Daily Emunah Podcast - Daily Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear

One of the most difficult tests a person can face is waiting for a yeshuah that seems to be taking forever. At first, the person is full of enthusiasm. He prays with all of his heart. He takes on extra mitzvot. He strengthens himself in many areas of avodat Hashem. He believes the salvation is going to come at any moment. But as the days turn into months and the months turn into years, it becomes much harder to continue. The tefillot begin to feel repetitive. The new commitments become harder to maintain. The person starts wondering if anything is ever going to change. If he knew exactly when the salvation was going to come, he would be able to manage much more easily, even if it were still a long way off. It is the uncertainty that makes the challenge so difficult. The feeling that perhaps it may never happen can be overwhelming. Yet that is precisely why this person has such a golden opportunity to achieve greatness. The harder it is to continue, the greater the value of the avodah. We are in this world to grow spiritually. In the end, that is the only thing that will truly matter. When a person feels like he is being ignored and his avodah is not being appreciated, every effort becomes infinitely more valuable. We have no idea what goes on in people's lives. We have no idea what struggles they face each day. Only Hashem knows. It is entirely possible that people who appear to be ordinary are, in fact, among the greatest people of the generation because of what they have to overcome in order to produce a heartfelt tefillah, because of what they have to overcome in order to continue growing in their avodat Hashem. They have every reason to turn away, yet they keep pushing themselves forward. That is true greatness. And that greatness is eternal. If a person could see how much he was growing spiritually from one moment to the next, he would run to continue. But in this world, we are not shown the true value of our efforts. And that is exactly what makes them so precious. Sometimes, however, Hashem gives a person a little chizuk to help him keep going, even before the yeshuah arrives. A woman related that all of her friends were married with children, while she had been hoping and praying for years to become a kallah. Over the years, she had taken on many kabbalot. One of her more recent commitments was to read a sefer on emunah every day for forty consecutive days. The book was not specifically about shidduchim. It was simply a source of general chizuk and emunah. Last week, she found herself praying especially hard. She added new areas of growth in her avodat Hashem and invested tremendous effort into her tefillot. Yet nothing seemed to be changing. She became discouraged. One morning, she cried to Hashem from the depths of her heart, longing for the day when she would finally begin building her own family. She told Hashem that she had continued going forward all these years. She had maintained her kabbalot and kept striving to grow. She was not asking for proof that the yeshuah was coming. She only wanted a little chizuk to know that Hashem appreciated her efforts. That night, she opened the emunah book that she had been learning daily. She intended to open directly to the page where her bookmark was located, but accidentally opened to a different page. There, right in front of her, in large letters, was the title of the chapter: "Singles—Don't Give Up." She could hardly believe her eyes. She felt as if Hashem was speaking directly to her. The message gave her tremendous strength. It renewed her enthusiasm and helped her continue moving forward with renewed energy. The truth is that Hashem appreciates every person's efforts far more than we can imagine. Every moment of avodah is precious to Him. Every tefillah. Every act of growth. Every commitment that is maintained despite the difficulty. Especially when it is hard. We hope that everyone receives the yeshuah for which they are waiting. But in the meantime, they should know that the greatest gain they can possibly achieve is the avodah they continue to do each day.

The Gemara says that if a person takes the wrong change out of his pocket, it's from Hashem. If a person stubs his toe, it's from Hashem. All the more so if something more severe happens. The Shomer Emunim writes in his Ma'mar Hashkacha Pratit perek 21 that a person must know, in Shamayim , Hashem is waiting to hear every word that comes out of his mouth in response to the difficulty that he is given. Every word of emunah is valued greatly and accomplishes so much. And thus, a person should train himself to regularly respond with the proper words, even for the most insignificant inconveniences, all the more so for the difficult ones. He should immediately say, “I recognize that this came from you, Hashem, I know I needed it for my best, please let it accomplish the kapara that I need.” The Shomer Emunim writes further, someone who forgets things often and it causes him a lot of anguish must believe that he doesn't forget because of a weakness that he has. Rather, Hashem sends the angel appointed over forgetfulness, each time, to make him forget. And the anguish that it causes is meant to bring him the kapara that he needs. If someone forgot about a meeting he had or forgot to say something that he wanted to say at a meeting, it's because Hashem wanted him to forget it. If someone traveled a long distance and forgot to bring an important document, it was min haShamayim . If someone forgot directions and made a wrong turn, it's min haShamayim . If someone's mind was preoccupied with a different issue and that caused him to forget something, he must know, when Hashem decreed that the issue should take place, included in it was the fact that it would cause the person to forget also. Nothing happens by accident. Hashem decrees how many times a person forgets and what he forgets. And every day there's a new calculation. What happened yesterday has nothing to do with today. Every day of life is judged separately. If a person recognizes each time that he forgets that it's from Hashem and he asks Hashem that it should be the kapara that he needs, then after years and years he will have accumulated endless amounts of kapara . The kapara that he gets will make it that he doesn't need to forget as much. If a person was looking for a certain house and accidentally knocked on the wrong door, he must believe that it was Hashem who brought that about. On one occasion, the Baal Shem Tov accidentally walked into a different room in his house than he planned on going to. He then told his attendant to take down the mezuzah in that room to be checked. The attendant then asked the Rebbe, “Is this the halachah, that if a person walks into the wrong room by accident, he needs to check the mezuzah there?” The Rebbe said no, but he knew for sure that Hashem caused him to go in that room and he thought perhaps it was because he needed to check the mezuzah . The immediate reaction of the Baal Shem Tov to his accidental turn was that it came from Hashem for a reason. The Shomer Emunim told a story that a great tzaddik from an earlier generation related. There was a man who had a very hard life and when he went up to Shamayim for his judgment they found that he had an enormous amount of sin. Then, when a heavenly advocate said to bring out his afflictions to be put on the side of good, it was found that he never attributed any of his afflictions to Hashem. He always felt that it was just his bad luck. In Shamayim they said, if he would have attributed everything to Hashem and said that it was justified in coming, then it would have accomplished what it needed to accomplish and the yisurim would have wiped away all of his sins and allowed him entry to enjoy the delights of Gan Eden . It's never too late for a person to make teshuva . So long as he has life he can correct everything he ever did. A person can say right now, “I'm sorry Hashem for not attributing my difficulties to You. I'm sorry that I did not accept them with love, understanding that I needed them for my best.” With one wholehearted acceptance a person can correct years of the opposite response. Let us accept upon ourselves to respond constantly with emunah and thereby gain the full value of everything that happens to us.

At the end of this week's parasha Naso , the Torah goes into great detail regarding the donations that the Nasi'im brought to inaugurate the Mishkan . And as we know, each Nasi brought the exact same donation and the Torah repeated each one of them, twelve times, one for each Nasi . Many mefarshim offer explanations as to why the Torah has all this repetition. The sefer Darkeh Musar brings from the Saba m'Kelm who explained, the Torah is teaching us here how Hashem relates to the individual. One should not think if a large group gets together to do a mitzvah that Hashem views it as if that group, so to speak, all got a check for their actions. The parasha of the Nasi'im teaches us, Hashem is happy with each individual separately. Although they all brought the same donations and collectively comprised a group of twelve, Hashem took delight in each one of them independently. Each one of them brought Hashem a different type of joy, depending on the person's background and what each of them had accomplished and experienced in their lives prior to this point. Everyone is always treated as if he is the only one in the world. And this does not only apply when a group of people get together to do a mitzvah. This is always the way it is. When something happens to a group of people, Hashem doesn't deal with them as a group, but rather every single person, with his own hashgacha . Whatever happens to him was decided solely based on what was supposed to happen to him. And the way a person reacts when things happen to him will show how much he really believes in Hashem's hashgacha . The Shomer Emunim writes, if we would know how valuable it is to honestly believe that every single thing that takes place in our lives comes directly from Hashem, our hearts would ignite with endless excitement. Furthermore, the pasuk says, ה' צילך – that Hashem is our shadow. And the Baal Shem Tov explained this to mean that Hashem acts towards us corresponding to the way we act towards Him. If a person says each time that something happens that it was from Hashem, then Hashem will deal with him with extra hashgacha pratit . He will be able to feel Hashem's presence more and he will get more Heavenly help. The pasuk says in Tehillim , ה' משמים השקיף על בני-אדם לראות היש משכיל דורש את אלוקים – Hashem is watching to see who is wise enough to seek Him out. The word אלוקים represents טבע which is nature. And as we know, הטבע is the same numerical value as אלוקים . So the pasuk is saying, Hashem is watching to see who will find Him inside of nature, who will attribute what seems to be natural occurrences, to Him. For this, a person must train himself until instinctively, he is able to say about everything, "That was m'et Hashem." When someone becomes a person who is fully ma'amin in Hashem's constant hashgacha , he will never get angry, he will never have animosity towards anyone, he will save himself from countless averot and he will get a mitzvah aseh each time he believes in Hashem's hashgacha , based on the pasuk, אנכי ה' אלוקיך אשר הוצאתיך מארץ מצרים. The Shomer Emunim gives the following words of chizuk to help strengthen us in this area. He writes, fortunate is the person who is constantly strengthening himself in the area of emunah called hashgacha pratit , because the reward for it in this world is that Hashem will show the person ניסים ונפלאות – miracles and wonders. And therefore, our job as religious Jews is to look at every single thing that takes place in our lives, whether it is obvious good or whether it seems to look bad, and attribute it to Hashem and know that it is absolute good and praise and thank Him for it. We constantly needed to be reminded about this great avodah . May Hashem help us to always see His hand in everything that takes place. Shabbat Shalom.

The pasuk says in Tehillim, בְּךָ בָטְחוּ וְלֹא בוֹשׁוּ — "They trusted in You and were not ashamed." Simply understood, this means that our ancestors would speak about the greatness of Hashem and about His ability to save them in every situation. Then, when they needed salvation, they placed their trust in Him and He came through for them. They were never embarrassed for having trusted in Hashem. But what happens if a person truly believes in the power of Hashem, speaks about it openly, strengthens himself with bitachon, and yet does not receive the salvation he hoped for? Does that mean he was "ashamed" because of his bitachon? Rabbi David Sutton explained this pasuk with a powerful story that took place in Eretz Yisrael. A young child, only three years old, was diagnosed with a terrible illness. The doctors treated him, and for a while the child went into remission. But eventually the illness returned, and when the boy was five years old it became extremely aggressive. The doctors finally told the mother that, unfortunately, there was no longer any hope of saving the child. The mother answered firmly, "As religious Jews, we never say there is no hope. Hashem can do anything. I believe my son can still be healed." From that point on, she spent her days in the hospital saying Tehillim and strengthening herself with emunah and bitachon. The secular doctors repeatedly told her not to waste her time. "There is zero percent chance of survival," they insisted. But every day she sat there with Tehillim in her hands, believing that Hashem could still perform a miracle. Eventually, however, the child's condition deteriorated further and it became clear that the end was near. The mother even purchased a burial plot and began making arrangements for what seemed inevitable. But there was one thing that deeply troubled her, and she called her Rebbetzin to discuss it. "I had so much emunah," she cried. "When the doctors told me there was no hope, it did not shake me. I believed completely that Hashem could save my son. But now, when my son passes away, the doctors are going to say, 'You see? We told you so. Your hope was unrealistic.' I can accept that Hashem wants my son back, but I do not want to be ashamed because of my bitachon in Him." The Rebbetzin answered her with tremendous wisdom. "Every moment that you hoped to Hashem for salvation was a mitzvah," she said. "Believing in Hashem's ability to help is a great mitzvah, and you fulfilled it on the highest level. Now you have another mitzvah — to accept the will of Hashem with emunah. If you continue doing what Hashem wants from you, you will never be ashamed from it." These words gave the mother tremendous strength. The next day, the child passed away. The doctors were certain this woman would collapse emotionally after everything she had gone through. They brought in professionals who deal with trauma and psychologists who treat severe depression. But when they spoke to her, they were astonished. She was calm, composed, and spiritually strong. She did not appear broken in the way they expected. The doctors asked her, "How are you so strong after such a painful disappointment?" She answered, "Until now, I had a mitzvah to hope to Hashem, and I tried to do that with all my strength. Now I have a mitzvah to accept the will of Hashem, and I will try to do that with all my strength as well." The doctors were overwhelmed by her words. They began crying from the strength and sincerity of her emunah. Later, the mother said, "My Rebbetzin was right. I was not ashamed because of my bitachon. On the contrary, my bitachon brought even more honor to Hashem." This is the meaning of בְּךָ בָטְחוּ וְלֹא בוֹשׁוּ . A person who places his trust in Hashem is never truly ashamed. Sometimes the salvation comes exactly as he hoped. Sometimes Hashem's plan is different. But if a person does what Hashem wants from him at every stage — first hoping, praying, and believing, and afterward accepting Hashem's will with love — then nothing negative ever comes from his bitachon. Instead, it always brings honor to Hashem's Name.

