Living Emunah

https://www.artscroll.com/ Books/lemynh.html  Living Emunah on Yamim Noraim Gaining faith from the Days of Awe A man told that from the moment his baby came home after his Brit Milah, he wouldn't stop crying. Nothing could calm him down. He would eat, doze, and immediately wake up crying again. It was obvious that something was hurting him, but nobody knew what it was. All different kinds of advice began coming their way. One person suggested one type of doctor, another suggested a type of counselor, another an allergy specialist. All of those professionals were prepared to see their baby, but for a high cost and a lot of effort on their part. The man said to himself, "Let me first set up a meeting with the Healer of All Flesh." The man wanted to dedicate an hour to the meeting, no less than he would if he were meeting some professional. He prepared for the meeting. He got dressed up. He took time out from work and sat at a table saying Tehillim . He had a full one-hour meeting with the greatest doctor of all. Before the hour was up, his mother-in-law called his wife and told her about a new idea she had just heard about, something they could try right away. His wife listened to the advice and immediately the baby was quiet. The baby slept for several hours and since then has been calm and happy. The problem was resolved. When we have the right approach with Hashem, all of His messengers suddenly "change their tune". A man told me he had to go with his father on Shabbat to the hospital in a Hatzalah truck, because the Hatzalah told them he needed a PICC line to get certain vital nutrients. They arrived at the hospital and had to wait for the cardiovascular team to arrive. They waited there the entire night, but the team still didn't come. In the morning, the man went to see if there was some type of Bikur Cholim room where he could find food for Shabbat. From the time that he left the hospital room until the time he got back was about 45 minutes. When he got back, the nurse told him he had missed the cardiovascular team. They were not able to put in the PICC line without his permission and so they left. She said they would be back the following day. The man couldn't believe his ears. He was waiting the entire night for them, and now he missed them? He started to cry. The nurse apologized, but said they were there more than a half hour ago and this was their last stop before they went home. The man was going to have a fit, but instead he decided to take the emunah approach. He went into a corner and began speaking to Hashem. He said, "Hashem, you brought me away from my family for Shabbat. I don't have my shul. I don't have my learning. I don't have my seudot, and now we didn't get the PICC line either. If you want me to come here just to spend the entire Shabbat in a hospital, then I'm going to do it b'simcha ." He strengthened himself and accepted the will of Hashem with happiness. Just a few minutes later, the cardiovascular team showed up. They said they decided to come back and try one more time. This man made the correct approach with Hashem and, suddenly, the messengers followed suit. Another man said he lost a business account and tried his hardest to accept it with love. Instead of not going out to learn that night, he pushed himself to add a second class. The next day his mortgage company called him and told him about an escrow surplus check that they sent a full year ago that never got cashed. The amount was more than the commission that he usually earned for the entire year from the account he lost. It's true we have to make hishtadlut in the way of the world, but when we first go to Hashem and accomplish what we need to with Him, everything else falls into place afterward.

https://www.artscroll.com/ Books/lemynh.html  Living Emunah on Yamim Noraim Gaining faith from the Days of Awe At this time of year, we're trying to find the most favor in Hashem's eyes. We want to know what steps we could take to accomplish this. The pasuk says, ועשית הישר והטוב בעיני ה' אלוקיך . There's a mitzvah to go beyond the letter of the law and do what is upright and good in the eyes of Hashem. Rabbi Eliyahu Lopian writes in his Sefer Lev Eliyahu , this is a mitzvah which specifically makes us find favor in Hashem's eyes. It is accomplished by doing things that we are not commanded to do, but we know would make Hashem proud if we did. The Gemara speaks about many cases in which, according to the letter of the law, Person A was entitled to keep money, but he was encouraged to go beyond the law and give the money to the other party. Rabbi Lopian points out, in the previous pasuk , it says שמור תשמרון in plural which is a general command to perform the mitzvot, and therefore it is written in plural. But, when it comes to the pasuk to go beyond the letter of the law, it is written in singular, ועשית הישר והטוב because this is according to each individual's level to be able to accomplish that. The pasuk continues, למען ייטב לך - we should go above the letter of the law so that Hashem will be able to give us more good. Whenever we are presented with a circumstance and we know we're right but there's room to give in, we can either exercise our right to be correct or we can choose to do what would make Hashem proud and thereby find favor in His eyes and be zocheh to more good from Him. Rabbi Elimelech Biderman related a story that was told to him by the head of Hatzalah in Bnei Brak, Rabbi Yaakov HaLevi which took place just a few weeks ago. It was a Sunday morning at around 5:30 AM. They got a call about a fire on the third floor of a building on Simta Menasheh Street. There was an older couple trapped in the home, and the street was too narrow for the fire department to reach with their big truck. The Hatzalah members arrived on the scene and saw the older couple in the window of their apartment completely trapped. The stairwell was on fire, and it was slowly creeping towards them. The