Welcome to Daily Bitachon. We are now in the zone of nechama —the time of comfort . As we know, this week's Shabbat is called Shabbat Nachamu , based on the Haftarah , which opens with the words נחמו נחמו עמי / Be comforted, be comforted My nation, יאמר אלקיכם —so your God will say. The Pri Tzadik in this week's parashah is bothered: it shouldn't say יאמר /He will say—but rather אמר /God said. He explains that it's for future generations; whenever we read this Haftarah , God Himself is talking to us and giving us words of comfort. This is not just the first Haftarah , but for the next seven weeks. There are seven weeks of comfort. His words are, מתחדש הנחמה מפי השם ממש —the words of comfort literally come out of God's mouth and are renewed every year— ונכנס ללב —and enter the heart. That's how we get ready for the High Holiday season. It's worthwhile to refresh our memory—what does the word nechama , which we loosely translate as comfort , really mean? We go back to the first time the word nechama shows up in the Torah , where it says וינחם השם כי עשה את האדם בארץ . Simply speaking, Hashem comforted Himself that He made man on earth. ויתעצב אל לבו —and He was u pset. So now, if He's upset, why is He comforting Himself? Rashi says וינחם means נהפכה מחשבתו של מקום —God's thought changed. He changed from the trait of mercy to the trait of justice . Rashi continues and says: וכן כל לשון ניחום שבמקרא — wherever it says the word nichum in the Torah , it means to have a change of mind, as it says: ובן אדם ויתנחם/ Is God like a human being that changes His mind? על עבדיו יתנחם —on His servants He will change His mind. וינחם השם על הרעה —God changes His mind from the bad, and so on . כולם , says Rashi , all of them, לשון מחשבה אחרת —it means a different way of looking at things. So nachamu means not comfort , but: start looking at things differently. Have a different angle on things. Yes, we suffered. Yes, it's difficult. But there's a new perspective to be given. This reminds us of the famous story at the end of Masechet Makkot , where the group of Tannaim were going to Yerushalayim . They reached Mount Scopus, and they tore their clothing. When they reached the Temple Mount, they saw a fox running out from the Kodesh HaKodashim —the Holy of Holies. The rabbis started to cry, and Rabbi Akiva started to laugh. They said to him, "Why are you laughing?" He said, "Why are you crying?" And they replied, " This is a place where it says a non- kohen that enters should die, and now foxes are running there—and we shouldn't cry?" He said, " That's why I'm laughing. Because there are two pesukim . One says there will be negativity, and the good will only come when that negativity is fulfilled. And now that I see the negativity being fulfilled, I know that the positive prophecies will come true." And they said to him, Akiva nichamtanu, Akiva nichamtanu — Rabbi Akiva , you comforted us. Which means: Rabbi Akiva , you gave us a new angle, a new way of looking at things. And that's what our job is for these next weeks. We have three weeks of negative Haftarot , and seven weeks of positive Haftarot . That means Hashem wants us to focus on the flip side— not on the negative. In one of the upcoming Haftarot , Yeshayahu 49:14 , it says: ותאמר ציון עזבני השם — Tzion says: God has forsaken me. ואדני שכחני —and God forgot me. And God says: " You know what? You're doing the same thing Adam HaRishon did. I made a wife to help him, and he complained. Yaakov Avinu —I'm making his son into the king, the viceroy—and he's complaining. And Tzion , you're doing the same thing. I'm busy now getting rid of the other nations of the world. I already got rid of Bavel , I got rid of Madai , I got rid of Yavan —and now I want to get rid of the final wicked kingdom. And you're complaining and you're saying עזבני ?" So we have to look at things in a different light. And that's what we'll be doing, b'ezrat Hashem , this week until this Shabbat—which is Tu B'Av —and then b'ezrat Hashem , after that, we will start a new series to be announced next week.

Welcome to Daily Bitachon. We are now in the pesukim of Eichah , where Yirmiyah gives us words of chizuk (3,27) יֵשֵׁב בָּדָד וְיִדֹּם כִּי נָטַל עָלָיו Let one sit in solitude and be submissive, for He has laid it upon him. " What does this mean? Rashi says we're referring to someone who is going through a difficult challenge and finds himself completely alone — יֵשֵׁב בָּדָד. That's his situation. The difficulty is the loneliness. What do we tell him to do? וְיִדֹּם / wait, wait, wait… and hope for the future. Why? Because Hashem has placed this upon him. This is not happenstance. The comfort offered here is that this isn't something random, it is by Hashem's will. That's how Rashi explains it. In this context, the word וְיִדֹּם means " to wait ." He even brings a source in Shmuel, where the word יִּדֹּם means " to wait." But the Sefer Lechem Dim'ah offers a different explanation: יִּדֹּם means " to be silent." When someone is in a challenging situation, Yeshev Badad , he should remain silent. Like Aharon HaKohen, when, bar minan, he lost his 2 sons , it says , Vayidom Aharon/ And Aharon was silent. He didn't ask questions. And the Midrash says that Aharon was rewarded for his silence. That's how Lechem Dim'ah explains כִּי נָטַל עָלָ י- by quietly and silently accepting the suffering, the individual merits tremendous reward. The reward of accepting Hashem's will, even without understanding, through silence, כִּי נָטַל עָלָיו /he will be greatly rewarded. Another explanation from the Lechem Dim'ah , quoted in the past few days from Shmuel DeUzidah, citing his teacher — either the Arizal or Rav Chaim Vital — sees it differently. He says Yeshev Badad is not the challenge. The challenge is not that the man is sitting alone because he's suffering. Rather, it's the solution, the advice for how to deal with the challenge: יֵשֵׁב בָּדָד sit alone The word בָּדָד is related to hitbodedut / to contemplate , to think, to be in solitude. When a person is alone, the mind is free