Daily Bitachon

Welcome to Daily Bitachon . Today we're going to discuss an important pasuk in Parashat Ekev , which, according to many is a positive commandment, one of the 613. It says in Parashat Ekev , chapter 8, pasuk 2: וזכרת את כל הדרך /remember all the way, the path, אשר הולך השם אלוקיך /that Hashem your God has taken you, זה ארבעים שנה במדבר /these forty years in the desert." Rabbenu Yonah, in Shaare Teshuvah , Gate 3, letter 17, lists certain mitzvot aseh that are very high levels—called maalot . One of these is ma'alat zikaron chasadav , the quality of remembering Hashem's kindnesses . But it is not enough just to remember them— ve'hitbonen bahem —we must also contemplate them, as it says וזכרת את כל הדרך / remember all the way, The Sefer Charedim says that if we are commanded to remember what happened in the desert thousands of years ago, we can learn from this a kal vachomer : if I am required to remember what happened to my forefathers, then surely I must remember what happened to me personally . So we must remember: Not only Hashem's kindnesses to the Jewish people in the desert, but also, throughout history, how we survived all the exiles, the Inquisition, the Crusades, the Holocaust, and so on And finally, all the chassadim He has done for us personally. Chayav kol echad miYisrael lizkor chassadim she'gamal Hashem yitbarach /Eevery Jew is obligated to remember the kindnesses Hashem has bestowed upon him, from the moment he was created in his mother's womb. This should lead him to humility and teshuvah shelemah , as quoted in the name of his Rabbi the chassid Rabbi Yosef Saggis. Rav Yechezkel Levenstein adds that this is not only regarding physical matters, but also for the fact that we are religious Jews who know what we are supposed to do—that too is a kindness. Rav Yitzchak Blazer, a student of Rabbi Yisrael Salanter, writes in his Sefer Kochvei Or , Letter 9, that people sometimes feel, " Am I supposed to get excited that Hashem gives me a chocolate bar? That He gives me physical pleasures or wealth? That's like a little kid who likes the candy man in shul —that's not real love of Hashem. " But he says this is a mistake— lo ken ha'davar - It is Hashem's will that we should delve into and appreciate all His kindnesses, thank Him for them, and love Him for them . And he quotes this Rabbenu Yonah. Rabbenu Yonah further quotes the pasuk in which David HaMelech says, ויתבוננו חסדי ה׳ to contemplate Hashem's kindnesses. This is part of a long perek in Tehillim describing the four people who are obligated to say HaGomel . Sephardic communities recite it on Pesach . David HaMelech also says חסדך לנגד עיני /Your kindness is always before my eyes." Rav Yitzchak Blazer then shares an incredible chiddush : We are commanded to love Hashem with all our heart. The Gemara in Masechet Berachot , and the Mishnah there as well, explain this means with both of our inclinations—the yetzer tov and the yetzer hara . The yetzer tov is easy to understand- it loves Hashem through intellectual appreciation of His greatness—this is called ahavat ha'romemut /loving Hashem for who He is, by delving into His Torah and recognizing His greatness. But the yetzer hara also loves Hashem- through physical enjoyment. For example, I love ice cream, and Hashem gives me that ice cream, so I love Him for that. The more I appreciate that Hashem gave it to me—and that He wants me to enjoy it and thank Him for it—the more love I create for Him. This is a good, kosher love. The same is true with prayer. Hashem wants us to pray- not only for lofty spiritual needs but also for the small comforts: the chocolate bar, your shoes and socks, your soft pillow. And He wants us to pray for these things, not just thank Him after receiving them. This is also why we are not allowed to benefit from this world without a berachah . Even though worldly pleasures are, in themselves, nonsense, Hashem made them for us to enjoy—and He wants us to thank Him for them. He says, It is not enough just to rely on Hashem for these things. Bitachon is great, but He wants us to actively pray for them, think about them, and thank Him for them. That's why the system was set up this way—so that we would pray for rain, as Adam HaRishon did, and then appreciate it. And that is the meaning of the pasuk וזכרת את כל הדרך אשר הוליכך ה׳ אלוקיך זה ארבעים שנה —remember those forty years in the desert. It is a mitzvat aseh in our lives today to remember His kindnesses. So next time you sit down to enjoy something, know that the more you relish it and appreciate it, the greater the mitzvah . This is Rabbi Miller 101—but he didn't invent it, it's the good old tradition of yesteryear.

We continue with our message of nechama Every year Parashat Va'etchanan falls out during the same week as Shabbat Nachamu . The rabbis arranged it that way. But what's the connection? If anything, Va'etchanan would seem like a downer—Moshe Rabbeinu prays 515 prayers, and he isn't answered. What happened? One of the things Moshe asked for was evra na ve'ereh et ha'aretz hatovah —"Let me see the good land ." And in a way, that request was granted, as it says later in Devarim 34:4: זֹאת הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּעְתִּי לְאַבְרָהָם לְיִצְחָק וּלְיַעֲקֹב לֵאמֹר לְזַרְעֲךָ אֶתְּנֶנָּה רְאִיתִיהָ בְעֵינֶיךָ "This is the land… you saw it with your own eyes." So what is the meaning of this " seeing "? Why is it so important? The Sfat Emet says in this week's parasha that Moshe's act of seeing the land left something behind for future generations—even in galut . Through his gaze, Moshe Rabbeinu made something happen. What was that? We say that when one prays, they are supposed to focus on the Bet Kodesh HaKodashim /Holy of Holies . As the pasuk says, derech artzam , prayers pass through the land . Jews around the world face east, and in Israel, they face the Kotel , and so on. The essence of prayer lies in our kavanah /intention—in our mind's eye. It's not tangible. And, says the Sfat Emet , zeh pa'al Moshe Rabbeinu b'tfilato —this is what Moshe accomplished with his prayer: that Eretz Yisrael would forever be the place through which we pray. Furthermore, Rav Wolbe said in the name of Rav Chaim Kreiswirth—his brother-in-law and the chief rabbi of Antwerp—that the midrash says, avirah d'Eretz Yisrael machkim /the air of Eretz Yisrael makes one wise." (For an aside that also brings nechama : Why wasn't Moshe Rabbenu allowed to enter the land? Because if Moshe had entered, he would have built the Bet HaMikdash . And whatever Moshe Rabbenu touches lasts forever. Moshe Rabbenu, one of the seven ro'im /shepherds), is associated with the attribute of netzach /eternity . Had he built the Bet HaMikdash , it would have stood forever, unable to be destroyed. Then, when God's anger would be aroused, it wouldn't be poured out on stone and wood—it would have had to be directed at the people themselves. Therefore, Moshe Rabbenu could not be the one to enter. He built the Mishkan , amd it says the Mishkan was hidden—not destroyed—because it endures forever. But Moshe Rabbenu did touch something in the land. He touched the avir /the air —by looking at it. And through that, he elevated it. That's why to this day, avirah d'Eretz Yisrael machkim /the air of the land of Israel makes one wise. So the message is this: although Moshe Rabbenu's prayer seemed unanswered, it had tremendous impact. It changed reality. His prayer was so powerful that every prayer we pray today is connected to his. All the wisdom that flows from Eretz Yisrael flows from his gaze and his plea. There is added nechama in Moshe's story: Sometimes we feel like our prayers go unanswered, that something is wrong with us, that God is distant etc. We wonder, " Has He abandoned me?" Well, who was greater than Moshe Rabbenu? And yet, Hashem did not answer his prayer— for a reason . So don't get discouraged if we've gone through another Tisha B'Av , another year without the Bet HaMikdash . The sages say that every year that it's not rebuilt, it is as if it was destroyed in that year. That's the feeling of Tisha B'Av . But don't lose hope. Don't lose faith. Take nechama . Shift your perspective. Have a new outlook and understand that the prayers of Moshe Rabbenu, the greatest of men, went unanswered but became the foundation for our prayer. He stayed behind—for a great reason- to save the Jewish people. So even the "unanswered" prayer was answered. Let's give ourselves that hizzuk

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.

Welcome to Daily Bitachon . We continue with important lessons about the Three Weeks and how we should view them. Midrash Rabba in Eicha the introduction, letter four, Chazal describe a powerful correlation between Adam HaRishon being sent out of Gan Eden , and the Jewish people being sent out of Eretz Yisrael . It goes like this: Adam HaRishon —I brought him into Gan Eden . I commanded him. He transgressed My command. I judged him with gerushin and shiluchin . The word gerushin literally means to be thrown out, while shiluchin means to be sent out . And I bemoaned and lamented him in him Eicha . So too, his children—I brought them into Eretz Yisrael . I commanded them. They transgressed My command. And I judged them with being thrown out and sent out. For each of them, the midrash brings pesukim : Regarding Adam, it says: וַיְגָרֶשׁ אֶת הָאָדָם / – He was thrown out . וַיְשַׁלְּחֵהוּ ה׳ מִגַּן עֵדֶן / Hashem sent him out And for the Jewish people as well, it says : מִבֵּיתִי אֲגָרְשֵׁם / – I will throw them out of My house . שַׁלַּח מֵעַל פָּנַי – Send them out from before Me . And also: אֵיכָה / Eicha – I lamented: אֵיכָה יָשְׁבָה בָדָד / So what are these two terms— thrown out ( gerushin ) and sent out ( shiluchin )? The Shelah HaKadosh on Masechet Ta'anit tells us that the purpose of creation was to serve Hashem . As it says in Bereshit 2:15 , when Adam was still in Gan Eden before the sin: וַיִּקַּח ה׳ אֱלֹקִים אֶת הָאָדָם וַיַּנִּחֵהוּ בְּגַן עֵדֶן לְעָבְדָהּ וּלְשָׁמְרָהּ / God placed Adam in Gan Eden to serve and to guard it. That was the reason he was put there. When he was sent out, nothing changed, says the Shelah . It says in Bereshit 3:23 : וַיְשַׁלְּחֵהוּ ה׳ אֱלֹקִים מִגַּן עֵדֶן לַעֲבֹד אֶת הָאֲדָמָה / – He was sent out to work the land. Again, he was sent out for the same purpose . He was sent out to work. So although he was thrown out , he wasn't just thrown out. As the Shelah HaKadosh and the Sefer Si'ach Yitzchak by Rav Yitzchak Isaac Chaver (quoted by Rav David Cohen) explain: Shiluchut ——means a message, a mission . A shaliach is a messenger. He's on a mission. We were thrown out, yes—but not in a negative sense, like "I don't want to see you." We were thrown out, but we were actually sent out on a mission . This is an important principle: God never punishes the way a human being punishes. God's "punishments" are really tools to fix. It's a tikkun for repair. This is a crucial idea during the Three Weeks, as we commemorate the suffering of the Jewish people. It's all there for the purpose of tikkun . The Sefer Nefesh HaChaim , Sha'ar א , Perek ו , says something beautiful. When God told Adam, " On the day you eat from the tree, you will die," He still had mercy. It wasn't a literal day. God said, " One of My days is like a thousand years" —so you will die within a thousand years of eating it. As we know, Adam gave up 70 years of his life to David HaMelech . He says: this death was not a curse or a punishment. God does not bring bad upon people. Rather, because of eating from the Etz HaDa'at , a certain negative force mixed into man. And the only way to fix that, to separate the impurity from him, was through death. That way, the body could decay and later be recomposed in Techiyat HaMeitim . That's why, after Adam eats from the Etz HaDa'at , God says: "… lest he eat from the Etz HaChaim and live forever ." The Nefesh HaChaim asks: What's wrong with that? Let him eat from the tree and live forever! Isn't that the antidote? God only wants good—so what's the problem? The answer is: if Adam eats from the Etz HaChaim , he'll live forever without fixing the damage. The evil will never separate from him. He'll never be able to see light and goodness. So, for his benefit , he was sent out of Gan Eden , so that he could ultimately reach complete tikkun gamur when all the negativity would be separated from him. Imagine: Adam HaRishon was 1,000 feet tall before he sinned. Now, after the sin, he shrinks to 100 feet. The goal is to bring him back to 1,000 feet. But if he eats from the Etz HaChaim , he'll be locked in at 100 feet forever , and never die—and thus never grow again. That's not good. That's why the Gemara in Masechet Shabbat says there were four people who died " because of the snake" —even though they didn't sin. What does that mean? It means that even though they didn't sin, there was still a negativity mixed into mankind. And for them to reach their ultimate perfection—they had to die. This is an extremely important point to appreciate in our own lives as well: Whenever we feel like we are in a state of gerushin /being thrown out —we must realize that we're really being sent out on a mission . This reminds me of the famous dvar Torah —that when Davis Hamelech was being chased by Shaul , it says: לֵךְ כִּי שִׁלְּחְךָ ה׳ / " Go, for God has sent you ." Even when you feel like you're being chased and thrown out—know this: it's a shlichut . A mission. you are being sent by God.

Today we're going to discuss a pasuk in Micha. The Ramchal, Rav Moshe Chaim Luzzatto, author of Mesilat Yesharim, writes in his Maamar HaGeulah/Essay on Redemption that this pasuk reveals the sod ha'bitachon Yisrael b'tikvatam/ the secret of the Jewish people's reliance on and hope for redemption, the geulah shlemah/complete redemption, bimherah v'yameinu, amen As we are in the Three Weeks, this is an extremely apropos piece. What is the pasuk? אל תשמחי איבתי לי כי נפלתי קמתי, כי אשב בחשך יהוה אור לי (מיכה ז' ח')/ Do not rejoice over me, my enemy. Though I have fallen, I will rise. Though I sit in darkness, Hashem is a light unto me." Says the Ramchal: In order for the redemption to come, there are many preparatory steps—many things that must happen beforehand. He says that when the Jewish people think that God has hidden His face from them and has forsaken them, actually what's happening is (quoting his words): Az HaKadosh Baruch Hu mechin lahem otzarot gedolim / God is preparing for them huge treasure houses, Asher l'rochvam ein ketz / whose expanse has no end, Ul'tovam ein tachlit / whose abundance is limitless. In these treasure houses, God places all the wonderful wealth, all the treasures of kings. He fills these treasure houses to the point where: Ein ha'peh yechola l'daber /the mouth cannot speak it, V'ha'ozen lishmoa/the ear cannot hear it, V'afilu l'lev l'harher/the heart cannot even fathom or imagine it. When the time of the geulah comes, all these treasure houses will be opened. What is in these treasure houses? Of course, we are not talking about gold and silver. The Ramchal continues and says about this secret: Al ha'sod ha'gadol ha'zeh — This is the great secret. This is the secret of our bitachon (faith/trust). How do we rely on Hashem and survive difficult times? He quotes another pasuk, and b'ezrat Hashem both of these pesukim we will discuss more at length: Samechenu k'mot initanu, shnot ra'inu ra'ah./Make us happy like the days You afflicted us, the years we saw evil." This means we tell God : We had difficult times, now make us happy corresponding to those times that you pained us. At first glance, it seems simple: You gave us ten bad days, now give us ten good days. The bad days are the bad days, and the good days are the good days. No, says the Ramchal. It's not just a one-for-one exchange—10 days of bad traded for 10 days of good. No. And again, in his words: Ki kol ha'yamim she'Yisrael b'galut/All the years that Israel was in exile, V'or lo nagah lahem /and the light did not shine for them, Oto ha'or ha'rauy l'otam ha'yamim lo avad/that light which was befitting for those days was not lost. This means every day has its light. And on days where the light doesn't shine, that light isn't gone—it's simply put away in the treasure house. Ha'or ha'hu HaKadosh Baruch Hu gonzo/ That light, God stores away. B'eleh ha'otzarot she'madachticha/ in those same treasure houses. Those treasure houses are full of the light that wasn't revealed. Az yetzei kol ha'or k'echad /Then, all the light will come out at once, as one abundant light So for every moment of darkness—of crusades, of Holocaust, of churban , of Gaza tunnels—every one of those moments of darkness, of absence of light, is being gathered and will one day explode in a single, immense burst. V'az yehiyeh zman simcha l'Yisrael asher kamo lo nihyata/And then will be a time of joy for the Jewish people like never before. That's the meaning of Samechenu k'mot initanu /The days of pain themselves are actually what create the light. Yitukan ha'olam b'menucha v'hashket /The world will be repaired with peace and serenity, V'lo yiyeh od yagon b'olam klal /and there will be no sorrow ever again . As we say: V'aseir mimenu yagon v'anacha/ remove from us sorrow and difficulties . So, these are two very powerful pesukim: 1 . כי אשב בחשך יהוה אור לי /When I sit in darkness, Hashem is light for me. He's explaining to us: It means that even though I am in darkness, there is light being created by the darkness. Because of the darkness the light is being stored in the treasure house. 2. שמחנו כימות עניתנו שנות ראינו רעה /Make us happy like the days that we were suffering the years we saw evil. These, according to the Ramchal—one of the greatest kabbalists—are the sod ha'bitachon Yisrael — the secret bitachon of the Jewish people. .

For a 10% discount on Rabbi David Sutton's new book A Daily Dose of Perek Shira click the link below https://www.artscroll.com/Books/9781422644584.html Welcome to Daily Bitachon . We continue with Rabbenu Avraham ben HaRambam's levels of Bitachon. The third level, which has many nuances to it, is, in his words, when someone relies on Hashem to get what he needs, מאמין בזאת/and he believes this, בוודאות—with conviction, ובלי ספיקות/without any doubts. That's a very high level. He says that מעלת בטחון שלישית זו, לא ישיגוה רוב בני אדם/ most people won't reach that level. Shedding more light on this level of Bitachon, he adds, הנעלה ונישגבה שבמעלות הבטחון/this is the highest and most elevated level. ולא בנקל תושג/ And it's not easy to attain. An example of this, he says, is found in the Mishnah in Masechet Berachot , where we see that Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa would pray for people who were sick. And he would say, " This one is going to live, and this one is going to die. " They asked, " How do you know? " He replied, " If my prayers come out clearly, I know he's going to live. If not, then not." Rabbenu Avraham gives this as an example of someone who had a Vadai/he knew for sure. In other words he felt that if his prayers came out right, that was an indication of his Bitachon. He goes on: ומהיות שבעלי המעלה הזאת בטוחים בהשגת מבקשם/these people are guaranteed in receiving what they seek. Not because they are relying on their righteousness, but rather because they rely on Hashem's Hessed, as it says: ואני בחסדך בטחתי/I rely on Your kindness. Now , I'm not quoting every word of his, and I'm taking some things out of context, but it's important to know that such a level exists. There is a concept that I can rely on Hashem with certainty and receive what I seek. However, he clearly says that this is not for everybody—it takes a lot of hard work. But it does exist and we need to know that. Are we Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa? Obviously not. Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa is known for En Od Milevado. He's the one who the witch's daughter cast a spell on, and he said, "You can't touch me. It says En Od Milevado. " Rav Chaim Volozhin brings this down in his sefer also says it's not something for all times, and it's not easy—but it exists. So we must know this concept exists. Another example he gives is about Hillel HaZaken. The Gemara in Berachot 60A tells that Hillel HaZaken was walking on the road and heard a cry, and said, "I am certain this is not coming from my house." They bring a pasuk in Tehilim in: משמועה רעה לא יירא/he's not afraid of bad news. Why ? נכון לבו בטוח בה—because his heart is steadfast; he relies on Hashem. The Gaon of Vilna explains that this is one of the sources for this level of Bitachon. It's not so easy, and this cannot be overstated. Some people hear this concept and say, " You know what? I relied on Hashem, I really believed in Him, and I didn't get what I wanted!" But that level is not easily reached. The people he gives as examples are very, very great people—Hillel HaZaken and Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa! It's like any other great level. Yes it's a great level to be able to learn Torah for ten hours straight, but not everyone can do it. Some people can, some people can't. Some can learn four hours, some can learn two hours. It's not all or nothing. There could be a moment in time that you feel it, and then it fades. As much as you have it—that's how much you get it. Again, let's return to Rav Chaim Volozhin's En Od Milevado rule, where he says: To the extent that you believe there is nothing else but Hashem, all other forces will be annulled. It's not an all-or-nothing concept. Even within this level of relying on Hashem with certainty, it comes and goes. Things fluctuate. Rav Chaim Volozhin discusses this regarding the high level of learning Torah Lishma , where it says: מתוך שלא לשמה בא לשמה/from doing something not for God's sake, you eventually come to do it for Hashem's sake. He says it could be that you have it for one moment, and not for another. So we work on it, we try to reach it, we aspire to it. But we understand that it's not so easy, and it's not for everybody all the time. Still, we must know that this level exists, and that we can aspire to it on some level. The main point is to realize that ultimately, Hashem can do anything. Hashem is reliable if you rely on Him. Are you at that level? Only Hashem knows. I hope this sheds a little clarity on this concept that constantly comes up.