couple could not physically jump out of the window, and since the fire trucks couldn't reach them, there was no ladder that would extend to their height. One of the Hatzalah members, Rabbi Elchanan Maimo, saw that underneath their window was a porch with beams in place ready to be used for a sukkah , a type of pergola. He got a ladder and was able to climb to that porch. He then climbed up the pergola, stood on top of the beams and helped each of those people come down. Just as the fire was approaching them, he was able to save their lives. Rabbi Yaakov, the head of the Hatzalah, then recalled the events which led to that pergola being built, the means that was used to save this couple's lives. About a year and a half ago, that elderly woman fainted in her apartment and the Hatzalah came and revived her. A couple of weeks later, she went down to the Hatzalah office to thank them personally. She also told the head of Hatzalah that her downstairs neighbor wanted to do a major construction job, and he needed her permission. Her doctor had told her that because of her condition it would not be wise to allow it as the dust could hurt her very much. She asked the head of the Hatzalah what to do. He told her, "You definitely have every right to deny them, but I'm sure they really want to embark on this building project, and if you want to go above and beyond, if there's some place you could stay for a few months that would allow them to build then you should do that." She took the advice and stayed by one of her children's homes and allowed the neighbor to do construction. Part of their new construction project was building that pergola. Her going beyond the letter of the law is what Hashem used to save her life. " ועשית הישר והטוב בעיני יהוה למען ייטב לך "

One of the reasons we are supposed to feel calm and composed in all situations is because we are always in the best hands, the hands of our loving Father, HaKadosh Baruch Hu . During difficult times, internalizing this fact can help a person so much. A woman related that she had to travel from Minnesota to Lakewood for a family wedding. She was going to return by herself, while her husband was going to take her son to Denver Yeshiva after the wedding. They found flights to Philadelphia, and then they would take a taxi to Lakewood. When it came time for the woman to go back on Thursday, she assumed the flight was from the same airport that she arrived in, and so she called the driver to take her from Lakewood to the Philadelphia airport. Her husband had already printed out her boarding pass and she had it with her in her pocketbook. While in transit, she was very busy catching up on missed phone calls and messages and did not pay attention to the road at all. When they arrived at the airport, the driver asked her which airline and she told her. She then got out, went through security, got to the gate, and finally boarded the plane. She needed to check her ticket to see what seat she had. When she looked at the ticket, she couldn't believe her eyes. It said that the flight was leaving out of Newark airport in New Jersey. She wondered how they let her on the flight if she was in the Philadelphia airport. She then asked the flight attendant where exactly they were to which she was told, Newark. That is when she realized the miracle that Hashem just did for her. She asked for a taxi to take her to Philadelphia airport and somehow the driver decided, on her own, to take her to Newark, the airport she was really supposed to leave from. And she really had to get back that day because she needed to cook the entire Friday for the Sheva Berachot they were making on Shabbat. She thought to herself, we may think we are supposed to be heading in a certain direction, but it doesn't always work out the way we want, because Hashem is always steering us in the direction He knows we need to go in. She is currently going through a very troubling time with one of her children. She prays for salvation every day, but now she knows even more that Hashem is always leading her to the circumstances she needs to be in to get where she has to be in this world. Sometimes a person needs help but he doesn't know where to turn to get it. But what he may not realize is that Hashem has already been planning out his salvation. A man from Bet Shemesh related, one day he overheard a conversation between two people that learn in his kollel . One of them, we'll call Shmuel, said that the electric company did not send him a bill for a few months and then they sent him a bill for 6,000 shekel in one shot. He did not have the money to pay for it and was hoping that the electric company would allow him to pay in small increments. That night everybody left the kollel at about 11pm and the only ones left were Shmuel and the one telling the story. Suddenly there was a loud knock at the door. It was two Americans who only spoke English. They asked if there was someone there currently learning Torah. The man telling the story told them yes. They came in and saw Shmuel learning and they went over to him and handed him a thousand dollars cash. They said they were meeting with someone who suddenly said, in the middle of the meeting, he wanted to give a thousand dollars to a man who's learning. They told him they would find someone. This was the nearest Bet Midrash so they came there and gave the money to Shmuel who was learning. While they were there, they took out a few hundred dollars more from their own pockets and gave him more money. A minute later two people came in and sat down and started learning. The hashgacha of Hashem here was so precise, He caused those Americans to come to this kollel exactly when only Shmuel was learning so that he would get all the money that he needed to pay his electric bill. Hashem knows about everything a person's going through and is always taking the best care of us. If we could always feel that we are in His hands, it will help us in so many ways.