Many times in life a person forgets something important, overlooks something, or fails to notice a detail that later seems obvious. Naturally, he starts second-guessing himself. "How could I not remember that? Why didn't I realize it earlier? If only I would have thought of that sooner." But a person with emunah understands that if Hashem wanted him to know something earlier, He had endless ways of making that happen. Nothing is dependent solely on our memory or awareness. If Hashem wants a person to discover something, He can orchestrate countless events to bring that information to light at exactly the right moment. Rabbi Yoel from the UK related a story that illustrates this beautifully. One winter, Rabbi Yoel was going through a difficult time financially. Someone owed him money, but the man told him he would only be able to pay him back the following Tuesday. Rabbi Yoel needed the money immediately, so he called a young avreich, Yitzchak, his good friend, and asked if he could borrow five hundred pounds until Tuesday. Yitzchak gladly agreed. When Tuesday came around, the person who owed Rabbi Yoel the money paid him back, but only with a check instead of cash. There was a problem. In the UK, the banks had a rule that limited how much cash could be withdrawn at one time, and Rabbi Yoel was only able to take out three hundred pounds. He called Yitzchak and explained the situation. "I have your money," he said, "but I could only withdraw three hundred pounds today. Do you need me to borrow another two hundred pounds from someone else so I can pay you back right now, or can it wait until tomorrow?" Yitzchak understood the situation and told him, "No problem, you can wait until tomorrow." A few minutes later, however, Yitzchak called him back. "I was thinking," he said, "maybe you could just give me a check for the full amount." "Fine," Rabbi Yoel answered. Then Yitzchak added, "This way I can use it to buy a menorah now." "A menorah?" Rabbi Yoel asked. "What happened to the silver one you received at your wedding?" Yitzchak explained that ever since he moved apartments, all of his silver Judaica had disappeared. The menorah, the kiddush cups, the candlesticks—everything was gone. Suddenly Rabbi Yoel remembered something. He himself had helped move Yitzchak's belongings. At the time, he was nervous that the expensive silver might get damaged or stolen, so he carefully wrapped it up and hid it in a storage space in the apartment. Yitzchak never knew where it had been placed. "I know exactly where your silver is," Rabbi Yoel told him. Yitzchak could not believe it. Following Rabbi Yoel's directions, he climbed up to the hidden storage space, and there, to his amazement, was the entire collection exactly as it had been packed away years earlier. Everything was safe and shining beautifully. Hashem wanted Yitzchak to find his menorah, and He knew exactly how to make that happen. He arranged that Rabbi Yoel would specifically need to borrow money from him. He arranged that the repayment would come back in the form of a check instead of cash. He arranged the banking laws that forced another phone conversation. He arranged that Yitzchak would happen to mention that he needed a menorah. And through all of those perfectly coordinated details, the missing silver was discovered. When Hashem wants us to know something, He has countless ways of telling us. Someone recently told me that he spent a very long time writing important information on his computer. After finishing, he carefully saved the document. But later, when he tried opening the file, it was nowhere to be found. He searched and searched but could not find it. He was certain he remembered exactly what he named the file, but nothing came up under that name. Finally, after becoming frustrated, he spent hours rewriting the entire document from scratch. When he finished redoing all the work, he saved the file under what he thought was a brand-new name. Suddenly, both files appeared on the screen. He realized that the original file had been there all along under the exact name that he had just given the new file. Naturally, a person could feel bad. "Why didn't I think of that earlier?" But the lesson is not to second-guess ourselves. If Hashem wanted him to discover the original file earlier, He had countless ways of making that happen. The fact that it was only discovered later means that later was the exact right time for it to be found. A man once told me that something happened which completely ruined his day. Although he learns emunah and bitachon regularly, at the time he could not see any good in what had happened. He became gloomy and upset, and everyone around him felt it the entire day. A few days later, however, he suddenly realized that what had happened was actually the best possible thing that could have happened. Because of that event, everything else ended up turning out in the most favorable way possible. He told me afterward, "No matter how much emunah a person has, he always needs more chizuk in it." We do not understand why things happen the way they do, but we do know that Hashem is running the world and He is doing it perfectly. If He wants us to know something, He knows exactly how to accomplish that. And if something was hidden from us until later, then later was exactly the right time for it to be revealed. There is no reason to second-guess ourselves. If we accept and trust Hashem, we are performing a great avodah.

One of the great ploys of the Yetzer Hara is to make people forget how powerful tefillah really is. A person prays, but deep down he may already feel trapped by his situation. He says the words, but the fire and confidence are missing. Very often, the yeshuah is already prepared and waiting. The person simply needs to awaken within himself and truly believe in the power of speaking to Hashem. Sometimes Hashem sends a person a reminder — perhaps a memory, a story, or a moment of inspiration — to reignite his belief in tefillah so that he will finally cry out properly from the depths of his heart. In the sefer He'emanti Va'asapera, there is a story about Eliezer, a man whose housewares business was collapsing. Every evening he would lower the shutters on his store feeling crushed by stress and worry. Customers were disappearing, profits were shrinking, and it was becoming painfully clear that his business was nearing its end. One night, as he prepared to close the store, something suddenly stopped him. A memory came flooding back from forty years earlier. As a young man living in London, Eliezer had desperately wanted to learn in Eretz Yisrael, but his family did not have the means to send him. One night he saw his father crying while saying Tehillim. The next day his father explained that he had been begging Hashem to somehow help him pay for his son's expenses so he could go learn Torah in Eretz Yisrael. Then something unbelievable happened. The next morning, completely out of character, his father bought a scratch-off ticket and won exactly the amount they needed. Within days, Eliezer was on his way to yeshivah in Eretz Yisrael. Now, forty years later, sitting alone in his darkened store, Eliezer suddenly understood the message. His father's salvation had come through heartfelt tefillah, and now Hashem was reminding him of that lesson for himself. He realized that sighing was not going to help him. Worrying was not going to save his business. He needed to truly pray from the depths of his heart. He took out a Tehillim and began pouring out his heart to Hashem. It was not a quick tefillah. It was not distracted words, but rather real tefillah. He sat there for over an hour crying, pleading, and speaking honestly to Hashem. Then suddenly there was a knock at the door. A stranger stood outside insisting that he urgently needed to come in. Eliezer almost sent him away, upset that someone was interrupting such a powerful moment of tefillah. But the man pleaded with him to listen. He explained that he managed a brand-new hall that was about to open. He had been planning to meet wholesalers over the coming weeks to buy dishes and silverware, but suddenly he discovered that he urgently had to fly overseas. He needed to purchase everything immediately before leaving. Eliezer showed him the merchandise that he had in his store. The man quickly chose what he wanted and ordered seven hundred complete sets of dishes, cups, and silverware — the largest order Eliezer had ever received in his life. In that one visit, he received an entire year's worth of revenue. The profits from that deal saved his business. Then it all became clear. Why had this customer arrived specifically then? Why didn't he go to another store? Because every other store was closed. Eliezer was only there because he had stayed back to pray. The salvation had already been set into motion. The customer had already been sent. The order was already waiting to be made. But Eliezer needed the reminder from his father's story to awaken him to the power of tefillah so that he would cry out the right way for the yeshuah to reach him. Sometimes people become so busy worrying, calculating, panicking, and searching everywhere else that they forget the greatest power they possess — the ability to stand before מלך מלכי המלכים and pour out their hearts. The Yetzer Hara works overtime to weaken a person's belief in tefillah because once a person truly believes that Hashem is listening, his tefillah takes on an entirely new dimension and becomes an uplifting avodah. The greatest chizuk we can have is knowing that Hashem is here. He is listening. He is arranging. He is preparing. He is orchestrating every detail. Sometimes our salvation is already waiting, and all Hashem wants is for us to remember Who we are speaking to — and to speak the right way.

One of the difficult balances in life is knowing when enough hishtadlut has been done so that a person can place the matter fully into the hands of Hashem. On one hand, we are obligated to make hishtadlut in order to fulfill our needs. But on the other hand, if a person overdoes hishtadlut it is considered an infraction, reflecting an underlying belief that results are dependent upon human effort rather than solely upon Hashem. One of the greatest tests in life is believing that although we are the ones making the efforts, the results themselves have nothing to do with those efforts. Hashem alone decides the outcome. He merely requires enough hishtadlut for the result to appear natural within the normal way of the world. Sometimes Hashem specifically places a person into situations where he feels completely powerless so that he can discover this truth more clearly — that his help was always coming only from Hashem. Once a person has put in a reasonable effort, one of the greatest things he can do afterward is stop chasing people and begin speaking more to Hashem. Rabbi Betzalel Bloy from Bnei Brak related that after investing enormous effort writing, organizing, and preparing the shiurim of his Rabbi for publication, he finally reached the last stage before printing the sefer. Everything was ready. He felt strongly that the sefer would bring tremendous chizuk to many people. There was only one thing missing: Money. He needed thousands of dollars to print the sefer and had no idea where the funds would come from. He worked very hard collecting small donations from various places, but after all the effort, he still managed to gather only one-third of the amount he needed. People advised him to approach a certain wealthy individual who might be interested in supporting the project. Rabbi Bloy gathered his courage and went to speak with him. He explained the greatness of the sefer, the importance of its message, and how many people could potentially benefit from it. The wealthy man listened carefully and then replied: "Go to another wealthy man at this address. Whatever amount he gives you, I will contribute half of it." Rabbi Bloy left the meeting feeling crushed and embarrassed. He did not know whether the man genuinely intended to help or was simply trying to avoid responsibility. More than anything, the entire experience was emotionally painful. The thought of now having to approach another wealthy individual filled him with dread. But he desperately wanted to publish the sefer. Unsure what to do next, he went to ask his father for advice. His father then gave him one sentence that completely changed his perspective. "Don't do anything else," he said. "Just talk to Hashem." His father understood that Rabbi Bloy had already done what was reasonable. Continuing further would only push him emotionally beyond his limits. Hearing those words brought Rabbi Bloy tremendous relief. He now felt permitted to stop chasing people and simply turn to Hashem. That night he poured out his heart in tefillah. The next morning, he did the same during Shacharit. Then, that very afternoon, the second wealthy man suddenly called him. "The first donor told me about your sefer," he said. "We decided that I will cover two-thirds of the remaining amount, and he will cover the other third. We are very happy to participate in your project." Within a short amount of time, the money was paid and the sefer went to print. Rabbi Bloy later reflected that his father's words taught him the true perspective on hishtadlut. A person must make an effort. But once he has done what is reasonable, Hashem does not require more than that. Hashem loves when we ask Him directly for our needs — and for that, we never have to feel embarrassed. The more we recognize Who the true Provider is, the more blessing Hashem places into our hishtadlut.