For a 10% discount on Rabbi David Sutton's new book A Daily Dose of Perek Shira click the link below https://www.artscroll.com/Books/9781422644584.html Welcome to Daily Bitachon. Rabbenu Avraham, son of the Rambam, in his sefer HaMaspik L'ovdei Hashem, talks about different levels of bitachon . Previously, we discussed lackings in bitachon. Now we will discuss the positive. The first level he mentions is a person who hopes and yearns for the fulfilling of his needs from Hashem, because of Hashem's great mercy, although, at the same time, he's concerned and worried about getting what he wants because he thinks his sins might prevent Hashem's mercy. This means he believes in Hashem's mercy, and he knows he can receive it even though he's sinned, but he's still concerned that maybe he won't merit that mercy from Hashem. This, Rabbenu Avraham says, is called meyachel lechesed Hashem—hoping for the kindness of Hashem— and it's a great thing. David HaMelech talks about people like this throughout Tehillim and Rabbenu Avraham cites many of these pesukim. He says this type of person is given a title—he is called a Ba'al ma'alah zo. Someone who is on a certain level. What's the level? He is a Ba'al yir'ah v'tikvah/ He's a person who is both fearful and hopeful . That might sound like an oxymoron, but it's not. He's hopeful for Hashem's mercy, but fearful that maybe he won't merit His mercy. There are ways to receive Hashem's mercy. One of them, the Gemara says, is kol hamerachem al habriyot, merachamim alav min hashamayim—whoever has mercy on Hashem's creatures, has mercy upon him from Heaven. So we know Hashem has mercy, and we have to merit that mercy. It's not a contradiction to the fact that you get things through your bitachon, because you still need Hashem's mercy. Maybe I won't merit it. He brings a pasuk in Tehillim 147:11 that we've heard before, but he adds a beautiful explanation. It says: רוֹצֶ֣ה יְ֭הֹוָה אֶת־יְרֵאָ֑יו אֶת־הַֽמְיַחֲלִ֥ים לְחַסְדּֽוֹ / Hashem desires those who fear Him, those who hope for His kindness . The simple explanation (which we must always start with) is: Hashem is happy with those who fear Him—God-fearing people . And separately, He also likes people who hope for His kindness. That's definitely an explanation. But Rabbenu Avraham comes along and says no—they're not two different people. They're one person. They are yera'av/they are fearful. What are they fearful of? They're fearful of His punishment. And even though they are fearful of His punishment, at the same time, meyachalim lechasdo/they're hoping for His kindness. So it's a mixture of feelings, a mixture of emotions. And that's a wonderful level. That's level number one. Level number two is when beside hoping and yearning for Hashem to fulfill his needs, he also has what Rabbenu Avraham calls bikush penimi shebalev/an inner request of the heart— and an external one, on his tongue. He is actually asking. And that, he says, is called Doresh Hashem/He's searching…he quotes many pesukim like that… mevakesh panav korei el Hashem , Uvikashtem misham es Hashem Elokecha—you will search, you will ask for Him. This is a very interesting concept: He's taking a level of hope alone, where the person hasn't done anything yet. He didn't even ask. Hope doesn't mean I asked Hashem. I'm just hoping for the best. Hope is a wonderful thing— kivui , hope . But it has not yet turned into an actual, what we'll call, dialogue. It's just a hope. The next level is when I've taken that hope and turned it into bikush penimi—an inner request—and bikush chitzoni—an outer request , an expression of what's going on inside of me. And on this, he says, David HaMelech says ( and this is the pasuk that I say at the end of the Amidah, which starts with a ד , ends with a ד —my name is David. So I'll have an additional understanding tomorrow): דִּרְשׁ֤וּ יְהֹוָה֙ וְעֻזּ֔וֹ בַּקְּשׁ֥וּ פָנָ֖יו תָּמִֽיד׃ / Search for Hashem and His strength, constantly seek His presence. Which means: keep on asking, keep on yearning. He brings many pesukim for this point—that this is also included in a level of bitachon, the bitachon of bikush added on top of the hope. It's not separate. You can ask—just asking, that's a tefillah. That doesn't yet mean you have hope . You could ask without it coming from hope. But this is a bikush that's coming from hope. I'm looking for the connection, I'm looking for Hashem. Dorshei Hashem—those that are searching for Hashem, they will not be missing anything. Bakshu et Hashem, search for Hashem—kol anavei eretz, all those humble people. And he says there are endless pesukim talking about this level. So we have two levels: 1. The hope level 2. The prayer that is an expression of that hope.

For a 10% discount on Rabbi David Sutton's new book A Daily Dose of Perek Shira click the link below https://www.artscroll.com/Books/9781422644584.html Yesterday, we quoted a pasuk brought by Rabbi Avraham ben HaRambam from Hoshea 12, 7: ואתה באלקיך תשוב, חסד ומשפט שמר, וקוה אל אלקיך תמיד / As for you, return to Hashem, observe kindness and justice, and always hope to your God." That was his source showing that we have a command from God to constantly hope to Him and never to despair. Today I'd like to share the context of this pasuk with you. In pasuk 3 of that chapter it says, ריב לה' עם יהודה / Hashem has a contention with Yehudah (the Jewish people), ולפק ד על יעקב /and will visit upon Yaakov. What is Hashem's complaint? It says in the next pasuk: בבטן עקב את אחיו / In the womb he seized his brother's heel. ובאונו שרה את אלקים / And with his strength, he struggled with an angel. Rashi explains: Hashem is describing all that He did so Yaakov would become the chosen one. He seized the heel, he fought the angel, he prevailed. Basically, Hashem is saying: " Look how much I've done for you, from the beginning of your existence, Jewish people." Then in pasuk 6 it says, וה' אלקי הצבאות ה' זכרו / Hashem, the God of Legions, Hashem is His remembrance. Rashi explains: כאשר הייתי מאז כן אני עתה / Just as I was then, so am I now. אם הייתם הולכים עמי בתמימות כיעקב אביכם / If you would act with Me with simplicity like Yaakov Avinu (your father), הייתי נוהג עמכם כאשר נהגתי עמו /I would treat you as I treated him. Rabbi Yehudah HaChassid, in Sefer Gematriot , letter 152, connects יעקב איש תם to תמים תהיה. Yaakov is called איש תם, Ish Tam meaning " simple" or " pure " — and תמים תהיה Tamim Tihyeh means go with God in simplicity. Rashi on Devarim 18:13 says on תמים תהיה: התהלך עמו בתמימות ותצפה לו – Go with God with simplicity and l ook forward to Him. In other words. do not turn to fortune-tellers or sorcerers etc… Rather, כל מה שיבוא עליך קבל בתמימות/ Accept whatever happens to you with simplicity. ואז תהיה עמו ולחלקו /Then you will be with Him and part of His portion. (That's why the famous Meshech Chochmah says that when a person has bitachon , he fulfills the mitzvah of dveikut / cleaving to God.) So what is Hashem telling us through Hoshea HaNavi? Again, the words of Rashi: אם הייתם הולכים עמי בתמימות כיעקב אביכם/ If you went with Me with simplicity like Yaakov Avinu, I would act with you like I did with him. The Sefer Ikvot Moshe on Parashat Vayishlach, by Rav Moshe Akiva Tikutchinski, Mashgiach of Slabodka in Bnei Brak, writes: This shows that every Jew is capable and asked to go with the same Temimut/ simplicity and trust as Yaakov Avinu. And if we reach that level of connection, God will act with us like that. In the famous Mizmor in Tehillim perek 20 it says: יענך ה' ביום צרה, ישגבך שם אלקי יעקב /May Hashem answer you in a time of trouble; may the Name of the God of Yaakov lift you up. The Midrash says on that pasuk says it doesn't say אלקי Elokei Avraham or Elokei Yitzhak — only Elokei Yaakov. David Hamelech is saying: מי שענה ליעקב אביכם, הוא יענה אתכם – the One who answered Yaakov, will answer you. Furthermore, in Bereshit 35:3, it says about Yaakov לאל העונה אותי ביום צרתי / the God who answers me on my day of trouble. With that introduction, we come back to: ואתה באלקיך תשוב, חסד ומשפט שמר, וקוה אל אלקיך תמיד As for you, return to your God, observe kindness and justice, and always hope to your God." Rashi explains: What does it mean to hope to Him? בהבטחתו ובמשענתו /count on His guarantee and the ability to lean on Him. שהוא מבטיחך, אתה יכול לסמוך /He guarantees you; you can rely on His guarantee. And what should you do? לקוות לישועתו תמיד /constantly look forward to His salvation. This is all Rashi's explanation of God's words. But the very next pasuk (7) says : כנען בידו מאזני מרמה לעשק אהב – Instead, you are a Canaan/traitor who holds dishonest scales and loves to cheat. Rashi explains: Instead of relying on Hashem, you rely on shenanigans and crooked business. And you say about your wealth, אך עשר תי / I have become wealthy. ולא עבודת הקב״ה / I don't need to serve God. It wasn't God, it was me. Pasuk 8: ויאמר אפרים אך עשרתי מצאתי און לי – Ephraim says: I have become wealthy , I have found power for myself . כל יגיעי לא ימצאו לי עוון אשר חטא / I've worked hard and no one can find any sin in me. I'm clean. The Radak says this is the opposite of Kaveh el Hashem Hashem/ hoping to Hashem: They do not hope in Hashem. They do not admit that it is He who gives the power to succeed. Instead they say: כחי ועוצם ידי עשה לי את החיל הזה / My strength and my hand made this wealth. And they forget: ה' אלקיך, שנתן לו כח / that Hashem gave him the strength. They say: עשרתי מעצמי / I made myself wealthy. These are the two opposite paths. Either the person lives with the program of קוה אל אלקיך תמיד – constantly hoping to Hashem, or they take the אך עשרתי / I made myself rich approach.. Let's choose the path of קוה אל אלקיך תמיד Hope to Hashem constantly

For a 10% discount on Rabbi David Sutton's new book A Daily Dose of Perek Shira click the link below https://www.artscroll.com/Books/9781422644584.html Welcome to Daily Bitachon . We are quoting from the sefer HaMaspik L'Ovdeh Hashem from Rabbenu Avraham, son of the Rambam. He tells us there are two types of people that are lacking in Bitachon. One of them is the fellow that נואש האדם ממבוקשו/ has given up hope, יאוש /despaired on what he's looking for. ואיננו מצפה עוד להשיגו/and he's no longer hoping. The word ציפוי shares the shoresh with הר הצופים, Mount Scopus - looking from afar . So this fellow ואיננו מצפ ה /doesn't even see it on the horizon. It's just not coming. He really gave up hope. Suppose a fellow wants to buy a house or start a new business. He has a parnassa need, but he is נואש /he despairs , he gives up hope. He's no longer looking out on the horizon for a deal or opportunity to come his way, to somehow allow him to afford that house or make that business deal that he's waiting for. Rabbenu Avraham says this fellow that despairs from his parnasa and is no longer looking forward to getting it, נואש מן הפרנסה, ואינו מצפה עוד להשיגו, he is no longer hoping or yearning for it to come . ראוי לגנאי. This man is worthy of being disgraced. על שנתייאש מרחמי הבורא / because he has despaired of God's mercy. Now hold on. Who said I have to have God's mercy? He says, למרות שהוא מצווה על ההיפך הגמור/He's been commanded on the exact opposite. He's been commanded never to give hope. It's a command. As David Hamelech said, קוה אל ה ׳ /hope to Hashem. חזק ויאמץ לבך/ strengthen and make your heart courageous. וקוה אל ה/ and hope to Hashem That, says Rabbenu Avraham, is a command not to give up hope. So how dare you give up hope ? Furthermore, another pasuk in Tehilim say, יחל ישראל אל ה/The Jewish people should have יחול (which is another term for hope). מעתה ועד עולם/ forever . That means you're supposed to have hope forever. And Hoshea says, קוה אל אלהיך תמיד/Hope to your God constantly , and there are many more pesukim of the like. To recap, Rabbenu Avraham Ben Rambam says giving up hope is not just wrong- He uses the words, I'm sorry to say, ראוי לגנאי/ it's disgraceful . And the Sefer HaIkarim , fourth essay, chapter 49, quotes the entire pasuk in Hoshea which says ואתה באלהיך תשוב/return to your God, חסד ומשפט שמר/keep acts of kindness and justice וקוה אל אלהיך תמיד/and hope to your God constantly. Says the Sefer HaIkarim- התקוה דבר הכרחי אל המאמין/ Hope is an essential concept to the believer, כשמירת חסד ומשפט, no less than keeping kindness or justice, או יותר, and possibly even more than that. So if a guy is not Baal Hessed , you'd say that's not good. Or if he's not a בעל משפט /he's not straight, you'd think, Ooh, that's terrible. But that guy that gave up hope on success? You'd think, So what? But no. Lack of hope is a big problem. The Sefer HaIkarim further on in that same chapter says, כי התקוה והתוחלת לה' יתברך/hoping to Hashem, דבר יותר מעולה is greater מכל התהלות than all the praises שאפשר שישבח אדם להשם יתברך/More than any other praise one can do is hoping to Hashem. That's the biggest praise. I think we've proven the point that a Jew is not allowed to give up hope. It's not just that hoping to Hashem is an option, it's a must . You're never allowed to give up hope. Wonder of wonders.

For a 10% discount on Rabbi David Sutton's new book A Daily Dose of Perek Shira click the link below https://www.artscroll.com/Books/9781422644584.html Welcome to Daily Bitachon. There's a beautiful piece in the sefer Birchot Peretz, written by the famous Steipler )younger people might know him as Rav Chaim Kainievsky'a father) He passed away in 1985 and he was considered the Gadol Hador of the time, along with Rav Shach. In his sefer Birchot Peretz, he makes an important distinction. He says people sometimes get down on themselves because they're afraid of something, and so they think they lack bitachon. He says, when a person goes out to war, he is in safek sakana/a situation of possible danger. It says that when one goes out to war, there is no guarantee that he'll come back alive. So if someone is afraid—" Hey, I might not come back" —that is general fear. That is not included in the lo ta'aseh (negative commandment) that the Torah tells us: al tira'u — don't be afraid when you go to war, as brought down by the Rambam. And according to Rabbenu Yonah, this commandment applies to all situations of danger. One does not transgress if he's afraid in a dangerous situation. But, he says, if the fear comes because he sees a large encampment and says, " There's no way we're going to win because their camp is so big"— or if his fear increases because of the size of the opposing camp—that's when he transgresses that sin. As the pasuk clearly states: " When you go out to war against your enemy and you see horses and chariots more numerous than you, don't be afraid of them, because Hashem, who took you out of Mitzrayim, is with you." That means you have to know that winning or losing a war has nothing to do with the strength or weakness of the enemy. Of course you have to do all your hishtadlut , as you must do for parnassah , and everything else in the Torah. And yes, success or failure are both possible outcomes. A person could potentially go to war and not come back. That's possible. There is no guarantee. But to think that the reason he won't come back is because of the size of the enemy's army is a mistake. Whether he survives or not depends on whether God decided that. So when someone says, " Oh no, it looks like there are more soldiers" or " fewer soldiers "—that doesn't change anything. And this doesn't mean we're relying on open miracles. If there's a war, and the opposing camp is smaller, you may feel more confident; if it's a larger army, you may feel less confident, but Hashem can make you succeed in either scenario, and if you get more scared because of the size of the camp, that's where the problem arises. He clearly says—and I'm very excited by this—because the Steipler was a brother-in-law of the Chazon Ish, so he probably knew what the Chazon Ish felt on these things, that as far as bitachon in general, to have bitachon, to believe that Hashem will give me this and I'll get that, hu madrega gedola me'od/that's a very high level. Not everyone who has emunah has bitachon on that level. So he's saying that this level of bitachon is a high level. And the fact that it's a high level means it exists—it's possible. But someone can be a God-fearing Jew, who doesn't violate any sins, including sins related to bitachon, and still not make it back because Hashem simply decided such But he says: this is a general obligation: she'ya'amin—You have to believe—she'hakol bidei Shamayim—that everything is in the hands of Heaven . It must be clear to him—that all of the Hishtadlut he puts in will not help him achieve more than what was decreed on Rosh Hashanah. To me, this is important, because many people feel, " Well, if I'm still scared, I must not be holding by bitachon." No. Being scared is okay, because the Steipler is saying it's not necessarily guaranteed that you're going to make it through. Of course, if you're on a high level and you truly rely on Hashem, that's a higher level. But being scared? That's okay. So when do I get in trouble? If I'm scared because now it looks a little harder, or there's more difficulty, or it's more uncertain, if I'm less confident than I was because of the situation, that is a problem. You may say, " Hold on, maybe Hashem decided this year, chas v'shalom, on Rosh Hashanah, that I won't have good parnassah. That's possible. And I'm scared." Yes it's possible. But if you say, " Now I'm more scared because of the tariffs... now I'm more scared because of new regulations that some new official is going to put into place," and your fear increases, ask yourself: Why are you more scared? Every year brings fear of the unknown. We don't know what will happen. Nobody does. So you can be concerned—that's okay. Going out to war is a legitimate concern. And again, as the Steipler says: If one is afraid due to the general potential danger that exists on the path—he is not violating the prohibition of "do not fear." That's still within the realm of being a good, God-fearing, bitachon card-carrying Jew. Again, that's if he's generally afraid, But if the fear grows because of the specifics of the situation on the ground, and that makes him more uncomfortable—that's where bitachon must comes in. Because, that shouldn't make a difference to Hashem. The change in situation, more or less, is not changing what Hashem can do. It can happen anyway. I hope this point is clear. I felt that was a nice added point that I had never noticed before—in brackets—in the Steipler's Birkat Peretz on Parashat Shoftim.

Welcome to the Daily Bitachon. Yesterday we spoke about what true Bitachon is, based on the words of the son of the Rambam, Rabbi Avraham. True Bitachon means that at all times, you are focused on Hashem as the direct Cause for everything, realizing that all intermediaries are nothing more than that—intermediaries. The Gaon of Vilna explains three stages where one can trip up in relying on the wrong thing, and what the proper Bitachon mindset should be: Firstly, what happens at the onset of the challenge? When a person, lo alenu, has any type of challenge, whether, heaven forbid, medical, financial, or a challenge with a child not doing well in school, what is the initial reaction? The Gaon of Vilna calls this stage " B'eit tzarah/ when you're in a time of difficulty. And your first reaction should be: Elecha Nafshi Essa/To Hashem I lift my soul. Hashem is going to get me out of this . Using a child struggling in school as an example, we will explore the next step- You speak to the teacher, who consults with the principal, who finds you the perfect kriah expert to address the red flag, that he's not reading well in first grade. Now you have the perfect reading specialist to help him over the summer, and he will catch up with everybody else. At this point, the yeshua has come. But even when the yeshua has come, you should not be focusing on that kriah expert. You should be focusing on Hakadosh Baruch Hu, who's going to bring you the salvation. Finally, after an entire summer of reading intervention the child is reading wonderfully—the salvation has come. Who do you sing to? Who do you praise? Don't forget that the yeshua came from Hashem. When you've passed the test at all three levels, that is called " Bitachon b'shleimut." That is considered complete Bitachon. The Gaon of Vilna reads this into a famous pasuk in Tehillim 13:6: Dovid HaMelech says: וַאֲנִ֤י ׀ בְּחַסְדְּךָ֣ בָטַחְתִּי֮ יָ֤גֵ֥ל לִבִּ֗י בִּישׁוּעָ֫תֶ֥ךָ אָשִׁ֥ירָה לַֽיהֹוָ֑ה כִּ֖י גָמַ֣ל עָלָֽי׃ {פ} 1-"Va'ani, b'chasdecha batachti" – And I rely on Your kindness. 2-"Yagel libi b'yeshuasecha" – My heart rejoices in Your salvation. 3-"Ashirah laHashem, ki gamal alai" – I sing to Hashem because He has bestowed this salvation And here we go, step by step: Step number one is: " Va'ani/And I , in the time of challenge, who do I count on? " BaHashem batachti/ I rely on Hashem and nobody else. Once the yeshua has come. " Yagel libi b'yeshuasecha/ My heart rejoices in His salvation, because I only asked from Him and from no one else. And finally, when the salvation comes and I'm totally out of the woods: " Ashirah laHashem, ki gamal alai/I sing to Hashem because He has bestowed upon me this salvation. Those are the three points where one can possibly lose focus. And perfect Bitachon is at every step of the way—when the challenge is here, when the yeshua is coming, and when the salvation has fully arrived- At every step of the way, I focus on nothing else but Hakadosh Baruch Hu. We can use every example in the world—waiting for the shidduch, waiting for the right lawyer, waiting for the right house, waiting for everything and anything. There are always these three stages: 1-You're in the problem—you're in the tunnel. It's dark and you don't see a way out. 2-Next , You see the light at the end of the tunnel. 3-And finally, You're out of the tunnel. At each one of those stages, there should be nothing else on your mind but Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Easier said than done. But that's what we're here for- to keep on repeating and reiterating these important concepts.

Welcome to Daily Bitachon. We continue going through the words of our Rishonim on Bitachon. (The commentary of the Rishonim/the early rabbis, is often more succinct than that of the Achronim/ later Rabbis , but there are many pearls within nonetheless.) The Rambam had a son known as Rav Avraham Ben Rambam. He wrote a sefer called Hamaspik L'Ovdeh Hashem /What's Enough to be a Servant of Hashem , in which he has a section on Bitachon. He asks, What is true Bitachon? True Bitachon is when you rely on Hashem in all areas and don't focus on any intermediary. He provides examples such as when a person gets sick, has v'shalom, and then gets better. He has to realize in his heart, in his thoughts, and in his conscience that the healing did not come from anything but the word of God. So when someone gets better, they have to imagine that Hashem is whispering, " Let this man get better ." Nothing else will help him. He quotes a pasuk in Devarim 32:39, מחצתי / I hit, ואני ארפא /and I make better.. If someone goes through a procedure and it doesn't work out, it didn't work out because that's what Hashem wants. He quotes a pasuk to back that up as well. So before we go for to any procedure, we have to know that Hashem is the One that's literally performing the procedure. And if someone involved himself in business and was successful, he has to know and realize that that profit did not come from anything else but גזרתו Hashem's decree. As it says: כי הוא הנותן לך כח לעשות חיל – because He, God, is the One that gives you the strength to amass wealth, which Onkelos translates as God is the One that gave you the ideas. When someone gets a great license, has a great idea for a product, a great buy, or a great sell- Who gave them those ideas? Hashem gave you the ideas. And if, has v'shalom, something goes wrong, or there's a mishap, he has to realize again, that this was God's decree. There's a pasuk that says: זרע רב תוציא השדה /a field can give forth much grain, ומעט תאסוף/ and only a small amount will be brought in . How could that be? It can be, because that's what Hashem decreed. So again, what is true bitachon? When the one who's relying places his reliance, and his belief in all areas on Hashem above, and not on any of the standard intermediaries that exist. That is Bitachon. So if we want to know if we have Bitachon, that is the way we know.

