Living Emunah

Learn emunah and bitachon daily with Rabbi David Ashear

Learn emunah and bitachon daily with Rabbi David Ashear

Learn emunah and bitachon daily with Rabbi David Ashear

Learn emunah and bitachon daily with Rabbi David Ashear

Part of the mitzvah of honoring Hashem is honoring the people He created in His image. Imagine a man speaking words of praise to a king, while at the same time spitting on a picture of that very king. That is what it is like when a person dishonors others—it is a direct lack of respect toward Hashem Himself. We are currently mourning the deaths of Rabbi Akiva's 24,000 students, and the question is striking: how could such great Torah scholars have lacked proper respect for one another? The Chafetz Chaim makes an eye-opening observation. Rabbi Akiva taught: ואהבת לרעך כמוך זה כלל גדול בתורה —a person must love his fellow as himself. This mitzvah means we must treat others the way we want to be treated. The students of Rabbi Akiva were working on humility. They did not seek honor for themselves, and they minimized physicality. As a result, they did not feel the need to give honor to others either. They misunderstood that true humility does not mean withholding honor—it means elevating others. Rabbi Akiva's teacher, Rabbi Eliezer HaGadol, taught: יהי כבוד חברך חביב עליך כשלך —a person should value his friend's honor like his own. But after the tragedy, Rabbi Akiva taught his new students with a deeper emphasis: a person must treat his friend even better than himself. From this came the teaching: יהי כבוד חברך כמורא רבך ומורא רבך כמורא שמים —one should honor his friend as he fears his rabbi, and fear his rabbi as he fears Hashem. This means that honoring another person is, in essence, an expression of honoring Hashem. Rabbi Akiva himself later said: חביב אדם שנברא בצלם —man is beloved because he was created in the image of Hashem. If a person would pass us on the street and we ignored him, and then someone told us that this was the top student of the Gadol Hador, we would likely run back to greet him properly. The truth is, we should feel that way about every person, because each one carries the image of Hashem within him. Rabbi Yerucham Levovitz made a remarkable observation from the following halachah. During Keriat Shema, when we are praising Hashem, we are not allowed to even gesture or signal with our hands—even for the sake of a mitzvah. Imagine a case where someone walks into the shul during Shema selling etrogim, and if we do not signal to him to wait, no one in that shul will have an etrog for Sukkot. Even then, we are not allowed to make a gesture. And yet, if someone greets us and would be offended if we do not respond, we are permitted to answer him. What do we see from here? That honoring another person is so significant that it takes precedence even at a moment when we are directly praising Hashem. It would be a contradiction to honor Hashem while causing embarrassment to one of His creations. When we give kavod to another person, we are giving kavod to Hashem. Pirkei Avot teaches: "Who is honored? One who honors others," and it brings the pasuk: כי מכבדי אכבד —those who honor Me, I will honor them. The connection is clear: when a person honors others, it is considered as if he is honoring Hashem Himself. As we prepare for Matan Torah and the upcoming חג of Shavuot, we remember that the Torah was given when the Jewish people stood in unity. Now is the time to strengthen ourselves in giving honor and respect to others. We must recognize that every person is deserving of dignity. When we honor others, we are honoring Hashem—and in turn, Hashem will honor us.

