shevatim had large, healthy families, and so m'meila, they figured they would naturally grow and increase in number. They of course davened, but it was not the same as Dan's tefilah. When you feel that there is no way you can succeed b'derech ha'teva, when your back is up against the wall and there is only one address you can turn to for help, your tefilah is a different tefilah. When you daven for your children that way, it brings hatzlacha.
I wanted to add a point to this C"C. Neicha the explanation for sheivet Dan, but what about Yehudah? I usually don't like these type questions. There is no hechrech or proof one way or the other why one sheivet more than another should be the largest, so it's just speculation. With that caveat in mind, here's my bit of speculation : ) In Braishis 38 we read that Yehudah had two children: עֵר and אוֹנָן. Both of those children, whatever the reason, died. Afterwards, you have the whole story of how Yehudah came to marry Tamar and give birth to Peretz and Zarach. I think that just like the tefilos of Dan carried greater intensity because he had but one child, and that one child was disabled, so too, I think Yehudah's tefilos were of greater intensity because of his past history of having lost other children. When you've suffered loss, you appreciate what you have all the more.
I think that lesson is all the more poignant this year. Klal Yisrael has suffered such tremendous losses. We need to daven not just for our own children, but for children like Kfir Bibas, still held in captivity by Amalek/Hamas, and for so many others who have suffered and are still suffering. And if we have not experienced suffering directly, we should be that much more appreciative of what we have.
There simply are no words to convey the greatness of people like the parent in the video below, a parent who is grieving for the loss of his son who fell in battle, but at the same time rejoicing in the birth of a baby to that son's wife. Listen for yourself:
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