The Mishnah in Pirkei Avot tells us to be very careful in the performance of even the smallest mitzvot because we do not know the true reward of any mitzvah. The Shem MiShmuel explains that when it comes to reward, Hashem does not only consider the actual deed itself. He also takes into account all of the ripple effects that result from that mitzvah. A person may do something that seems very small, but the effects of that deed can continue spreading for years. A simple smile and a cheerful "good morning" may appear insignificant. But imagine someone was feeling down, discouraged, and burdened. Then he receives a warm greeting and suddenly feels uplifted. His mood changes. His attitude changes. Perhaps he goes home happier and treats his family differently. The ripple effects of one smile could be endless. Or imagine someone donates one sefer to a shul library because that sefer once inspired him. Years later, somebody opens it, reads it, and receives tremendous chizuk. That person changes his avodat Hashem because of it. Who can imagine how many rewards continue flowing from that one deed? And there is another dimension that makes mitzvot even greater. Not only do we not know their ripple effects—we also do not know how much greater hidden deeds can become. The Gemara in Baba Batra tells us that if someone gives tzedakah in private, in certain aspects he is considered greater than even Moshe Rabbenu. Such an astonishing statement teaches us how precious hidden mitzvot are. When a person does something and nobody knows, when there is no honor, no recognition, and no praise, then the deed becomes purely for Hashem. In a book about the life of the Chafetz Chaim, it says that on one occasion his son, Reb Leib, asked him whether people who learned the Mishnah Berurah would ever truly understand how much effort he invested into every single line, making sure everything was perfectly correct according to halachah. The Chafetz Chaim replied, "What difference does it make if people know how much effort I put in? My sole intention is to bring honor to the name of Hashem, and He is the only One Who needs to know." That was the greatness of the Chafetz Chaim. He was not seeking recognition. He only cared about pleasing Hashem. We cannot imagine how much Hashem appreciates every small deed that we do. We may not receive a pat on the back in this world, but that does not mean Hashem does not notice. Every ounce of effort is seen. Every struggle is counted. Every hidden act is treasured. And every deed will be fully repaid in the next world. Sometimes, however, Hashem gives us a glimpse even here of how much He appreciates our efforts. Recently, a woman in Eretz Yisrael passed away. For forty years, every single day, she took upon herself to go to the kever of Shmuel HaNavi and make sure it was clean and properly maintained. She personally cared for it and, while there, would pray each day as well. Amazingly, she passed away on כ״ח אייר —the yahrtzeit of Shmuel HaNavi himself. Not only that, her address was 86 Shmuel HaNavi Street, and she passed away at the age of 86. Every effort she invested in honoring the kever of that great tzaddik was appreciated. Every hidden act mattered. She did not publicize what she did. Only her close family knew. We can never underestimate the value of any mitzvah, because every one is precious, every one creates ripple effects, and every one carries rewards beyond comprehension.

As we know, parnasah comes from Hashem, and the Chovot HaLevavot in Shaar HaBitachon, perek 4, gives us a very important understanding of how Hashem distributes it in the world. He writes that Hashem guarantees enough sustenance for every person as long as he is meant to live in this world. Every person has what he needs to survive because Hashem Himself takes responsibility for all of His creations. But not everyone is given the role of supporting others. Sometimes Hashem chooses certain people to become His messengers. If a man is given enough to support not only himself, but also his wife and children, then Hashem has placed their parnasah into his hands. He put their sustenance into his bank account and appointed him as the messenger to deliver it. This is both a tremendous zechut and a tremendous test. It is a zechut because there are few greater privileges than being entrusted by Hashem to care for His children. But it is also a test: will the person believe that the money is his and that he is generously sharing from his own possessions? Or will he recognize that it was never truly his at all? Hashem simply designated him to distribute what was already meant for them. If a person is blessed with extra, he should feel honored that Hashem chose him for that mission. He should support his family happily, not feeling as if he is carrying a burden, and not expecting recognition or praise. He is merely carrying out the task Hashem assigned him. And a person must know that Hashem never needs him specifically. Hashem has endless ways of supporting every individual. Even one's own family can be supported through channels no one ever imagined. I know of a man who struggles financially while his own young children have far more money than he does. A relative placed large sums of money into trust funds for them. Hashem has countless messengers and countless ways of providing what people need. Of course, we are obligated to make hishtadlut. A person must work and make a normal effort. But he should not feel that if he does not earn what he expected to, the weight of the world is resting on his shoulders. Hashem never intended hishtadlut to become endless pressure and worry. A person does not need to spend his life anxiously calculating how his children will survive years into the future. That burden belongs to Hashem. People who believe all the money Hashem gives them is solely for their own use often make another mistake. They keep chasing and accumulating more and more, imagining that the goal of life is to see how much wealth they can build. But the Chovot HaLevavot explains that there is no such thing as extra hishtadlut creating wealth. If wealth is decreed for a person, he will receive it through his normal efforts. And if it is not decreed, no matter how much harder he works, he will never attain it. The goal of life is not to see how much money a person can make. It is to make what he needs and use the precious extra time Hashem gives him to serve Him through Torah and mitzvot. A woman shared a story that brought out one of these lessons. She was preparing for maternity leave and knew that the government calculated maternity pay based on the average salary from the previous three months. One of those months included Pesach, and because of the Yom Tov days she had worked far fewer hours than usual. She became worried. She tried putting in some extra hours, but there was no way to make up all the missing time. Then she heard a class explaining that parnasah only comes from Hashem and that extra hours do not automatically create extra money. The words gave her tremendous chizuk. She accepted that Hashem knew exactly what she needed and exactly how much she was supposed to receive. Just a few hours later, someone from HR contacted her. They told her that months earlier she had referred an employee to the company but had never received the referral bonus she was owed. Since they had discovered the oversight, they were adding the payment into her next paycheck. The timing was remarkable. It was the second-to-last day of April. And the amount of that bonus was exactly what she had been missing because of the Pesach hours. She felt as if Hashem was speaking directly to her: "I know exactly what you need. I know how to take care of you." When we internalize that parnasah comes from Hashem and understand how He distributes it, life becomes calmer. We stop carrying burdens that were never ours to carry, and we become better equipped to pass the tests that come our way.

There are two ways a person can live his life. One is the conventional way the world operates — through calculations, logic, strategies, and whatever appears to make the most sense naturally. The other way is with the awareness that Hashem is running everything. And therefore, the most important question is not merely, "What works?" but rather, "What does Hashem want from me?" Sometimes even within halachah itself, there is the strict letter of the law and then there is the higher way of acting — a way that reflects deeper emunah, integrity, and trust in Hashem. A person may technically be entitled to something, yet still feel that giving it up would bring more nachat ruach to Hashem. A man from Yerushalayim related the following story about himself. His family owned two cars. One was a small Camry that he used daily, and the other was a minivan for the entire family. Although he knew most people kept multiple copies of their car keys, somehow he had managed for years with only one key to the Camry. Then one day, the key disappeared. The family searched everywhere, but it was nowhere to be found. Since the Camry was locked and unusable, he simply began using the minivan instead. Eventually, after some time passed, he contacted a mechanic. "How much would it cost to make a replacement key?" he asked. "A thousand shekels," the mechanic replied. The man hesitated. A thousand shekels for a tiny piece of metal felt like such a waste of money. He thought to himself that the money could certainly be used for something much more meaningful. So the Camry remained parked outside. Then one evening, while sitting at the dinner table with his family, he suddenly said, "You know what? Instead of spending a thousand shekels on a car key, maybe it would be a much better investment to donate that money to the kollel on our block." Then he asked his family, "Do you believe Hashem can return the key without us paying the mechanic?" His family loved the idea. That very night, immediately after finishing Arbit, he went to the kollel and donated the money. The next day, while he was at work, his children excitedly called him. "Abba! We found the key!" According to the normal way of thinking, the sensible solution was very simple: pay the mechanic and solve the problem naturally. But this man chose to live with a different calculation. He believed that if Hashem wanted him to have the key, He could return it without requiring a thousand-shekel replacement. Instead of investing the money into a new key, he invested it in something that he felt would bring greater nachat ruach to Hashem. And in the end, he received both — the key and the mitzvah. Another man from London related a story illustrating this same principle from a different angle. He worked in real estate and had developed a close relationship over many years with a certain broker. Because of that loyalty, the broker occasionally gave him significant discounts on deals. One time, he arranged several property purchases for an acquaintance through this broker. Since the discounts were only available because of his personal relationship with the broker, he felt it was only fair for him to keep part of the discount for himself. The broker agreed completely. From a conventional perspective, his reasoning seemed perfectly legitimate. Many people would even argue that he deserved compensation for the service he had provided. Everything felt fine until he attended a shiur on business halachah. The rabbi giving the class discussed different forms of ona'ah and questionable financial conduct. Although the man was not certain that he had violated any halachah, something no longer sat right with him. At first, he planned simply to ask a rabbi whether what he was doing was technically permitted. But by the next morning, he was thinking differently. Even if keeping the money might technically have been allowed, he wanted to act in a way that he felt Hashem would be proud of. So he called the broker and explained that he wanted to return the entire amount so the buyer would receive the full discount. Then he reassured himself with a powerful thought: "Hashem has many ways of sending me 2,500 pounds." That very same day, a property he owned — which had remained vacant for months — suddenly got a tenant. But not only that. The tenant voluntarily offered to pay exactly 2,500 pounds above market price and prepaid six months in advance. Hashem showed him immediately that nobody loses by choosing the path of yashrut and emunah. This is one of the great tests of life. The world trains people to think only in terms of calculations, rights, profits, and natural outcomes. But when a Jew truly believes that Hashem controls everything, he begins living a completely different kind of life. Then the question is no longer merely, "What am I allowed to do?" The question becomes: "What does Hashem want from me?" And when a person begins living with that mindset, his entire life changes.