The Torah tells us again and again that Hashem has separated us from the nations of the world to be His people. We have a different set of guidelines for how to live our lives, and we are meant to remain distinct, not influenced by foreign societies. At the end of Parashat Kedoshim, on the pasuk וָאַבְדִּל אֶתְכֶם מִן הָעַמִּים לִהְיוֹת לִי , Rashi brings from Chazal that Hashem says: when you separate yourselves from the nations, then you are Mine. We must recognize that we are a nation that is self-sufficient— הֶן עָם לְבָדָד יִשְׁכּוֹן וּבַגּוֹיִם לֹא יִתְחַשָּׁב . We do not need anyone's help in this world, because we have the One Who runs the world. Throughout history, we have often found ourselves surrounded by powerful nations, facing challenges that seemed impossible to overcome. Yet, time and again, we have seen that our survival, our success, and our redemption did not come from alliances or from human strength. They came only from Hashem. One of the criteria necessary to receive our final redemption is to know with clarity: אין לנו להישען אלא על אבינו שבשמים . We do not rely on any human being for help—only on Hashem. When a person feels that he needs a certain individual or a certain country to help him, he is lacking in this belief. History has shown us this lesson repeatedly. The Jewish people once lived in Egypt under the leadership of Yosef, who saved the entire country from famine and made it the wealthiest empire in the world. Pharaoh owed everything to him. And yet, the Torah tells us: ויקם מלך חדש אשר לא ידע את יוסף . A new king arose who forgot Yosef, and the slavery began. The same pattern repeated itself in Spain. Initially, the country was struggling, and the Jews helped elevate it with their wisdom and wealth, until that era became known as the Golden Age of Spain. The great Rabbi Yitchak Abarbanel served as Minister of Finance. The Jews were deeply connected and highly respected. Yet suddenly, everything turned. A new leadership arose that did not know Don Isaac Abarbanel, and on Tisha B'Av in 1492, a decree was issued: either renounce Judaism or be exiled. They expelled the Jews and confiscated their wealth. All of their connections did not help them in the slightest. Centuries later, the same thing happened in Germany. Jews were leaders in banking and deeply integrated into society. They felt secure and established—but that did not protect them when everything changed. It is true that Hashem sometimes uses messengers to help us. But we must remember that this is all they are—messengers. If a person feels that he needs a specific individual in order to succeed, then he is placing his reliance in the wrong place. When someone says, "We must accomplish as much as possible while this leader is still in power, or else we will be in trouble," that is placing trust in a human being. Hashem alone takes care of us. He can use whoever He wants as His messenger, or He can accomplish everything without any intermediary. We must never feel dependent on any person. We are a nation unto ourselves. ה׳ אִישׁ מִלְחָמָה , and אֵלֶּה בָרֶכֶב וְאֵלֶּה בַסּוּסִים וַאֲנַחְנוּ בְּשֵׁם ה׳ אֱלֹקֵינוּ נַזְכִּיר . How fortunate we are to have Hashem with us. We are on the winning side. We know the future. We know the glory that awaits us. Our task is to do our part and to feel that we already have everything we need, because we have HaKadosh Baruch Hu. He is our Savior. He is our King. He is our Father. The more we rely on Him, the closer we come to bringing the Geulah.

How fortunate we are to be the children of Hashem. He is there to help us twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, and He loves each and every one of us more than a parent could ever love a child. We should feel proud to merit being the ones who follow His Torah. The pasuk says: כִּי הִיא חָכְמַתְכֶם וּבִינַתְכֶם לְעֵינֵי הָעַמִּים . When we live our lives according to the Torah, we are showing the world what true wisdom is. The Torah makes us a nation of kings and queens, and it is our greatest privilege to serve Hashem. Therefore, we should never be embarrassed to follow any mitzvah. If a gentile buyer asks a person to go to a non-kosher establishment, he should not say, "I'm not in the mood for that kind of food right now." Rather, he should say, "I'm sure the food is great, but my religion only permits me to eat in kosher establishments." If an executive asks for a meeting at a time that would cause a person to miss his set time for learning Torah, he should not be embarrassed to say, "I set aside time every day to learn and cannot miss it." All success comes from Hashem, and when we stand up for His honor and follow His Torah, He sends His blessings. The pessukim tell us about Daniel, who was taken as a young man to serve in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar. An official in charge told him he had to eat the finest foods from the royal table—rich meat and wine—so that he would appear strong and refined for service. Daniel said he wanted only grains and water, for kashrut reasons. The official explained that he would get in trouble if Daniel did not look robust like the other servants. Daniel suggested a ten-day test: give him grains and water and compare him to the others. At the end of the ten days, Daniel looked healthier, stronger, and more vibrant than the servants who ate the king's finest delicacies. Health and appearance come from Hashem, and He is the only One who needs to be impressed. Chazal tell us that because Daniel kept kashrut under duress, he merited protection later, even when he was thrown into the lion's den. Anyone who knows who the real Boss is will never compromise any level of Torah for any reason, especially in business. On the contrary, he will keep Torah even more carefully, knowing that success comes only from Hashem. Once a year, the largest retailer in the world, Walmart, holds a massive gathering for its top 1,500 suppliers, including Apple, General Mills, Frito-Lay, Procter & Gamble, and many more. They give awards for the best suppliers in each category, culminating in the Vendor of the Year award. At the last gathering, there were many Jews in attendance but an overwhelming majority of gentiles. The top award went to a religious Jew who keeps all halachot meticulously. On stage were many executives, including women, who normally extend their hands to congratulate winners—but in this case, they were instructed by the executive vice president to respect his religion and not do so. When he spoke, he did not praise his product or his skill. Instead, he said, "I attribute all of our company's success to the One Above." Later, other gentile vendors expressed how impressed they were that he publicly recognized G-d. This man does not own a smartphone. He appeared on that stage with a full Omer beard and does not compromise his Torah learning for work. Over the decades, many people have felt pressure to compromise standards to impress companies like Walmart—but this is unnecessary. Companies will respect Torah principles. In this instance, Walmart was more concerned with respecting his religion than he was with impressing them. All success comes from Hashem. If we are proud to be His people, we should also be proud to follow His Torah. True success comes not from pleasing people, but from standing strong in Hashem's Torah—He will make all things prosper.