Welcome to Daily Bitachon. We continue with another beautiful teaching from Rabbenu Yonah on Mishleh Chapter 3, Pasuk 25. He writes these powerful words: One should rely on Hashem in all times of difficulty and darkness, knowing the truth that Hashem is rav l'hoshia—abundant in salvation—as we say every single day in our Amidah. Mikol tzarah/from all difficulties v'yeshuato ke'heref ayin/His salvation comes in the blink of an eye. Therefore, we must rely on Hashem's salvation even if a sword is on a person's throat. Rabbenu Yonah quotes a pasuk in Iyov: Hen yikteleni, lo ayachel/Even if he were to kill me, I would still hope toward Him." Where does this concept come from—that even if a sword is at your throat, you shouldn't give up hope? It's from a well known Gemara in Masechet Brachot: Chizkiyah HaMelech was ill. Yishayah the prophet came to him and said, " Command your household—you are dying and will not live; you are dying in this world and will not live in the next." Why? Because Chizkiyah chose not to have children, having foreseen with ruach hakodesh that his children would be wicked. The prophet rebuked him for this, saying, " That is not your concern. You must do what you are obligated to do, and Hashem will do what He must." Chizkiyah responded to the prophet, " Let me marry your daughter—perhaps through my merit and yours, we will have righteous children." But the prophet replied, " You're a dead man. I won't give you my daughter." Chizkiyah answered, " Prophet, please leave. I have a tradition from my grandfather's household that even if a sword is on one's neck, one should not give up hope." Who is this grandfather he's referring to? Rashi explains that it refers to David HaMelech. In Divrei Hayamim א , 21:16 , David HaMelech counted the people, and Hashem decreed punishment on them. David lifted his eyes and saw an angel of Hashem standing between heaven and earth, v'charbo shlufa b'yado/a drawn sword in his hand, netuya al Yerushalayim/stretched out over Jerusalem. And what did David Hamelech do? He prayed. Even though the sword was over him, he prayed. That is the source Chizkiyah HaMelech referred to, as he was descended from David HaMelech. But the Vilna Gaon, in his commentary in Sefer Kol Eliyahu , is troubled. He points out that the text doesn't say the sword was literally on David's neck—only that it was stretched over Yerushalayim. So metaphorically, yes—but do we have a source that a sword was truly on someone's neck? The Vilna Gaon refers us to Melachim א , 22: 30–33, and also Divrei Hayamim ב , 18:31–32. There, Yehoshafat was at war. He disguised himself and was in hiding, and the king of Aram sent assassins specifically to find and kill him—like a targeted assassination. They found him and were about to kill him. And the pasuk says: Vayizak Yehoshafat—Yehoshafat cried out—v'Hashem azro—and Hashem helped him—vayesitem Elokim mei'meno—God diverted them away from him. Miraculously, they disappeared. The Yalkut Shimoni comments on this episode, saying: melamed shelo yechaser ki'im hatzat harosh—all that was missing was the removal of his head. It was that close. According to the Vilna Gaon, this is the source Chizkiyah drew on. His ancestor Yehoshafat had a sword on his neck and didn't give up—and was saved.He was one step away. The Chomat Anach, from the Chida on Divrei Hayamim , brings down this same concept, similar to the Vilna Gaon. He explains that normally the term " Hashem " refers to midat harachamim (the attribute of mercy), while " Elokim " refers to midat hadin (the attribute of judgment). In that pasuk, both names are used, indicating that according to strict judgment, Yehoshafat should have died—but through his prayers, the judgment was transformed into mercy. This is our tradition—a tradition passed down through generations. Rabbenu Yonah concludes this piece by quotinga pasuk in Tehillim 62:9: Bitchu vo b'chol eit—"Rely on Hashem at all times." What does "at all times" mean? He explains: Gam b'eit shehatzarah krova—even when the trouble is very close, v'lo yeda adam derech l'hinatzel mimena—and a person has no idea how to escape, how he will get out of it—still, trust in Hashem. I once heard a beautiful story from Rav Yaakov Hillel related to this idea. It says, "Even if a sharp sword is on your neck." Why emphasize " sharp "? There was a Rabbi Antebi from Damascus. During a blood libel, he was imprisoned and subjected to psychological torture. They brought him to a guillotine, and the sword came falling down toward him. But it was meant as psychological warfare—the blade was dull. He said, a sword has two sides: sharp and dull. That, he explained, is what Chizkiyah HaMelech meant. If the sword is blunt there is still what to fear. But afilu cherev chada—even if it's a sharp sword—do not give up hope.

Welcome to the Daily Bitachon. We continue with the Rabbenu Yonah on Mishleh , citing different pesukim to prove the point that we need to rely solely on Hashem and not focus at all on human beings. Today's pasuk is from Yeshayah 10:15 הֲיִתְפָּאֵר֙ הַגַּרְזֶ֔ן עַ֖ל הַחֹצֵ֣ב בּ֑וֹ אִם־יִתְגַּדֵּ֤ל הַמַּשּׂוֹר֙ עַל־מְנִיפ֔וֹ כְּהָנִ֥יף שֵׁ֙בֶט֙ וְאֶת־מְרִימָ֔יו כְּהָרִ֥ים מַטֶּ֖ה לֹא־עֵֽץ׃ {פ} Can a hatchet glory over the one who chops with it? Can a saw be greater than the one who wields it? As if a rod could shake those who lift it. As if a stick could lift one who is not wood. The Navi is providing four different metaphors to make the same point, each one with a slightly different nuance. The commentators explain that the reason it's superfluous is to drive the point home. Let's study them one by one: 1-Can a hatchet glory over the one who chops with it? Let's say a wood chopper is using the hatchet (or ax) to chop down a tree. Can the ax look back at the man holding it and say, " Wow, look what I'm doing?" Excuse me, Mr. Ax, you're not doing anything, says the woodchopper. That is mashal number one, that God says to people who glorify themselves with what they're doing. In this case, specifically referring to King Sanheriv who considered himself a world conqueror. World conqueror? Excuse me, you are nothing more than an ax. I am chopping with you. How can you glorify yourself over the One who chops with you? That's the way we're supposed to look at powerful people, rulers and world rulers, and other beings that boast of their accomplishments. We'll leave to everyone's imagination whom we're talking about. 2-Can a saw be greater than the one who wields it? The saw, which is another device used to cut down a tree, can't be greater or more powerful than the one that's holding the saw. 3-As if a rod could shake those who lift it. If I'm lifting the rod, obviously I'm more powerful than the rod I'm lifting. Can you, who's being lifted by God, shake God? Who do you think you are? You're like in the stories of the Dor Hapelaga or the like, going out to fight against God, to throw God off…. God is lifting you. The rod is being lifted. It's like you're swinging a golf club and suddenly the golf club throws you off of him. It doesn't work that way. The rod can't shake those who lift it. 4- As if a stick could lift one who is not wood. כהרים מטה לא עץ which could be understood as Rashi says that, לא העץ הוא המרים./ It's not the tree that lifts, it's the person who's lifting the tree. But the Radak offers a slightly different explanation: Why is the term stick used? He says a stick is not like a tree. A tree can continue to grow after one of its branches have been severed, but the severed branch can no longer grow. So too, human beings are like a tree. They're rooted, and they're growing because they're connected. But when somebody boasts, as in this case, Sanheriv, that boasting will prevent him from growing. Moreover, it will cause your destruction, because when you boast, you're disconnecting yourself from the source of life. The Gaah becomes disconnected. All of the arrogance is actually disconnecting and rather than showing strength and bringing growth, it will actually cause the destruction. In the words of the Radak, וּמֵעַתָּה And now, בהתפארו, in his arrogance/his glorification, יסוף ויכלה, he will cease and will be destroyed. That is our lesson from this pasuk in Yeshaya, beautifully describing how the person is not doing anything. He is nothing , as all of the above metaphors illustrate.

Welcome to Daily Bitachon. Before the war started, we were in the middle of our study of Rabbenu Yonah in Mishlei , Chapter 3, Pasuk 26. We were discussing that whenever someone is being hit , he should not focus on the stick, but on the One who is holding the stick. He quoted a pasuk in Yeshayah (10:20): " Nish'an al Hashem, kedosh Yisrael be'emet/They relied on Hashem, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. We discussed the concept of Bitachon gamur bli safek/complete trust without doubt. Now he quotes a source that ultimately Hashem is in charge of all " hitters ." As it says in a pasuk in Mishleh : " פלגי מים לב מלך ביד ה׳ י Palgei mayim/like flowing waters and streams, the heart of a king is in the hands of G-d. " על כל אשר יחפץ יטנו/ G-d can turn and tilt him in whichever way He desires . What does that mean? The consensus of the commentaries is that although human beings have freedom of choice —we make choices, and of course, Hashem can decide whether or not our choices will materialize—human beings still have choices. But when it comes to a king, it's very different. In the words of the Chida in his sefer Kiseh David , the tenth derush for Shabbat Zachor: " HaMelech en lo bechirah"—a king does not have free choice. "Rak libo b'yad Hashem"—his heart is in the hands of G-d. "El kol asher yachpotz yatenu"—he will turn and tilt as G-d desires. This applies specifically to a king —a full controller. The Sefer Chassidim in Siman תמא brings an example from Rechavam, who listened to the counsel of the younger advisers instead of his elders, and it ended up backfiring. The pasuk clearly says there, " hayta sibah me'et Hashem"—it was caused by G-d. G-d made it happen. So when we see kings making decisions, we must realize—they are literally puppets. The Sefer Chassidim also quotes another pasuk in Malachim א , Chapter 22:20, where G-d says, " מי יפתה את אחאב, הרי —who will seduce Achav ? G-d was speaking to His angels. An angel agreed and said, "I will. " It was the spirit of a certain person who had been killed. He said, " I will go down." The Sefer Chassidim explains: שהמלאך מטה המחשבה להרהר אחר אותו דבר The angel tilts the thoughts, —to cause to think the thought שגוזר הקב"ה that G-d has decreed. So the brain is hijacked by the angel. It may look like the king is making a decision—but he is not. In the words of the Midrash Mishleh , Parashah 21: " עולה למלוכה לבו נתון בידו של הקב"ה. when a man rises to become a king, his heart is placed in the hands of G-d. If the world is merits, G-d causes him to issue good decrees; if not, bad ones. וכל גזירה שיוצאה מפיו אינה יוצאה לכתחלה אלא מלפני הקב"ה. any decree that leaves the king's mouth, does not go out unless G-d permits it. That's how controlled the king's words and decisions are. Rabbenu Yonah on Mishlei explains the reason behind this: Since שהרבים תלוין במלך, / The masses depend on the king —and G-d gave him the power to bring life or death, to do good or bad, שומר ה׳ את לבו שלא יטה רק לעשות גזרת ה׳ Hashem guards his heart so he will only be inclined to do G-d's will. Obviously, this is timely with what's going on with Trump, Khamenei, Netanyahu, and others. We must realize: it all falls under this principle of Lev Melech b'Yad Hashem.

Welcome to Daily Bitachon. We continue our Rising Lion mini-series. Yesterday we quoted the pasuk in Zachariah that is read in the Haftara of Baha'alotcha that talks about the prophet seeing a vision of a Menorah . He asks what it is, and God responds, כי אם ברוחי/It's My spirit that's going to win the war. We explained yesterday that God has the power to arouse the spirit of man and switch a person's outlook and mindset, and that's how we're going to win the war. But what makes that happen? What ignites God to play with spirits? There is a a beautiful thought from the HaEmek Devar but we need some background first: In Shemot 39:37 regarding setting up the Mishkan, the pasuk says, אֶת הַמְּנֹרָה הַטְּהֹרָה אֶת נֵרֹתֶיהָ נֵרֹת הַמַּעֲרָכָה וְאֶת כָּל כֵּלֶיהָ וְאֵת שֶׁמֶן הַמָּאוֹר: There is the pure Menorah, its candles and the, נרות המערכה. The candles of Maracha. What does Maracha mean? The Hizkuni and many others say it means set up, as it says, יערוך אותו אהרן ובניו/Aharon and his sons are going to set it up (similar to שולחן ערוך, set up table),. עריכה Aricha means something set up. So therefore it's the Menorah of candles, that are set up Rabbenu Bachye has a deeper explanation of this pasuk, which is the seven lights of the menorah correspond to the seven main planets- the candles of the heavens. And the candles down here impact the candles up there. That means what we do down here impacts the world above. So the Nerot Maracha are the candles of the solar system, so to say. It might not look like it, but it is. But there's another meaning for מערכה Maracha . In Shemuel, when David Hamelech goes to fight against Goliat, the pasuk says, ותערוך ישראל ופלישתים, and they set up Israel and the Pelishtim, The term מערכה Maracha here refers to a battle (i.e.set up for battle). Based on this, the HaEmek D'var, calls the Nerot Hamarcha candles of battle . Why? Citing the pasuk we discussed, he says the Menorah symbolizes לא בחיל ולא בכח, it's not with war and with strength, כי אם ברוחי, rather with My spirit. The Menorah represents spirit. When someone passes away, we light a, Ner Neshama , a candle of the soul .. There's a soul, there's a spirit, that candle symbolizes. And Neshama and Mishna נשמה, משנה, have the same letters, so the candelabra symbolizes Torah sh'b'al Peh , which is, in the words of HaEmek D'var, Milchamta shel Torah .When you learn Torah Shbe'al peh, the Oral Law, the Gemara, that is fighting . That's what Torah shbe'al Peh is, it's a fight. You go to a Bet Midrash, and it's cooking. It's called Milchamta Shel Torah. There's a screaming and yelling back and forth. This Milchamta Shel Torah protects us from wars down here. That is why we call it Nerot Hamaracha - Like with the story of Hanukah, they won the war with a few Chashmonaim, with a few Kohanim. Why? The power of the Menorah. The Menorah symbolizes the power of spirit. And that's what we read about. Yes, God can flip the switch of a spirit, but what makes everything happen? The power of spirit down here. We need to arouse spirit, and that, so to say, empowers God to do what He has to do with the spirit. Like we said at the beginning of our series, yes, we need to have wars and soldiers and our Hishtadlut . David Hamelech took a slingshot to get Goliat. Yes, he did something, but he did something small. Ultimately it's the power of spirit י כי אם ברוח

Welcome to Daily Bitachon. We continue in our special mini series with messages based on the situation that's going on in Eretz Yisrael, now with the threat from Iran. In the Haftara of Parashat Baha'alotcha , which was read on the first Shabbat of this war, Zechariah sees a vision of a Menorah and the angel asks him, Do you know what this is? He says, I don't know, what is it? The angel tells him, This is a message to Zerubavel telling him, לא בחיל, not with not with armies, לא בכח, not with strength, כי אם ברוח י, it's My spirit אמר ה' צבאות. We're going to win this with spirit. מי אתה הר הגדול? Who do you think you are, big mountain, לפני זרובבל, in front of Zerubavel. ל מישור, I'm going to smooth you out . What exactly is this message of כי אם ברוחי/ It's going to happen with My spirit? The commentaries on the Navi point us to a pasuk at the beginning of Ezra (1:1), where it talks about building the Bet Hamikdash: ובשנת אחת לכורש מלך פרס/ In the first year of Koresh , the Persian king. There were many Persian kings, but Koresh was the one that built our Bet Hamikdash העיר ה' את רוח כורש מלך פרס/ God aroused the spirit of King Koresh of Paras. ויעבר קול בכל מלכותו /And he made an announcement to all of his kingdom, and he wrote a letter and said, everybody please help build the Bet Hamikdash What are the words that are used ? העיר ה' את רוח כורש/God aroused his spiri t. The commentaries tell us, this is what Hashem meant with when he said to Zerubavel, We're going to win this war with My spirit- You're not going to have to fight anything. I'm just going to flick a switch and Koresh is going to decide to send out workers to accommodate the building of the Bet Hamikdash… And that's what happened. And that large mountain referred to above, that was blocking Zerubavel? That mountain also refers to the Persians. As it says in Ezra chapter 4, At the beginning of the kingdom of Achashverosh, , כתבו שטנה. They wrote words of prosecution. What were those words of prosecution? Stop building the Bet Hamikdash.. and the building of the Bet Hamikdash was impeded by Achashverosh. That's how we know he wasn't the best of people. Rav Saada HaGaon says there that if we continue reading onto the next pasuk, we see that the one writing these words of prosecution w as Shimsheh, the scribe. Who was this scribe Shimsheh? He was the son of Haman. The Gemara in Masechet Megila 16A, discusses the night Achashverosh woke up in the middle of the night, disturbed. Hashem aroused him, and he woke up disturbed. Why hadn't he paid back Mordechai? So he took out the Divreh HaYamim . Who was in charge of the book? None other than this same scribe, Shimsheh! Shimsheh was busy erasing the words We have to pay back Mordechai,but while he was doing so, Gavriel the Malach was filling it in. The Maharsha says this, again, was Haman's son! So Hashem is showing us that There can be all kinds of the negative forces and anti-semitism, but I will wake up the king in the middle of the night. I will send Gavriel in. I fight wars with spirit, not with regular tactics . And that is all we need. This Bet Hamikdash will be built very simply. It's not that complicated. Just a flick of the switch. And the very same Persians that stopped it then decided to build it. It's a flip of a switch. And Paras is Iran…. Similarly we now have the chancellor of Germany praising Israel for doing the world's dirty work! What's going on? It's just a flick of a switch. We have to believe that it's that simple for Hashem to turn things around. He doesn't need anything . כי אם ברוחי. Of course we do our physical Hishtadlut (and we'll soon get to spiritual Hishtadlut ). But at the end of the day, it's all כי אם ברוחי/ Hashem is in charge of spirits. That's a term used on God. So let's believe that with the flick of a switch, everything can change.

Welcome to Daily Bitachon. We're in part three of our Rising Lion mini-series, where we explain the verse: " הן עם כלביא יקום/ The nation will rise up like a lion The Midrash Rabba in Bamidbar 20:20 explains that the word " הן " means One , outstanding nation —as there is no nation like the Jewish people. Even when they go to sleep and pause their Torah and Mitzvot, they rise like lions and immediately embrace the mitzvah of Kriat Shem a, declaring Hashem as King upon themselves. Then, they head out to work. And if they face challenges during the day—whether business struggles or terrorist threats—they immediately declare Hashem Echad , reaffirming God's Oneness. With that declaration, their enemies are dispelled. Why does the Midrash interpret Bilaam's words as referring to spiritual warfare, fought with Kriat Shema, rather than literal war? Rav Eliyahu Mizrahi, in his commentary on Rashi, explains that since the previous comments speak of God's love for the Jewish people and praise their commitment to Torah and Mitzvot, Chazal chose to continue in that vein. Thus, the strength discussed here is the strength of one who is "גיבור כארי לעשות רצון אביך שבשמים/ Mighty like a lion to fulfill the will of your Father in Heaven. The Maharal adds that true strength lies in fulfilling Mitzvot, because each Mitzvah is a Godly act. It's inherently against nature, requiring true spiritual Gevurah / strength to break through the physical world. He also notes that this Midrashic interpretation is actually very close to the pshat (simple meaning) of the verse—if properly understood. So, what is true strength? As we say, "איזהו גיבור? הכובש את יצרו/ Who is strong? One who conquers his desires . Thus, interpreting the lion's strength as spiritual rather than physical is entirely consistent. Now let's return to the Midrash's phrase that, " They go out מפליגין לדרך ארץ למשא ומתן/ to enter the world of work and bus iness. They don't just wake up and perform mitzvot; they go into their daily affairs. Where do we see this in the verse? The Rashash, in his commentary on the Midrash, explains that business , referred to here as משא ומתן , is hinted at in the vers e "כארי יתנשא"—he will lift himself like a lion. It suggests that the lion rises not only to pray or fight but also to face business challenges. And how does this lion overcome those challenges? By declaring Hashem Echad/God is One. " That declaration, that spiritual focus, helps him overcome difficulties in the business world. Now, for something a bit more Kabbalistic—but also a Segula for Parnasa : Rav Chaim Pilaggi, in his sefer Kaf HaChaim (chapter 12), writes about the prayer אנא בכח/ Anah B'Koach. Within that prayer is the line "נא גיבור דורשי יחודך כבבת שמרם/Please, O Strong One, protect those who seek Your Oneness like the pupil of an eye." This prayer originates from Rav Nachunya ben Hakana, and the initials of " נ א ג יבור ד ורשי" form the acronym נגד which has the same numerical value as זן (as in מ זונ ות -livelihood and sustenance). So at that moment in the prayer, one should mentally focus on asking Hashem for Mezonot B'Revach, abundant success in sustenance. Rav Chaim Pilaggi brings this from sefer Raziel HaMalach and adds that the final letters of "נ א גיבו ר דורש י " spell ארי (lion), symbolizing that we are strengthened like lions in our pursuit of God's Oneness—particularly in Kriat Shema when we say Hashem Echad. So declaring God's Oneness not only represents spiritual strength but also directly connects to our livelihood. Finally, consider the talk given by the kohen as they prepared for war. It says in Devarim 20,,3 שמע ישראל, אתם קרבים היום למלחמה על אויביכםHear O Israel, today you are going out to war against your enemie s. And Rashi explains that Even if you have no merit except for Kriat Shema, that is enough to save you." What gives Kriat Shema this power? The Maharal, in his Gur Aryeh on Rashi, explains that saying Kriat Shema demonstrates our belief in God's Oneness . By connecting ourselves to the power of the One, we declare "אין עוד מלבדו"— En Od Milevado there is none besides Him . Because nothing else counts in comparison, there is only One force and He can overcome all. That is the power of the rising lion—on the battlefield, in morning prayer Kriat Shema, or in everyday challenges. He rises and declares Hashem Echad . That is the essence of the עם כלביא יקום/ The nation will rise up like a lion