As we get closer to Shavuot, part of our avodah in preparation is to fully appreciate the priceless gift of Torah that Hashem has given us. The Torah existed even before Hashem created the world. Chazal teach that the entire creation was contingent upon Am Yisrael accepting the Torah. It is Hashem's most treasured possession, and He yearns for us to learn it. Imagine a man telling his friend that he worked tirelessly for years writing a book that could guide people through life. He asks his friend, "Please read my book." Then imagine he sees that friend every day busy with countless other activities while the book remains untouched on the shelf. How painful that would be. Now imagine it is not merely a friend, but a father who invested his entire life, pouring all of his energy, wisdom, and heart into writing that book for his son. This father supports his son, cares for all of his needs, and asks for only one thing in return: "Please read the book I wrote for you." How hurtful it would be if the son never opened it. Hashem told us that the entire creation of the world was worthwhile for the Torah. He gives us every breath, every blessing, and every opportunity in life, and He asks us to learn the Torah that He wrote for us. The Gemara says that when a person leaves the Torah closed and occupies himself with other things when he could be learning, Hashem cries in Shamayim over it. On the other hand, imagine the joy and honor a father feels when his son studies his book carefully, lives his life according to its teachings, and tells others how magnificent his father's wisdom is. There is no greater honor. If we want to honor Hashem, we can show appreciation for the Torah He gave us. Every moment spent learning Torah is an expression of kavod Shamayim. If there is a shiur Torah taking place and only a few people attend, it is a dishonor to the Torah. But if someone says, "I know I'm tired and I would rather rest, but I'm going to get up and go learn so there will be more people honoring Hashem's Torah," he should realize that this itself is an extraordinary mitzvah. Honoring Hashem is unimaginably precious. I read a story about a man from Bnei Brak who we will call Aharon who went to a very early minyan on the morning of Sukkot. There was a very small crowd there, and before Keriat HaTorah, the gabbai began auctioning off the aliyot. Nobody was bidding. Aharon felt a sense of pain over the apparent lack of honor being shown to the Torah. So when the gabbai announced the opening price, Aharon raised the bid and purchased the third aliyah. When the next aliyah was auctioned, once again nobody responded, so Aharon raised the bid again and purchased that aliyah as well. When shelishi came around, Aharon took the aliyah for himself, and afterward they asked him whom he wanted to receive revi'i. Aharon looked around the shul and noticed a distinguished-looking man who made a fine impression on him, and he instructed the gabbai to give the aliyah to that individual. After tefillah, Aharon was preparing to leave when he suddenly felt a tap on his shoulder. It was the man who had received revi'i. The man introduced himself and asked Aharon why he chose him for the aliyah. Aharon replied simply, "You looked like a respectable person with yirat shamayim." The man then explained that he was from London and was extremely wealthy. "People honor me all the time," he said, "but only because of my money. This is the first time someone honored me simply for who I am, without expecting anything in return." Aharon answered that he was happy he had the opportunity to make another Jew feel good, and he began to leave. But the wealthy man stopped him and said, "Because you honored me, I want to repay you." Aharon politely refused, but the man insisted. "Tell me something you need, and I will help you." Aharon hesitated. Then he thought about the many gemachim and loans he would soon need in order to marry off his daughter. He said, "Honestly, anything you could contribute toward my daughter's wedding would help tremendously." The man asked him what the total expected cost would be. Aharon answered, "About one hundred thousand shekel." The man responded immediately, "No problem. Come to my apartment after Yom Tov and I'll give you a check." After Yom Tov, Aharon went to the address he had been given, and the man handed him a check for the entire amount. Aharon made a small monetary gesture simply to honor the Torah, and Hashem paid him back thousands of times over. Everything we do to honor the Torah—especially learning it—goes an extremely long way.

One of the ways in which we can see the yad Hashem in this world is in the area of parnassah. Sometimes we make a hishtadlut in one area, and then the parnassah comes from a completely different source. Sometimes parnassah comes in the least expected ways, and very often it comes exactly when it is needed. Hashem provides for billions of people in wondrous ways. He makes us feel as though we are the ones earning the parnassah, while in actuality He is doing everything. We must believe that only Hashem decides if a buyer will buy our product, and only Hashem decides every opportunity we even get to meet a buyer. I read a story which recently took place that shows how obvious it is that Hashem is controlling parnassah. Yoel Tzvi is a broker of precious stones. In his business, things do not always move quickly. Sometimes there are long stretches with no income at all, and then suddenly one deal could change everything. One day, a dealer named Joe called him saying he had a buyer looking for a large red ruby, and if he could find the seller, he could earn a lot of money. Yoel Tzvi searched and found someone who had exactly the kind of ruby this buyer was looking for. They set up a meeting. The buyer analyzed the stone. It looked promising, but in the end the deal fell through. Time went on, and Yoel Tzvi became very busy preparing for his son's wedding. During that time, he did not make any deals at all. The day of the wedding arrived, and he still did not have the money to pay for it. That morning, he went with his son to receive a berachah from a tzaddik. The tzaddik told him that on the day of the chuppah, pipelines of shefa open from Shamayim. Later that day, just before they were getting ready to leave for the hall, the phone rang. It was Joe. "The buyer reconsidered," he said. "He decided to buy that ruby after all. He wants to do it today. Could you handle it?" Yoel Tzvi sprang into action, set up the meeting, and the deal was finalized. The profit he earned from that sale covered almost all of the wedding expenses. But it was not until a few months later that Yoel Tzvi truly appreciated the hashgachah behind what happened that day. Yoel Tzvi met a different broker, a friend of his, who deals with the same clients. That broker told him that Joe had called him around the time of the wedding, asking him to find a red ruby for a buyer. He found a different seller, and that deal was almost completed, but it fell through. Joe then asked him if he knew of another seller because the buyer desperately wanted to close on a deal. The broker said he could not think of anyone else, and that is when Joe decided to call Yoel Tzvi back to do the deal with the ruby he had originally found. Yoel Tzvi said, "That broker knew my seller very well. It makes no sense that he didn't think of him when Joe asked for another seller. The only explanation is that Hashem wanted me to get the sale to pay for the wedding, and therefore He did not allow that broker to think of my seller." This is the way it always works. Hashem decides who buys and who sells, and He has everything timed for the perfect moment. The more we recognize that Hashem is in charge of our parnassah, the more we will focus on praying to Him and doing His will, and the less we will feel the need to impress His messengers.

The Zohar HaKadosh in Parashat Balak ( דף ר"ד ) tells a remarkable story. When the rabbis heard that Rabbi Yosef of Peki'in had passed away, they went to his home to prepare him for burial. There they saw his young son, only five years old, lying on him and crying out, "Hashem, You already took my mother—please don't take my father." Suddenly, a heavenly voice declared, "Fortunate are you, Rabbi Yosef of Peki'in, that you merited a son whose tefillah has added twenty-two years to your life." The rabbis witnessed תחיית המתים as Rabbi Yosef arose. When they later asked him what he saw in the upper worlds, he shared one detail: they counted the tears of his son—three hundred and seventy—and when he cried out, the heavens shook, and his tefillah brought about revival. From here we learn the incredible power of tefillah that comes from the depths of the heart. A young man—we'll call him Ralph—shared a modern-day example. His infant daughter was diagnosed with West syndrome, a severe condition affecting brain development. She required an urgent medication that cost one hundred thousand dollars. After several weeks, it improved her condition to about eighty percent, but no further. Doctors then suggested another medication—but it was extremely risky. If taken too long, it could cause permanent brain damage. If taken too short, it could be life-threatening. Ralph was overwhelmed and broke down in tears. The next day, he could not focus at work. He called his rabbi in Israel, asking for direction. The rabbi told him this decision was beyond his ability to rule on, but he offered him guidance of a different kind. He said, "When everyone leaves the office today, stay behind. Cry out to Hashem from the depths of your heart. Speak to Him in your own words. Ask Him to guide you." Ralph did exactly that. He cried, he poured out his heart, and then he spoke to Hashem honestly, asking for guidance and for his daughter's complete refuah. Right afterward, on the train home, a man and his son sat across from him. Ralph watched the way the father spoke to his son—with warmth, love, and emotion—and it pierced his heart. Thinking of his own daughter, he said, "I hope one day I'll have that kind of relationship with my child." The man saw his pain and said, "You will." He invited Ralph to sit next to him and asked what was wrong. When Ralph shared the diagnosis, the man was stunned. He said that he himself had suffered from the same condition as an infant. Not only that, he had gone on to research it extensively and eventually became a board member at a major hospital specializing in treating this exact disease. Out of all the people in the world, this was the person who sat directly across from him—right after his tefillah. He became the messenger who guided Ralph and his family through the process, leading to his daughter's full recovery. Next week, be'ezrat Hashem, will mark one year since she was declared completely cured. Ralph is filled with hakarat hatov to Hashem for answering him so quickly and so clearly. Crying out to Hashem from the depths of one's heart is truly wondrous.

The Bneh Yissachar writes that the greatest tzedaka of all tzedakot is providing someone who is poor in the mind with knowledge. If a person is lacking in understanding of what life is all about or who Hashem is, or if he has a problem that is weighing down upon him, if someone will give him the words that he so desperately needs to hear, that is the greatest form of tzedaka . The sefer Divreh Elokim Chaim brings a hint to this concept from a pasuk in parashat Behar , the first of this week's two parashiot . The pasuk says וכי ימוך אחיך – if your brother is impoverished – והחזקת בו – give him chizuk . The simple meaning of the pasuk is talking about someone who is impoverished monetarily, but on a different level, it can also be referring to someone who is impoverished in his mind, a few words of chizuk can benefit him so much. Everybody could use chizuk , and if we are able to give people chizuk , we should. A compliment or just a nice word could accomplish more than we could imagine. Even people that we think don't need to hear compliments, they do. The compliments that we give to people can have an impact on their life decisions. Rabbi Aharon Tusig told over a story, which took place many years ago, which he heard from a prominent Rosh Yeshiva in Israel. The Rosh Yeshiva said, when the yeshiva that hired him asked him to be the Rosh Yeshiva, he told them he would do it on one condition – that he would not be involved in any of the monetary aspects of the yeshiva. He only wanted to be a part of the spiritual part of the yeshiva. They agreed and, baruch Hashem, for years the Rabbi never had to raise any money. But one year, they were struggling a lot and one of the board members asked the Rabbi if he would please make an exception and travel abroad to collect funds that the yeshiva so desperately needed. The Rosh Yeshiva saw the situation was dire so he agreed to go. The Rabbi went and had a driver take him around to potential donors. On one of those trips, the driver asked the Rabbi if he minded if he pulled off the highway to find a convenience store to buy a drink, as he was very thirsty. The Rabbi said, "Sure, no problem. I'm also thirsty. I'll come in with you." When they got off the highway, they saw a kosher restaurant and pulled up in front and went inside. When the Rosh Yeshiva walked in, one of the waiters there asked if he wanted a table. Then, after a brief pause, the waiter said to the Rabbi, "Rosh Yeshiva, do you recognize me? I'm so-and-so. I used to learn in your yeshiva." The Rosh Yeshiva couldn't believe his eyes. He asked in astonishment how he ended up in this place. In the words of the Rosh Yeshiva, "I was sure with your diligence and brain power, you were going to become one of the great Rosh Yeshivas of the next generation." The man replied, "Rabbi, this is the first time I ever heard you say that you think that about me. I didn't know you thought I had that kind of potential." The Rosh Yeshiva replied, "What do you mean? I have your name in my notebooks with questions that you asked when we were learning Masechet Pesachim together. I never showed you that?" "No," replied the young man. The Rosh Yeshiva then said, "You were always so diligent in your studies and you always seemed to be enjoying your learning so much, I guess I didn't think you needed to hear compliments." The young man asked the Rosh Yeshiva if it's too late for him to come back. The Rosh Yeshiva replied, "It's never too late." So the young man said, "Rosh Yeshiva, if you will learn with me one-on-one for two weeks and get me back into the learning, I will come back to the yeshiva and rededicate myself to Torah." And so it happened. The Rosh Yeshiva concluded the story by saying, "Today, that student of mine lives in Ashdod and he is from the greatest talmidei chachamim in that city." He thought he was traveling abroad to collect funds at that time. In reality, the yeshiva got into financial crisis just so the Rosh Yeshiva would go and find that gem of his and bring him back to Torah. We should never underestimate the power of giving somebody chizuk or giving somebody a compliment. It's the greatest form of tzedaka . It will motivate people and it will engender love. Shabbat Shalom.