The Chovot HaLevavot writes in Shaar HaBitachon, Perek Dalet, that a person must believe that his efforts in earning a parnassah do not in any way enable him to earn even one more penny than Hashem already decreed for him to have. He is only making the effort because that is what Hashem wants, and once he makes a reasonable effort, he has fulfilled that obligation. Therefore, if a person is earning a lot of money through the means that he chose to put his efforts in, it is not proper for him to think that it is the business that is bringing him success. Accordingly, it is incorrect for him to add more effort and more hours simply because he is seeing success in his business. For example, if a person is working a regular eight-hour day and earning a good livelihood, he should not say, "I will add a couple of more hours to my workday so I could earn even more money." That would be an act that shows he believes it is the means that are giving him success and not Hashem. If he already created a pipeline for Hashem to send the parnassah, he does not need to add more time to his regular workday to earn more. If Hashem decreed that he should earn more, He will send it through his existing efforts or from some other channel. And even if the person does put in more effort and sees that he is earning more money from it, that would not disprove anything the Chovot HaLevavot is teaching us. Hashem runs the world in a natural way, and if it makes sense naturally that working extra hours will produce more money, Hashem is not going to stop that. However, the person will still not earn even one more penny than Hashem already decreed for him. He may be taking the money earlier than it was supposed to come, or if it is not meant for him, he will lose it in some other way. A person can never gain by doing something that Hashem does not want him to do. I once heard a question. The Midrash says that when the Jewish people conquered and settled the land, they found all of the hidden treasures of the Emorim in the walls of the homes. How did they find them? If someone had tzaraat on his house, he would have to demolish the house, and then he would find the treasures. The question is: usually tzaraat comes from sin. Does that mean that a person profits by sinning? The answer is that Hashem decreed that those treasures were going to be given to His nation. If people had not sinned, they would have received those treasures in a much nicer way. For example, by simply banging a picture frame into the wall and discovering the jewels behind it. But if someone sinned and his house contracted tzaraat, he would only find the jewels after having to demolish his entire home. That is not a gain. Similarly, says the Chovot HaLevavot, if someone earns more money by doing something wrong, he must know that if it was meant for him, he would have received it in a much nicer way, with blessing attached to it, and his efforts would have brought him benefit in this world and the next. But now, by doing something wrong, he only lost out. He would have received that money anyway, but instead, he committed an aveirah, which will be negative for him. If a person wants to increase his parnassah, it will not come through extra effort beyond what is necessary. Rather, it can come through bitachon—by understanding that Hashem is the One providing. The bitachon that a person has is a tremendous zechut, which can bring him more blessing. We must never be fooled by the way things appear in the natural world. It may look like extra hours bring more money. It may look like doing something wrong brings more profit. But that is part of the test. Emunah means to see beyond what appears to be and to believe that Hashem is running the world. And when we follow His system, that is where all the blessing lies.

The pasuk says in the beginning of the second parashah this week קדושים תהיו , and Rashi writes, most of the body of the Torah is dependent on this commandment. The Mefarshim discuss, what is it about this mitzvah that is so intrinsic to the fulfillment of the Torah? The Imreh Yitzchak explains, the mitzvot were given to elevate and sanctify us, like we say קדשינו במצוותיך. But in order to attain kedusha from the mitzvot, we need to imbue the body of every mitzvah with a neshama and that neshama is the kavana that we put into them. In the words of the Ben Ish Hai in parashat Beha'alotecha , the entire tikun that is supposed to be brought out by each mitzvah cannot take place without us putting the kavanot into it, because a mitzvah without kavana is like a body without a soul. And this, explains the Imreh Yitzhak is one explanation of the words קדושים תהיו – we are supposed to become sanctified through the mitzvot and that requires us to think before we do each one of them, that we are doing them to fulfill the will of Hashem, and thereby connect ourselves to Him. And that is why this is so intrinsic to the fulfillment of the entire Torah. Rabbi Dessler writes, the future rewards of delighting in the radiance of the Shechina will come about through an extremely strong bond of connection to Hashem. Therefore, if one's mitzvot here are done with the desire to connect to Hashem, that is what is going to establish that great level of connection and enable Hashem, kavayachol , to reward the person with a connection that is many thousands of times greater than that. A little thought can elevate a person's Olam Hazeh and Olam Haba to unimaginable levels. Someone once asked Rav Shlomo Zalman Aurbach about the Mishnah which says, רצה הקב"ה לזכות את ישראל לפיכך הרבה להם תורה ומצוות – Hashem wanted to give merits to the Jewish People so He gave them an abundance of Torah and mitzvot. The man's question was, isn't more Torah and mitzvot seemingly more of a burden? The Rabbi answered, "There are so many mitzvot which involve actions that people are doing anyway, such as putting on their shoes in the morning. Hashem, in His infinite kindness, wanted to give us merits by turning all of those actions into mitzvot by attaching commandments to them, telling us to put on our shoes a certain way, right before left, just to give up more reward." Similarly, there are so many other actions that we do anyway. If we simply have in mind that we are performing a mitzvah when doing them, we will be rewarded for them. I received a sefer called Ka'asher Tziva Hashem , translated into English, written by Rabbi Daniel Garfinkel. The Rabbi opens our eyes, in this sefer , to countless mitzvot that we could fulfill just by having the correct thought process while we are doing them, namely because Hashem commanded us. For example, a young man hears the cries of his newborn baby in the middle of the night. He sees his wife is in a deep sleep and doesn't hear the baby. His initial reaction would be to call to his wife and wake her up. But suddenly, he realizes, putting the baby back to sleep would be a mitzvah from the Torah of gemilut chasadim to both his wife and the baby. He then gets up happily and thinks, לשם מצוות חסד כאשר ציווני ה' , and he goes to put the baby back to sleep, acquiring eternity. Washing one's face in the morning fulfills the mitzvah of kiddush Hashem, brushing one's teeth fulfills the mitzvah of ונשמרתם מאד לנפשותיכם , buying something from a fellow Jew fulfills the mitzvah of וכי תמכרו... , paying a worker fulfills the mitzvah of ביומו תתן שכרו . However, in order to get the proper credit and bring about the kedusha and connection that we want from these actions, we need to have the kavana that we are doing them to fulfill the will of Hashem. Someone who goes about his day having these intentions is living with Hashem on a constant basis. He remembers Hashem in everything he does and thereby establishes a very strong bond with Him. We are in this world to elevate ourselves and become kedoshim and connect ourselves with Hashem for all eternity. The more we can train ourselves to have the proper kavanot , the greater our connection will be. Shabbat Shalom.