to think. And when he thinks, he can begin to process what's happening. So that's the advice: sit alone, and reflect. You can almost use the word " meditate ." Think deeply about your situation and how to respond. Rav Yonatan Eybeschutz offers one more explanation — a totally different one: Yoshev Badad is not referring to someone suffering. It's not advice for coping with challenges. It's words of comfort from the Torah, a vision of peace. It's connected to the Torah's words וַיִּשְׁכֹּן יִשְׂרָאֵל בֶּטַח בָּדָד עֵין יַעֲקֹב — "The Jewish people will dwell in safety, alone — like in the times of Yaakov Avinu." Alone, but protected. Not fearing the nations, not fearing wild animals. This is what will happen in the future. So Yeshev Badad is a promise: Don't worry about the past. The time is coming when Hakadosh Baruch Hu will take care of us וַיִּשְׁכֹּן יִשְׂרָאֵל בֶּטַח בָּדָד . Vayidom, wait, its coming., don't despair. נָטַל עָלָיו /and don't worry. We've already carried so much suffering, we've taken more than our share . So wait for that bright future of יֵשֵׁב בָּדָד . Also, in Ha'azinu , it says: ּ / Hashem will lead them alone ה' בָּדָד יַנְחֶנּו In this world, we were separated, mocked, and unaccepted by the nations. But in the future, because of that, we will be set apart —and no other nation will share in the reward that is coming to Am Yisrael. So this is a positive יֵשֵׁב בָּדָד. We will end with a Kabbalistic note, based on this understanding of Badad/being alone — and the verse ה' בָּדָד יַנְחֶנּוּ. We turn to the Ben Ish Chai, in his hakdamah to Parashat Ha'azinu, where he shares something deep: He explains that there are two names of Hashem: שַׁדַּי אֲדֹנָי When Adam HaRishon sinned, the verse uses the words: /The snake seduced me הַנָּחָשׁ הִשִּׁיאַנִי The word הִשִּׁיאַנִי /he'shiani/ seduced contains the words שַׁי and אֲנִי . What does that mean? The שַׁי left from the name שַׁדַּי is — only the ש and the י remain. The name אֲדֹנָי is left with just אֲנִי — the daled is gone from both names, and our Rabbis say that when you rearrange הִשִּׁיאַנִי , it can be read as יֵשׁ and אֲנִי — it's about " I " and what " I have." It becomes self-centered: I exist, I have — no mention of God. The snake made us focus on ourselves, not on Hashem. That's what knocked out the two daleds , and that's what has led to all our suffering. So how do we fix it? The Ben Ish Chai brings the verse: לִשְׁקֹד עַל דַּלְתוֹתַי יוֹם יוֹם "To to hasten to My doors every day." This simply means to rush to the Bet Midrash . The full pasuk in Mishlei 8:34 says: אַשְׁרֵי אָדָם שֹׁמֵעַ לִי, לִשְׁקֹד עַל דַּלְתוֹתַי יוֹם יוֹם, לִשְׁמֹר מְזוּזוֹת פְּתָחָי " Praiseworthy is the one who listens to Me, who rushes to My doors every day, guarding the doorposts of My entranceways." so this man is in shul every day. But the Ben Ish Chai reads this differently: לִשְׁקֹד עַל דַּלְתוֹתַי to constantly restore the daleds. He is consistently working to bring the daleds back. So it won't just be the name of יֵשׁ and אֲנִי . But rather, restoring Hashem's full names. Yesh Badad- the time will come when the two daleds will return to us . וְיִדֹּם — wait and hope for that day כִּי נָטַל עָלָיו — because we've suffered deeply since that first sin, and we are ready for that future, when Hashem will lead us alone / ה' בָּדָד יַנְחֶנּוּ

Welcome to our Daily B itachon . We're in chapter three of Eichah with words of chizuk from Yirmiyah HaNavi, and we are up to pasuk כ"ז: "טוֹב לַגֶּבֶר כִּי יִשָּׂא עוֹל בִּנְעוּרָיו" It is good for a man when he carries a yoke when he is still young. What exactly does that mean? On a simple level, it means start carrying the yoke when you're younger. What yoke are we referring to? The sefer Lechem Dim'ah , which we quoted yesterday from Rabbi Yuzida, says in the name of his teacher—whom we said is either the Arizal or Rabbi Chaim Vital—that yemei ne'urim : the days of our youth, refer to this world , because this is the earlier stage of our life period, the first 120 years. But we're going to live for 120,000 years . So yemei ziknah , the days of old age, refer to Olam HaBa , because they come toward the end. And therefore, it says it's good for a person to carry the yoke. What yoke? The yoke we've been talking about in the past few pesukim , and these are words of chizuk : the yoke of yissurim —the yoke of suffering , the yoke of life's challenges. So the words of chizuk that the Navi tells us is: You're still young. You have a whole life to live. What do you mean, a whole life? I'm 120 years old—is that young? Yes—you have a whole life to live. And it's good to go through this difficult training when you're young, so that way, you'll have a much better meal when you're older. You'll enjoy your old age. Enjoy your golden years. You say, " My golden years?" Yes— your golden years. The golden years start after 120 . So that's what it means: "טוֹב לַגֶּבֶר כִּי יִשָּׂא עוֹל בִּנְעוּרָיו" It is good for a man when he carries a yoke when he is still young. The sefer Kin'at Setarim , from another great rabbi of yesteryear, says: what does it mean, tov la'gever ki yisa ol b'ne'urav ? He reads it as: it's good for a person to carry the yoke of yissurim because of what he did when he was younger . That means, right now, you're in a good place. But the rule is: "אֵין צַדִּיק בָּאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר יַעֲשֶׂה טוֹב וְלֹא יֶחֱטָא" " There is no righteous person on earth who does good and does not sin." You might be on a good track now, but let's go back to when you were 20, 30 and 40. We don't like to remember the things we did when we were younger. And therefore: " טוֹב לַגֶּבֶר כִּי יִשָּׂא עוֹל" It's good to carry the yoke, to cleanse yourself for what you did in your youth. Again, the theme is to give chizuk to the person who's suffering now. The Chatam Sofer explains, similar to our first explanation, why does David HaMelech say (118:21) " אוֹדְךָ כִּי עֲנִיתָנִי" "I praise You for afflicting me." "וַתְּהִי לִי לִישׁוּעָה" "And You were to me for