https://www.artscroll.com/ Books/lemynh.html  Living Emunah on Yamim Noraim Gaining faith from the Days of Awe This week's parasha Ki Tavo begins with the mitzvah of bikurim , where a farmer brings a basket of fruits from the seven species to the Kohen and recites certain pesukim . The Mishnah describes the bringing of the bikurim as a very elaborate process. There were crowds of people waiting to greet the landowners in Yerushalayim, with music playing in the background. It is noteworthy to point out that the farmer only had to bring one fruit from each of the species. The sefer Mapik Margaliot writes, we see from here the unbelievable value that the Torah places on the littlest deeds that we do. Imagine a farmer with orchards full of fig trees or date trees and thousands of fruits that are going to grow upon them, and he takes just one to do the mitzvah of bikurim , and the Torah makes such a big deal over it. When he walks to Jerusalem with the basket, everyone who sees him stands up in honor of the mitzvah he's doing. To the onlooker, it may have seemed that a king or president had just arrived, but it was just a man holding a basket of fruit. To us, it looks like something simple, but the Torah knows how valuable it really is. Sometimes the evil inclination tells a person, "You're going to learn Torah now? It's not worth it. You're going to be late. You're not going to understand what's being taught. It's going to take you at least ten minutes just to find parking." Or if a person wants to go to shul to pray, the evil inclination tells him, "How much are you going to concentrate anyway? Most of the tefila you space out. It's not worth the effort." Let us make a simple kal v'chomer . If for one fruit, that is worth less than a penny to the farmer, the Torah gives him endless honor. How much more so if a person would wake up early in the morning and push himself out of bed to go to shul at a time when he wished he could sleep just a little longer. He fights himself and he goes anyway. How many worlds is he building in Shamayim for those efforts? Or after a long day's work, a person comes home and is so tired he just wants to relax, but instead he strengthens himself and goes back out to learn, sometimes in the freezing cold, searching for parking. Every word of Torah gives endless rewards. How much more so when they are learned with difficulty? Every deed that we do is worth so much and we can never underestimate even the smallest things that we do. A woman related, she heard a short class about giving chizuk to others. The rabbi specifically mentioned that if someone is going through a difficulty and that person has ever gotten chizuk that has helped him, then he should use that chizuk to give someone else he knows who is going through the same difficulty. The woman told this to her son who was having a very hard time in shidduchim . He took the advice and called someone that he knew was struggling in the same area. He gave him all the lines that have helped him in the past. The other boy thanked him for the kind words and then said, "You know, I have someone that I think would be great for you." P.S. A couple of weeks ago, they were celebrating their engagement. Every deed accomplishes worlds in Shamayim . We don't necessarily get to see their effects down here, but rest assured, every deed we do is immeasurable. Shabbat Shalom.