Welcome to Daily Bitachon. We are in our mini-series called The Rising Lion, part two, discussing the meaning of the pasuk (Bamidbar 23,24), הן עם כלביא יקום/The Jewish people are like a rising lion." In the previous class, we talked about the physical aspect of war that the Jewish people have. Today, we'd like to go a bit deeper. Rashi says regarding this pasuk that the Jewish people are like a rising lion. When they get up from their sleep in the morning, הן מתגברים כלביא וכארי/ they strengthen themselves like a lion— לחטוף את המצוות/ to grab the Mitzvo t, to put on a Talet , to read Shema , and to put on Tefilin . And when he goes to sleep at night on his bed, he destroys every negative force that is out to get him by saying Kriat Shema Al Hamita and giving his soul to God.And if anyone comes to harm them, God protects them. So we have a new spin on the rising lion. The rising lion doesn't only refers to the soldier—of course, the soldier is the rising lion in the simple sense—but it refers to every person who gets up in the morning. How does he get up in the morning? Like a lion . The first Halacha in Shulchan Aruch tells us יתגבר כאר /one should get up like a lion לעבודת הבורא/ to serve God . The Gaon of Vilna asks, what's the source of this? First of all, Pirke Avot tells us you're supposed to be גיבור כארי לעשות רצון אביך שבשמים/ mighty like a lion to do the will of your Father in Heaven. And he quotes our pasuk: הן עם כלביא יקום. and, as we'll see in a moment, Rashi and Midrash Rabba both say: Get up like a lion. So if we get up like a lion , we're also part of the war effort. We're getting up like a lion, and that empowers us. Every line of this pasuk can be understood both on the simple level and on the Midrashic level. For example, why does it switch from לביא, which means lioness , to ארי, which means lion ? Why do we get up like a lioness and rise higher like a lion? On the simple level, the Sror HaMor says that although we start off like a lioness, which is not as powerful, we end up strengthening ourselves like a lion. That's on the simple level. The Mayanah shel Torah says that on the spiritual level, when a Jew wants to serve Hashem, he starts off like a lioness—alone. But with time, הבא לטהר מסייעין אותו/if you try to become pure, God helps you . And you go from the lioness to the lion. Another very interesting line: One of the rules that Prime Minister Netanyahu invoked was הבא להרגך השכם להורגו /if someone is coming to kill you, rise early and kill him. This was his explanation as to why he didn't wait for Iran to attack. Again, everything we're going to see is on both the simple and Midrash levels. On the simple level, it's Halacha: if someone is out to kill you, get him first. No question about it. But the Pele Yoetz, on the topic of Hashkama , says: הבא להרגך the someone coming to kill you refers to the יצר Yetzer Hara that's out to kill you, So- השכם להורגו/Get up early to kill him. It doesn't just mean "kill him first." He says there's nothing better to kill the Yetzer Hara than getting up early in the morning. Because by getting up early and fighting the Yetzer Hara, and מתגבר כארי/rising like a lion to serve Hashem— you have the upper hand. So: הבא להרגך השכם להורגו Get up and kill him first. Yesterday we discussed that this pasuk, הן עם כלביא יקום, is so important that the Rabbis wanted to insert it in our Kriat Shema as the third Parasha, instead of Tzizit . Why in Kriat Shema ? Now we understand beautifully. Because this pasuk is talking about us getting up early in the morning with Kriat Shema, and going to sleep at night with Kriat Shema —on the Midrashic level. So what better idea than to include it as Parasha number three in Kriat Shema—if not for the fact that it was too long. But there's no reason we shouldn't discuss it outside of shul. And that's what we're doing now: understanding the full depth of this pasuk , which was so important that the Rabbis felt it should be inserted in our daily Kriat Shema. This was especially necessary, they said, during the time of the second Bet Hamikdash, when the Jewish people were down and didn't feel that God was with them, and the Shechina was in Galut in a certain sense. So we wanted to remind ourselves that even when we're down, we can get up with a roar. The sefer Pardes Yosef on Bereshit 13,3 tells the following story, that really illustrates this concept: During the reign of Czar Alexander III, the emperor of Russia from 1881 to 1894, there were harsh decrees against the Jews. A wealthy Jew named Baron David Ginsburg (1857–1910) arranged for the Rabbis to meet with the Czar in order to plead their case. They went in to the meeting, but there was a rabid anti-Semite in the room who spilled out his hatred and said, "I understand the need for all creatures in the world. The one creature I don't understand the need for is the Jewish people. They're like a leprosy on Mother Russia, and we have no need for them." This made an impact, and the Czar's delegation walked out of the meeting without any change to the harsh decrees. As they walked out, all the Rabbis were upset, except Rav Yitzhak Elchanan Spector, the chief rabbi of Kovno, who was smiling. They asked him, " Why are you smiling?" He replied: " Now I understand the explanation of the pasuk that we read in Balak. כעת יאמר ליעקב ולישראל ( Bamidbar 23,23) When it says מה פעל אל it doesn't mean What has God done ' or 'the wonders He's done for the Jewish people.' Rather, it means, 'For what purpose did God create the Jewish people ?' For what reason did God create the Jewish people at all? He continued, So at the moment in time when they look at the Jewish people like vermin, like leprosy, and think there's no need for them in the world- similar to Hitler'a approach, then a new generation begins, and as it says in the next pasuk ( Bamidbar 23,24) הן עם כלביא /We are going to rise like a lion . So all the hatred around us is actually a source of strength . It reminds us that when these things happen, now comes the time for הנה עם כלביא יקום /We are going to rise like a lion .

Welcome to the Daily Bitachon. Today, we begin a special mini-series called Rising Lion, named for the current war initiative in Eretz Yisrael against Iran, presumably coined by our Prime Minister Netanyahu. Interestingly there's a picture circulating in the media (see above ),showing Netanyahu standing by the Kotel, with a closeup of the note he placed the Kotel , dated ט׳ז סיון תשפ׳ה , the Thursday before the war started. In the corner, it says, " BeSiyata DiShmaya, " and he wrote the following five words, quoted from Bamidbar 23,24 עָם כְּלָבִיא יָקוּם וְכַאֲרִי יִתְנַשָּׂא / Am k'lavi yakum u'k'ari yitnasa which means A nation that gets up like a lioness and rises like a lion So the Prime Minister sent a letter to Hashem, evoking this pasuk . And while we don't know what he was actually thinking, we can study this pasuk. Firstly, the Gemara in Berachot 12b tells us that the Rabbis wanted to include the parashah of Bilam's curses, which turned into blessings in Kriyat Shema, but didn't because it was too long- it would be a torach tzibur—a burden on the congregation. But what is it about Parasha of Bilam that they wanted to include? One possibility is that it contains the phrase: "El motzia miMitzrayim/ God took us out of Egypt . Let's explain for a moment. There are three parshiyot in Kriyat Shema . The first two make sense to say every morning and night because they literally say, " b'shochb'cha uv'kumecha" — when you lie down and when you rise up. The third parashah, of Tzitzit —doesn't clearly say that it needs to be said every day. But because it mentions Yetziat Mitzrayim , we say it daily as a reminder. . We could have used another passage, such as this one, but it was too long. Still, we can ask, what was its unique value? The Maharsha citing the Gemara tells us that the power of this section lies in our pasuk: Hein am k'lavi yakum u'k'ari yitnasa/the Jewish people rise like a lion. This is a very important pasuk and that's why it could have been included in the daily Shema. On a simple level the Seforno says the nation is like a lion. What does a lion do? " להלחם עם מי שלא נלחם בם כלל /it fights even those who haven't attacked it yet. Fascinating. We attacked Iran before Iran attacked us. That's the rising lion —one that doesn't wait to be attacked. Next, an interesting point is brought by the Or HaChaim HaKadosh: A lion, even as it ages, gains strength. No matter how many battles it fights, it doesn't grow weaker—it grows stronger. B'ezrat Hashem, that will be fulfilled for us as well, even though we are engaged in many wars. Additionally, he says: לא ישכב / He doesn't go to sleep. What does that mean? " שאין הלילה מפלט לנוס מפניו, /you can't escape from the rising lion, even at night. Light and darkness are the same to him. Yehoshua stopped the sun—we don't care about day or night. Even when everyone else is sleeping, the lion is attacking. Night attacks! And finally, the Meshech Chochmah says: What makes the Jewish people a rising lion? When a lion is lying down, it looks like nothing. When you drive by on safari—he's just lying there, chilling out, yawning. He doesn't seem like anything. But when he gets up, you see his power. Similarly, the Jewish people came out of Mitzrayim as slaves, untrained. But suddenly, he says, they became a great power. The Jewish people, like the lion, rise without any help from others. [ שאין העזר מהשתתפות ממלכות אחרים רק מעצמו, /there's no alliance or outside support. He rises on his own, like a lion that doesn't call out to others. He says, that's why the pasuk right before the rising Lion says: כי לא נחש ביעקב ולא קסם כו', שאין בהפלאים של ישראל שום נחש או קסם, רק השי"ת. / there's no witchcraft in Israel. "Ka'et ye'amer l'Yaakov u'l'Yisrael mah pa'al El" — it becomes obvious what God has done. When the Jewish people go to war, it's clear they're not winning by natural means. " כי אין זה סדור טבעי this isn't normally natural. . It's Hashgacha pratit/ Divine Providenc e from the all powerful God. It's not the result of witchcraft or sorcery. " שאין בהפלאים של ישראל שום נחש או קסם /The successes and wonders of Israel are not due to magic. It all comes from Hashem Yitbarach. So what do we learn from the pasuk that Prime Minister Netanyahu chose of the rising lion? 1. The lion attacks before being attacked. 2. The lion grows stronger with age. 3. The lion attacks at night. 4. The lion needs no help from anyone else. Why? Because its power comes entirely from Hashem.

Welcome to Daily Bitachon. Today's class is dedicated le'ilui nishmat Rachel bat Jamila, Grandma Rachel Ruby A'H by her grandchildren. In our previous lesson we spoke about the words Habotchim b'shimcha be'emet/Those who rely on Hashem in truth, as we say in our Amidah. We quoted the Avudarham, who explained that "in truth" means recognizing God's name in truth —but what does that mean? Let us go back to the opening words of the Rambam in the laws of Yesodei HaTorah/The Foundations of Torah, chapter 1, halacha 1. He begins with the words: י סוד ה יסודות ו עמוד ה חכמות —the foundation of foundations and the pillar of wisdom (note that the first letters of each word spell Hashem's name) is to know that there is a מצוי ראשון , a Primary Existence —we say God is the kadmon , the First, and He is the mamtzi kol nimtza/ the One who brought everything into existence. כל נמצא וכל הנמצאים משמים וארץ ומה שביניהם לא נמצאו /And everything in the heavens and the earth and all that is in between does not exist אלא /except, -and this is the key phrase- מאמתת המצאו: / from the truth of His existence. "T ruth " here doesn't simply "true vs. false." In this context, " true " means absolute , not dependent on anything. Something that is true is real —it's reality. What does reality mean? It means it exists —it's not imaginary. When you say someone is a real person versus a fake person, you're distinguishing reality from illusion. And the only true reality is God, because everything else exists only because God wills it. If He stops willing it, it ceases to exist. So it's not really emet . Nothing else is " true ." אמת Eme t is spelled with an א alef (first letter of Alef Bet), מ (middle of the Alef Bet ( and ת tav (last)—which means Emet is means something that spans the beginning, middle, and end. That's God: Hayah, Hoveh, Veyihyeh. He is the only true existence. Rambam continues: If one could imagine the impossible—that God did not exist—then nothing else could exist either . But if everything else ceased to exist, God would still be the same. שכל הנמצאים צריכין לו והוא ברוך הוא אינו צריך להם ולא לאחד מהם לפיכך Everything depends on Him. And He doesn't need them at all. Therefore, אין אמתתו כאמתת אחד מהם: His truth is unlike the truth of anything else. This is a fundamental concept in our understanding of God—and we say it every day: Hu shehanavi omer: VaHashem Elokim Emet—God is truth . This is the source for the words in Kriat Shema: Hashem Elokeichem emet. He is the only emet— no other existence is true in the same way. That's the meaning of En od milvado—there is nothing but Him. En sham matzui emet milvado kemoto—there is no other true existence besides Him. This concept underpins the teachings of Nefesh HaChaim—God is the only real existence. He is the source of everything. He makes everything happen. He's infusing everything with energy. How could He not know what's happening in the world? That would be absurd. He is the world. People ask about hashgacha—"Does God know when a leaf falls from a tree? " There is no leaf or tree without God! Of course He knows the leaf is falling off that tree! So, going back: Habotchim b'shimcha be'emet/To rely on Hashem's name in truth means to understand the truth of His name, according to this explanation. The Hovot HaLevavot writes that the reason people lack bitachon is because they don't know who God is. This is who God is. There is nothing else but Him. Now of course, we can't truly comprehend that. The Nefesh HaChaim says that if we dwell on that idea for too long, we could lose our minds. That's why God created the concept of tzimtzum —a perceived contraction —where it seems as though the world exists independently. But we must recognize that our world is like virtual reality. Just like a hologram, it seems real—but behind it is a truer reality, which is God. This is why the term emet ke'amitato is used. There is a level of " truth " in the world, but it's not truly real —it's contingent on God. You may think, " This is deep and philosophical." Well, yes—it's the foundation of our world.. God is the Manhig hagalgal beko'ach she'ein lo ketz vetachlit/the One who moves the cosmos with infinite power. He spins the sun, the stars, the orbits. Without Him, they can't move. Hu Baruch Hu mesovev oto—He spins them, belo yad uvelo guf—without a hand, without a body. He drives everything. Understanding this is the first commandment: Anochi Hashem Elokecha—I am Hashem your God …..Who took you out of Egypt- ( because we learned it from Yetziat Mitzrayim). We paused our long stint of Yetziat Mitzrayim lessons because someone said, " How long can you talk about this? It's already Shavuot!" But sorry—we're back. Because Yetziat Mitzrayim showed us that blood isn't blood, water isn't water, the sea isn't the sea. That's Anochi Hashem Elokecha. If you think there is any other power besideGod, you're transgressing a commandment: Lo yihyeh lecha elohim acherim al panai. That's kefirah be'ikar—denying the fundamental belief. What does " denying the fundamental" mean? It means denying the principle on which everything depends. The Rambam continues onto his 13 principles of faith, all grounded in this foundation. We won't go through the entire first chapter of Yesodei HaTorah, but know this: it's fundamental. If a person doesn't know this, they're missing out. Veten sachar tov lechol habotchim b'shimcha be'emet—Give good reward to those who rely on You in truth. You can't rely on Hashem if you don't know who He is. Hashem is full of kindness. He created the world to do good because He is good and wants us to benefit. He's not an angry, vengeful God looking to punish us. He didn't have to create the world. He didn't do it so we could suffer. Hovot HaLevavot says this explicitly in Sha'ar HaBitachon, Chapter 7, when speaking about what prevents people from having bitachon. What is the primary obstacle? Hasichlut be'inyan haBorei—ignorance regarding God's nature, uv'midotav hatovot—and His good attributes. God has good middot. We are meant to emulate them: ma Hu rachum af ata rachum—just as He is merciful, so should you be. His middot are rachum ve'chanun—compassionate and gracious. If we don't understand that, if we don't understand how God watches over us, cares for us, and controls our lives—then we're like prisoners in His jail ( keshurim be'asurav) without awareness. Lo yanuach libo velo yismoch alav—how can the heart be at ease, how can you trust in Him, if you don't know who He is? How can you rely on someone you don't understand? Botchim b'shimcha be'emet—trusting in His name in truth. " Shem "—a name—represents the essence of a person. Knowing someone's name means knowing their essence. Hashem's primary name— Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh— is not His essence, but it's how He reveals Himself to us: Hayahhoveh veyihyeh mehaveh kol hahavayot , and rachamim / The One who brings all existence into being, and who is full of mercy. That name represents mercy. You must know Him, because if you don't know Him, how can you rely on Him?

Welcome to Daily Bitachon. We continue where we left off in the previous lesson on the concept of bitachon gamur b'lo safek/to have reliance on Hashem without a doubt —based on a pasuk in Yeshayah : V'nish'an al Hashem k'dosh Yisrael/They will rely on Hashem, the Holy One of Israel, b'emet, in truth . The Sefer Ikarim says there in Ma'amar 4 Perek 49 that this bitachon gamur b'lo safek strengthens a person and doesn't weaken him. He quotes a pasuk in Tehillim, and follows that up with another two pesukim to prove his point. The first one is a pasuk in Yeshayah, Perek 40 Pasuk 30-31 וְיִעֲפ֥וּ נְעָרִ֖ים וְיִגָ֑עוּ וּבַחוּרִ֖ים כָּשׁ֥וֹל יִכָּשֵֽׁלוּ׃ Youths may grow wear and tire And young men can constantly tumble. It's possible that, as strong and vibrant as the young are, they will become weary and tired.But, וְקוֹיֵ֤ יְהֹוָה֙ יַחֲלִ֣יפוּ כֹ֔חַ יַעֲל֥וּ אֵ֖בֶר כַּנְּשָׁרִ֑ים יָר֙וּצוּ֙ וְלֹ֣א יִיגָ֔עוּ יֵלְכ֖וּ וְלֹ֥א יִיעָֽפוּ׃ But those who hope in Hashem will have renewed strength, they will grow wings like eagles. They will run and not grow tired. They will walk and not grow weary. Sefer Ikarim explains this to mean that because this man hopes in Hashem, his hope gives him strength. His hope doesn't weaken him, even though he hasn't yet received what he wants. Rather, since his hope is the kind that feels guaranteed—he knows it's going to happen, he knows the sun is coming up in the morning—that gives him more strength. It's a snowball effect. Hope causes strength, and the strength causes more hope. And it goes in a cycle. He says that's what David HaMelech meant when he said kaveh el Hashem—hope to Hashem, chazak v'ya'ametz libecha v'kaveh el Hashem—strengthen your heart and be courageous, and again hope to Hashem. Most of us understand this to mean —and there's truth to it—that you hoped to Hashem and weren't answered, so what do you do? You have to go and work on yourself again to build up hope again. The Sefer Ikarim is not learning it that way. He's saying the first kaveh el Hashem already did something. You hoped to Hashem, and even though you weren't answered, you didn't walk away weak. That hope to Hashem made you stronger, because you were hoping in a way where you felt it was going to happen. And his words are: התקוה סבת החוזק והחוזק סבת התקוה / The hope causes strength, and strength causes even more hope. It's interesting to consider the context of these pesukim in Yeshayahu, which is actually the Haftara of Parashat Lech Lecha. Hashem is asking, " Why are you saying Nistrah darki me'Hashem? Why are you saying Hashem is hiding? That He's not looking at you? That He doesn't know what's going on? He says Hashem is the One who created the world: lo yi'af v'lo yiga—He doesn't get tired, He doesn't get weary. And then it says: Noten laya'ef koach—the One who gives strength to the weary, . This is an extremely relevant point, because every single morning, we say the beracha : Hanoten laya'ef koach, and this pasuk is the source for the that beracha! What a tremendous chiddush! Each morning, you can have in mind that hanoten laya'ef k'oach means kovei Hashem yachlifu ko'ach Hope to Hashem and have renewed strength Where does the ko'ach come from? The ko'ach comes from the fact that we hope in Hashem. Someone who hopes in Hashem gets more strength and more energy. What an unbelievable concept—the snowball effect of hope. But it can not be a hope that's doubtful, or a "maybe hope ," or an "I hope so" kind of hope. It has to be a guaranteed hope. The D'rashot HaRan, in D'rush 6, cites this pasuk as well, about relying on Hashem in truth. He adds that certain people do things in a doubtful way, like: im lo yo'il, lo yazik—if it won't help, at least it won't hurt. And I've heard people say, " I'll go through with it, sure…whatever. I'll give money to charity—it won't help, but it won't hurt." Im lo yo'il, lo yazik—if it doesn't help, at least it won't hurt is not the attitude we're supposed to have in our bitachon. It can't be like a vitamin B12 shot—Is it dangerous? No. It may not help, but won't hurt. Or like a vaccine—maybe it'll hurt. You want to do things that you know for sure are going to help, not just a "maybe." That is the kind of bitachon that will strengthen us.