When a person needs a yeshuah, he is willing to do whatever it takes. People search for ways to speed up the process, especially after waiting for so long. One powerful approach is for a person to rise above his nature and do something heroic for the honor of Hashem. When we go beyond our nature, that can trigger Hashem to respond in kind—acting above the nature of the world and bring a yeshuah in ways we could never expect. A man from Beit Shemesh shared that he and his wife had been waiting a very long time to find a shidduch for their daughter, who was already twenty-eight years old. The pain weighed heavily on them day after day. One morning, after praying Shacharit in a large minyan of about a hundred people, a man approached him and began shouting at him with intense anger over something he disapproved of. The attack was harsh and relentless. He could have explained himself, but the man would not stop. The words were unbearable. He stood there as shame and humiliation filled him from head to toe. He left the shul shaken to his core. But then, with siyata d'Shmaya, he realized that this moment might be a rare opportunity—to rise above his nature and do something extraordinary for Hashem. He turned to Hashem and said, "Ribono Shel Olam, only You know how much humiliation I just went through. I believe that everything comes from You. And even though it is so difficult, I am going to go above my nature and completely forgive this person. Please respond measure for measure—bring me a yeshuah above nature and help my daughter find her zivug." Amazingly, the very next day a promising suggestion came, and within a couple of weeks they were celebrating her engagement. A rabbi once told of a collector who came to him in desperation. His organization was on the verge of bankruptcy, and he needed a major yeshuah. The rabbi told him that tefillah was the answer. The man replied that his siddur was already drenched with tears. The rabbi said, "I want you to start coming to Shacharit fifteen minutes before the minyan." The man answered honestly, "Rabbi, that is above my nature. I struggle just to get there on time." The rabbi told him, "That's exactly why you need to do it. Go above your nature, and your tefillah will carry much more weight." The man accepted the challenge. He pushed himself to arrive early each day, going against his nature. Shortly afterward, the organization began to recover, and eventually it was fully restored. The same rabbi once witnessed another powerful example. One congregant approached another and told him that a device he had just purchased was not appropriate for a ben Torah due to its many pitfalls. The man accepted the rebuke and said he would resell it. His friend pointed out that selling it to another Jew would only place a stumbling block in front of someone else. They lived in a completely Jewish area, so there was no easy solution. The owner explained that the device had cost him four thousand shekel and could not be returned. His friend told him, "Do what you feel is right." With that, the man made a heroic decision. He destroyed the device on the spot, saying he was doing it purely for the honor of Hashem. Immediately afterward, he turned to Hashem in tefillah and asked that his niece, who was suffering from a serious illness, be healed. In a short time, her condition improved, and eventually she was completely healed against all odds. These stories all share one message. When a person stays within his nature, he remains within the natural order. But when he rises above it—forgiving when it is hard, strengthening his tefillah beyond his comfort, or sacrificing for the honor of Hashem—he activates a higher system.

The Mahari"l writes that when a person prays at the kever of a tzadik, since it is a place of holiness and spiritual purity, the tefillot there are more readily accepted. The Mateh Ephraim adds that even a Kohen, who is not permitted to approach the kever, can still connect to that holiness by standing at a distance from where he can see it and pray from there. Tefillah is always powerful, but there are times and places where it has an added strength. The day of the yahrzeit of a tzadik at his kever is especially מסוגל for tefillah. The Midrash says in Parashat Vezot HaBerachah that if we had known the burial place of Moshe Rabbeinu, we would have prevented the destruction of the first Bet HaMikdash through our tefillot there. The Ben Ish Chai explains that when a person goes to a kever of a tzadik, there are two proper ways to pray. He can ask Hashem to help him in the merit of the tzadik, or he can ask that the neshama of the tzadik should pray to Hashem on his behalf. But the tefillah is always directed only to Hashem, because He alone has the power to fulfill our requests. The tzadik is not the source of the yeshuah—he is a מליץ יושר , an advocate. Throughout the generations, people have received incredible yeshuot through their tefillot at kivrei tzadikim. But the foundation of it all is still tefillah—pouring out one's heart to Hashem. I heard a remarkable story from Rabbi Heller, told to his mother by the daughter of the man it happened to. Her father fought in the Yom Kippur War, and at one point it seemed certain that he would not survive. At that moment, he made a neder to Hashem that if his life would be spared, he would move his family to the north of Israel and build up a place of Torah and mitzvot. Miraculously, he survived. After the war, he realized how difficult that commitment would be and went to his rabbi to perform hatarat nedarim. The rabbi told him that perhaps it was in the merit of that very neder that Hashem had saved him, and it would not be proper to undo it. The man accepted this and moved his family—his wife and three daughters—to the north. They settled in an abandoned home on Moshav Meron, high above the kever of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. Life there was extremely simple. They bought a cow and lived off its milk, trading it for eggs and other necessities. The man would go often to the kever of Rabbi Shimon and pour out his heart in tefillah. In those days, few people came, and he would spend long periods there alone, feeling a deep connection as he spoke to Hashem in that holy place. One day, his wife became very ill with typhus, and he brought her to a hospital in Tiveria. She remained there for months. The man faced a painful challenge—he wanted to be with his wife, but he also had daughters at home. Travel was extremely difficult, yet every day he made the journey back and forth to be there for both. The hospital staff was amazed at his devotion. One morning, after sending his daughters to school, he went to a phone booth to call the hospital. He sensed something was wrong. The doctor came on the line and told him the truth—his wife was in her final moments. There was no point in rushing, he said, because he would not make it in time. The man hung up the phone and burst into tears. He walked up the road and saw the kever of Rabbi Shimon. He stopped and cried out, "Please, Rabbi Shimon, pray to Hashem to save my wife." He begged and then said, "If there is a harsh decree on our family, please ask Hashem to take our cow instead." With that, he ran to catch transportation to the hospital, but on the way someone stopped him and told him that his cow had just died. The man was elated. When he got to the hospital, the doctor hugged him and said, "It's a miracle—your wife is alive." He then told him something astonishing. At the time of the phone call, his wife had already passed—there was no pulse. They were about to cover her with a sheet, but the nurse said they should wait until he arrived. A couple of minutes later, they heard her coughing, and then she called out for a cup of water. This is a modern-day story of techiyat hametim in the merit of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. Tefillah is always wondrous and at Kivrei Tzadikim, it's even better.

The Midrash at the beginning of Parashat Emor quotes the pasuk in Tehillim: יוֹם לְיוֹם יַבִּיעַ אֹמֶר וְלַיְלָה לְלַיְלָה יְחַוֶּה דָּעַת . The Midrash explains that in the months of Nisan and Tishrei, the day and night are equal. In the summer, the day borrows hours from the night, and in the winter, the night borrows from the day, until over the course of the year they balance out perfectly. The mefarshim ask: what does this have to do with Parashat Emor, and what is the message of this Midrash? The Tehillot Maharitz explains that every individual in Klal Yisrael has a different role. Although there are many mitzvot that apply only to Kohanim and Levi'im, כל ישראל ערבים זה לזה —we are all responsible for one another. They serve on behalf of us, and we serve on behalf of them. When we understand that we are all one unit, forming Hashem's army of servants, we can truly love one another and remove jealousy from our hearts. The Or HaChaim explains that when Moshe Rabbeinu was told to instruct the Kohanim about their unique mitzvot, one might have thought this would be difficult for him. Originally, Moshe was meant to be the Kohen, but because he hesitated at the burning bush to accept the role of leadership, the kehuna was given to Aharon instead. And we know there was no one who loved mitzvot more than Moshe Rabbeinu. It would seem that hearing about all the additional mitzvot given to the Kohanim could have caused him pain. For this, the Midrash gives its answer. Just as the day and night borrow from each other without resentment, knowing that together they create a perfect balance, so too Klal Yisrael. Some are Kohanim, some Levi'im, some are wealthy, some are poor—but when each person fulfills his role, together we form a perfect nation serving Hashem. Imagine a team competing in a contest, where each correct answer helps the entire team win. If one member answers many questions correctly, his teammates are not jealous—they are thrilled, because his success is their success. That is how we must feel about one another. We are all on the same team, serving the same Hashem. When one person excels, it elevates all of us. The Gemara at the end of Masechet Menachot tells of a tragic case where one brother became jealous of the other for being appointed Kohen Gadol, to the point that he wanted to kill him. Had he understood that they were on the same team, serving the same Hashem, such jealousy could never have existed. Hashem assigns each person a different role, and one who fulfills his mission receives his full reward—just like anyone else who fulfills theirs. It is not a competition. Hashem has enough to give everyone. At Yetziat Mitzrayim, while the Jewish people were busy collecting gold and silver, Moshe Rabbeinu was occupied with bringing the bones of Yosef. On this, the pasuk says: חכם לב יקח מצוות . Moshe was called wise because he chose mitzvot over wealth, and that lesson has inspired generations. All the merit of that inspiration belongs to him. In fact, if Moshe had been a Kohen, he would not have been able to become tameh to carry Yosef's bones. It was specifically this act that led to the great miracle of Keriat Yam Suf. What seemed like a limitation for Moshe became the greatest opportunity. There is never a reason to be jealous of what someone else has, does, or achieves. Hashem gives each person exactly the opportunities needed to fulfill his unique mission. The more we rejoice in another person's success, the more we align ourselves with Hashem's plan and become better servants of Him.

We cannot begin to imagine how great and powerful our tefillot are. It says in the Tanna D'Bei Eliyahu Zutah, Perek Vav, that Hashem told Moshe, "You will not be able to understand My ways, but I will tell you something about Me." When I see a person stand up to pray before Me, say words of praise, and then beg for help—even if that person does not have good deeds, and his parents do not have good deeds, and even his grandparents do not have good deeds—just because he asked Me properly, I will help him. And if a person prays with true kavanah, the tefillah becomes infinitely greater. The Ya'avetz writes that a person must know how his tefillah can find favor in Hashem's eyes. The main focus should be on the Amidah. If a person says it with the simple meaning of the words in mind, it is more pleasing to Hashem than any type of korban. And the more a person's heart is in it, the more powerful the tefillah becomes. He writes further that tefillah with kavanah has the power to silence all of the prosecuting angels. The Shelah HaKadosh explains that having kavanah means not thinking about anything else while we are praying, and to feel happiness that we are connecting to Hashem as we speak to Him. When a person reaches that level, it is considered such a great avodah that it is beyond what we can even describe. And all of this is speaking about tefillah during regular times. A tefillah made during an et ratzon—a special time of favor—is even more powerful. A certain man once came to the holy Rabbi Moshe of Rozvodov, asking for a yeshuah for something he needed very badly. The Rabbi told him to come back on Lag B'omer, because then it would be an et ratzon—a time of great favor before Hashem—and it would be more fitting to receive salvation in the merit of the Tanna Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. He brought a hint from a pasuk: " לבי ובשרי ירננו אל א-ל חי ." לבי —after thirty-two days, which brings us to the thirty-third day. ובשרי —stands for Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. ירננו —referring to tefillah. אל א-ל חי —to the living Hashem. On this day, the Zohar writes, the heavenly gates are wide open. The Arizal teaches that on this day, judgments are sweetened—din turns into rachamim. It is a day of great divine favor. On this day, the lights in Shamayim begin to shine in preparation for the awesome day of Matan Torah. The Chatam Sofer says that on this day, the Jewish people began eating the mann, the heavenly food that elevated them and prepared them to receive the Torah. One of the reasons we light fires on this day is to show that the lights in Shamayim are beginning to shine—seventeen days( טוב ) before Matan Torah. In the Sefirot, Lag BaOmer is Hod she'b'Hod, which has a connection to the holiness of Yom Kippur. Throughout the generations, people have received great salvations on this day. Tefillah is always powerful, but on days of et ratzon, it is even more powerful. Let us take advantage of this special time and pray with more kavanah, understanding that Hashem is right in front of us, listening to every word. He can help us with any need that we have, and we do not need anyone but Him. Let us feel calm, knowing we are standing before the only One who can help us, and He is giving us His full attention, waiting for us to ask Him for all of our needs.