There are times when a person feels lacking—something he needs that is very important to him. It may seem small in the grand scheme of things, yet at that moment it means everything. And then, in a way he could never have planned, Hashem provides that exact need at the perfect time. When that happens, a person feels more than ever that Hashem is not just running the world at large, but that He is caring for each individual in the most precise and detailed way imaginable. A rabbi related that his daughter was progressing with a shidduch, and what weighed on him most heavily was the immediate expense he would have to pay the shadchan. It may sound trivial, but for someone who does not have the money, it is a very real pressure. Someone shared with him a powerful story about having bitachon in Hashem, and it gave him a great deal of chizuk. His daughter became engaged, and he knew the shadchan would be at the engagement party—but he still did not have the money. He continued strengthening himself in bitachon, knowing that Hashem has infinite ways to provide. That very day, he received a call regarding a boy who learns in the yeshivah where he teaches. The boy's father explained that his son was returning to the dormitory after being ill and asked the rabbi if he could help him settle back in. This rabbi had helped the boy greatly in the past, which is why the father turned to him. He agreed, and on his way to the engagement, he stopped at the yeshivah and helped the boy organize his belongings. While doing so, he noticed an envelope in one of the boy's bags addressed to him. Later, he opened it and found a heartfelt thank-you letter—and inside was two thousand euros. It was enough to pay the shadchan, to buy a Shas for the new chattan, and there was even some left over. The rabbi was awed at how Hashem provided him with exactly what he needed, at the exact moment he needed it. A man told me that he needed a dining room table very badly, but they were far too expensive for him. The cheapest table he could find, one that matched his dining room and met his needs, was two thousand dollars—still beyond what he could afford. He said to himself, Hashem can give us a dining room table without us having to spend so much money. That very day, he heard about someone giving away a dining room table. He inquired and discovered that it was the perfect size—and it matched as well. He told them he would like it if possible. Within twenty minutes, the table was delivered to his home and set up in his dining room. Just like that, he had received a ten-thousand-dollar table completely free of charge. Hashem is concerned with all of our needs, and if something is good for us to have, He will provide it—often in ways we never could have imagined. Another man said that his wife bakes challot every week, and sometimes they have extras that they know they will not use. Usually, they give them to family members. But the week before Pesach, she told her husband to bring them to shul to see if anyone there might need them. That day, he missed his regular minyan and went to a different shul. There, he gave the challot to the rabbi and asked him to see if anyone might need them. Shortly afterward, a man in that shul saw the rabbi carrying challot and asked about them. It turned out that his housekeeper had accidentally thrown out all of their challot from the freezer while cleaning it for Pesach , including those they had prepared for that very Shabbat. He was overjoyed to receive fresh challot. The man who had brought them later reflected: look how Hashem guided me to a different shul, just so I could bring challot to someone who needed them at that exact time. Whether it is money, a dining room table, or challot for Shabbat, every person has different needs at different times. And it is very comforting to know that Hashem is involved in each person's life—down to the smallest details.