Welcome to Daily Bitachon In the last class, we quoted an unbelievable pasuk of Bitachon cited by Rabbenu Yonah in Mishleh 3:26, which wasn't on our previous pesukim list. It's a pasuk in Yeshaya 10:20: ולא יוסיף עוד שארית ישראל ופליטת בית יעקב ל[ה]שען על מכהו No longer will the leftovers of Yisrael and those that are saved from Yaakov rely on the one that's hitting them. Rather, , ונשען על י"י קדוש ישראל באמת" the They'll rely on Hashem, K'dosh Yisrael, the Holy One of Yisrael, b'emet , in truth . We went through different explanations of b'emet , but I want to revisit Rabbenu Yonah, who asks: What does it mean b'emet ? What does it mean to rely on Hashem in truth ? We see similar wording in the pasuk Karov Hashem l'chol kor'av l'chol asher yikra'uhu b'emet —Hashem is close to all those that call out to Him -in truth . Does anyone ever call out to God as a lie ? Says Rabbenu Yonah: B'Emet means bitachon gamur b'lo safek —a complete, absolute reliance without a doubt, that the ' hitting' is not coming from the hitter . It's recognizing without a doubt that they are not the source. That is what he calls b'emet . Beautiful. Then, with Hashem's help, we stumbled on a famous Sefer HaIkkarim in Ma'amar 4 Perek 49, which the esteemed Michael Safdie quotes all the time, but I don't recall him ever connecting it to this pasuk. The Sefer HaIkkarim says: When a person hopes for something, and the person is hoping in a doubtful way—he's not sure if it will come or not—that's going to cause the person to have what he calls תטריד הנפש tatrid hanefesh . It's going to cause, actually, a tirda , preoccupation —when you're not comfortable with yourself. You're hoping, " Is it going to come?" That's one kind of hope. When you're hoping for somebody to have children, that kind of hope is very uncomfortable. That kind of hope is sometimes heartbreaking. But if a person hopes for something that he's guaranteed , he says, like hoping for the sun to come up in the morning—that hope doesn't upset you. That hope doesn't get you down. You're happy because you know it's happening, and you're waiting for it to happen. It's like you know you're getting your tax rebate from the government. You know it's coming; it's in the mail. He says that's the way we are supposed to hope to Hashem: We are hoping to Him with complete bitachon that He will fulfill what I hope for, b'li safek /without a doubt, because He's able to and there's nothing stopping Him. And I shouldn't be hoping to Hashem in a doubtful way like "maybe yes, maybe no." It's not like buying a ticket for the lottery—maybe I'll win, maybe I won't. I'm hoping to win. No . With this type of hope, the bitachon hope, strengthens your heart and makes you happy. Like it says, Chizku v'ya'ametz l'vavchem kol ham'yachalim l'Hashem / strengthen and be courageous in your heart, those that hope to Hashem. Simply, it means that you're supposed to strengthen your heart and then rely on Hashem. But he's saying no—this is a big chiddush - the reliance on Hashem creates the strength chizku v'ya'ametz l'vavchem . Because you know it's going to happen, it gives you strength. This hope, he says, doesn't weaken the heart—it strengthens the heart. And he quotes our pasuk and says it's because the person is Nishan al K'dosh Yisrael b'emet . Rabbeinu Yonah is citing this as the source for a new concept called bitachon b'emet : to rely on Hashem b'emet . And now for the earth-shattering chiddush . Every single day in our Amida we make the bracha Al hatzadikim v'al hachasidim , which is the one that invokes bitachon. It ends with mishan u'mivtach l'tzadikim /The One that the tzadikim rely and lean on. Mishan u'mivtach . Mishan is like a cane called a mish'enet . The Sefer *Avudraham asks: What is the source for this mishan u'mivtach l'tzadikim ? ( as we've said, The Anshei Knesset HaGedola sourced our tefilot from pesukim ) Nothing less than our pasuk of Vnishan al Hashem K'dosh Yisrael b'emet . That's the source—this pasuk! And what do we say in this beracha ? V'ten sachar l'chol habotchim b'shimcha b'emet . Give reward to those who rely on Your name in truth . We never knew—what does that mean, "you rely on Hashem b'emet "? According to Rabbenu Yonah and the Sefer HaIkkarim that are reading it into the pasuk, which is the source of the beracha, it means: Reward those that rely on Hashem with bitachon gamur b'lo safek . *The Avudaraham has a different explanation of v'ten sachar tov l'chol habotchim b'shimcha b'emet . He says: they know the truth of Your name . So the word emet is referrig to understanding of God's name. But we are offering a different explanation: the word b'emet is on the bitachon

Welcome to Daily Bitachon. In the previous class, we discussed that Rabbenu Yonah tells us it's important to realize that when something is going on in your life—even from a human being that you don't like—you have to continue to focus on the Source, which is ultimately Hashem. He quotes a pasuk to prove his point that, in his words: " Lo yasim libo l'fachad hamaka/Do not focus your heart on the fear of the one that's hitting you. Rather, "Yosif yirat Hashem/Add your fear of Hashem, V'tikvah v'tochelet Eilav" – and hope and anticipate toward Him. It's a pasuk in Yeshayah 10:20, which is not found in our pesukei bitachon lists of either Rav Zundel miSalant or the Maharal. וְהָיָ֣ה ׀ בַּיּ֣וֹם הַה֗וּא לֹא־יוֹסִ֨יף ע֜וֹד שְׁאָ֤ר יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ וּפְלֵיטַ֣ת בֵּֽית־יַעֲקֹ֔ב לְהִשָּׁעֵ֖ן עַל־מַכֵּ֑הוּ וְנִשְׁעַ֗ן עַל־יְהֹוָ֛ה קְד֥וֹשׁ יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל בֶּאֱמֶֽת׃ It will be on that day, that the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Yaakov will no longer rely on their attacker. Rather," 'VNishan al Hashem k'dosh Yisrael be'emet/They will rely on Hashem, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. What a beautiful pasuk! The mefarshim explain that " It will be on that day" means when the Assyrian army will fall, the Jewish people will realize that they had acted foolishly in relying on foreign powers to defend them. The next pasuk says: שְׁאָ֥ר יָשׁ֖וּב שְׁאָ֣ר יַעֲקֹ֑ב אֶל־אֵ֖ל גִּבּֽוֹר׃ T he remnant will return, the remnant of Yaakov, to the Mighty God. The Radak explains that the Navi is telling us that the Jews who will have witnessed Hashem's might will return to Him with all of their heart. What does it mean that they will rely on Hashem, Kadosh Yisrael be'emet – the Holy One of Israel, in truth? Says the Radak: They're going to realize that it doesn't pay to rely on a person, because when you rely on a person, you have to serve him, you have to pay him taxes. And if you don't serve him, don't pay taxes, and don't find favor in his eyes, he will turn his back on you. (Historically, this has borne out) Rather, he says: rely on Hashem, because He doesn't ask anything from man. What does He want? Only that you rely on Him in truth, and then He'll save you from all your problems. He cites the example of Chizkiyahu HaMelech, who relied wholeheartedly on Hashem. Hashem wiped out the king of Ashur, and everyone realized the power of Hashem. What does the term Kadosh Yisrael be'emet – the Holy One of Israel in truth mean ? What does that extra word, b'emet mean? Rabbenu Yonah, in Mishleh 3,26 says: "In truth" means bitachon gamur b'lo safek – complete trust without doubt. Hashem wants those who rely on Him be'emet – in truth, with no doubts. Absolute bitachon. The Gaon of Vilna explains that Kadosh Yisrael be'emet – the Holy One of Israel in truth means we want people who rely on Hashem and sanctify His name constantly . He says bitachon is a great level, but only when it comes with righteousness. Not, he says, like the Gemara describes people during the Churban: " Resha'im hay u" – they were wicked, Ela shetalu bitchonam baKadosh Baruch Hu" – but they relied on Hashem. That's not the bitachon we want. Yes, it does say: " Afilu rasha boteach, chasdei yisovevenu/even a wicked person who trusts will be surrounded by kindness. But that's not the level we're striving for. Of course, all bitachon is good. But to quote the words of the Gra: " Ki bitachon hu ma'alah hayoter gedolah/ bitachon is at the highest level, Hainu k'shehu b'tzidkato/ when it comes with righteousness. Getting back to our pasuk- it's about realizing Hashem's power and not focusing on the one who hits you—because Hashem can take care of your enemies in ways you'd never dream of—like what Hashem did for Chizkiyahu HaMelech, when He wiped out an entire army of 180,000 soldiers. The Baal HaTurim invokes another story in our history. He quite often finds something from an early Midrash called the Masoret , where it quotes two or three words that appear throughout Tanach. The word v'nishan – to rely – shows up twice. It shows up in our pasuk: " V'nishan al Hashem k'dosh Yisrael be'emet" – to rely on Hashem, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. And it shows up in:" V'nishan ligvul Moav" – leaning against the border of Moav. The full pasuk is in Bamidbar 21:15: "Ve'eshed hanechalim asher natah leshevet Ar v'nishan ligvul Moav/The spilling of the rivers that leaned toward the settlement of Ar and leaned against the border of Moav. Rashi says this refers to the famous hidden miracle of Nachal Arnon , where the enemies were hiding in the crevices of 2 tall mountains. Their plan was that as the Jews went through the valley below, they would ambush and kill them. But God caused the mountains to lean against each other. That's what it means: " V'nishan ligvul Moav" – the mountains leaned on each other. (The word nishan can mean lean on God or lean physically , as in the mountains.) The mountains leaned on each other, the Jewish people walked through, and then they saw the miracle as God revealed it to them, when a well brought up the dead bodies. They saw what had happened, and there it says: " Az yashir Yisrael et hashirah hazot/ then Israel sang this song. They sang the song " Alei Be'er/On the well. Rashi says we can compare the miracle of Nachal Arnon, where they sang " Az yashir", to that of the splitting of the sea, which also used " Az yashir". Only one miracle was open, while the other was hidden. When they saw this miracle, says the Baal HaTurim, that's what caused them, V'nishan al Hashem k'dosh Yisrael be'emet" – to rely on Hashem, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. When they saw these miracles, they realized Hashem's power over all mortals. Therefore, when something happens, focus on the Source. .Hashem can bring mountains together. He can bring fiery powers that burned down the entire army that surrounded Chizkiyahu HaMelech. It says their bodies remained, and their souls were burnt. God can do anything, but we need the secret ingredient: " V'nishan al Hashem kadosh Yisrael B'Emet" – to rely on Hashem the holy One, in truth

Welcome to Daily Bitachon. We are now getting back to the 'meat and potatoes' of regular topic Bitachon, after our hiatus for lessons from the Hagada Shel Pesach . Rabbenu Yonah, on Mishleh chapter 3, tells us that an important facet of Bitachon is knowing that a human being has no impact on you. . No human being can help you, and no human being can harm you, Zulati yigzor Hashem / unless Hashem makes that decree . He explains that this is what Arur hagever asher yivtach ba'adam / Cursed is the one that relies on a person means ; he thinks that people can do things for him . Another pasuk in Yirmiyah says chidlu lachem min ha'adam / Refrain from people" . This means refrain from relying on people . One has to know that in truth, a human being lacks any ability to harm him . He quotes many familiar pesukim, such as one from Hallel, which says Hashem li lo ira ma ya'aseh li adam , David Hamelech is saying, " Hashem is with me, I'm not afraid what people are going to do" . When a problem comes, a person should realize that everything is in the hands of Hashem . Pnei levavo muadot el Hashem / The face of his heart should be focused on God. Whenever there's a problem, one should focus on God; not on the one that's hitting him, but on the One that is ultimately in charge . He cites a pasuk in Tehillim which has an important lesson, not just for our daily bitachon, but also for one of the most pivotal times of the year . . He quotes the pasuk , Hinei k'einei avadim el yad Adonehem / Our eyes are to You, God like a slave is to his master," and he uses this pasuk as a description of bitachon . The eyes of the slave are towards his master b ecause, as the Hovot Halevavot says in Shaar HaBitachon, a baal bitachon must feel like a servant who is controlled by his master; that no one can impact him but his master . Rabbenu Yonah explains that David Hamelech is saying, " Our eyes are on You God, like a servant is on his master. In a similar vein, the Hovot Halevavot explains why Shaar HaBitachon/Gate of Reliance on Hashem comes after Shaar Avodat Elohim/ Gate of Serving Hashem) . This is because serving Hashem is connected to bitachon, a servant has an obligation to rely on his master because only his master can take care of him . . This is the pasuk of Hinei k'einei avadim el yad Adonehem . As we've said many times, the Anshei Knesset HaGedolah, who wrote our tefillot , based the text of the tefilot on pesukim . Rav Wolbe used to say that the siddur is the Torah Sheba'al Peh/ the Oral Law. And Oral Law is always based on the Written Law. . After we blow the shofar, we say Hayom harat olam / Today is the birth of the world, Hayom ya'amid bamishpat/ Today is the day that God judges kol yetzurei olam/all the creations, And He treats them, Im kevanim im ka'avadim / either like children or like servants Im kevanim / if we're children, then, rachameinu k'rachem av al banim / have mercy, like a father on a child. - There is a level of Jewish people called, Banim atem l'Hashem Elokeichem / We act like children, He treats us like children- But what about Im ka'avadim ? What if we're like servants , which means we don't have that father-son relationship in a way that we're deserving of the mercy of God? What do we do then? The answer is, Enenu lecha teluyot / Our eyes are towards You, Ad shetechoneinu / Until You have chen on us, matnat chinam, v'totzi la'or mishpateinu / and we're going to have a judgment that is a shining judgment" And this, Im ka'avadim eineinu lecha teluyot / Our eyes are on You, comes from this pasuk in Tehillim: k'eneh avadim el yad adoneihem / Like servants are looking to their master " . This means that one of the techniques that we have to be successful in Rosh Hashanah judgment, or any judgment for that matter, is to have bitachon and realize that no matter what happens, ultimately, no one can harm us and no one can help us. We have to rely on Hashem . That is supposed to be our attitude in any trying situation . k'eneh avadim el Yad adoneihem / Like servants have their eyes on their master .

Welcome to Daily Bitachon . We continue to learn lessons from the pesukim of Yetziat Mitzrayim . The next pasuk says that Hashem took us out of Mitzrayim " B'yad chazaka ubzroa netuya/With a strong hand and an outstretched arm." The Baal Haggadah explains that " Yad chazaka," refers to dever , the plague that killed the animals, and " Zroa netuya/the outstretched arm," refers to the sword , which Rishonim say refers to the plague of Makat Bechorot , when all the firstborns died. But why are we singling out the fifth and the tenth plagues? The Vilna Gaon and others explain that a hand has five fingers, the right hand has five fingers, and the left hand has five fingers. So, kal v'yachol , if we say Hashem is using both His hand and His outstretched arm, that includes all 10 plagues. The first hand, the " yad chazaka ," refers to dever , including all four previous plagues, and culminating with dever , the plague that killed the animals. And Zroa netuya/ with the sword means the four plagues prior to that and culminates with the fifth one being the sword . What exactly is the common denominator between the two? Interestingly, the pasuk brought down by dever is " Hineh yad Hashem hoyah b'miknecha/ The hand of Hashem was on your cattle." This term, "the hand of Hashem," is not found in other plagues. There are five different cattle mentioned— susim (horses), chamorim (donkeys), gamalim (camels), bakar (cattle), and tzon (sheep) and some commentaries say the hand, with five fingers, refers to the five different species of animals that were killed. But for our purposes today, we will study the common denominator between the " yad chazaka" of the plague and the " zroa netuya" of the sword- which is that both refer to the taking of life. Dever took the life out of the animals through the plague, and Makat Bechorot took out the lives of the firstborns. This is the ultimate Hashgacha Pratit , that Hashem is the One who is memit u'mechayeh /Hashem is the One that gives life and gives death. The ultimate hashgacha pratit is that Hashem is keeping us alive at every single second. This supersedes the Hashgacha of crossing the street safely or getting the food you needed in time, etc. The ultimate Hashgacha pratit is that Hashem is giving life to our souls every single moment. As we say in Modim , "Al chayenu hamesurim b'yadecha/ Our lives are literally in Your hand . And as we just said, " yad chazaka , and " Chayeinu hamesurim b'yadecha ." Our life is in God's hand. This is not said figuratively. Of course, Hashem doesn't have a hand, but just as a person has a hand and holds on, so too, Hashem is holding on to us. The Bet HaLevi , in his commentary on Bereshit 2,2, says that when a person has complete faith that at every second Hashem Yitbarach is pumping energy into the world, and every moment it's literally, he says , yesh mei'ayin/something from nothing , If Hashem would not be doing it this second, everything would cease to exist. If a person thought like that, he says, " tipol alav Yirat v'pachad" – he would be in a sudden state of fear. Rav Wolbe once suggested going over to your little child, putting your ear to his chest, and listening to his heart beat. Thump, thump, thump . Who is responsible for that thump? Who makes it happen? And if it stops for a second, who knows what would be! The Bet HaLevi compares this to a person who falls into the ocean. Someone grabs onto his hand so that he doesn't drown. If the man lets go for a second, it's all over. He says the feeling for the man saving him is love and fear at the same time. " I love him because he's holding on to me. And I'm afraid because he might let go" . He says that's why we say, every single day in Amidah , " Al chayeinu hamesurim b'yadecha/Our life is in Your hand. Hashem is holding on to us. That's the " yad Hashem " of the dever , because God does that to animals as well. And that's the outstretched arm of Makat Bechorot . This was the realization they got through the makot , especially these last two of each unit. (There were two units of five. In the first five, Pharaoh still had freedom of choice. In the last five he didn't.) In each these plagues, we see that important lesson of " chayeinu hamesurim b'yadecha. Every one of the words of Anshei Knesset HaGedolah is sourced in pesukim . And the Avudraham says, " chayeinu hamesurim b'yadecha" comes from a pasuk in Tehillim 31:16, " b'yadcha itotai/My moments are in Your hand" Furthermore, in Modim we say " Nishmatenu Hapekudot lach/our souls have been deposited by You. This is also sourced in a pasuk- " b'yadcha afkid ruchi" – "in Your hands I deposit my soul, (Tehillim 31:6), Because every night I give God my soul as a deposit. But both of them are in God's hands . My life, " b'yadcha itotai," my moments are in Your hand. My soul, " b'yadcha afkid ruchi". Regarding these pesukim in Tehillim, " b'yadcha itotai," my moments are in your hand," and "Hatzileni miyad oyvai u'mirdofai/save me from the hands of my enemies," the Radak says that David HaMelech is saying, " I'm in Your hands, and therefore the hands of my enemies can't get me. I'm not in their hands, I'm in Your hands.

Welcome to Daily Bitachon . We're on our final pasuk of Bikurim quoted in the Haggadah shel Pesach , "ויוציאנו ה׳ ממצרים" . Finally, God took us out of Egypt . "ביד חזקה" – with a strong hand, " בזרוע נטויה" – with an outstretched arm, " במורא גדול" – with great fear, " באותות" – with signs, and " ובמופתים" – with wonders. The Ba'al Haggadah explains " ויוציאנו ה׳ ממצרים ," with a very long description before proving it. He tells us there was no other force—not an angel, not a "fiery" angel, nor a messenger. Rather, it was " הקדוש ברוך הוא בכבודו ובעצמו" – God Himself took us out of Egypt. This refers specifically to Makat Bechorot , as the pasuk says, " And I passed in the land of Mitzrayim on this night, and I hit every firstborn in Mitzrayim , from man to animal, and with all of the gods of Egypt, I judged, Ani Hashem." This pasuk definitely requires explanation and understanding, as we have to remember Yetziat Mitzrayim every single day. God took us out of Egypt at midnight on that night. Why does it say midnight? There is a discussion about when the main Yetziat Mitzrayim was. Was it at night or by day? The reason we say Kriat Shema both at night and during the day is because there was an aspect of Yetziat Mitzrayim both at night and by day. There are two important lessons based on what happened at that moment. As mentioned previously, the Egyptians worshipped the sheep. The reason they worshipped the sheep was because the sheep was called Bechor Lamazalot . It was the firstborn of all the symbols of the horoscope. Sheep, or Aries as it's referred to in Latin, is why the month of Aviv, springtime when we got out, is called Aviv. It's a contraction of two words, " אב י"ב," the father of 12. The ram symbolizes the father, the first of the 12 symbols. Therefore, the Egyptians worshipped the ram and the sheep, due to their belief that this was the mazal that was in charge of the world. Furthermore, they respected the firstborn children because they were also connected to the horoscope of the sheep. The reason for Yetziat Mitzrayim was to take the Jewish people out from under mazal and have us deal directly with Hashem. This originated with Avraham Avinu. When he didn't have any children, God said, " צא החוצה" / " Go outside". Rashi says this meant, "Go out of the horoscope". We are above the horoscope. In order to portray this concept that God is the only force in nature and all other seeming forces do not have independent power, it was God Himself that wiped out the Egyptian gods and showed the world that the Egyptian horoscope symbol had no force. The reason it happened on the 15th of the month is because that is when the moon is fullest, which is the most powerful time. And Chatzot Laila , midnight, is the "power of the power". So at the point when the sheep was most powerful in the month of Nissan, its own month, we were going to bring her to her knees. And that's what happened. We have to always remember Yetziat Mitzrayim . There is a famous Nefesh HaChaim ( Shaar Gimmel, Perek Yud-Bet ), where he cites the Gemara of a certain witch that was trying to cast a spell on Rav Chanina ben Dosa, and he said, "You're wasting your time. אין עוד מלבדו" – " There is nothing else but Him". The Gemara says, "What do you mean? Kishuf / witchcraft, is able to undo things that seemingly are against God's decree!". To which the Gemara says, Rav Chanina ben Dosa had great zechut . The Nefesh HaChaim says that doesn't mean he had a lot of mitzvot . It means he had the clarity that there's nothing else but HaKadosh Baruch Hu , and he realized that this kishuf was created from God, and nothing exists other than God, and everything here comes from God. With that, he was able to undo any kishuf powers. That's the same Rav Chanina ben Dosa who said, "No problem," when his daughter complained that they had no oil to light the candles, only vinegar. "What's the difference? The One that said oil should light, [can also say] vinegar should light". That means it wasn't a miracle for him; he didn't see a difference between oil and vinegar. It was all Hashem. There are many such stories about Rav Chanina ben Dosa. The Nefesh HaChaim applies this to us and says, "This is inyan gadol v'segulah nifla'ah " – A wondrous segulah to remove all judgments and negative wills of others against you, so that they can't affect you, won't impact you, and won't make an indent at all. If a person says in his heart, "I know Hashem is in charge, and He's the only true force, there's nothing else but Him, and everything in the world only comes from Him," and he annuls in his heart a total annulment and does not pay attention to anything else in the world but God's will, and subjugates himself and connects the purity of his thoughts to God, insofar as he does that, God will annul all those negative forces so they can't impact him at all. This is easier said than done. But the point is that this revelation of " אין עוד מלבדו" ) Ein Od Milevado ) happened at the time of Makat Bechorot . It was totally revealed later on at Har Sinai, where it says, " אתה הראת לדעת כי ה׳ הוא האלקים אין עוד מלבדו" . There they actually saw it. God , it says, split open the heavens and showed them that there's nothing in the world but God. But the beginning, so to say, of God showing us this was at Makat Bechorot at Chatzot Laila . Furthermore, the Nefesh HaChaim in Shaar Gimmel, Perek Gimmel , tells us that it says, " ה׳ הוא מקומו של עולם" – " God is the place of the world," and " ואין העולם מקומו" – " and the world doesn't hold Him". One of God's names is Makom , which means that nothing else exists without Him. He's the place ; everything is within Him. It's interesting that the term Makom is used in the Haggadah shel Pesach , possibly more than any other place, when talking about God. ברוך המקום ברוך הוא. ברוך שנתן תורה לעמו ישראל ברוך הוא". "ברוך המקום ". "ועכשיו קרבנו המקום לעבודתו" – " And now the Makom (God) brought us close to His service" . "כמה מעלות טובות למקום עלינו" – " How many great qualities is it to God," referred to as Makom . "על אחת כמה וכמה טובה כפולה ומכופלת למקום עלינו" – four times it says Makom . Because this is the night that we understood this important lesson. Rav Shimshon Pinkus, in his book Tiferet Shimshon on Devarim , in Parashat Re'eh where it says " בנים אתם לה׳", says that's why, heaven forbid, when someone passes away, the custom in many communities is to say, " המקום ינחם אתכם" / God, who is called Makom , should bring you comfort" . But why is the term Makom used here? Because of this concept that God is Mekomo shel Olam , God holds everything , there's nothing there but Him. And therefore, Lo Alenu , with a problem or without a problem, with a parent or without a parent, HaKadosh Baruch Hu is the constant in their lives, and that concept should bring nechama . May we all hear nechamot from all the tzarot that we go through, and have the ultimate revelation of Makom in the future.