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Zohar HaKadosh writes that a bara mehemna —a faithful child—is one who asks Hashem for his sustenance every single day, even when he already has enough food to eat. And when he does this, Hashem blesses him with more. What is it about this behavior that makes a person so special? Why does this earn him the title of a child of emunah ? We know that when Yaakov Avinu was fleeing from Esav, he was robbed by Eliphaz and lost all of his money. The pasuk tells us that Yaakov then asked Hashem for לֶחֶם לֶאֱכֹל וּבֶגֶד לִלְבֹּשׁ —bread to eat and clothing to wear. The mefarshim ask: seemingly, the words le'echol and lilbosh are unnecessary. Of course bread is for eating and clothing is for wearing. Why did the Torah phrase it this way? The sefer Birkat Hamazon BeKavana explains that perhaps Yaakov was saying to Hashem: I want to be a faithful son, one who turns to You every single day. Therefore, please give me only enough bread for today—without extras—and just enough clothing to wear—without extras—so that I will always need to come back to You. However, this explanation is difficult, because we know that later Yaakov became extremely wealthy in the house of Lavan. Was Hashem telling him that He no longer wanted to hear from him every day? Of course not. Rather, the sefer Birkat Hamazon BeKavana explains that being a faithful child has nothing to do with how much a person possesses, but with his attitude. If a person feels that he needs Hashem just to be able to eat and to get dressed each day, then he is considered a bara mehemna . He does not rely on what he has. Instead, he turns to Hashem like a poor beggar, understanding that everything he owns is meaningless unless Hashem wills him to have it. This is what the Zohar means. Even if a person already has what to eat, he must still ask Hashem for his food every day. This is how Hashem wants us to feel, like we always need Him. And when we do, we are called children of emunah—and we draw down extra blessing from Shamayim. After the Jewish people experienced one of the greatest miracles in history at Kriyat Yam Suf, they traveled for three days in the desert without finding water. Then they arrived at a place called Marah, where there was water—but it was too bitter to drink. The Ben Ish Chai asks: why would Hashem bring them to such a situation immediately after such an incredible miracle? He answers with a mashal. There was a boy who dreamed that everything he touched turned to gold. Instantly, he became the wealthiest person in the world. But after some time, he became thirsty and went to drink water. When he touched the cup, it turned to gold. When the water touched his lips, it also turned to gold. He panicked, realizing that despite all his wealth, he could not even drink something as simple as water. He begged for this power to be taken away. Then he woke up—and immediately ran to get a drink of water, appreciating it like never before. After crossing the Yam Suf, the Jewish people collected the gold and jewelry that washed ashore. They became extraordinarily wealthy. There was a danger that they might begin to feel self-sufficient. So Hashem brought them to a place with no drinkable water, to teach them a crucial lesson: no matter how much a person has, without Hashem, he cannot even take a single sip of water. This lesson was essential, because Hashem wants us to succeed—and true success depends on relying on Him, not on what we possess. No matter what a person has, he must understand that he needs Hashem for everything. And when he truly feels that way—when he turns to Hashem daily for even the simplest needs—then he becomes a bara mehemna , a faithful child, worthy of abundant blessing.

Sometimes in life, we are called upon to do things that are difficult. Our initial reaction may be to think, why do I need this now? At that moment, we need what is called mesirut nefesh—to dig down deep and give of ourselves for the sake of Hashem, even though it is hard. When we are moser nefesh, Hashem appreciates our efforts tremendously. Very often, what we perceive as a sacrifice ends up becoming the source of a blessing we could have never imagined. When we give of ourselves, even though it is uncomfortable, knowing that we are working for Hashem, it becomes an act of emunah—recognizing that Hashem sees all of our efforts and values every bit of toil we invest in His service. A man—let's call him Ralph—told me that a couple of years ago he met the head of a platoon in the IDF, and they developed a friendship. Recently, this platoon leader called Ralph and explained that his unit was being stationed on the border with Lebanon. Their boots were old, worn out, and completely insufficient for the harsh conditions ahead. The soldiers desperately needed new boots, but they did not have the funds to pay for them. The platoon leader asked Ralph if he might be willing to help. Ralph asked how much was needed. The answer was clear: boots for thirty-two soldiers, at about two hundred dollars per pair—approximately six thousand dollars. Without hesitation, Ralph responded, "No problem. I'll cover two thousand myself, and I'll call a couple of friends for the rest. Together we'll take care of it." Ralph called his first friend and explained the situation, asking if he could contribute two thousand dollars. The friend hesitated and ultimately declined. He then called a second friend, who also said he was unable to help at that time. Now Ralph faced a real test. His initial thought was, if no one else is helping, why should I? That would have been the easy way out. But instead, he paused and said to himself, Hashem gave me enough money to help these people. They need help now, and I can help them—so I am going to. With courage and determination, he called the platoon leader back and said, "I will cover the entire expense. Tell me where to send the check." Ralph later said he felt tremendous joy for overcoming that initial hesitation—the natural resistance that comes when giving, especially such a large amount at once. He felt he had truly been moser nefesh, placing his trust in Hashem and believing that Hashem values every effort done for His sake. Then something remarkable happened. Ralph is a retired war veteran who was injured while serving in Vietnam. For years, he had been receiving government compensation. The previous year, he had requested a reassessment of his benefits, explaining why he believed he was being underpaid—but his request was denied outright. Now, the very next day after he demonstrated such mesirut nefesh to pay for all the boots himself, he received an email from the veterans office. They had decided to reopen his case—without any new request from him. Upon review, they concluded that he was indeed entitled to a higher payment. Not only that, they backdated the increase, and within a few days, he received over twenty thousand dollars of completely unexpected funds. Ralph immediately understood that this was no coincidence. Why would they suddenly reopen a closed case without any prompting? Hashem was showing him clearly: you did not lose anything by giving for My sake. On the contrary, you gained far more than you could have imagined. Whenever we stretch ourselves to do what is right, even when it is difficult, it opens the door for greater berachah to flow down from Shamayim.

The Midrash says at the beginning of Parashat Tazriya, regarding a woman giving birth to a baby boy: give praise to the name of Avraham Avinu, who came from afar, as it says, וַיִּרְא אֶת הַמָּקוֹם מֵרָחֹק . The Mefarshim are bothered: what does Avraham Avinu have to do with this parasha, and why do Chazal refer to him as "the one who came from afar"? The Chidushei Harim explains that starting with the woman who gives birth, the parasha speaks about different individuals who may feel pushed away by Hashem. The woman who gives birth to a boy has a certain form of tum'a. She is not allowed to eat korbanot for forty days, which means if she gave birth before Pesach, she would not be able to bring the korban Pesach—not on Pesach Rishon, nor on Pesach Sheni. She may think to herself: I was involved in performing a great mitzvah, and now I am banned from the Beit HaMikdash. The next parasha speaks about someone who contracts tzara'at. The Gemara says tzara'at is a mizbe'ach kapara—a mizbe'ach that gives the person kapara. Some explain that it is yesurin shel ahava —afflictions of love. Not every case of tzara'at comes as a result of a sin. When a person is suspected of having tzara'at, he must be in quarantine for a week or two. If it is confirmed, he must be isolated away from everyone. He cannot attend shul, pray with a minyan, or answer Kaddish. He may feel: why is Hashem pushing me away like this? Further on, the parasha speaks about other people who become tameh through no fault of their own. They may feel the same sentiments. Imagine a family on their way up to Yerushalayim for one of the shalosh regalim, attempting to bring a korban to Hashem on the Chag, and after their long travels, they arrive at the Beit HaMikdash and discover that the man of the house has become tameh and cannot participate at all. It will definitely feel like Hashem is rejecting him. For those instances, the Midrash tells us to see what Avraham Avinu would do under such circumstances. Avraham spent his entire life teaching the world about Hashem. All he wanted was a child who would continue in the same path. After decades of waiting, he finally received a miracle child at an advanced age. Imagine the love Avraham had for this child. As the child grew, Avraham was able to teach himTorah and the ways of Hashem. Imagine the love Avraham had for Yitzchak at age five—much greater than at his birth. The love he had at age ten was even greater. He invested so much time and energy into Yitzchak, who was to continue his life's mission. Then, when Yitzchak was thirty-seven, in the prime of his life, Hashem told Avraham to slaughter him. In one second, all of Avraham's hopes and dreams were being denied. All of the love he had for his son was about to make this task extraordinarily difficult. He could have felt, "All I am trying to do is promote the name of Hashem in the world, and now He is pushing me away." Yet Avraham said to himself: if this is what Hashem wants me to do, then this is what I want. Instead of feeling rejected, he marched forward with zerizut and did Hashem's will to the best of his ability. This was one of the greatest acts of service of all time. Hashem was not distancing Avraham. He was elevating him. Hashem never distances anyone. A person may feel distanced, but that is only because he does not understand the ways of Hashem. When a person becomes tameh, it is not Hashem saying, "I do not want your korban." It is Hashem saying: "I want a different service from you now. I want you to accept that this is what is best for you, and serve Me from the place I have placed you." For that, a person will gain far more than he would have from bringing the korban. When people feel that Hashem is not interested in their service, yet they still do the best they can, that service elevates them enormously. Hashem may appear to be far from us at times, but He is always close. He always wants our avodah, no matter how it may seem. If we strengthen ourselves during those times and continue to serve Him joyfully, to the best of our ability, we will rise to the greatest levels.

During these days of sefirat ha'omer , we are supposed tobe working hard on improving our mitzvot ben adam l'chavero . Chazal tell us shalom is so great that Hashem allows His sacred Name to be erased justto help bring peace between husband and wife. Bringing peace between people isthe vehicle that is going to bring the Shechina out of it's long exile. Chazal also say there is no vessel that can hold beracha other than shalom. Itis incumbent upon us to be mivakesh shalom. We have to humble ourselvesand forgive people, and humble ourselves and treat people with respect. Shalomopens all the gates of beracha . Rabbi Yaakov Shaish told a story which I most probably have toldonce before because I recognized it when I heard it, but hearing it againinspired me, so it can't hurt to repeat. It began when a representative from acertain yeshiva in Israel came to Montreal to collect. Every year this Rabbimade his regular stops and collected enough for the yeshiva to operate. Oneyear in Montreal at a wealthy man's home, he noticed the man looking verydepressed. He inquired about it and then the man broke down saying, "Lookaround, I have the most beautiful home but it's empty because Hashem did notbless us with children." The Rabbi started telling the man about differentorganizations that help with fertility. And then the man interrupted himsaying, "Rabbi, you don't understand. The doctors told us there is nothingwrong with me and there is nothing wrong with my wife. I'm pretty sure I knowwhy this is happening to us. When I was in yeshiva in Israel one year on Purim,I was a little drunk and I started humiliating one of my friends there. I wenton and on until that boy was too embarrassed, he couldn't even show his facethere. Later on I begged for forgiveness, but he adamantly refused. I have beentrying year after year, but this person, who is now a man, refuses to even talkto me". The Rabbi asked for this person's information and said he would try tobring about shalom between them. When the Rabbi got back to Israel, he went to that man's house.The moment he mentioned the reason for his visit, the man politely asked him toleave his home. The Rabbi said, "Please, this man regrets what he did, he issuffering now. He has no children and he desperately wants you to forgive him." The man said, "I hope he never has children! Please leave." As the Rabbi was walking out, he said "please allow me to tellyou just one more thing. I know that after 120 you are going to face theHeavenly Court and at that time, any humiliation you ever went through willappear totally insignificant, it will not bother you in the slightest bit.Hashem is going to tell you, There was a Jew in Canada who desperatelywanted to have children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren and he wasbegging you to help him. It was your hakpada that prevented all of thoseneshamot to enter into the world in his family. And when you're there, Iknow you're going to regret not forgiving him. But, it's never too late. Now,you still have a chance to do it." The man was silent and he asked the Rabbi to give him a minuteto think. Fifteen minutes later he said, "Okay, I forgive him." The Rabbi said, "No, that's not enough, you have to tell him.Can I get him on the phone?" He said, "Okay." The Rabbi dialed the number and then told thewealthy man he was there with his friend and he was ready to forgive him. Theman took the phone and he said, "I don't want to talk to you, but I want totell you that I forgive you." The wealthy man from Canada immediately beganapologizing and expressing his remorse again and again. Then he asked if hecould please give him a beracha to have children. At first this man saidno way, but then the wealthy man began crying and begging. Finally the managreed and he said, "May it be Hashem's will that you have children." By the end of that year, this man was holding his first child.There is nothing in the world that can hold blessing like shalom.

