הַמִּתְפַּלֵּל וְטָעָה, סִימָן רַע לוֹ. וְאִם שְׁלִיחַ צִבּוּר הוּא, סִימָן רַע לְשׁוֹלְחָיו, מִפְּנֵי שֶׁשְּׁלוּחוֹ שֶׁל אָדָם כְּמוֹתוֹ. אָמְרוּ עָלָיו עַל רַבִּי חֲנִינָא בֶן דּוֹסָא, כְּשֶׁהָיָה מִתְפַּלֵּל עַל הַחוֹלִים וְאוֹמֵר, זֶה חַי וְזֶה מֵת. אָמְרוּ לוֹ, מִנַּיִן אַתָּה יוֹדֵעַ. אָמַר לָהֶם, אִם שְׁגוּרָה תְפִלָּתִי בְּפִי, יוֹדֵעַ אֲנִי שֶׁהוּא מְקֻבָּל. וְאִם לָאו, יוֹדֵעַ אֲנִי שֶׁהוּא מְטֹרָף:
One who is praying, and makes a mistake, it is a bad omen for him; and if he was a delegate of the congregation, it is a bad omen for his delegators (the congregation), because a person's messenger is considered like himself. They used to say about Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa: When he would pray for the sick, he would say: This one will live and this one will die. They said to him: How do you know? He replied to them: If the prayer is fluent in my mouth, I know that it has been accepted; and if not, then I know that it has been torn up.
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