Welcome to Daily Bitachon , lessons that we're learning from the psukim in Ki Tavo . Hashem saw את לחצינו / et lachatzeinu . Says the Ba'al Hagada, zeh hadachak / This is the pressure , as it says: Vegam ra'iti et halachatz , asher Mitzrayim lochatzim otam / I saw the pressure that the Mitzrim placed upon them What is that pressure referring to? Simply speaking the Kol Bo (on chapter 51), Avudarham and others say it's talking about the pressure of needing more and more bricks. So they were under tremendous pressure and Hashem saw that pressure. But the Ritva , in his commentary to the Hagada, explains that this pressure refers to when the Egyptians, seeing that they couldn't break them with physical work, started pressuring them into worshipping Avodah Zarah . And that's what Hashem saw. That was the lachatz , and it caused them to be redeemed faster, because Hashem saw they couldn't withstand the test. As we know, they were about to enter the 50th gate of tumah . They had to get out fast. As we will come to see, the Baal Hagada makes the point that the things that Paroah was doing to break us, actually got us out faster. The Sefer Chanukat HaTorah in Vayikra chapter 1, pasuk ה , tells us that Hashem saw three things: onyeinu , amalenu , lachatzeinu . Onyeinu meant the fact that the husbands and wives were separated. One of the reasons they were separated was because the men were in the fields 24 hours at a time. Amalenu refers to the children, which could mean the multitude of children that were born, whom the Mitzrim felt they had to wipe them out. And lachatzeinu was the pressure. He says there are three reasons why we got out early: One was because we worked the night shift. The second was because we had a lot of children and they did a tremendous amount of work. And the third reason was the tremendous pressure. The Ba'al Hagada explains that Hashem saw these three things that Paroah did-he made them work day and night; he felt the need to wipe out the children because there were so many of them; And he pressured them, and all of these things got us out faster. That's why the next pasuk says, Vayotzi'einu Hashem miMitzrayim , Hashem took us out of Mitzrayim. We will add a very interesting thought from the Sefer Ateret Yeshua on the Hagada shel Pesach , written by a Rebbe from the town of Dzikov (1848-1912) who was known for his gematrias. He says that these three things that Hashem saw, onyeinu , amalenu and lachatzeinu , are why we have the three mitzvot of Pesach , Matzah , and Maror - they correspond to these three sufferings. These three sufferings actually created three mitzvot - Pesach , Matzah , and Maror ! As we said, that's what got us out faster. It's an unbelievable concept, how Hashem can take all of that suffering and produce something so special with it. And he says, therefore, the numerical value of פסח מצה מרור Pesach , Matzah , Maror is דרך ארץ בנים דחק Derech eretz , as we said, was prishut derech eretz , separating them from the normal fashion of husband and wife living together. Banim is the children. And dachak is the pressure. So it's an unbelievable hint here, that what was negative actually created these three mitzvot . So the negative got us out of Egypt faster, as the Sefer Chanukat HaTorah says. But more than that, it actually created these three mitzvot . Thus far, we have the Chanukat HaTorah that points out the theme that runs through these three things is they all got us out of Mitzrayim earlier. Similarly, we have amalenu zeh habanim like we said yesterday from the Maharil Diskin , the fact that they killed the children got us out earlier because we were producing children that didn't make it, and Hashem viewed it as if those children were actually working. So everything the Egyptians did backfired. The extra work backfired. The children backfired. The night shift backfired. The attempt to make them lose their spirituality backfired. Everything backfired. The Gaon of Vilna has a different thread between these three things that Hashem saw as we're winding down from what Hashem saw. And he says these three topics of family life, husband and wife, children and pressure, pressure is because you're squeezed into a small, tight confines. These he says are the three fundamentals that a person needs to survive. He needs to have a wife, children, and a house. That's the basic household. You have a place to live with your wife and your children. They were trying to uproot these three things. And when Hashem saw that they were uprooting the very basic fiber of the Jewish household, and the Jews were at their breaking point, He could no longer allow that to happen. And as we will soon see, Vayotzi'einu Hashem miMitzrayim , Hashem will actually take us out of Mitzrayim . That is going to be the final pasuk . And as we often say, this applies in our lives today as well. Sometimes when you hit the breaking point, that's when the yeshua has to come.

Welcome to Daily Bitachon . We continue with lessons from pesukim in Ki Tavo, where it says that Hashem saw Et Amalenu / Our toil. The Ba'al Haggadah explains, Eilu habanim / This refers to the children. What does this mean? Some explain that children themselves are called toil because all of our toil is for our children. But others explain that it actually has to do with the pasuk that's being quoted: Kemo she'ne'emar , like it says, all boys born should be sent thrown into the Nile and the girls will survive . Amal means toil without an outcome. Like we say at a Siyum Masechet : Anu ameilim, v'hem ameilim . We toil, and they toil. Anu ameilim, we toil, Mekabelim schar/and get rewarded. V'hem ameilim, and they toil, v'einam mekabelim schar and don't receive reward. What does that mean? Who works without being rewarded? The Chafetz Chaim explains that in the outside world, you get paid for producing . If you go to a tailor to fix your suit, and he fixes it, you pay him. But if he says, "I tried very hard, but I couldn't fix it," then you don't pay him. We pay for accomplishing , not for toiling without accomplishment or achievement or production.That's what the definition of amal is. That's why we call learning ameilut baTorah / toil in Torah - because you don't have to produce anything. It's not about producing, it's about working hard and breaking your head to understand. And even if you never get to understand, God accepts it. That's the ultimate called ameilut baTorah . However, if you're not in the Torah or religion sector, you have to produce. If a person works his whole life, it's considered productive because he has children to leave the money to. There is l a continuation, a lineage. But if a person just toils and there are no children to bequeath that work for, that work becomes toil . Work without a purpose is toil. And because the Egyptians threw the boys into the Nile, their work now turned into amal , into just plain toil . Hashem in His mercy allows us to see the fruits of our labor, so that we can go through life not as ameilut , which is unproductive work. It's hard psychologically to live with unproductive work. We pray every day: Lema'an lo niga larik, v'lo neiled labehala / We don't want to toil for nothing and give birth to panic and confusion. The commentaries explain, and we actually say this in our Uva LeTzion prayers when we say V'chayei olam nata b'tocheinu /God gave us the Torah . Hu yiftach libeinu b'Torato . He should open our hearts in Torah so that we should have a continuation and we should not be in this world for nothing. So Hashem, in His mercy, allows us to feel like we're doing something. We go to work every day, we do our hishtadlut . Really, it should come and we should get it. But Hashem makes us feel like we're doing something. This is actually the reason why we came to this world. Why didn't Hashem just send us straight to Olam Haba ? Because there's something called nahama d'kisufa / bread of shame, if you don't work for it. But living in this world, Hashem makes us feel like we're doing something. Of course, we rely on Hashem and Hashem makes it happen, but He gives us that feeling of I'm doing something and that's important. There is a famous (unsourced) story of a man that was imprisoned in a cell, doing nothing all day, going crazy. He had no meaning or purpose in his life. The warden felt bad for him, so he installed a wheel on the wall of the cell, and told the prisoner to turn this wheel every day, because it was connected to a mill outside the prison, and so he'd be able to grind the wheat to give food to the people. The man had a new excitement in life. He was doing something! He was turning the wheel, turning the wheel, turning the wheel. After many years, when he finally got out of jail and saw that the wheel was connected to a rock and nothing else, he had a heart attack and died-Because his life was for nothing. Rav Miller applies this story to bring out a point that when we go to work every day, we're really just turning a wheel that's connected to nothing. Because Hashem is making our parnassa happen. But Hashem in His mercy (this is not Rav Miller talking, this is me using Rabbi Miller to bring this point out), makes us feel like we are doing something. And therefore, it's not just ameilut . Hashem gives us children so it's not just ameilut . But in Egypt, Hashem saw the pain of just plain amal . Children being thrown into the Nile, the psychological warfare of work without a purpose, without a future, without a legacy. So we have to appreciate that Hashem gave us the ability to toil- for purpose, And also that Hashem actually feels for somebody, as He felt for the Jewish people ,when he saw the Amal .

Welcome to Daily Bitachon , as we continue with lessons in Bitachon from Pesukim in Ki Tavo . We are now up to וירא את ענינו / Vayar et Onyenu / And God saw our pain. This was after we cried out to God, as it says, Vanitzak el Hashem Elokei Avoteinu/We cried out to God, Vayishma Hashem/ And Hashem heard our voices . And the next thing that happens is, Vayar et Onyenu/ Hashem saw our pain. What is that referring to? Zu perishut derech eretz/This refers to the fact that husbands and wives separated. Why did they separate? Many Rishonim explain that it was due to the decree that all boys had to be thrown into the Nile River, as Rashi tells us in Shemot 2:1, where it says Vayikach et Bat Lev i, Amram takes Yocheved. Amram had separated from Yocheved because of the decree of Paroah, and now he remarried her, as it says, Vayelech/And he went. He went and followed his daughter Miriam's advice, when she said, ' Your decree is worse than Paroah's. Paraoh's decree was only on the males but by not being married, your decree is on the males and the females.' We see from here that the Jewish people, on their own, made a decision to separate from their wives. Hashem saw the pain that occurred as a result. Families were being broken apart due to their decision to not bring more children into the world, if those children were just going to be drowned. So that's Vayar et Onyenu Zu perishut derech eretz . As usual, the Ba'al Haggadah brings a proof, as it says, Vayar Elohim et Bnei Yisrael/ Hashem saw what happened to Bnei Yisrael . Vayeda Elohim / And Hashem knew . Simply, Hashem saw, Vayar et Onyenu , and here it says Vayar Elohim , Hashem saw our pain and He knew. But how do we know that this has to do with them being separated? Because it says Vayeda Elohim / God knew. This was something that only God knew about. God knows that people make decisions. God knows, " I'm staying away from getting married because I'm worried about xyz." So we see from here that when Hashem's mercy is being enacted, it doesn't just work in general. Hashem looks at every detail, even the secrets hidden in a person's mind. Rashi, on the pasuk ofVayeda Elohim says, God placed His heart on them and did not allow His eyes to ignore them. This is a concept called Gilui Panim / Hashem revealing His face . The Ramban on this Rashi says that originally Hashem was Mastir panav / He was hiding His face, w hich is when we don't see Him in action. But now He went to the the level of Vayeda / He knew what was going on. Of course, He always knows what's going on, but now, He was acting on it. Rabbenu Bachya expandsa little bit more on this pasuk . He says Vayar Elohim/God saw, refers to what the Egyptians were doing outside, that people could see. Vayeda Elohim / And God knew, refers to the difficulties they were doing to them in hiding, that no one knew about it. Only God knows . The psychological pain that the Jewish people were going through was also picked up and felt by Hashem. The HaEmek Davar adds a beautiful thought. He asks, Why does it say And God saw ? He answers that, He saw what He didn't hear. He explains that there are certain things that we don't even feel comfortable sharing in our prayers. We might be a little embarrassed about sharing a certain want or need. But Hashem sees those too. Let's say a person feels he's missing out on something. He's not going to say " Hashem, I wish I had sprinkles on my ice cream ." He's thinking about that but he's not going to ask for that. But Hashem sees that too. The Maharil Diskin adds something fascinating about how Hashem's Hashgacha works. Hashem knew . What did Hashem know ? That they got separated from their wives. And he says that when Hashem calculated that they had to leave Mitzrayim early because of the extra work that they did, He took into account all of the children that had been thrown into the Nile, all of children that had been put into the bricks, and all the children that would have been born if they hadn't separated from each other, as if they had all existed and they were all doing work. That is something that only Hashem could know. Vayeda Elohim . That's how far Hashem's calculations go, when He's figuring things out. And he says, that's what it means V'gam et hagoy asher ya'avodu dan anochi /I will judge the nation that's working you, I'll judge how many you would have been, and I'll figure that out as well . Wonder of wonders, how Hashem's Hashgacha is able to work. The Ma'ayanah shel Torah says something fascinating which is a tremendous limud zechut on the Jewish people. Vayar et Onyenu , Hashem sees our suffering. And he brings a pasuk Vayar Elohim/ And God sees et Bnei Yisrael . Vayeda Elohim and Hashem knows. Now simply, this pasuk really doesn't say anything. That's why Rashi has to explain that Hashem is now paying attention to them. But the Ma'ayanah shel Torah says, You know what Hashem saw? Et Bnei Yisrael. That through all the suffering they went through, they stayed strong to their identity as Jewish people. With all the pain and all the suffering, they still remained Jewish people and that's what brought the Geula.

Welcome to Bitachon . We continue with another important lesson from the pesukim in Ki Tavo . Vanitzak el Hashem Elokei Avoteinu / We cried out to Hashem the God of our fathers, and He heard our voices. And we quote a pasuk in Shemot where it says Vayishma Elokim et Maakatam / God heard their groans. Vayizkor Elokim et Brito/and God remembered His covenant et Avraham et Yitzchak v'et Yaakov/With Abraham, Yitzhak and Yaakov. So we see clearly here that it was not enough for us to just pray. Our prayers aroused the zechut Avot . Interestingly, this is the second pasuk mentioned in the Zichronot section of Musaf of Rosh Hashanah , telling us that Hashem heard the cries of Bnei Yisrael b'Mitzrayim and remembered Avraham Yitzchak and Yaakov . So what is this combination? Why do we need both prayer and Zechut Avot? Why can't Zechut Avot work on its own? Why can't prayer on its own work? The answer is that the Jewish people, on their own at that time, and probably quite often for us as well, can not make it with our prayer alone. That's why every single prayer, that we pray three times a day starts with Elokeinu v'Elokei Avoteinu , our God, and the God of our fathers, Avraham Yitzchak v'Yaakov . The Rambam in Moreh Nevuchim , section 3, chapter 43, says something fascinating. He says that the reason why we merited to go into Eretz Yisrael was, בחסד האלוה וביעודיו לאבותינו , בעבור שהיו אנשים שלמים בדעותם ומדותם - רצוני לומר , " אברהם , יצחק ויעקב - Because of the kindness of God, and His promise to our forefathers. Why? ba'avur shehayu anashim shleimim, They were people that were perfect, b'dei'otam, in their mindsets, their cognition, u'midotam, and their character traits, This refers to Avraham Yitzchak v'Yaakov . And he says, שזה גם כן הוא ממה שהתורה תלויה עליו - רצוני לומר , שכל טוב שהיטיב האלוה לנו וייטיב - אמנם הוא ' בזכות אבות This is a fundamental that the Torah hinges on. That any goodness that God did for us in the past, and will do for us in the future, in truth is b'Zchut avot. It's in the merit of our forefathers. This is definitely something to inspire us that we don't have to necessarily have our own zechuyot . We need zechut avot . Well, if that's the case, that I need zechut avot , why pray? Why do anything? The answer that's given is, In order to have zechut avot, God has to recognize you as one of their children. If we want to use the zechut of Avraham Avinu, you have to look a little bit like Avraham. Imagine your friend's son comes to see you, but you don't know it's his son. He asks for a favor. When you see him, you say, ' Hold on. You look like so-and-so. You remind me of so-and-so. ' He says, 'Yeah, that was my father.' 'Oh, that was your father? For sure, I'm going to take care of this for you. If you're his son, I'm going to do it. ' But if someone walks in with no resemblance to his father, it's not going to ignite that feeling. The same is true with Avraham Yitzchak V'Yaakov . We're their children. We have to look like them. We have to act like them. Matai yagiu ma'asai l'ma'asei Avraham Yitzchak v'Yaakov . And this is the beautiful point- That's why we need prayer. Because when we pray, we look like Avraham Yitzchak v'Yaakov . They cried out to God, and we're crying out to God. Rashi uses a particular lashon describing the Jewish people praying at Kriat Yam Suf . In Shemot 14:10 it says, Vayitzaku . The Jewish people cried out. They cried out at Kriat Yam Suf. Rashi quotes the Mechilta, Tafsu umnut avotam/They grabbed the trade/the craft of their forefathers. Avraham prayed. Yitzchak prayed. Yaakov prayed. Says Rav Wolbe, What does it mean that they took the trade of their forefathers? He says, an uman is a craftsman . It's something that your family does. It's naturally in your blood. If your father is a carpenter, and your grandfather is a carpenter, you're a carpenter. You just naturally fall into that. Prayer is the craft of the Jewish people. Avraham Yitzchak and Yaakov did it. Imagine someone was a great violinist, and his father was a great violinist. Now the grandson starts playing the violin, not quite like his father or grandfather, but he's holding on to his family trade. You'd say, That reminds me of his father. That reminds me of his grandfather. He was a great violinist. When we start to pray, that's the one-two punch. Because when we're pray, we are taking the trade of our forefathers, and that ignites their remembrance. So it's not just that our prayers are answered because we prayed. We're doing two things when we pray. We pray, and we're also acting like the avot , which ignites the zechut avot .

Welcome to Daily Bitachon. Today we have a powerful lesson from one of the pesukim in Parashat Ki Tavo : וַנִּצְעַק אֶל־יְיָ אֱלֹהֵי אֲבֹתֵינוּ Vanitzak el Hashem Elokei Avoteinu / And we cried out to Hashem, the God of our fathers . The Baal Hagada cites Shemot 2:23, where it says the Jewish people groaned because of the workload: וַיִּזְעָ֑קוּ וַתַּ֧עַל שַׁוְעָתָ֛ם אֶל־הָאֱלֹהִ֖ים מִן־הָעֲבֹדָֽה׃ Vayizaku / (same root as the word vanitzak ) And they cried out Vataal shavatam / Their outcry went up Elokim to God, Min ha'avoda/Because of the work. There are two points to make note of. Firstly, there is no mention of prayer, just crying out . Groaning , outcry , these are terms that are not necessarily referring to prayer. Secondly, the stress is on because of the work. The Ramban on this pasuk says that they were not really fit to be answered. They were answered, in his words, Mipnei hatzaaka / Because of the outcry. Libel tefilatam b'rachamim. Their prayers were accepted with mercy. Yes, they prayed, he says, but prayer alone was not enough. What made it happen was the tzaaka / the outcry . Rabbenu Bachya adds that the reason why the words Min ha'avoda are stressed twice is to teach us a lesson: There is no more complete prayer than a prayer Mitoch hatzara vehadochak / From extreme difficulty and oppression, Sheyoter mekubelet/It is more accepted and goes up to Hashem. Interestingly, the Ramban, in Mishpatim ( Shemot 22:20), when it talks about being nice to the convert, says, The soul of the convert is humble. He groans and cries out constantly for Hashem's mercy , that He should have mercy on him. And Hashem has mercy on him because he constantly cries out, So too, Hashem had mercy on the Jewish people when they groaned, as it says in our pasuk . Not in in their merit; rather Hashem had mercy on them because of the avoda. What is it about this Tzaaka/Crying out, groaning that makes our prayers be answered? Rav Yitzchak Isaac Chaver , in his Haggadah Yad Mitzrayim, explains based on a Gemara that says anacha shoveret chatzi gufo shel adam / A groan breaks a person's body. Groaning causes a person to become humble, and because he's humbled, he is close to Hashem and his prayers are answered. As the pasuk says, Karov Hashem l'nishberei lev / Hashem is close to the brokenhearted. This is an unbelievable concept, that we've mentioned more than once- that the purpose of Galut Mitzrayim was to bring them to humility, to humble them, like we said in the pasuk, Vaya'anun u/ And he pained them. The root of the word ya'anunu / pain is anava . A pained man is humble. So we're learning an unbelievable concept here- vanitzak is not just to cry out and scream, it's it just that there's a power to screaming . It's not about the scream. A very arrogant person could say, " Okay, I'm going to scream now because I'll get what I want by screaming." The screaming that causes God to answer us is the screaming that comes from humility, that comes from brokenness, from realizing I'm not in control, I have a broken heart, I'm stuck. Help me, I don't know what to do. That feeling of humility, that outcry of humility is what causes vataal shavatam their outcry went up to Hashem min ha'avoda from the work. They were broken. The work had done its job. The job of the avoda was to break them. That's the term used, " I'm going to break you." Of course, Hashem is not doing it in a angry, mean way, but He needs our ego and arrogance to be broken, so we realize that we're not in charge, we can't do anything, and we don't know what to do- the outcry of, Hashem , I don't know what to do. I'm stuck, I just don't know how to get out of this quagmire of mud, or quicksand. It's like the current situation in Gaza. If some of the people making the decisions would say, I don't know what to do, I'm stuck. There's no way out of this, and if we'd all collectively feel that vayeianchu /that groan , vanitzak that outcry , shavatam min ha'avoda , then, vataal shavatam the outcry goes up- then the next pasuk, which we'll see tomorrow, is vayishma Hashem et koleinu . And Hashem heard our voices