https://www.artscroll.com/ Books/lemynh.html  Living Emunah on Yamim Noraim Gaining faith from the Days of Awe There are many rituals that we do, often without thinking too much of their significance. When a person moves into a new home, he is supposed to make a Chanukat Habayit , which consists of a meal and a reading, including portions of Mishnah , Gemara , Zohar and Rambam. The idea is to thank Hashem for the home, and also to inaugurate its use with words of Torah. The rabbis tell us as well that the tikkun that is read and the Torah that is learned drive away all the harmful forces that may be in the home. A man told me that he moved into a new home and was planning on making a Chanukat Habayit a couple of weeks later when things were more settled. When his neighbor, who's a rabbi, heard of that plan, he told him he is supposed to do it the day he moves in and not to delay. It was very difficult, but the man listened. That night, in the middle of the night, their carbon monoxide alarm went off and the fire department came. They checked the home with a detector and found no traces of carbon monoxide. While they were there, they made some other inspections and found a burning hot wire in the wall, which, baruch Hashem, they were able to take care of and avoid a potential catastrophe. Everything we do in Torah and mitzvot has so much significance. The Me'am Loez writes in Parashat Ekev, anyone who's careful to do the mitzvah of mezuzah properly will get extra protection from Hashem, both when he is home and when he goes on the road. Like it says, ה' ישמור צאתך ובואך . We don't do the mitzvah because it provides protection, we do it because it's the will of Hashem. But this mitzvah, like all other mitzvot, provides side benefits and for this particular one, the side benefit is protection. A woman related that she moved into a new home a couple of months ago. Since the move, two of her daughters broke different bones and recently she broke her elbow. She went for an immediate x-ray, which showed a break, and the doctor said she would need surgery to repair it. In the meantime, someone suggested that she get the mezuzot checked. The writing was found to be of poor quality. Two of the mezuzot were completely disqualified and some of them were put upside down. After the sofer made all the necessary repairs, she went for a preliminary visit to a surgeon. When he checked the elbow, he said it was not broken and it would heal on its own. One of her daughters, who broke her foot right when they moved in two months ago, was never able to fully get healed. After the mezuzot were fixed, her foot went back to normal. Another man told me last year he shattered his kneecap and had to have a major surgery to fix it. He checked his mezuzot afterward and saw that in one of the mezuzot , one of the letters was broken into two. Another man told me, this past summer his children and their families stayed by his home. In the beginning of the summer, none of the grandchildren were able to sleep at night. Every single night there was another reason causing them to be up. After two weeks, they decided to get their mezuzot checked. It was found that in one of the mezuzot , the word ובקומך , which means to get up from sleeping, had an error. The word was divided into two, with a big space, rather than being one continuous word. All of our mitzvot benefit us one way or another. Our purpose in doing them is always just for the sake of Hashem, but it's good to know how much the mitzvot do for us. Besides for all the rewards they provide in the next world, they help us in this world as well.

https://www.artscroll.com/ Books/lemynh.html  Living Emunah on Yamim Noraim Gaining faith from the Days of Awe One of the ways that a person can receive an abundance of mercy from Hashem is by emulating His character traits. One of the middot of Hashem is called מי קל כמוך . The Tomer Devorah explains, this is referring to Hashem's attribute of having mercy on people despite the fact that they sin against Him. The pasuk says, ואתה מחיה את כולם - Hashem actively gives life to every living creature. A person cannot live without Hashem saying so. The way of the world is if someone gives another person a gift and that person uses the gift against the giver, the giver will most probably never give that person a gift again. And if he was able to, he would take back what he had already given. Hashem on the other hand, gives a person the gift of life and even while the person uses that gift to sin against Him, Hashem continues giving him the gift. Imagine a poor man pleading with a wealthy man to give him money. Finally, the wealthy man takes a large wad of cash and puts it into the hand of the poor man. At that same moment, the poor man takes the wad and smacks the wealthy man across the face with it. The obvious reaction of that wealthy man would be to take back what he had given. But what if instead the poor man then asked the wealthy man for another donation? This is the midda of מי קל כמוך . Even while we're sinning against Hashem, He continues pumping into us the gift of life. The angels call Hashem the מלך עלוב - the King who bears insult and shame. If someone is able to emulate this midda , that act would go up to the highest places in Shamayim and arouse so much Heavenly mercy for him and for the world. I read a story about a man who was making a Sheva Berachot in the courtyard of the building in which he lived. He wanted to have music and dancing and needed a place to plug in the speaker system. He asked the people who live on the first floor, who we'll call the Steins, if he could plug in the speakers to their outlet. Mr. Stein happily agreed and wished the man a mazal tov. That night, many guests came, and the party was very festive. However, it was almost midnight and the music was still blasting. Mr. Stein was trying to sleep, but he couldn't. He sent one of his children to tell the host that the hour was late and he had to shut off the music. The host replied that he would do it soon. Mr. Stein didn't know what soon meant. It could be another half hour or even an hour, especially since the people were having such a good time. Then, Mr. Stein's wife reminded him that they had the ability to shut the music whenever they wanted to because the speakers were plugged into their outlet. At that moment, Mr. Stein breathed a sigh of relief and proceeded to go over to the outlet to pull out the plug. But before he did, he looked out the window and saw how much the family was enjoying themselves. He thought about it a little more and then decided to emulate Hashem's midda of מי קל כמוך and continue supplying the power to the people who were "using it against him." That was a heroic act and it activated such a special siyata d'Shamaya . A person should never say emulating Hashem is too hard. Because when Hashem created man, He blew a piece of Himself into him. We all have that same piece of Hashem inside of us. That neshama tehorah is capable of being like Hashem, and if we tap into it, we could accomplish amazing things. The next time we are tested in this area, we should stop ourselves from reacting with the animalistic part of us and instead follow what the Hashem part of us really wants to do.