The more a person pays attention to the hashgachah of Hashem in his life, the more he will come to appreciate Hashem, and the more he will come to rely upon Him. Rabbi Pinchas Shefer related that a man told him that as Pesach was approaching, he and his wife realized there were many things they needed. They decided to take out two sheets of paper. On the first sheet, they listed everything that Hashem had already given them—family, health, talents, children, a home, jobs, and much more. They continued adding all the different items they owned, their furniture, their belongings—everything they had only because Hashem wanted them to have it. The list kept growing longer and longer. Then they took out a second sheet of paper and began listing all the things they would need for Pesach. That list also became very long. They even included items that were not strictly necessary, but would enhance their simchat Yom Tov. Looking at the two lists strengthened their emunah tremendously. They clearly saw how much bounty Hashem had already given them, and their belief that He would continue to lovingly provide for all of their needs—and even their wants—became very real. And indeed, Hashem did not let them down. As the days and weeks passed, they kept crossing off more and more items from the second list and adding them to the first. Some they were able to purchase, and some they received "incidentally". There were even very expensive items on their list, and by the time Pesach arrived, they somehow had every single one of them. Hashem takes care of our big needs and our small needs—it is up to us to recognize it. A woman living in Eretz Yisrael said that one day she wanted to go for a walk, but she had no pockets to hold her phone and house key, so she wore a jacket. It was a very hot day, and she was uncomfortable wearing it. As she walked, she thought how nice it would be to have a small shoulder purse to carry her things instead. When she returned from her walk, she noticed that someone had left a bag of clothing and accessories near a public bin for anyone who wanted them. As she looked through it, she found exactly what she had wished for—a perfect leather shoulder purse. She felt tremendous joy seeing how Hashem had taken care of even such a small detail in her life. A man—we'll call him Jack—told me that he was recently on a train during allergy season and began sneezing. Usually, he carried tissues in his jacket, but that day, because of the warm weather, he had not worn it. With his nose running and a forty-minute ride ahead of him, it seemed like it would be a very uncomfortable trip. He tried thinking of ways to get a tissue, but nothing worked. He then decided to simply read his daily Tehillim as usual. Just then, someone sat down next to him. As the man sat, a small pack of tissues slipped out of his pocket and landed directly on Jack's lap. Jack picked it up and told the man that he thought it had fallen from him. The man thanked him, and Jack politely asked if he could have one tissue. Of course, the man agreed. Jack was in awe. Hashem had practically placed the tissue directly into his hands at the exact moment he needed it. And he realized something powerful: Just as Hashem can provide for our smallest needs in an instant, He can just as easily take care of our greatest needs in an instant. The more we open our eyes and recognize the constant hashgachah that Hashem has over every moment of our lives, the more at ease we will feel, knowing that we are always in His hands.

A person who lives his life with bitachon in Hashem merits to receive extraordinary heavenly help. The more we believe and trust in Hashem, the more He shows us that He is taking care of us. Having bitachon—recognizing that Hashem is the only One in control, and feeling that He is our loving Father Who is waiting to help us—is an enormous zechut. It brings down abundant blessing from Shamayim. Rabbi Yisrael Brog told an amazing story that took place recently. The rabbi, with Hashem's help, opened many kolelim in Eretz Yisrael this past year. The way he did it was by approaching individuals and asking them if they would be interested in opening a kollel for very chashuv learners. People would often respond that they had never heard of sponsoring an entire kollel on their own. The rabbi would then gently explain: if a person can own multiple homes by himself, he can certainly consider owning a kollel by himself as well. He would describe the tremendous zechut of supporting twenty to thirty scholars who are learning Torah full-time. Baruch Hashem, to date, he successfully established ten different kolelim. For the eighth kollel, the man he approached was convinced and agreed to take it upon himself. He committed to sending tens of thousands of dollars each month, every ערב ראש חודש . The rabbi told him, "You are fortunate to have the zechut to support Torah in such a way." A few weeks later, ערב ראש חודש arrived, and the money had still not come. The rabbi called the man and said, "Shalom Aleichem, Eli." The person on the other end replied, "My name is not Eli. It's Yonasan." The rabbi immediately apologized for dialing the wrong number and then proceeded to call Eli. Eli answered and explained that he felt bad, but the month had not gone as expected financially. He admitted that he had jumped into the commitment too quickly and now wished to withdraw. Instead of pleading with him—even though he was now left with a tremendous financial obligation—the rabbi simply responded, "I am sorry that you do not have the merit to own your own kollel. But I bless you that in the future, you should merit it." The Rebbetzin, who had overheard the conversation, asked her husband what he was planning to do about the large sum of money that was now missing. The rabbi replied with a remarkable display of bitachon: "Do you think Hashem will not take care of me? He has taken care of me my entire life. Why should this be any different?" He then began to think about whom he should call. Perhaps, he thought, Hashem had already prepared the salvation—even before he realized that Eli had backed out—by causing him to dial that wrong number. After all, what are the chances that he would call from Cleveland to New York and mistakenly reach a fellow Jew who introduced himself as Yonasan? The rabbi called that number again. He began, "I just called you a few minutes ago by mistake—" The man quickly interrupted him. "Please stop right there. My rabbi taught me that there is no such thing as a mistake in this world. Everything is מן השמים ." The rabbi smiled and said, "I like your rabbi. What is his name?" The man replied, "Rabbi Yisrael Brog." At that point, Rabbi Brog introduced himself. He then said, "I have no doubt that you are the one Hashem has in mind to open this kollel." Yonasan responded immediately, "I agree with you one hundred percent, Rabbi." The rabbi explained that the cost would be tens of thousands of dollars each month. Yonasan answered calmly, "Yes, I know. That's fine." The rabbi, surprised, asked him, "Do you always have that kind of money available?" Yonasan replied, "Because of you, Rabbi—now I do." He then explained. A few months earlier, he had heard a class given by Rabbi Brog. Someone had asked whether it would be wise to open a second business when he already had one successful business. The rabbi answered with a mashal from the Chafetz Chaim. It is like a person who has a barrel of wine with one spigot. If he opens a second spigot, it will not increase the amount of wine—it will only cause the wine to flow out faster. So too, if a person has a functioning business, Hashem will send him everything that is destined for him through that business. Opening another one will not increase his income; it will only spread his efforts. The rabbi concluded that investing significant time and energy into a second business would be foolish. Yonasan said that he already had a successful family business, and about a year earlier, they had opened a second business that was also doing very well. Not wanting to act foolishly, he shared the class with his brothers, and together they decided that all the profits from the second business would be dedicated solely to supporting Torah. "That," Yonasan concluded, "is why the money is available." He then added, "Hashem used you to prepare the funds that you would eventually need." The yeshuah that the rabbi experienced was truly extraordinary. He trusted that Hashem would take care of him—and Hashem showed him, clearly and openly, that He does.

We are living through a time when the Yad Hashem is being revealed in a very obvious way. Thousands of missiles have been fired toward Eretz Yisrael. Missiles designed to destroy, to devastate, and רחמנא ליצלן cause unimaginable loss of life. And yet, the numbers tell a story that defies all logic. We are witnessing open miracles. Missiles landing in areas that should have been crowded, and somehow they were left completely empty. Buildings taking direct hits with people inside who walk away unscathed. Sirens going off seconds before impact, giving people just enough time to reach safety. A rabbi from Bnei Brak told me that on Pesach, he felt like he was experiencing miracles similar to those of Yetziat Mitzrayim. He felt the ground shaking all around his neighborhood from explosions, and not one of them caused even a single injury. Part of a cluster bomb landed directly on top of a yeshiva, but it never exploded. A man from Bnei Brak said that on one Shabbat, he was sitting in his home, peacefully immersed in the study of Torah. His son's family was staying with them, and the atmosphere was perfectly suited for a calm, beautiful Shabbat afternoon. But at 4:30, suddenly, he was startled by a tremendous explosion. He immediately realized it was not just a distant interception, but rather a direct impact somewhere very close. He opened the door to his room, and to his horror, black smoke immediately rushed in, accompanied by the smell of fire. He was stunned. The missile had hit his home. He managed to reach the hallway near the living room, and there he saw his son, completely white from head to toe, covered in thick dust. Around them was devastation. In a matter of seconds, the entire house had become a pile of ruins. A fear of Hashem overtook them, and in the midst of it, he stood alive next to his son, who was also alive—and then his grandson joined them as well. They looked around and saw that what was once a home had turned into nothing, and they were unable to comprehend the open miracle of how, in the midst of destruction, their lives were spared. They felt the hashgachah peratit crying out from every shard of glass, every piece of concrete, and every fragment of metal. The missile had landed in the very room where his son and grandson had been learning. He discovered afterward that his other children were alive on the balcony. His son-in-law lived in the apartment above, and all ten windows in both of their living rooms had shattered completely, flying apart with tremendous force. The concrete ceiling had broken apart, and huge, terrifying, heavy chunks of concrete hung in the air, supported only by iron rods that managed to hold them. They felt the words of a pasuk in Tehillim: יִפֹּל מִצִּדֶּךָ אֶלֶף וּרְבָבָה מִימִינֶךָ אֵלֶיךָ לֹא יִגָּשׁ -"A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right, but it will not come near you" Everyone survived—including a one-and-a-half-year-old baby who had been sleeping, his daughter-in-law and her newborn, as well as her son and two daughters who were staying with them. Not only did they survive, not even one drop of blood was drawn from them. There were also twenty people caught in the stairwell trying to get to a safe room, and none of them were harmed. It was so clear that Hashem was protecting them. The hashgachah that Hashem has upon His children is truly amazing. A rabbi from Eretz Yisrael told me that this past year there was an avrech who learns full-time in a kollel standing at the checkout line in a grocery store, and the cashier told him he owed 1,500 shekels. The man on line behind him said he wanted to pay it. The avrech thanked him and said he was okay paying himself. The man insisted, and then explained that he works with the Iron Dome. Other countries have asked Israel to help them set up the same system in their countries, and he is very involved in this. However, those countries—such as Azerbaijan—have only about a 50 percent success rate, while in Israel it is over 90 percent. It is the exact same system. There is no rational explanation. He said, "It must be in the zechut of people like you, who are protecting us with your Torah learning. That is why I want to pay your bill." The Yad Hashem is so clear and so obvious. Let us appreciate how much He is always protecting us.