salvation ." He explains , I thank You right away when You pain me, because I know in the end, it's going to be salvation. What's the salvation? Our pasuk : It's good to carry the yoke when you're young—in this world—in order to have a happy ending in the next world. One last point on this pasuk from the Yedei Moshe of Rabbi Moshe Almosnino: We've been talking about savlanut / patience , and of yissurim , to tolerate the difficulties and challenges of life. And we said that's a great level—to be able to patiently wait and tolerate the difficulties, and hope for Hashem's yeshuah . But how do you get there? How are you able to have that trait of tolerating and waiting? He says that it starts from when you're young : "טוֹב לַגֶּבֶר כִּי יִשָּׂא עוֹל בִּנְעוּרָיו" You have to start training yourself when you're younger. If a person gets used to always having all his problems taken care of, and instant gratification, and he is never able to tolerate an uncomfortable situation, then he's not going to be able to later in life. It's almost as if he's giving us chinuch advice , to train ourselves, and train our children when they're younger, to tolerate. Tolerate might mean tolerating a little bit of cold. Tolerate a little heat. We want everything to always be just right and just perfect. But that's not good for man. Man needs to build up his resistance , and be able to tolerate uncomfortable situations. That's why we don't love the " helicopter mom ," or the " snowplow mom "— one that hovers above or smooths the road out for her children and doesn't allow them to suffer and tolerate inconveniences. Because in life, Mom is not always going to be there to plow the road for him . Wonderful lessons from this wonderful pasuk : "טוֹב לַגֶּבֶר כִּי יִשָּׂא עוֹל בִּנְעוּרָיו" Either: It's good for you to carry the yoke when you're young in this world , in order to have a good ending in the next world, or It's good to carry the difficulties now to forgive the sins of the youth, or Lastly: start your training and tolerating when you're young.

Welcome to Daily Bitachon . We are now in the pesukim of Eicha that bring us chizuk and we are in perek ג , pasuk כה טוֹב ה' לְקוֹוָיו לְנֶפֶשׁ תִּדְרְשֶׁנּוּ Hashem is good to those who trust in Him, to the soul that seeks Him." All the commentaries are bothered by the same question. The pasuk starts off in the plural טוֹב ה' לְקוֹוָיו/ Hashem is good to those who trust in Him — but ends off in the singular לְנֶפֶשׁ תִּדְרְשֶׁנּוּ/ to the soul that seeks Him. Why the contrast? The Chida , in his sefer Nachal Eshkol on Eicha , cites a similar question found in a pasuk in Shemot , Parashat Mishpatim 23:25, which says, " וַעֲבַד ְתֶּם אֵת ה' אֱלֹקֵיכֶם, וּבֵרַךְ אֶת לַחְמ ְךָ וְאֶת מֵימֶ יךָ " "Serve Hashem your God, and He will bless your bread and your water." Here again, we see a similar pattern. וַעֲבַדְתֶּם is plural but לַחְמְךָ וּמֵימֶיךָ/ your bread and your water is singular. (This contrast is unique to Hebrew, where " your " can appear in both plural and singular forms) And the question here too is, why the change? The Chida answers that when it comes to the service of Hashem (as in the pasuk in Mishpatim ), everyone goes to shul and everyone prays. So the pasuk begins in plural וַעֲבַדְתֶּם But among those are all kinds of people. Some pray with deep kavanah , others may pray with less kavanah — going through the motions without as much heart. So, yes, the community shows up — hence the plural. But because each person's prayer is unique, so too is their reward. That's why the verse shifts to the singular when discussing the blessing of bread and water- because each individual's reward is tailored to their personal service. Similarly, in our pasuk in Eicha regarding bitachon : טוֹב ה' לְקוֹוָיו" Of course, Hashem is good to all who hope in Him. Many people hope to Him, but " לְנֶפֶשׁ תִּדְרְשֶׁנּוּ To the individual person as he has searched out This is a critical word: תִּדְרְשֶׁנּוּ . It appears often during the High Holiday season, especially the Aseret Yemei Teshuvah , as it says, דִּרְשׁוּ ה' בְּהִמָּצְאוֹ Search for Hashem when He can be found Am I really searching for Hashem ? Am I truly looking for Him? (The word תִּדְרְשֶׁנּוּ is connected to the idea of a derashah like mi drash im or a drash , and to be doresh means to delve deeply, to search in depth) Hashem is good to the masses, yes. But when it comes to God's reward, each individual's bitachon is evaluated on its own. It's not a one-size-fits-all system where simply being a Baal bitachon automatically earns you a reward. You're not entered in a " bitachon club" that grants access to a special reward room. No. There is a a general goodness for those who hope טוֹב ה' לְקוֹוָיו But לְנֶפֶשׁ תִּדְרְשֶׁנּ וּ , the specific measure is based on the personal searching , and the depth of one's bitachon . With this, we can understand the juxtaposition of pesukim in Yirmiyah (who is also the author of Eicha). In perek 17 of Yirmiyah , which happens to be the Haftarah for Parashat Bechukotai , it says: "בָּרוּךְ הַגֶּבֶר אֲשֶׁר יִבְטַח בַּה', וְהָיָה ה' מִבְטַחוֹ" " Blessed is the man who trusts in Hashem, and Hashem will be his security." Right after speaking about bitachon , it says: "עָקֹב הַלֵּב מִכֹּל, וְאָנֻשׁ הוּא — מִי יֵדָעֶנּוּ?" " The heart is more deceitful than anything, and it's fragile — who can know it?" " אֲנִי ה' חוֹקֵר לֵב, בֹּחֵן כְּלָיוֹת, וְלָתֵת לְאִישׁ כִּדְרָכָיו, כְּפִרְי מַעַלְלָיו" "I, Hashem, probe the heart, examine the innermost thoughts, and give to each person according to their ways, according to the fruit of their deeds." Mar"i Kra ( one of the rishonim) explains: What are these " deeds " for which we are rewarded? It is the level of bitachon . Hashem says, The heart is fragile. Only I truly know what a person's bitachon is. So yes, טוֹב ה' לְקוֹוָיו / Hashem is good to all who hope in Him, in general. But the deeper levels of the human heart, only Hashem knows. And the reward for bitachon matches the depth of that bitachon , the נֶפֶשׁ תִּדְרְשֶׁנּוּ.