This week's parasha begins with the words כי תצא למלחמה על אויבך - when you go out to war against your enemy. The sefarim hakedoshim tell us that besides for its simple explanation, this pasuk is also referring to the war against our evil inclination. The Maor V'Shemesh in parashat Ki Tetzeh writes that the main attack of the yetzer hara is to stop a person from praying properly. A person can become so close to Hashem through tefila and, therefore, the yetzer hara will do whatever is in its power to stop the person from attaining that closeness. One of the causes of people not valuing their prayers is when they see that they tried so hard to do it right and it still didn't help them get what they wanted. The Gemara says in Masechet Berachot: אָמַר רַבִּי חָמָא בְּרַבִּי חֲנִינָא: אִם רָאָה אָדָם שֶׁהִתְפַּלֵּל וְלֹא נַעֲנָה — יַחְזוֹר וְיִתְפַּלֵּל. שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״קַוֵּה אֶל ה׳ חֲזַק וְיַאֲמֵץ לִבֶּךָ וְקַוֵּה אֶל ה׳״ . Rabbi Chama, son of Rabbi CHanina, said: A person who prayed and saw that he was not answered should pray again, as it is stated: "Hope in the Lord, strengthen yourself, let your heart take courage, and hope in the Lord" (Psalms 27:14). One should turn to God with hope, and if necessary turn to God again with hope. The question has been asked, isn't that statement obvious? We know there's nowhere else in the world to turn other than Hashem. Of course we should keep praying to Him even though we haven't been answered yet. Rav Bunim of Peshischa explained, there are times when a person needs a salvation so badly. He prepares himself to pray properly. He goes to the holiest places in the world and prays at the most opportune times and then he begs Hashem for help. But after all of that, nothing changes. The person thinks to himself, if that tefila didn't get answered then I can't imagine any other one getting answered. Many times, when a person prays, he doesn't have full kavana , his heart is not into it. And he thinks, naturally, if my good prayers don't help, then how are these going to help? For this, Rabbi Chama b'Rabi Chanina comes to teach us, it's not so. It could be that even though a person's heartfelt tefila didn't get answered, a simple prayer on a regular day in a regular place will get answered. We are not capable of comprehending the ways of Hashem and therefore, although we prayed hard for something in the best place at the best time and weren't answered, that should not discourage us from praying again. One year, the Arizal prayed all of his tefilot on the Yamim Noraim with great kavana . Yet, he was shown from Shamayim that in another city there was a man whose prayers were considered better than his. The Arizal went to visit that man to see who he was. The man was a very simple Jew who didn't even know how to read Hebrew. The Arizal asked him how he prayed on the Yamim Noraim if he didn't know how to read. The man replied he was embarrassed to say it, but he didn't even know the full Aleph Bet. He only knew from Aleph through Yud. He said he walked into shul and saw everybody praying with such deep kavana and felt so bad that he couldn't do the same. So with a broken heart, he began reciting the Aleph Bet until Yud. And when he got to Yud, he started again from Aleph and he kept repeating it the entire tefila . He said to Hashem, "Master of the world, please take these letters that I am offering you and make nice words out of them and let them be pleasing to you." He was so sincere. His simple Aleph Bet accomplished more in heaven than the great kavanot of the Arizal. We don't know which prayer is more valuable than which. We don't know which times our prayers are more accepted and therefore, at all times, we always continue to pray. And even if we think the prayer will be worthless, חזק ויאמץ לבך וקוה אל ה ' we must strengthen our hearts and call out to Hashem anyway. Shabbat Shalom.