Welcome to Daily Bitachon. The next words in our pasuk describe how the Mitzrim put upon them בעבודה קשה Avodah Kasha . Simply speaking, Avodah Kasha means hard work . The pasuk says, בַּעֲבֹדָ֣ה קָשָׁ֗ה בְּחֹ֙מֶר֙ וּבִלְבֵנִ֔ים וּבְכׇל־עֲבֹדָ֖ה בַּשָּׂדֶ֑ה אֵ֚ת כׇּל־עֲבֹ֣דָתָ֔ם אֲשֶׁר־עָבְד֥וּ בָהֶ֖ם בְּפָֽרֶךְ׃ Simply speaking, this means They gave them hard work with mud, bricks and all sorts of work in the field But there is an interesting Zohar in section Raya Mehemna , vol 3, page 153a, that explains the pasuk as follows: It says, - בחמר bechomer which simply means with mud refers to a kal vachomer , which is a type of approach when we want to learn something out of a pasuk , called a kal vachomer . -U'bilveinim , which simply means bricks , refers to libun halacha , clarifying the Halacha ( the root of the word is Lavan / white , as white things are clean and clear) - Avodah basadeh/Work in the field, refers to the part of the Gemara called the Braita , which means outside of the Mishnayot. -V'chol avodatam asher avdu bahem b'farech . Parech means backbreaking work , referring to Teiku , a question that has no answer - That's the backbreaking work. When the Haggadah says, Vayavdu Mitzrayim et Bnei Yisrael b'farech , that's the backbreaking work of a question without an answer. What's going on here? What does this pasuk, which is talking about hard work, have to do with these concepts of learning? In the sefer Or Gedalyahu on Parashat Shemot , Rav Gedalia Schorr explains that a either person can toil in Torah, or a person can toil in the fields or other work. The person can decide, so to say, where he wants to place his hard work. We see this in a Mishna in Avot Perek ג Mishna ה , where Rabi Nechunya ben HaKanah says, Whoever accepts accepts upon himself the yoke of Torah, the yoke of the kingdom and of physical work is removed from him . We see from here, says the Bet HaLevi , that it's up to the person:What yoke does he want? As the Gemara in Sanhedrin 99b says, Kol adam l'amal yulad . Everyone was born to toil. As the pasuk in Iyov 5:7 says, Adam l'amal yulad . Man was born to toil. But it's up to him to decide which toil he wants. Does he want to toil in areas of religion, Torah, mitzvot , etc? Or does he want to put his toil into something else? Of course it's not a question of whether you want to toil, but where you choose to do it. There's an unbelievable Yalkut Shimoni Devarim , Remez 850, in the name of Rav Bisna : En adam b'olam b'lo yissurim / There is no one in the world who doesn't have suffering. Choshesh b'shinav / If you have a toothache, ein yakhol lishon you can't sleep b 'einav , If you have an eye ache, ein yakhol lishon, you can't sleep. Yaga b'Torah , If you stay up at night learning, ein yeshan,, you're not sleeping either. Zeh er v'zeh er, they're both awake. Ashrei ha'gever asher teyasrenu Yah, u'mitoratcha telamdenu/Fortunate is the one that Hashem pains and he's learning Torah. It's a pasuk in Tehillim 94:12 and he explains it to mean that You're going to have difficulties. The question is, where? It's up to the person to decide whether to channel the difficulties into his Torah and Avodat Hashem . There's a story told of the Chofetz Chaim that occuree when he was at the Knessiah Gedolah in Vienna (the source of the famous picture resurfaced a few years ago). There was a successful working man from Germany who was putting a lot of his time into chesed. He spent half his business day working on acts of kindness, and his family was upset by this. " You can't do this, " they said. " You're neglecting your business. We want you to go to the Chafetz Chaim." When he heard the Chafetz Chaim was going to be in Vienna, which is not far from Germany, he went. He got there in the middle of Seudah Shlishit , when it's customary for people to say Mizmor L'David Hashem ro'i lo echsar , and the Chafetz Chaim was explaining the pasuk . Now this man had not yet asked his question, he was just standing in the crowd. But the Chafetz Chaim was known to prophetically give people answers, quite often, without even hearing the question. He was explaining the pasuk : Ach tov va'chesed yirdefuni kol yemei chayai / Kindness and good should chase me my whole life. He asked, What does that mean? The word rodef usually means you're being chased and hounded. If someone is a rodef , that means he's chasing you. So what does it mean that " Goodness and kindness should chase me all the days of my life?" He explained that sometimes a Jew is doing many acts of kindness, so people start chasing him. He may say to himself, What's going on? I start doing kindness and now they're hounding me, chasing me down? He says, you should know that in Shamayim , it was decreed on Rosh Hashanah that you were going to have people chasing and hounding you. But you have a choice. Would you rather have people banging on your door because they want you to do acts of chesed in the middle of the night, Or would you rather have the IRS banging on your door in the middle of the night? Therefore he says, ach tov va'chesed yirdefuni . Who should be the ones that are chasing me down and hounding me? It should be the acts of kindness and chesed ! When the man heard this, he didn't even ask his question. He went right back to his family, and told them he has the answer. This is an extremely important concept that we learn from Galut Mitzrayim . The Megaleh Amukot , Parashat Korach says something fascinating. He asks, Why is it that Shevet Levi did not have to have the yoke of Galut Mitzrayim ? Because, as we've said, Shevet Levi was learning. They chose their yissurim to be in learning. So a person can choose, or decide where he wants to place the yoke. Lastly, in Shaarei Teshuvah shaar ד Rabbeinu Yonah tells us that a person that sinned is supposed to have upon himself whatever the punishment is. So what should he do? He quotes from a Midrash Rabbah Vayikra 25:1 If the person used to learn one chapter, learn two. If he did one parashah, do two. Whatever you did, put more effort into your learning. And that way, his words are, yashit amalo baTorah b'tachovo/Place your toil and difficulty in Torah. Va'asher tidad shnato me'einav , and the fact that your eyes are being hurt from a lack of sleep, that will be your yissurim. This is not just learning in Torah , this is in any area of that person puts forth effort and really toils for Torah and mitzvot . That's the avodah kasha . You can fulfill the heavy workload in another way. What a beautiful lesson that we see from Galut Mitzrayim on what Avodah Kasha actually means.

Welcome to Daily Bitachon . We are working through the pesukim of the Bikkurim , which are pesukim of Hakarat Hatov . As we said, this pasuk is Hakarat Hatov for the difficulties. . וַיְעַנּוּנוּ , simply translates as They pained us. The Egyptians pained us. We go back to the pasuk in Shemot , וַיִתְּנוּ עָלֵינוּ עֲבֹדָה קָשָׁה וַיָּשִׂימוּ עָלָיו שָׂרֵי מִסִּים לְמַעַן עַנֹּתוֹ בְּסִבְלֹתָם, / They placed taskmasters upon them, to pain them in their load. וַיִּבֶן עָרֵי מִסְכְּנוֹת לְפַרְעֹה אֶת־פִּתֹם וְאֶת־רַעַמְסֵס. And they built treasure cities for Paroah Pitom and Raamses. What does Vayanunu mean? Literally, it means to be pained. The root of , וַיְעַנּוּנוּ VayAnunu , is Anya or Oni , which means to be pained . It's also lashon Ani/ poor and of Anava which is to be humbled . And it happens to also connect to Ve'Anita which is to announce and proclaim , which is seemingly not related. So, what's the connection between poverty , pain , and humility ? The answer is that a poor man is called poor because he's humbled. A pained man is called pained because he's broken, he's humbled. So, the Egyptians humbled us. The heavy work was there Lemaan anoto / To humble us . That was the Egyptians' goal, but it was also God's goal. As we've mentioned in the past, the Chida tells us the purpose of Galut Mitzrayim was to cause the Jewish people to become humble. We see this throughout the Haggadah. Lechem oni , Ha lachma anya , the bread of humility; Matzah symbolizes humility . Chametz symbolizes gaava / arrogance . For the seven days of Pesach , we only eat matzah . Matzah is humility . The purpose of all challenges in life is to humble us, to make us realize that we're not in charge, to make us realize that Hashem is in control and we need Him. So when we have challenges and we realize that we can't do it on our own and we turn to God, that is God's purpose in sending the challenge. The challenge is not there because God wants to, Has V'Shalom, hurt us or pain us or break us. Rather, Hashem wants us to come closer to Him. Arrogance is the opposite of connection to God. Humility is the act of connection, and that's the goal. The goal is to get us to become humble. That's why the next pasuk after this is וַנִּצְעַק אֶל־יְיָ אֱלֹהֵי אֲבֹתֵינ וּ/ We cried out to Hashem our God. Mission accomplished! Once we get the message and realize the purpose of the suffering, it goes away. Because the goal is not to suffer. There is a famous Midrash that Hashem told the Jewish people, at Kriat Yam Suf, Hashmi'eini et Kolech / I want to hear your voice. And the reason the Egyptians were chasing us after we left Egypt was that Hashem said, I don't hear your voice anymore. I don't hear you calling out to me like you called out to me in Egypt. You already feel like you're independent. This happens to everybody. While going through the tzarah , we're screaming out, " Please help us! Hashem help me, just get me out of this." But once the problem passes, that's it. We say, Thank you, God, but I don't need You anymore. That's human nature. It's the way of human beings. We want to be in charge, so we need constant reminders to humble us. And those reminders come in many different shapes, colors, and forms- All things to remind us that we are not in charge . And that's the vayanunu . That's the inui , that's the pain. David Hamelech says, א֭וֹדְךָ כִּ֣י עֲנִיתָ֑נִי וַתְּהִי־לִ֝֗י לִישׁוּעָֽה׃/ I praise You that You pained me and You were there for a salvation . David Hamelech praises Hashem for the pain . That's the Vayanunu . Rabbi Ades asks, Why do we pray? If Hashem gave us a problem, it's a problem. It's what it's supposed to be. So why are we praying ? He says, the answer is because the problem is there to humble us. And when we pray to Hashem, which is the way that we show that we're humble and that we need Him, then the problem goes away. So, as long as you don't pray, the problem is the right thing for you because it's going to push you to pray. But once you pray, the problem can go away. This answers the very philosophical question of Why pray ? If everything Hashem does is for the good, this is what I need . No, you don't need this headache. You need humility . The headache is there to get you to humility. So of course you need the headache to humble you. But once you're humble, you don't need the headache.

Welcome to Daily Bitachon . We continue with lessons from Yetziat Mitzrayim , and we're now going through the pesukim that talk about our gratitude to Hashem as we bring the bikurim . One of the things we say is וַ יָּרֵעוּ אֹתָנוּ הַמִּצְרִים /The Egyptians did evil to us . We quote a pasuk - הָ֥בָה נִֽתְחַכְּמָ֖ה ל֑וֹ פֶּן־יִרְבֶּ֗ה וְהָיָ֞ה כִּֽי־תִקְרֶ֤אנָה מִלְחָמָה֙ וְנוֹסַ֤ף גַּם־הוּא֙ עַל־שֹׂ֣נְאֵ֔ינוּ וְנִלְחַם־בָּ֖נוּ וְעָלָ֥ה מִן־הָאָֽרֶץ׃ Paroah said Let's outsmart Him (or them , meaning God) Lest they become many . When there will be a war, the Jewish people will join our enemies, etc. We see here an extremely important lesson in bitachon : You can't outsmart God. As the Bet Halevi tells us in his essay on bitachon , When a person puts forth hishtadlut without bitachon, not only is it futile, but sometimes it actually brings about the opposite result. He cites a pasuk to this effect from Yeshayah 59,5 that discusses a person who decided to collect eggs and incubate them in order that chickens should emerge from them so he should eat them. בֵּיצֵ֤י צִפְעוֹנִי֙ בִּקֵּ֔עוּ וְקוּרֵ֥י עַכָּבִ֖ישׁ יֶאֱרֹ֑גוּ הָאֹכֵ֤ל מִבֵּֽיצֵיהֶם֙ יָמ֔וּת וְהַזּוּרֶ֖ה תִּבָּקַ֥ע אֶפְעֶֽה׃ But after all of his exertion, it turned out that the eggs were from a snake or viper, and a snake came out of them to harm them. Clearly, it would have been better had he not collected all the eggs to begin with! That's what happens when you try to outsmart God. You think you're doing something to your benefit, but it backfires. He cited another pasuk in Iyov 5,13 , לֹכֵ֣ד חֲכָמִ֣ים בְּעׇרְמָ֑ם. God traps the shrewd with their own trickery. Their own shrewdness traps them. Their very efforts are used against them. The Malbim, on that pasuk, cites the story of Yosef and his brothers as an example of this concept. The brothers were, of course, righteous people, but they erred in thinking they needed to limit Yosef to prevent him from asserting his authority over them, and efforts backfired. By selling Yosef as a slave, they not only failed to prevent him from ruling over them, they facilitated it, as he became the Egyptian ruler. The Kli Yakar on Shemot 1,8 tells us something fascinating: A new king arose over Egypt who did not know Yosef . Simply this means he forgot about Yosef, or he never knew about Yosef. But the Kli Yakar explains that the new Paroah did not learn the lesson of Yosef, the lesson that one cannot outsmart Hashem. Paroah set out to prevent the emergence of the Jewish leader by decreeing that all the newborn Jewish boys should be killed. Because of this decree, Moshe's mother placed him in a basket in the river, where he was then discovered by Paroah's very own daughter, who raised Moshe in the palace! The very means by which Paroah thought he could prevent the rise of the Jewish leader resulted in the leader being raised- in the king's own palace! That is this message that we're discussing now. The Egyptians tried to do evil to us? They tried to outsmart God? Well, look what happens when you try to outsmart God. It backfires. The Ben Ish Chai, in his sefer Ben Yehoyada on Masechet Shabbat 119a, brings out this point from a famous story of a very wealthy non-Jew who was warned by astrologers that all his wealth was destined to fall into the hands of a certain Jew known as Yosef Mokir Shabbat / Yosef who honored Shabbat . In order to prevent this from happening, the man sold all his possessions and used the proceeds to buy a precious jewel, which he had sewn into a bejeweled hat, thereby ensuring that his fortune would never be lost. One day, as he crossed a bridge, a strong gust of wind blew the hat with the jewel into the river down below. The jewel was swallowed by a large fish, which was later caught by a fisherman. The fisherman tried to sell the fish in the market on Erev Shabbat , but it was too close to Shabbat . No one needed such a large and expensive fish. Finally, he was advised to offer it to Yosef Mokir Shabbat , who spared no expense for the honor of Shabbat . Sure enough, Yosef happily purchased the fish, and found the jewel and became wealthy! The Ben Ish Chai says, here we see the lesson: This man tried to outsmart Hashem and prevent the decrees from unfolding, but it backfired. His very idea of keeping his wealth away from Yosef Mokir Shabbat actually sent it to him. This is an important lesson of trying to outsmart God without connecting to God will only backfire.

Welcome to our daily Bitachon series. We continue with lessons from the Haggadah shel Pesach , even though we are in middle of Sefirat HaOmer- because as we said, we are going from Pesach until Shavuot . Shavuot is when we start our bikurim with our basket in our hands. We're coming to be full of hakarat hatov and thanks to Hashem. Today's pasuk starts with the wordsוירעו אותנ / Vayareu Otanu haMitzrim / The Egyptians did bad and evil to us. The obvious question is, We're coming to say thank you, so why is this part of the thank you? Why does the fact that the Egyptians started enslaving us deserve a thank you? This is a very important point in our hakarat hatov - We don't just thank Hashem for saving us. If that were the case, says the Bet HaLevi in Shemot 15:1, then who needs the salvation? Without the problem, I don't need the salvation. I'm back to status quo, which was that I didn't need the problem. It's like walking into a dentist and he says, "Ooh, you have a cavity-I'll fill it. You walk out of the dentist's office, back where you started from- with the regular tooth.Therefore, says the Bet HaLevi , when the Jewish people said Shira , hashirah ne'emra gam al hashibud hakadum / This song was also for the subjugation that happened beforehand, kemo hageulah, just like it was for the redemption . W ithout the subjugation, there would not have been a place for the geulah , and the geulah brought them something. That's what David HaMelech says in Tehillim Otcha ki anitani. I thank You that You pained me (some interpret that You answered me ) The Bet HaLevi says, initani is lashon inui . " I thank You that You pained me, vatehi li lishuah , and You saved me." It's like giving a thank You for the pain beforehand , because through that came the yeshua and a kiddush Shem Shamayim . But there's a slightly different explanation, which is not just that the the difficulty enabled God to save me and therefore, a kiddush Hashem came, There's another aspect- that we actually appreciate the suffering because we know that we benefited and gained from the suffering. There was a purpose to the fact that the Egyptians subjugated us. There's a story told, whether it's true or not is not important, the lesson is a powerful one:In the days of old, there was a feudal system where there were the basic landowners called feudal lords , and everyone under them was a required to pay a tax. The Jews could not own land, so they were always under these feudal lords , called a poretz in Yiddish. If you were lucky, you got a nice poretz , and if you were unlucky, you had a vicious one. One Jew had a nice friendly poretz whom he paid his rent to. The poretz once left to go overseas and had his friend take over. This friend was very ruthless. If the Jew was ever late or didn't pay the exact amount, he would whip him. Over the course of time, he got what about 40 whippings. After some time passed the original feudal lord came back. The Jew reunited with this friendly feudal lord, shared his experience and showed him his back with all the whip marks. " I can't believe it." He exclaimed. "That's what he did to you!?I'm going to take care of it." And since he was the ultimate boss of the town, he made this substitute feudal lord pay a certain amount ( let's say a silver talent) for every time he whipped him. The Jew came home with 40 silver talents and showed his wife. She said "Unbelievable, look what we have. Look at look what you got!" But the man was not happy. " I wish he would have hit me 60 times !" He said. Of course, that's a joke, true or not. The point is, in retrospect, he realized that every whipping gave him something. He appreciated the whippings and he actually was very happy for those 40 whips. So he didn't just say thank you that he got out of the problem. He actually appreciated the problem because that brought him whatever benefits he got out of it. There's another story, which is reportedly true. It's brought down in sefarim that it happened with the Chida. A man was having a lot of difficulties, a lot of tzarot , a lot of problems, so he traveled to the Chida to get a bracha . As he was sitting outside the Chida's office waiting after a long trip, he fell asleep. In his dream, he saw that they were judging him in Bet Din shel Maalah /the heavenly court. There was a huge scale. They were bringing all of his mitzvot on one side, and they put all the Averot on the other side. In his case, the Averot /sins outweighed the mitzvot . It looked like he was in trouble. He asked them to look around for some more Mitzvot, but that was it. They were all emptied out. It didn't look good, but then one of his defending angels said, "What about the yissurim/suffering ?" They said, " You're right. We forgot about the yissurim. Let's throw the yissurim on." All his suffering was then thrown onto the positive side. And slowly it tilted, until it was just about equal. They were running out of yissurim . The scale was exactly equal. The man didn't know what to do. In his dream, he screamed, " More yissurim, more suffering, more suffering!" He woke up from his dream and was back to reality. He realized, " Why am I coming here? To complain about my suffering? This suffering is exactly what I need." That's our message here. Easier said than done. In the story of Yetziat Mitzrayim , this is a lesson for us in retrospect, when we're all able to look back somehow, and appreciate and actually have hakarat hatov for vayareu otanu haMitzrim .

Welcome to Daily Bitachon. We are completing the final explanation of our first pasuk , the word ורב V'Rav /The Jewish people became many, they multiplied. The Baal Haggadah explains that they are multitudes like the grass of the fields. So the word rav means a lot. But the Sefer Shibolei HaLeket quotes Rabbenu Yeshayahu that v'rav is does not mean they became a lot. Rather, it means holech u'mitrabeh / They are constantly growing. That's why we say revavah k'tzemach hasadeh netatichech / they were multiplying like the grass of the fields. Grass of the fields just keeps on growing and growing. This pasuk actually uses three terms: gadol /great, atzum /powerful, and v'rav / many or multiply . The Maharal in his Sefer Divrei Negidim page פ tells us, these three terms correspond to the merits of our three Avot . The term gadol is in the zechut of Avraham. Like it says v'e'escha l'goy gadol / I'm going to make you into a goy gadol, a great nation. Therefore, his children became gedolim , as we explained gadol means that you're not influenced by the outside world;you are an influencer , not an influencee . Atzum , powerful, is in the merit of Yitzchak Avinu. King Avimelech told Yitzchak Lech me'imanu ki atzamta mimenu me'od / Leave us because You are much more powerful than us . That's the term atzum . Finally, the term v'rav is in the merit of Yaakov Avinu, whom Hashem told El Shaddai yevarech otcha v'yafrecha v'yarbecha , He will make you fruitful v'yarbecha/ and multiply you. So V'Rav / To multiply is ascribed to Yaakov Avinu. He had 12 children and from there everything branched out. This is a fundamental- that everything we have is zechut avot . What is this concept specifically of V'Rav ? The Sefer Maaseh Nissim asks, Is is true that we more than anybody else? The other nations are more than us. And he answers that V'Rav means they have a multiplying power but it's not that they're numerous, rather, qualitatively , they have a multiplying power. They have the potential for tremendous growth. Like a seed that grows into something else that has more seeds and continues and continues. There are trees that can become extinct. There are things that are wiped out, but grass is always there. It keeps growing and multiplying to no end. That is the potential of Jewish people- that they will be forever. We are an eternal nation. Of course, there are nations that are numerically more than us. But going back to the time of Mitzrayim , has any culture survived like us? We have that power of survival of eternity, we are the eternal nation. As we have spoken about before, in we V'Hi SheAmda , we are the eternal nation, the Jewish people. That is the blessing of V'Rav . Yaakov Avinu wrestled with the angel of Eisav Ad alot hashachar / until the morning star. The Sefer HaChinuch , in the third mitzvah, talks about the underlying reason behind gid hanasheh /the displaced sinew from the wrestling match between Yaakov and this and the angel of Esav, which is to hint to us that even though we will suffer tremendous difficulties during our exiles, in the hands of the nations, in the hands of the children of Esav, we are guaranteed betuchim shelo yovdu / that we will not become extinct. l'olam ya'amod zar'am v'shmam , forever their children will last. By constantly remembering this, they will strengthen their emunah that they will last forever. When Esav's angel fought Yaakov, he hit him on his thigh, symbolizing his seed. He was trying to eradicate the future seed. But we survived. Yaakov Avinu was limping, but the sun came out and he was healed. That is a sign for us that The sun of Mashiach will come v'yirpa'einu and heal us and redeem us. That is the seed -like aspect of revavah , that we will be there forever. The seed will never end; it is constantly replanting and restarting. Yet another lesson and Chizuk in emunah and bitachon from our Haggadah.