Welcome to daily Bitachon. We continue with our lessons of Chizuk from Eicha , 3,25-26 טוֹב יְהוָה לְקוָוֹ לְנֶפֶשׁ תִּדְרְשֶׁנּוּ: Hashem is good to those who hope to Him. To the soul that seeks Him. (כו) טוֹב וְיָחִיל וְדוּמָם לִתְשׁוּעַת יְהוָה: It is good to hope silently for Hashem's salvation. The Sefer Yedei Moshe brings out a beautiful point. He says that after the Navi spoke about all of the hope and hizuk of previous pesukim, as we said, Yet this I bear in mind, therefore I still hope. Hashem's kindness surely has not ended, nor has his mercy exhausted. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. Hashem is my portion, says my soul. Therefore, I have hope in him. After all of that, there's a little caveat. And that is, Tov Hashem lekovav./He's good to those that hope to Him, Which means that although Hashem is full of goodness, it comes to the one who hopes to him, to the soul that searches for Him. Like it says in Tehilim 33,18 הִנֵּ֤ה עֵ֣ין יְ֭הֹוָה אֶל־יְרֵאָ֑יו לַֽמְיַחֲלִ֥ים לְחַסְדּֽוֹ׃ / Behold the eye of Hashem is on those who fear Him. Upon those who await His kindness. We need this trait of Yechul This is the term that Yirmiyah keeps on using. זֹ֛את אָשִׁ֥יב אֶל־לִבִּ֖י עַל־כֵּ֥ן אוֹחִֽיל ׃ חֶלְקִ֤י יְהֹוָה֙ אָמְרָ֣ה נַפְשִׁ֔י עַל־כֵּ֖ן אוֹחִ֥יל לֽוֹ׃ So of course Hashem supervises everybody, but His goodness and His bounty comes to one that prepares himself for that goodness by hoping towards Him. And there's another bit of a condition here. The pasuk says ט֤וֹב וְיָחִיל֙ וְדוּמָ֔ם לִתְשׁוּעַ֖ת יְהֹוָֽה׃ Tov V'Yachil V'Dumam . Dumam like domem , as in Vayidom Aharon, means the one that sits silently. This term, Aharon was silent, came after a great tragedy struck, with the passing of his two children bar minan. This means that a person that hopes to Hashem's goodness is also capable of being Sovel yissurim M'Ahava/ tolerating his suffering with love. Because if you're someone that only hopes for the good, and when the bad comes, you kick and you curse, heaven forbid, that is not a person who is on this level of hoping for Hashem's goodness. We need, the dumam , which he says means to be quiet , and not get angry or scream when something Chas ve Shalom goes wrong. This trait of savlanut , to be able to tolerate and carry a load, is necessary, he says, to tolerate a difficult challenge. And adds that a savalan is an Anav , which includes all great traits. Moshe Rabbenu was called Anav mikol adam. And when the term Anav is used, Rashi says it means he's a savalan . When was Moshe called an Anav ? When he was being accused by his brother and sister of not acting properly. He tolerated the insult, so to say. He was a Savlan . And as we said, the Savlan is a humble person. That means understanding that I don't always understand. People often use the term I humbly disagree . Well, when it comes to us and God, we don't humbly disagree . We humbly agree that we have to humble ourselves and agree to how God is dealing with us. So of course, we all hope for the good. But while going through a challenging time, how are we acting? A necessary component, he says, of the hoping for the good is to be a savlan , which means being patient . Savlan means to tolerate and Savlanut means patience . We have to be patient and wait for Hashem's salvation. It's coming. One of the challenges that people have when it comes to bitachon is that we live in an instant gratification society. I want instant answers from God. I don't want to wait. Give it to me now . But no, sorry. Waiting is part of the process. Patience is part of the process. And that's the added condition that the Navi is telling us with these two Pesukim . All the goodness is Le Kovav . But what is the Kovav ? The dumam , the trait of being silent . And sometimes we just have to suffer silently, bar minan, but realizing that with the hope, we will pull out of us. That's the prophet Yirmiyah's message for our Galut in general and for every individual's challenges.

