Horav Bunim M’Peshischa notes the Torah’s emphasis on Yosef’s “remembering” the source of his success. He realized that the success he had achieved was only because “Hashem was with Yosef.” All too often we pray to Hashem for various favors. Shortly after Hashem grants us His good will, we seem to forget the source of our beneficience.
Along these same lines, the Chofetz Chaim explains that in the tefillah that we say on the Shabbos prior to Rosh Chodesh, we implore Hashem to grant us a life replete with yiraas Shomayim, fear of Heaven, and yiraas cheit, fear of sin. Once again, at the end of the tefillah, we ask for ahavas Torah u’yiraas Shomayim, love of Torah and fear of Heaven. Why do we ask Hashem to grant us yiraas Shomayim twice?
The Chofetz Chaim relates that after our first request for yiraas Shomayim, we ask for a life of osher v’kavod, wealth and honor. Once a person has “tasted” a life of wealth and honor, he seldom retains the yiraas Shomayim he once had developed. Consequently, it is necessary to request yiraas Shomayim a second time.