Welcome to Daily Bitachon . We are now taking Bitachon lessons from the Pesukim that we read at Bikurim, that are the foundation of Magid in the Haggadah . We're telling the story of Yaakov going down to Mitzrayim and the next two words that we're going to discuss are ויגר שם Vayagor Sham / And they sojourned there. The Baal Haggadah explains that Yaakov Avinu's intention was not to become entrenched in the land, just to be there temporarily. He proves it from a Pasuk in Bereshit where the brothers tell Paroah, "Lagur ba'aretz banu/We came just to be sojourners ." (The Haggadah quotes from Parashat Ki Tavo in Devarim , which is a short synopsis of the events that occurred in Bereshit, which we refer back to) Ki ein mir'eh la'tzon asher la'avadecha/ We have no grazing area for our sheep. We're shepherds. We have no grazing area. And we're here temporarily. There's a very important lesson hiding in this little story about them not having a grazing area for their sheep. We know that the Egyptians worshipped sheep, and they did not like the shepherds who, so to say, did not necessarily treat sheep with the same respect that they did. Their sheep were not sheared or used as a commodity the way the Jewish people did. Yaakov and his family, going back to his time in Lavan's house, benefitted from and used sheep for their own purses. This was not the way the Egyptians worshipped them. So in truth, they were coming down to Egypt with a profession that would cause them to be distanced from the Egyptians. So we can see two areas where Hashem was preparing the road for them, decades in advance. Avraham was a shepherd, Yitzchak was a shepherd, Yaakov was a shepherd. They were all shepherds. The great Tzadikim are all called shepherds. David was a shepherd... Rabbeinu Bachya on this pasuk, and many others, explain that this is because a shepherd has time to think and meditate and contemplate, and that was a way to connect to Hashem, in a profession that allows for it. That is why they chose that profession. That's the simple, natural explanation. But now, as Hashem is always preparing the future, there are another two great benefits. Benefit number one is, when you're dealing with sheep on a day-to-day basis, cleaning them, and getting down and dirty, so to say, with them, you lose your respect for them, so there's no way you're going to treat them as a god. You know what they are. You're not going to worship them. So benefit number two is that the Egyptians would distance themselves from us. They were forced to separate from the Egyptians because they were not in the business that the Mitzrim appreciated. Look how Hashem was preparing from generations before, to put us in a situation that was right for us. When they came to Egypt, they might have said, " Oh my gosh, this is the worst possible profession! No one, no one likes this profession here." But in hindsight it was actually a protection. It might have caused us to be distanced, and that might be why we moved to the ghetto of Goshen and did not mix with everybody else. But that's what was necessary, and that's what was good for us.

Welcome to Daily Bitachon . We continue with Bitachon lessons from the Haggadah shel Pesach . The next phrase is וַֽיְהִי־שָׁ֕ם לְג֥וֹי גָּד֖וֹל Vayehi sham l'goy /they were there for a nation ( or some texts have) l'goy gadol / to a great nation. Melamed / This teaches us she'hayu Yisrael Metzuyanim sham/The Jewish people were outstanding there. Metzuyan means different. On a test sometimes you get the mark of Metzuyan . Metzuyan doesn't mean excellent , it means outstanding . Different . It could be outstandingly good or outstandingly bad. So the Jewish people were outstanding . We see this either from the word Goy , that they were a nation , which means that they had their own culture and their own ways, or the words Goy Gadol . On the words, Shnei meorot hagdolim / The two great luminaries . Maor hagadol , Maor hakaton/the large and the small. The sun is called large and the moon is called small because the sun is Gadol . Gadol means a source of light. And the moon, the Katan , is a receiver . So an Adam Gadol , as Rav Wolbe quotes from Rav Yerucham Levovitz, is someone that's able to give to Ketanim , to people that are smaller. The Jewish people are going to be a Goy Gadol . They're not influenced by the outside, they're their own source of their way of life, an independent source, not influenced by the outside world. The opposite is va'yitarvu bagoyim v'yilmdu ma'aseihem / They mixed with the other nations and learned from their ways. But Goy or a Goy Gadol means, No, we're not mixing, we're not being influenced. This is a phenomena. In Bereishit 46:3, Hashem tells Yaakov , וַיֹּ֕אמֶר אָנֹכִ֥י הָאֵ֖ל אֱלֹהֵ֣י אָבִ֑יךָ אַל־תִּירָא֙ מֵרְדָ֣ה מִצְרַ֔יְמָה כִּֽי־לְג֥וֹי גָּד֖וֹל אֲשִֽׂימְךָ֥ שָֽׁם׃ I am Hashem the God of your fathers. Don't be afraid to go down to Mitzr ayim . Ki l'goy gadol asimcha sham/For I will make you a Goy Gadol there. When you say someone's not supposed to be afraid, that means he was afraid. He was afraid. How in the world are my children going to down there to Mitzrayim? How in the world? And Hashem said, 'Don't worry. There is where they're going to become the Goy Gadol". Somehow, in the most contaminated nations, they're going to develop their status of a Goy and a Goy Gadol at that. This history repeats itself. One of the main themes of these pesukim is that it's not just about them. We're still in Galut Mitzrayim , we're still waiting for the ultimate Geulah . A famous story is told that Rav Chaim Volozhin was once praying Shacharit , and he burst out crying bitterly, but he did explain why. One of his closest students, Rav David Tevel , the author of Nachlat David , pressed him and said, " What happened? Why were you crying so bitterly during these prayers?" Rav Chaim said, " We're currently in Europe, but the time will come (this was about 150 years before the Holocaust) when European Jewry will be uprooted and will go into another exile. We have 10 exiles. From Bavel to North Africa, to Egypt, to Italy, to Spain, to France, to Germany, to Poland, to Lithuania." "And the final exile, " he said, "is the exile of America. It's going to be a very difficult exile. Who knows how we will survive that exile? "And that's what he was crying for- the last stop. Just like Yaakov Avinu was nervous, Rav Chaim Volozhin , who saw the future, was nervous as well. What's going to be? And just like Yaakov Avinu would have been surprised when he saw the Jewish people coming out, Yotzim b'yad rama / A nation on such a high level, that such a tremendous revelation, that came out specifically from that land of contamination, Rav Chaim Volozhin, when Mashiach comes, will look and say, Wow, look what America looks like. Look at the amount of Yeshivot, look at the amount of Kollelim, look at the amount of Bais Yaakov, Look what's going on! How many Sefarim were written in America? What a overturn! After the Holocaust , Rav Mottel Katz went into a bookstore on Lower East Side looking for a Ketzot Hachoshen , a book that is learned in Yeshivot. The proprietor said, " Let me look, I think I have one left." The store owner found the book, blew off the dust, gave it to him and said, " Be careful with this book, because this is the last Ketzot Hachoshen in America. " Rav Mottel Katz told him, " More Ketzot Hachoshens will be printed or used in America than have been printed since the Ketzos Hachoshen came out." And he was right. That's the unbelievable concept of Vayehi sham l'goy / Vayehi sham l'goy gadol . There, in Mitzrayim , we will turn into a nation that's Metzuyanim / outstanding . That's what we see today. B'ezrat Hashem , there is nothing better to strengthen our Bitachon than to watch these prophecies come true.

Welcome to Daily Bitachon . We continue with the next unit in the Haggadah . במתי מעת Bimtei Me'at/In a little bit of Meteh What does Meteh mean? One year we were doing the Haggadah shel Pesach and I asked, what is Meteh ? No one around the table knew. The truth is, I didn't know either. So we stopped right there and opened up a Chumash . Rashi said bimtei me'at bishivim nefesh , with 70 souls. But that doesn't translate what metei me'at means. So we looked at the Targum , our next choice after Rashi , and it said be'am ze'ir , a small nation. So metei is being defined as nation . The Metzudot David in Shoftim 20:48 says, metim- hu shem le'enoshut / Metim means humanity , or people like anshei . The Ibn Ezra says the word Meteh , anytime you have a tzere yud , it means the "plural of". For example, שער Shaar is a gate. שערי Shaare is the gates of . It's a plural possessive. So the word Meteh means a small amount of many people. That's a little strange term. Furthermore, the Ibn Ezra says the word מת never shows up in singular form. He sends us back to Devarim 2,34 where it says we overtook the nations of Sichon and it says we took over the whole city, metim . Which means anashim , but again, in plural. So it's a term for humanity in the plural sense. So a small amount of humanity. That's a strange term. The Jewish people went down in a small amount of humanity, and as Rashi says bishivim nefesh, they went down with 70 souls. Rav Dessler, in volume 3 page 211 explains that certain numbers are significant. The number 70 has a significance. There are 70 nations in the world, broken down into 35 nations under Esav , which we'll call Western civilization , and 35 nations under Yishmael , which we call that the Arab world. Those are the 70 nations. It's not a coincidene. The number seven is a completion, like the seven days of the week. And 10 is also a full gamut. So 70 is a completeness. 70 years is a full life. So the number 70 is not a coincidental number. When the Jewish people, hit the number 70, they were a metim . They were a small humanity, a small nation . Those 70 people had inside of them the 70 forces that corresponded to all the 70 nations. This shows us that Hashem is setting us up for greatness and every detail is measured. It says in Bereishit 46:27, kol hanefesh le'beit Yaakov haba'ah Mitzrayimah shivim / All the souls that came down were 70. The commentaries point out from the Midrash Rabbah 94:9 that if you count, there weren't actually 70. Some say Yocheved was born as they were coming in (She was the mother of Moshe Rabbenu, and God was sending the refuah before the Makkah ), others say it was Serach bat Asher . Still others say it was Hakadosh Baruch Hu who ended up being the 70th one. In Ha'azinu 32:8, it says be'anchel Elyon goyim / when Hashem started to give the inheritance to the nations, be'hafrido bnei Adam, when he separated them by the Dor Haflagah into 70 nations ( that's when the 70 nations happened). It says there lemispar Bnei Yisrael . The 70 nations corresponded to the 70 Jews that went down to Mitzrayim . So God was working out 70 corresponding to the 70. Rabbeinu Bachya on that pasuk lemispar Bnei Yisrael adds that the 12 tribes correspond to the 12 months and the 12 mazalot . We're above the stars, and we're above the mazal . Getting back to our Haggadah and Bimtei me'at , we're thanking Hashem that we came into Mitzrayim not just as 39 people, or 28 people, or a random 83 people. No. It was a bimtei me'at . It was small, but it was a force of humanity of 70 . As we say, bishivim nefesh yardu avotecha Mitzrayimah / 70 souls went down . And it says Ve'ata hena samcha Hashem Elokecha ke'kochvei hashamayim larov / We're like the stars in number- referring to when they got into the desert- there were 600,000 people. So we went from 70 to 600,000! And the number 600,000 is also not a random number. The Gemara in Masechet Berachot 58a says that when you see 600,000 people, there's a special bracha called Baruch Chacham Harazim . Blessed is God, Who has the wisdom of the secrets that He knows all the secrets of these 600,000 people . That means 600,000 includes all the personality types that exist in the world. Although we can have more than 600,000, those are offshoots of the basic 600,000 personalities and types of people that exist in the world. All of the energies of humanity are in 600,000. So we went from the 3 Avot ,which correspond to the three main traits the world stands on, to 70 children of Yaakov that correspond to the 70 nations, which includes all of the United Nations- every possible country type, German, France, every country type is rooted in the Jewish people. And then we go on to the 600,000 personalities. So the Jewish people are perfectly worked in to the entire makeup of the world. This is all part of the hashgacha of Hashem Every person makes a difference. The Gemara in Masechet Bava Kamma discusses one reason one should never have a dog. It says imagine if there were 600,000 people standing ready for the Shechinah to come down, and one dog barks and causes a miscarriage. Now the Shechinah won't come down in that way that it comes down only on 600,000 people. Every individual adds something. That's the uniqueness and the perfect planning that Hakadosh Baruch Hu is doing as He brings the Jewish people down into Egypt and eventually takes them out of Egypt and continues to watch each and every one of us.

Welcome to Daily Bitachon. We continue our lessons with the four Pesukim that we read at Bikurim , which is also format of our Hagadah Shel Pesach story. The next two words are VaYered Mitzraimah / And he ( Yaakov Avinu) went down to Mitzrayim . Says the Baal Hagadah , ' Annus al pi hadibur/He was forced based on the word of God.' Anoos or Onness means forced . The Yalkut Shimoni on Bereshit chapter 39, letter 145, says on the pasuk "VaYosef hurad/Yosef was brought down , or, he brought down others, that Horid Avinu Yaakov / Yosef caused Yaakov to come down. A mashal is given- of a cow that did not want to go where it was supposed to go. What did they do? They put its calf in front of it and it followed, against its will. So too, Yaakov Avinu was supposed to go down to Egypt in chains of steel. Imagine Yaakov Avinu in steel chains! But Hashem said, Bni Bechori hu ? Yaakov is my firstborn son, V'ani morido b'bizayon / Am I going to take him down in disgrace? No. His son would go down first, and he would follow. This is an important concept. Hashem made a gezera and it had to happen. Hashem makes it happen. However, he was originally supposed to go down as a slave, but Hashem was able to change the gezera and make it happen in the best possible way. In Shmuel א , Perek יב , Pasuk ו – ח Shmuel HaNavi describes to the people their history, in short. It says there, " Listen my nation, to what Hashem did to Moshe and Aharon who took you out of Mitzrayim. And let me tell you ," he says, " all the good things that He did with you and your forefathers: Ka'asher ba Yaakov Mitzrayim / When Yaakov came to Mitzrayim, and your fathers cried out, Hashem sent Moshe and Aharon, and they and they came." The Chida , in his sefer Chomat Anach on that pasuk in Shmuel asks, What does it mean Ka'asher ba Yaakov/When Yaakov came ? He says, this is a hint to us. Ba means he came on his own. He was really supposed to go down in steel chains, but Shmuel is hinting to the fact that he came on his own. And he says that the four words, K a'asher B a Y aakov M itzrayim , כ אשר ב א י עקוב מ צרים have the Rashei Teivot of מכבי Makabi which stands for Mi Kamocha Ba'elim Hashem / Who is like You among the strong ones ? God was able to undo the Gezera in the Zechut of Yaakov, and he went down through Yosef. This is an important lesson in Hashgacha Pratit . Hashem will make things happen. How? With tremendous intermediary causes. The sefer Tzror HaMor on Bereshit 41:1 tells us in the pasuk, U'Paroh cholem / And Paroah had a dream , as well as " Vayehi miketz shnatayim yamim, U'Paroah ," that it should have said Paroh cholem / Paroah dreamed . Why does it say, And Paroah dreamed? He says it goes back to another dream. The Vav / and is mosif / adding on . What's it adding on to? It's adding on to the dreams of Yosef . Yosef had two dreams, both with the same theme, and Paroah also had two dreams with the same theme. He says this was all in order to fulfill the word of God that: Ki ger yihyeh zar'acha b'eretz lo lahem / For Your children will be sojourners in a land that's not theirs. As the Gemara in Shabbat 89b says, Yaakov should have gone down with steel chains, but Hashem brought it about that he went down b'kavod gadol/ great honor. This was all in order to fulfill the ma'amar or the dibbur . So Annus al pi hadibur / Yaakov was forced down . How? With respect, with kavod . But at the end of the day, he was forced . Everyone is forced. Sometimes we are forced in limousines , but we're all forced , because everything that happens is there to fulfill a gezera . You can be forced in a respected way, or chas v'shalom , forced in a disrespectful way. Yaakov Avinu came down through dreams, through famine, but he came b'kavod gadol. But ultimately, Vayered Mitzrayim a. He didn't go because he decided to go. He went because he had no choice. Hashem set it up that he had to go. This is an important lesson called Anoos al pi hadibur . Everything that we do happens because of Hashem . Of course, we have freedom of choice. We make our choices, but at the end of the day, Hashem is going to make it happen. To illustrate can look to Yosef- He was out looking for his brothers but couldn't find them, so he was ready to go back home. Then he saw a man on the road. Who was that man on the road? Rashi tells us, it was the angel Gavriel . Yosef was lost. He never would have found his brothers. He was going back home. But Hashem needed to get Yaakov down to Mitzrayim so He sent down an angel tour guide , so to speak, to send him where he had to go. And Paroah had dreams. Why? Well, how could we get Paroah to meet Yosef? No problem. We'll have a fly land in the cup, the Sar Hamashkim will have to go to jail and meet Yosef, and eventually Yosef will interpret the dreams. All of this falls under this rule of Anoos al pi hadibur . It's fascinating how HaKadosh Baruch Hu makes things happen in so many steps!

Welcome to Daily Bitachon . We are now up to the section of the Hagadah which talks about the story in short, with four Pesukim excerpted from Devarim 26 ,5 and on , in the context of Bikkurim which is relevant for us now, as Shavuot is the time that we bring Bikkurim . As we march from Pesach to Shavuot, we are in a time of Hakarat HaTov and appreciation. The outcome of Yetziat Mitzrayim is supposed to be Hakarat HaTov , gratitude and appreciation for God. That is why these four Pesukim , which we base our Hagadah on, were said with the baskets of fruit in hand overflowing, thanking God. The first pasuk they said was: אֲרַמִּי֙ אֹבֵ֣ד אָבִ֔י וַיֵּ֣רֶד מִצְרַ֔יְמָה Arami oved avi vayered Mitzraima . ( A man called) Lavan HaArami tried to destroy ( or destroyed) my father… Rashi says that God considered what Lavan wanted to do as if he did it. But before we proceed with the rest of the pesukim , we have to stop and ask: Why are we mentioning Lavan here? And what does this have to do with the basket of fruit? If you want to tell me we went to Mitzrayim and now we got the land, I got it. Vayevienu el hamakom hazeh , it says and He brought us to this place after the four Pesukim , we're saying God brought us here . But that was 250 years after we entered the land and way after the story of Lavan and Yaakov. The answer is, as Yaakov and Lavan were going through this story, it was not very clear what was going on. It started with Lavan swindling Yaakov , and making him work twice as long as he needed, not seven but 14 years. But if not for that swindling, he would have just walked out with Rachel. No Leah, no Bilhah or Zilpah. Who knows how many children would not have been born? Rachel gave him only two children. With the four wives he ended up with 12. Additionally, Yaakov Avinu also walked in as a man with no money, but he walked out a very wealthy man. And let's go into the story of Egypt: We grew even more due to the oppression. We left with tremendous wealth, became purified and refined, and were ready to receive the Torah . But, it only became clear after the story was over. You can't understand a book if you only read the middle chapter. One of my favorite mashals told by the Chafetz Chaim is that of a man who visited a town for the weekend. He was a Gabbai (or Misader) in his hometown shul, and gave out the Aliyot and the other honors in the shul , like who gets to open the Heichal, who gets the first Aliyah , who gets Shlishi or Shishi (which is important depending on what your customs are.) who gets Maftir and so on. So there he was in the new shul, looking around, imagining that he was back home, deciding whom he would give each Aliyah to. 'Oh, that guy looks important, I'd give him this. That guy I think looks I'd give him that….' But in the end, nothing went the way he thought it should go. A fellow that looked like he couldn't read even got the Maftir ! He couldn't understand what was going on. He approached the man in charge and asked, " Could you please explain what's going on here? I run the shul back in my hometown, and I wouldn't have done it this way." The man in charge responded, " How long have you been here?" The guest answered, " I'm here for the weekend." The gabbai then said, " Well, if you've only been here for the weekend, you can't really question what I'm doing. You weren't here last week; you don't know what's going to happen next week. The fellow that got Maftir, who looked like he couldn't read, has his father's Yahrzeit this week. The fellow that you think should have gotten an Aliyah got one last week, and the other one is getting it next week. You can't comment when you're only here for a weekend!" So too, says the Chafetz Chaim , in life, we're only here for a short period of time. We don't see the whole story, and therefore we can't question. God wanted to teach us an important, short history lesson. He knew we were going to enter into future exiles. He wanted us to read this lesson and apply it to life in general. That's why the real message of the night of the Seder is Matchil bignut umesayem beshevach . Start with the negative and end with the positive. Rabbenu Manoac h , one of the Rishonim , in his commentary on the Rambam on the laws of Chametz U'Matzah , chapter seven, Halacha 6 , says something fascinating: With this remembering, Tihiyeh yirat Hashem al panav tamid / The fear of God will be on his face continuousl y, When he sees Hashem's supervision, And you'll never forget about Hashem . With this story of Yetziat Mitzrayim, you will see Hashem is watching you. You'll be on His mind and He'll be on your mind. And even if its times are very difficult, Yiftach b'Hashem, he'll still rely on God, Mikveh Yisrael, the One the Jewish people hope to, Moshio b'eit tzara, the One that saves us in time of difficulty . And just like the difficulty of the exile of Mitzrayim, Hayta sibah l'heitiv lahem b'achritam/Was a cause to end up doing better for them in the end, Ken kol tzarot hagalut hazeh / So too with all of these difficulties in our exile, hem sibah l'Yisrael / They will be a cause for the Jewish people, l'hoshi'am t'shuat olamim, an everlasting saving- Which is the rule we call Ma'aseh Avot Siman L'banim . The actions of the father are a sign for the future. That's our opening lesson for Maggid, the story of the Hagadah shel Pesach . And as we said, it's not just for the night of Pesach , it's every day of our lives. We have to remember Yetziat Mitzrayim . This is one of the underlying messages of Yetziat Mitzrayim , says Rabbeinu Manoach , is that it ain't over 'til it's over.