Welcome to Daily Bitachon . We continue with pesukim of chizuk that are given in Megillat Eicha . We're now in Perek ג , Pasuk 24 : חֶלְקִי ה׳ אָמְרָה נַפְשִׁי, עַל־כֵּן אוֹחִיל לוֹ . Hashem is my portion says my soul, therefore I hope in Him. The Sefer Yedei Moshe points out something interesting. In the original words of Yirmiyahu when he speaks of hope, he says: זֹא ת אָשִׁיב אֶל־לִבִּי, עַל־כֵּן אוֹחִיל "Yet this I bear in mind, therefore I still hope." But in our current pasuk it says: עַל־כֵּן אוֹחִיל לוֹ *"Therefore, I hope * to Him." Why the difference? Why does the first phrase say simply "I hope," and the second say, "I hope in Him "? The Yedei Moshe , if you remember, pointed out that the term ochil means not only " I hope for the future, " but also "I hope for a future that actually turns around the past." We gave the mashal of a man whose building was destroyed by a missile, and then the government came and rebuilt it—even better than before. In the original hope mentioned earlier— חַסְדֵי ה׳ כִּי לֹא תָמְנוּ —the Yedei Moshe explains that Yirmiyah was referring to physical hope : hope in the face of physical difficulties and challenges that can be reversed and transformed. But now, in this pasuk , we're talking about spiritual challenges . No matter the negativity that occurred in the past, I can now reconnect to Hashem in a way that restores me—not only to where I was, but to something even greater . That's why this time it says: עַל־כֵּן אוֹחִיל לוֹ " Therefore, I hope in Him ." This expresses my hope that I can reconstruct the relationship I once had with Hashem—only deeper, more complete. And why is that? Because: חֶלְקִי ה ׳ / My portion is Hashem What does that mean? It means my neshama is a chelek Eloka mi-ma'al —a piece of Hashem above. I am inherently connected to Hashem. And because of that deep connection, it's always possible—and even natural—to return. Although it may be hard to imagine how a destroyed home, building, or life can be rebuilt—when it comes to spiritual failure , that spiritual lapse can indeed be reconstructed and rejuvenated . There's a lot of depth to this piece. The sefarim HaKadoshim tell us—particularly the Nefesh HaChaim in his first section—that the neshama has many parts. Some parts are within the body, and others are above us. We have five levels of the soul: Nefesh, Ruach, Neshama, Chaya, and Yechidah. Nefesh – the nefesh habehemit , the animal soul, the instinctual side of us—fight or flight, physical drives. Ruach – located in the heart, representing emotion. Neshama – in the brain, representing intellect. Chaya – soul that's above us, a that constantly feeds us inspiration from beyond. Yechidah – the highest part of the soul, rooted directly in Hashem. At that highest level, there is only One . Yechidah , from the word yachid —one, indivisible. Of course, Hashem is always One, but at that level, we recognize it clearly. There's no illusion, no separation. We're plugged in to absolute truth. And that's the source of all teshuvah —rejuvenation flows from this untouched, pristine connection that is never severed. Rav Wolbe explains that our five tefillot of Yom Kippur correspond to these five levels of the soul: Maariv Shacharit Mussaf Minchah And finally: Ne'ilah At Ne'ilah , we reach that final level— חֶלְקִי ה׳ אָמְרָה נַפְשִׁי /I realize my soul is rooted in HaKadosh Baruch Hu . That's the moment when true teshuvah happens. A place where sin cannot touch. A place where spiritual renewal is not only possible—but inevitable. And that is the deep hope that Yirmiyah speaks of in our pasuk —not just a hope for physical renewal , but a hope for spiritual return . The first time: זֹאת אָשִׁיב אֶל־לִבִּי עַל־כֵּן אוֹחִיל This I bear in mind—therefore I hope. The second time: חֶלְקִי ה׳ אָמְרָה נַפְשִׁי עַל־כֵּן אוֹחִיל לוֹ Hashem is my portion, says my soul—therefore I hope in Him . And the Yedei Moshe ends this beautiful idea by saying: והוא דקדוק נכון – This is a precise and meaningful nuance (between these two pesukim).

Welcome to Daily Bitachon . We're continuing in the pesukim of chizuk from Eicha, chapter 3. We're now up to the pasuk that says: חדשים לבקרים רבה אמונתך / They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. This is the source for the Modeh Ani prayer we say each morning, which ends with the words Rabbah Emunatecha /Great is Your faithfulness. Every morning we get up and we're refreshed. We are, as the pasuk says, chadashim labekarim /new every morning . That's why, when we say Modeh Ani lefanecha , we end with the words Rabbah Emunatecha / Your faithfulness is great, that You gave me back my soul in the morning. But what does this have to do with our story of hope after despair, which has been the theme of the pesukim we've been studying? The sefer Yedei Moshe shares two very beautiful thoughts. The first one is that, Yes, Hashem has tremendous kindness and mercy — that's what we saw in the last pasuk . But there's a problem: A person must prepare himself to receive Hashem's chesed . Hashem has endless ability to give, but what's the value of hope in His kindness if I'm not a kli /a vessel , able to receive it? The Yedei Moshe answers: My emunah in Hashem's kindness is so great that I believe He will also give me what I need to become that vessel! He'll create the vessel if it doesn't already exist. It's like an overly generous person who not only pours you a glass of wine, but also gives you the glass itself. That's what Hashem does. And that's the meaning of: חדשים לבקרים רבה אמונתך Hashem, we understand that You create chadashim labekarim/ something new every single morning, and that's why I hope in You: Because I know that not only will You give me what I need, You'll create the very capacity within me to receive it. That means I myself am the receptacle. I need to become someone who can receive goodness. Rav Wolbe used to say: Everything — even spiritual matters — needs a utensil Just like physical things need utensils, spiritual things do too. Even when you're growing in ruchniyut / spiritual matters , you need the right vessel to hold it. One example of such a utensil is hakarat hatov /gratitude. When someone recognizes Hashem's goodness, that very awareness becomes a vessel to receive even more goodness. The Sefer HaChinuch speaks about this often. That's why, in parashat Ki Tavo , Hashem commands us to bring bikkurim , in order to demonstrate gratitude, so that He can give us more. According to this idea, if Hashem wants to give someone a blessing, but that person doesn't yet have the vessel of gratitude, Hashem might first send them to a class in hakarat hatov — to shape them into someone who is gracious. Hashem has no limit in how He prepares us to receive His goodness. That's one point of the pasuk . Another idea the Yedei Moshe shares is that when a human being does kindness, it's something above his essence. He is who he is, and he chooses to act with kindness. The same is true for the recipient — he exists whether or not he receives that act of kindness. So, the kindness is not essential to the giver or the recipient. But HaKadosh Baruch Hu is different. He performs constant chesed . What's His constant chesed ? Every single second, Hashem renews creation. Every second, He renews us . Every morning, we are renewed. It's a daily techiyat hameitim . If Hashem weren't constantly renewing us, we wouldn't exist. Hashem's kindness to us isn't extra; it's essential. It's not an appendage — it's the very essence of our relationship with God. We don't exist without Hashem's continuous chesed . And how do I know that Hashem's kindness never ends? Simple: I'm breathing. I got up this morning.That's the greatest proof. That is why, right after the Navi says "Hashem's kindness never ends" he follows it with the evidence: I woke up today. I said Modeh Ani this morning. That renewal, that chadashim labekarim , is the proof. According to this explanation, rabbah emunatecha means Our faith in You is great. Most interpret rabbah emunatecha as "God's faithfulness is great . But Yedei Moshe suggests it can also mean: Our ability to rely on You is great. Why? Because we have daily proof . Every single day, Hashem demonstrates His kindness. Waking up in the morning is the proof. It's like the famous question: "What have You done for me lately?" Well, what didn't Hashem do for you lately?Are you breathing? Did you wake up this morning? That's the chizuk that the prophet Yirmiyahah gives us in Eicha. You woke up this morning? That's the proof of: חסדי ה׳ כי לא תמנו / The kindness of Hashem never ends.

Welcome to Daily Bitachon . We are now in pesukim from Eicha that give us chizuk . In Perek 3, pasuk 22 it says, / חסדי ה׳ כי לא תמנו Hashem's kindness surely has not ended Nor are His mercies exhausted / כי לא כלו רחמיו This is the simple English translation. Now let's look at Rashi : חסדי ה׳ כי לא תמנ ו simply means, as we just said, that Hashem's kindness has not ended. But Rashi gives another explanation : חסדי ה׳ כי לא תמנו — you know what the kindness of Hashem is ? כי לא תמנו /that we have not perished. We are still here today . That's the chesed — that despite all our sins, Chasdei Hashem says: we're here. We are still surviving. The sefer Yedei Moshe looks back to the words just before Chasdei Hashem . We didn't mention it earlier, but Eicha is written according to the Alef - Bet . Chasdei Hashem ki lo tamnu is in the ח Chet verse. Before that, in zayin , it says: זכור תזכור ותשוח עלי נפשי / My soul remembers well and sinks within me The Yedei Moshe explains that this means he is in a state of despair / ye'ush . He has hit rock bottom. And then he turns around and says: זאת אשיב אל לבי/ This I bear in mind, על כן אוחיל / Therefore, I still have hope So here we are, listening to a Navi expressing on his behalf and on behalf of Klal Yisrael : " We're in a state of despair. What do I do at that point? What do I place upon my heart?" Yesterday, we explained the deeper meaning of zot ashiv el libi . Today, we'll go with the simple meaning: זאת אשיב אל לבי / You know what I'm going to set on my heart to pull me out of despair ?" חסדי ה׳ כי לא תמנו / The kindness of Hashem never ends This means even though I may have no hope, Hashem's chesed might suddenly come upon me in a wondrous way. And He will once again have mercy on me and pull me out of my problem . So what's the answer to despair? Hope for Hashem's kindness. Why? Because this kindness never ends. Why does it never end? כי לא כלו רחמיו / Because Hashem's mercy never ends And when He sees that we've reached such a low point that we have despaired — that's when His mercy kicks in. And from that mercy, the chesed begins again. That's when we remember: Have I hit rock bottom? Am I at my lowest point? Yes — but that's exactly when Hashem's mercy must respond. The Yedei Moshe adds another point. He explains the words of the pasuk : זאת אשיב אל לבי על כן אוחיל / This I bear in mind, therefore I still have hope And he explains: the word אוחיל ochil doesn't only mean "hope for the future." Ochil also means, in his words: tikkun hara'ot ve'hatzarot — that Hashem will fix all the difficulties and challenges. Hashem will bring upon us so much good in place of all those challenges, that everything will be fully repaired and we'll be completely comforted. That's what al ken ochil means: I hope for a complete reversal. I recently heard a story from Israel that illustrates this. A man had already been in contract to sell his apartment building when that the same building was struck by a missile. Baruch Hashem. The seller is happy but the buyer wanted to renege. And then — lo and behold — the government announced that the damage to that building was so severe, that they would rebuild it. Suddenly, this will be a brand-new apartment. Now the seller wants to renege, and the buyer is thrilled. So yes — a tzarah can come upon someone, a real physical tzarah , and the good that comes afterward replaces it with a tikkun and tremendous comfort and it might end up even better than it was before. That's what the Yedei Moshe says the Navi is thinking: Hashem's kindness and mercy are so never-ending — they'll carry me through and turn it all around. And this pasuk is extremely important because every day in Modim we say: הטוב כי לא כלו רחמיך God is good and His mercy never ends המרחם כי לא תמו חסד The Merciful One, because His kindness never ceases The Avudraham , whom we've quoted many times, finds the source for many of our tefillot in pesukim . After all, our tefillot are Torah she'be'al peh , and our pesukim are Torah she'bichtav . The source for this line that we say every single day in Modim is this very pasuk in Eichah : הטוב כי לא כלו רחמיך , המרחם כי לא תמו חסדיך . Chasdei Hashem ki lo tamnu chasdecha, ki lo calu rachamav — The words match up exactly. Hashem's kindness doesn't stop, and His mercy doesn't stop. That's our pasuk . And it beautifully ends with: כי לעולם קווינו לך / For we have hoped to You forever That's the secret of hope in our Modim . The secret of our hope is Hashem's kindness and mercy. Unbelievable — this pasuk of hope in Eicha is inserted right into our daily prayers! Wonder of wonders. As I said, these are the treasures we find when we explore the pesukim .