The goal of every parent is to train their children to want to do the will of Hashem on their own without having to be told to. One of the greatest tools we can give them for this is to teach them about who they are serving, to tell them how much Hashem loves them and is interested in helping them, to teach them how Hashem controls everything that happens in the world every second of the day, and how good it is for them to follow Torah and mitzvot. Emunah is a great tool for chinuch and can be taught at a very young age. A woman related how much her life has changed for the better since learning emunah. She used to worry about finances, but not anymore, because she knows her parnasa comes from Hashem. She used to be intimidated by her boss, but not anymore because she knows Hashem is the only One in charge. Getting her children into schools, getting job interviews are all done without worry because either way the results are up to Hashem. Whenever she feels uncertain about anything, she picks up a Tehillim and then asks Hashem for help. Her dream is that her children acquire the same type of emunah that she has and they become even better than her. Recently, she felt so good seeing how her little children were absorbing the emunah that she has been portraying. She stayed by her parents for the summer and one morning she asked her two little children if they wanted to go for a walk. Then she remembered that the double stroller was kept outside and the sprinklers go on around four times a week at night. She told her children she had to go outside to see if the stroller was dry because sometimes it gets wet from the sprinklers. So they all went out to check and it was dry. "Baruch Hashem," she said. Then her five-year-old daughter said, "Look, Hashem wanted us to be able to go for a walk so He made sure that the sprinklers didn't go on last night." The woman was so happy hearing those words from her five-year-old. She added, if the stroller would have been wet, she would have taught them Gam zu l'tova and said, "We'll find something better to do." On another occasion, her children were playing on the swing set towards the end of the summer and her five-year-old wondered out loud, "If it's still summer, how come the leaves are falling off the trees?" Her three year old answered, "Because Hashem wants the leaves to fall now. That's why they're falling." It was that simple. Even her three-year-old was picking up on emunah at such a young age. The children can absorb so much, but it's up to us to be their teachers. Children love hearing stories, and so when we hear a nice story that shows Hashem's hashgacha , we should relate it to them. I just read a story that recently took place. A young man named Chaim Dov, lo alenu, is losing sight in his eyes, and he already had a few surgeries and has a couple of more scheduled. The last surgery was beginning early in the morning, and his father woke him up late. There was no time for Chaim Dov to pray, as they had to leave for the surgery right away. Being a chassid of Karlin, Chaim Dov prayed his tefila each morning leading up to the Amidah in a very loud voice with a lot of heart. He couldn't go to the surgery without praying first. His father suggested that he pray up until the Amidah in the taxi, as they had a very long ride to the hospital. Chaim Dov agreed, but then his father said he wouldn't be able to pray loudly as usual, being that they would be in a very small taxi, and the driver would probably throw them out if they bothered him like that. Amazingly, when the driver pulled up, he motioned to them to write down where they wanted to go, as he was hard of hearing. The father said, in all of his life, he never took a taxi with a driver who was hard of hearing. This one time that his son wanted to pray loudly, Hashem sent them a special driver to enable him to do so. Hashem controls everything and always wants to help us. This is the message we must teach by example and have our children learn from.

The pasuk says in Kohelet, בבוקר זרע את זרעך ולערב אל תנח ידך .The Gemara in Masechet Yevamot learns from this pasuk that even if a person had many students when he was young and vibrant, he should continue trying to find more in his old age. Also, a person should never underestimate the potential of any student. As it says in the Avot d'Rabbi Natan, on one occasion, Hillel Hazaken asked if all of his students had arrived. They told him yes, except for one, but it was the weakest of the group. Hillel told them that one day that student is going to be a leader of the generation. That student was none other than Rabban Yochanan Ben Zakkai. This idea does not only apply to a rabbi with students. Every single person who influences another Jew makes that Jew his student. If someone needs help in learning or in doing a mitzvah, we should look at that as a golden opportunity to gain another student. People are busy with their own spiritual growth and may not want to be bothered with others. But if they would know that helping someone else grow spiritually can be even better than spending the time on their own growth, they would be happy to help. I read a story that was told by the head of a Kiruv organization in New York, who we'll call Rabbi Cohen. One day, a well-known Rosh Yeshiva approached Rabbi Cohen with a request, saying that he needed help with his son. The Rosh Yeshiva had tears in his eyes as he said that his son had gone off the derech. He asked this person if he would be able to help bring his