Welcome to Daily Bitachon . As many of our listeners know, I like delving into pesukim to see the beauty in them. They are full of treasures if you look into them. So, for the next two weeks, we're going to focus on some pesukim in Eicha . Eicha is, of course, a book of lamentations, but there are words of chizuk in chapter 3. We'll start with where it turns around: The prophet Yirmiyahu says זֹאת אָשִׁיב אֶל לִבִּי עַל כֵּן אוֹחִיל /This I bear in mind, therefore I will still hope. " The next pasuk says, חַסְדֵי ה׳ כִּי לֹא תָמְנוּ /Hashem's kindness surely has not ended; כִּי לֹא כָלוּ רַחֲמָיו , nor are His mercies exhausted. Simply speaking, what does the prophet bear in hope? זֹאת אָשִׁיב אֶל לִבִּ . What the next pasuk says: chasdei Hashem ki lo tamnu . And that's how Rashi explains it. So the pasuk , זֹאת אָשִׁיב אֶל לִבִּ is really just an introduction. What am I going to bear in mind that will give me hope? Chasdei Hashem —the kindness of Hashem. The Chida , in his sefer Nachal Eshkol on Eicha , quotes the Zohar , and we'll see in a moment that we don't even need a Zohar ; we can go to the simple Midrash Rabbah for a similar approach. We'll start with the Chida , who says the word זאת refers to the Shechina, as it says: וְאַף גַּם זֹאת בִּהְיוֹתָם בְּאֶרֶץ אֹיְבֵיהֶם —but despite all of this, biheyotam b'eretz oyeveihem / they will in the land of their enemies: לֹא מְאַסְתִּים / I have not been revolted by them; וְלֹא גְעַלְתִּים /nor have I rejected them לְכַלֹּתָם /to utterly obliterate them לְהָפֵר בְּרִיתִי אִתָּם / to annul My covenant with them. Ki ani Hashem Elokeihem /I am Hashem, their God . So, the word zot here simply means af gam zot /besides all of this, etc., etc. Which means, despite all that we're hearing about— this is the end of the tochachah in Bechukotai —despite all of this, the Shechina will still be with us. And that's why we will not be destroyed. Hashem has not revolted against us. The Shechinah is always with us. In the Chida 's words: ze tokef habitachon shelanu —this is the power of our reliance. Ya'aseh lemaan Shemo —God will do it for His name. Like we say every day in the Amida lemaan Shemo b'ahavah . And therefore, when the Shechina goes out from galut —and surely, eventually, the Shechina will come out of galut —God's name will be revealed. We're going to go out with Him. Imo netzeh min ha'galut . And this is important. We cannot stress this enough: on Rosh Hashanah when we're praying for Hashem's name to be revealed. People often struggle with this, " What about me?" But what we don't understand is—that is you. If God's going to take us out lemaan Shemo —for His name —then if we pray for His name to be revealed, then we're going to go along. We're going to tag along in that revelation. So that's the power of zot . Zot refers to the Shechina . We can point to it. Like ba'avur zeh — zeh is masculine and zot is feminine. Zot is something you can point to. Zeh E-li ve-anveihu —for this, zeh , I'm pointing to the Shechina Zot , I'm pointing to the Shechina . Zot ashev el libi . This— this fact that the Shechina is with me —that's enough. Al kein ochil —that's why I'm going to have hope . I don't even have to go on to the next pasuk of chasdei Hashem . This pasuk in itself is a chizuk . Zot —the fact that the Shechina is with us. Imo anochi b'tzarah —God is with us in our pain. The Midrash Rabbah in Eichah 3:7 says a beautiful mashal on this pasuk : There was a king who married a princess, and he wrote a beautiful ketubah —a marriage contract. And he said, " Such-and-such amount of canopy, I'm going to make for you, such-and-such amount of beautiful drapery I'm going to make for you. " And after all those promises of the beautiful palace and dream home they'd live in—he left and went on a trip overseas. And he delayed. Her friends came and taunted her, saying, " The king has left you. He went off far away. He's never coming back. " And she would cry and groan. She would go into her house, take out the ketuba, and read it—all the promises. And then she would comfort herself. Eventually, the king came and said, " I'm amazed—how did you wait so long, all those years?" And she said, " My master, the king—if not for that ketubah that you wrote me, I would have been long lost from the taunting of my neighbors." And so too, the goyim are taunting us, saying, " God has hidden His face from you. His Shechina has left you. He's not coming back." And we cry, and we groan. But when we go into the shuls and the Bet Midrash , and we read the Torah , and we read what it says there—all those promises—we are comforted. And when the Ge'ulah comes, HaKadosh Baruch Hu will say to us, " My children, I'm amazed—how have you waited so long?" And we will say, " If not for Your Torah that You gave us, we would have been long lost." And that's what it means: zot ashev el libi . You know what keeps me going? This zot . Ve-ein zot ela Torah —and zot refers to the Torah . As they say: vezot haTorah — when the Torah is taken out, we say vezot haTorah . Vezot . Is this Zohar arguing with the Midrash ? Of course not. The Torah and the Shechina are one and the same. Orayta v'Kudsha Brich Hu chad hu —the Torah and HaKadosh Baruch Hu are one. The Torah is the will of God. So what keeps us going is knowing the Shechina is with us. What keeps us going is knowing that the Torah is with us. And as David HaMelech says: lulei Toratecha sha'ashu'ai, az avadeti b'onyi —if not for Your Torah , which was my delight, I would have been lost in my suffering. That's what gives us our hope. That's our first pasuk in Eicha —a pasuk of hope. What's the hope? Just the fact: zot —I have the zot . I have the Torah , I have the Shechinah . I might not see it—but it's here with me. Imo anochi b'tzarah /God is with us in our difficulty . And that's what gives us our Hizzuk.