son back. Rabbi Cohen accepted the request and over time he was able to bring the boy all the way back to the level that his father was hoping for. But before Rabbi Cohen agreed to help, he made one condition with this Rosh Yeshiva. He told the Rosh Yeshiva that he himself grew up around people who were not looking to grow spiritually, nor to become great in learning Torah. When he got older, he started becoming more motivated on his own and asked his parents to go to one of the best yeshivot in New York. His parents allowed him to go. When he arrived, he felt completely out of place there. He didn't understand half of what the rabbis were saying in their shiurim. The first few weeks there, he cried every night, feeling totally lost and alone. He then worked up enough courage to ask someone else in the yeshiva to help him with some of the fundamentals that could enable him to grow there. He wanted to understand the Yiddish words the rabbis were saying, as well as how to comprehend the deep Gemara learning. The first person he asked was extremely diligent in his studies and used every one of his breaks for another learning seder. He said he was sorry, but he didn't have the time. He then went and asked someone else who looked like he would be able to help, but that boy also was busy during his breaks learning the Daf Hayomi Yerushalmi. He was completely broken and felt totally out of place with nothing to look forward to. One night he broke down crying and made heartfelt tefilot to Hashem begging him to help. He decided he was going to ask one more person for help, and if that person denied him, he was going to go back to his hometown. The next person he asked replied with a big smile on his face saying, "Of course, I would be happy to help." That person sat with the young Rabbi Cohen every day and taught him "the ropes" until he became a shining star in the yeshiva. It was from there that he became a rabbi in Kiruv and has since brought back thousands of Jews to Torah and mitzvot. Rabbi Cohen concluded his words to the Rosh Yeshiva, "My condition in helping your son is that you should know that the one who helped me with joy become the person that I am today was none other than yourself!" This Rosh Yeshiva understood as a young man the value of helping everyone in need, especially in spirituality. His efforts paid back thousands of times over, and even helped bring his own son back to Torah and mitzvot. We should never underestimate the value of helping another Jew grow spiritually.

There are many situations in which people have great needs but the odds of them getting what they need are extraordinarily low. The natural feelings in those situations would be to despair of getting help. It could be a doctor giving a patient a negative report, it could be a specialist telling a couple they most probably will never have children, it could be a financial analyst telling a person his business will never succeed, and the list goes on. What is the proper attitude a person is supposed to have when facing those bleak scenarios? The pasuk says in parashat Shoftim , כי תצא למלחמה על אויבך וראית סוס ורכב עם רב ממך, לא תירא מהם . The pasuk there is speaking about the Jewish People going to fight a war and it says, if they saw a nation much larger and stronger than them charging towards them, they were not allowed to be afraid. And the pasuk concludes with the reason, כי ה' אלוקיך עמך, המעלך מארץ מצרים – because they had Hashem on their side. The same Hashem who obliterated the entire Egypt, the greatest superpower at the time. Rabbi Matityahu Solomon, zt"l, explained, a charging nation that is more numerous and powerful seems like it presents a major problem. According to the natural way of the world, it would appear that death was imminent. According to the statistics, the Jewish People would have no chance at beating the opposing army. For that the Torah tells them, winning wars has absolutely nothing to do with statistics or odds. It does not matter at all how strong the opposing nation is. The reason- because wars are decided by Hashem and only Hashem. And therefore, there is nothing to fear. Not only was there nothing to fear, the Torah even gave a negative commandment forbidding the people to fear. Rabbenu Yonah in the Shaareh Teshuva writes that although that command was speaking to the Jewish People at large regarding wars of mitzvah, it applies to every single individual whenever he is facing adversity. In the words of Rabbenu Yonah, והוזהרנו בזה שאם ירא אדם דצרה קרובה, תהיה ישועת ה' בלבבו ויבטח עליו . We are being told here that if a person ever sees that trouble is imminent, he should realize, Hashem is the only One in charge. He should feel the salvation of Hashem in his heart and rely on Him to produce it. This means, when the doctor says the odds of becoming healed are extremely slim, that is a calling on the patient to recognize he has Hashem and, to Hashem, odds don't matter. That reality should be so strong in a person's mind that it should enable him to overcome his natural fear and feel calm, knowing that he is completely in the hands of Hashem, the One who loves him so much and always does what is best for him. So it comes out that whenever a person is facing these types of situations, he should know, he has a mitzvah from the Torah to ignore the odds and feel confident in the salvation of Hashem. He should continue making the normal hishtadlut and he should pray to Hashem and know that to Hashem there is never such a thing as odds.