Welcome to Daily Bitachon Another important Three Weeks concept that comes out of a pasuk that we mentioned in earlier this week: In Tehillim chapter 90 it says, שַׂמְּחֵנוּ כִּימֵות עִנִּיתָנוּ, שְׁנוֹת רָאִינוּ רָעָה . " Make us happy like the days that You pained us, the years we saw evil." What does " the years that we saw evil" mean? Why doesn't it just say " the evil years ? What did we see that was evil? The Imrei Emet teaches us an important principle from this. The Imrei Emet was the Gerrer Rebbe who survived the Holocaust, There was another great Rebbe who also went through the Holocaust, and they were giving each other chizuk . As the story goes, the Imrei Emet quoted the following pasuk that talks about the Chet HaEgel , the sin of the golden calf, which is actually the beginning of the Three Weeks. Moshe Rabbenu says: וָאֵרֶא, וְהִנֵּה חֲטָאתֶם לַה' אֱלֹקֵיכֶם; עֲשִׂיתֶם לָכֶם עֵגֶל מַסֵּכָה, סַרְתֶּם מַהֵר מִן הַדֶּרֶךְ אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה ה' וָאֶתְפּוֹשׂ בִּשְׁנֵי הַלֻּחוֹת, וָאַשְׁלִכֵם מֵעַל שְׁתֵּי יָדָי; וָאֲשַׁבְּרֵם לְעֵינֵיכֶם. And I saw you sinned against your God. You made a golden molten calf. You left the path fast that God commanded you. I grabbed the two luchot , and I threw them from my two hands, and I broke them le'eineichem —to your eyes." Why does it say, "I broke them to your eyes "? Why not just, I broke them. Why say "to your eyes"? Simply speaking, it means I broke them in front of you. I wanted you to see me breaking them. But the Imrei Emet explains based on another pasuk that uses the same words: le'eineihem /to their eyes. When Yosef HaTzaddik meets his brothers, of course they don't recognize him; he's incognito. He decides to take Shimon as a captive to ensure they bring back their younger brother. The pasuk says: וַיִּקַּח מֵאִתָּם אֶת שִׁמְעוֹן, וַיֶּאֱסֹר אֹתוֹ לְעֵינֵיהֶם. He took Shimon, and he tied him up le'eineihem /to their eyes." Why did he tie him up to their eyes ? Rashi says there that is says he tied him up in front of their eyes because once they left, he wined and dined him and treated him very nicely. So too, he says, that when Moshe Rabbenu broke the luchot , it was le'eineichem /to your eyes. The luchot didn't really break. The Midrash tells us that when the Jews sinned the sin of the golden calf, the letters of the luchot flew off— otiot parchot ba'avir /the letters flew into the air . There were no luchot anymore. So it looked like he broke the luchot . But the luchot were already gone. They weren't luchot anymore. This is similar to when the Bet HaMikdash that was destroyed. The Gemara says that a heavenly echo came out when an enemy destroyed the Bet HaMikdash and declared: K'macha techina tachanta —"You ground flour that was already ground." You didn't do anything—it was already destroyed. And he says: le'eineihem —to their eyes. When we see things happen in this world, it's to our eyes . Rav Schwab spoke at the Ninth Siyum HaShas , which was held to commemorate the one million children killed in the Holocaust. He told the story of a little boy. He was a good little boy. He was walking with his father to his death. And he asked his father: " Father, I was a good boy. I learned well in school. What's going on here? Why is this happening?" And then the Nazi shoots him, and that's it—he leaves this world. We see that and say: What a tragedy. What a travesty of justice! But he says: If we look on the other side—we see Hashem scooping this little boy into His arms. He says: " Come with Me, little boy. Come to My yeshiva . Sit down in the yeshiva shel ma'alah . I teach the young, pure children. Come join My yeshiva ." To our eyes is one thing. But what's really happening is another thing. So that's why we don't call these years "the evil years," but rather, the years that we saw evil . We're in this world—the world where we don't say hatov v'hametiv on all events. We say Dayan HaEmet . But in the future, we're going to say on everything: hatov v'hametiv . Today, it's not Hashem echad u'shmo echad . It's two different outlooks. Part of our job is to realize the concept that although we can't realize it on a sensual level, we can appreciate it on an intellectual level. We can understand this concept of le'eineihem —to your eyes. As we said, that's the opening of the Three Weeks. The tragedy of the breaking of the luchot , which starts the Three Weeks off, in essence, didn't really happen.The luchot never broke. It just looked like it.