The pasuk says that the Jewish people cried out to Hashem in tefillah during their harsh slavery in Mitzrayim, and Hashem heard their tefillot and remembered the treaty He made with Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, and then He redeemed them. Although Chazal tell us many reasons for what brought about the ge'ulah from Mitzrayim—such as the emunah that they had in Hashem, the merit of the righteous women, the fact that they stayed separate in name, language, and dress, that they remained morally pure, and that they did not speak lashon hara—it seems from the pasuk that the final catalyst to bring the ge'ulah was their prayers. It is brought down in the sefer Chafetz Chaim al HaTorah that toward the end of the Chafetz Chaim's life, at a seudah shelishit on Parashat Shemot in front of many gedolim, the Rav said, "that it is known the Jewish people were finally redeemed from Mitzrayim because of their tefillot. And we have a tradition from the Navi Micha that our future redemption will be just like the one from Mitzrayim, as it says: כִּימֵי צֵאתְךָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם אַרְאֶנּוּ נִפְלָאוֹת In Mitzrayim, everything was ready for the ge'ulah to happen. Moshe Rabbeinu was already born, and everything was in place. Yet it appears from the pesukim that without tefillah, they would not have been redeemed. All Hashem was waiting for was His children to cry out to Him that they wanted to be redeemed. For our ge'ulah, which we hope will come very soon, our tefillot are essential to bring it about. It could be that everything is ready, and all that is necessary is our tefillot to finish it off. Therefore, I am going to travel to the Gadol Hador, Rav Chaim Ozer, and ask him to tell Klal Yisrael to strengthen themselves in prayer for the ge'ulah, and then we will finally be zoche to be redeemed from this long and bitter exile." After seudah shelishit, the Chafetz Chaim told the chazan in the shul to go a little quicker so he could leave to go see Rav Chaim Ozer. In the end, the Chafetz Chaim's family convinced him not to travel due to the life danger it would pose at his advanced age. So the Chafetz Chaim told someone to send a message to Rav Shimon Shkop to tell him to go instead. However, due to technical difficulties, that did not happen either. After the Chafetz Chaim found out that nobody went to Rav Chaim Ozer, he said, "We just missed an opportune time for the ge'ulah." The message of the Chafetz Chaim at that time is actually a Midrash in Shemot Rabbah, which quotes Hashem as saying that when the Jewish people cry out to Me, their salvation will come. That is what happened by the burning bush, that is what happened during the days of Gidon, and that is what will happen for the final ge'ulah to take place. We are still in the month of Nisan, which Chazal tell us is a very opportune time for ge'ulah. There are major things going on in the world at large, with a focus on Eretz Yisrael. Who knows what kind of opportunity we have at this time. It is incumbent upon all of us to strengthen ourselves and pray for the ge'ulah shelemah. We put so much emphasis on praying for things that we need—like parnassah, refuah, and shidduchim. We cry and beg Hashem for salvations, but we must not put any less effort into praying for the ge'ulah shelemah. It is going to be our prayers that will produce the moment that all of Klal Yisrael has been anticipating since the beginning of time. The Mashiach may very well be here and waiting. It is up to us to make it happen. Let us put more focus in the Amidah on the berachot that have to do with the ge'ulah, and be'ezrat Hashem, Hashem will hear His children crying out to Him and give us the Mashiach Tzidkeinu b'karov. Amen

One of the lessons we learn from Yitziat Mitzrayim is never to despair no matter how bad things seem to get. When Moshe Rabbenu first informed the Jewish People that they were going to be redeemed from their torturous slavery, things only got much worse. And even when the makot finally began, the Jewish People still had to wait an entire year to be freed. Sometimes the process of salvation takes time but we must consider the fact that the wheels may already be in motion to salvation and our emunah to keep going and do the best we can in our avodat Hashem will only hasten that process. Sometimes it is precisely our ability to move forward during the hard times that ultimately proves to be our merit to gaining salvation. There was an 8 th grade girl with exceptional middot but had very poor grades. And because her grades were so bad, she had a very hard time getting accepted into a high school. The high school that all her friends were going to rejected her and no matter how hard her parents tried to get the school to change its mind, they were adamant about their decision. When the new school year came around, this girl had nowhere to go. Her parents felt dejected and their spirits were broken, but the girl herself was still in good spirits. On the first day of school, she decided she wanted to be productive and so she volunteered at one of the local hospitals. She spent the day tending to a sick girl, a little younger than her, and was able to lift her spirits a lot. That afternoon when she was about to leave, a woman entered the room and was happily greeted by the patient. The woman was the patient's grandmother. She asked the other girl why she wasn't in school. The girl was a little embarrassed to admit the truth, but she told her it was because she couldn't get into high school. The woman said to her, "As of tomorrow, you will be in school." Turned out, this woman was the principal of the school which all her friends got accepted to. Now, seeing her superlative middot , she changed her decision and she accepted her despite her poor grades. This girl's ability to keep going happily, despite her rejection, was the catalyst to her salvation. On Erev Pesach of 2021, an avrech from Elad, who moved to Israel from France, was given a very large food package as a gift to help him for the holiday. In addition, he was given two pounds of hand made matzot with an excellent hechsher . He was very grateful to the generous donor who gave that to him, but he had already bought all of the matzot that he needed for the holiday and really didn't need these. He asked his friends and neighbors if they needed any and they replied they already had. That afternoon, his wife asked him to pick up something from the store. He was almost sure the store would be closed, being that it was already 1:45 in the afternoon, but he went anyway. When he arrived, he saw the store was closed and got back into his car, but before he pulled away, he noticed another man knocking on the store window, which caught his attention. He got out of his car and asked that man what he needed. The man replied, his boss made him stay at work extra and he didn't get a chance to buy matzot yet for the Seder. He said when he saw the store was closed, he didn't want to give up, he was hoping maybe someone would still be inside and would open the door for him, so he knocked. The avreich told him not to worry, to follow him to his house because he had two pounds of matzot there that he could give him. The avreich was so happy when he gave that man the matzot, he told his Rabbi the story that night in shul. The Rabbi told him, if that man would have just left the store without knocking, you would have never noticed him and you would have left and he wouldn't have gotten matzot. In truth, Hashem had matzot set aside for him in Elad. When he didn't give up, but rather knocked on the door making that extra effort, then he was able to access the gift that Hashem had waiting for him. Our ability to always be hopeful and do our jobs happily, despite going through difficulties will truly make us great. Shabbat Shalom.

We say in the Haggadah that if Hashem did not take us out of Mitzrayim, we would still have been slaves to Pharaoh there. The mefarshim ask: didn't Hashem promise Abraham that He would redeem his children from Mitzrayim after 400 years? So even if we did not leave early at 210 years, Hashem would still have had to redeem us eventually. So how could we say that we would still be slaves there even until today? The Beit HaLevi answers based on the words of the Arizal, who said that if the Jewish people would have remained in Mitzrayim any longer than they did, they would have sunk into the fiftieth level of tumah. At that point, they would have lost their connection to the holy Avot and would no longer be considered the zaro(seed) of Abraham, similar to Esav and Yishmael. In that state, indeed, they would never have been redeemed. Rav Leib Chasman writes that we see from here the awesome power of a moment in time. Instead of being stuck in Mitzrayim on the fiftieth level of tumah, Hashem rushed the Jewish people out of there at the last moment. They then became elevated to be the Am Hashem for all eternity and to receive the Torah at Har Sinai. How quickly things can change in just a single moment. When a person is going through a hard time and it seems like things will never change, he must strengthen his hope and belief that Hashem can change everything in a moment. A man related that he was working in an office with little potential for growth. There were days when he would sit for hours upon hours with nothing to do. His boss kept telling him things were going to change, but they never did. He had no choice but to send his resume to other companies. He was told about a great job opportunity at a wholesale company and quickly sent his resume there. They called him shortly afterward, saying it looked like the position was already being filled. He found himself once again stuck in a job with little potential, and there were not many good options available. One day, he said to himself, "I am exactly where Hashem wants me to be, and therefore I have to do whatever work I have with joy." As he was waiting for instructions from his boss that day, he called a hotline and listened to a few clips on emunah. He became so encouraged. He walked down the hallway of that office building feeling so happy. At that moment, he received a call saying that the other job was available and that they wanted him. It was an amazing offer with a very high salary. He became so strengthened, seeing the hand of Hashem pulling him out of a job he was not happy with to a job that was perfect for him. All it took was one moment. A young woman shared that this past year she began reading a book on emunah to give her strength while going through shidduchim. Recently, she realized she was getting close to the end of the book and was dating a boy very seriously. She was thinking to herself how nice it would be if she could finish the book right as she got engaged. But a couple of days later, they both realized they were not for each other, and it ended. It was obviously very disappointing for her. She then pictured herself having to start the book all over again once she finished, needing the strength to continue on. However, Hashem, in His infinite kindness, sent her the boy that was meant for her literally the next day. Baruch Hashem, they had a very smooth and quick dating experience, and she finished the book just as she got engaged to him. She thought there would be no way for that to happen, as she was nearing the end of the book with nothing to look forward to. And then, all of a sudden, in one moment, Hashem sent her the greatest yeshuah, and she celebrated her engagement shortly afterward. So much can happen in one moment of time. We must never underestimate the ability of Hashem to give us the most glorious salvations in the blink of an eye.

Part of our responsibility in bringing the Geulah Shalema is to yearn for it, to believe that it could happen at any moment, especially now in Nisan, the month of Geulah. In Mitzrayim, they were redeemed even though they were still worshipping idols, almost on the forty-ninth level of tum'ah. In Sefer Shoftim, Perek ו׳, it says that at one point in history, the Jewish people were being persecuted by the Midyanim for seven years because of their bad deeds, yet even while they were still involved in worshipping avodah zarah, they cried out to Hashem for help, and Hashem redeemed them in a miraculous way. We must believe today that no matter what level the people are on, the moment Hashem decides to bring the Geulah, it will come. The Midrash on the words "מְדַלֵּג עַל הֶהָרִים מְקַפֵּץ עַל הַגְּבָעוֹת " says that in Mitzrayim, because Hashem desired to redeem His people, He broke the rules and redeemed them early, even though they were not on the level to be redeemed. When an angel of Hashem appeared to Gidon to tell him he was chosen to save the Jewish people from the Midyanim, he was commanded to take a bull that his father fattened for avodah zarah for seven years and offer that to Hashem. Even though generally it is forbidden to bring such an animal as a korban, Hashem made an exception, breaking the rules because He desired His people. Although the Jews were still worshipping the sheep in Mitzrayim, He told them to bring that as a korban to Him, once again breaking the rules because ahavah mekalkellet et hashurah—love causes one to act beyond the normal course.The same is true regarding Hashem's love for us. When the Jewish people were redeemed from Mitzrayim, it was obvious that Hashem was doing it. When Hashem told Gidon to wage battle against the Midyanim, He told him to take only three hundred people, in order that they would not glorify themselves, thinking they achieved the victory. Part of Geulah is us understanding that Hashem is the One bringing it. As Rabbi Menashe Reizman pointed out, a person does not have to be a great mekubal to see how Hashem has been controlling events over the past few years. On October 7th, He showed us that we have no power on our own to defend ourselves. And after that, He has given us extraordinary siyata diShmaya to overcome our enemies. Recently, He has brought America to act on our behalf and fight our battle for us. We must understand—we are completely in the hands of Hashem. He does not need missiles or warplanes to wage war, but He chooses to act through the derech ha'teva. It is apparent from the words of the Ramchal that our final redemption will come through derech ha'teva. Mashiach may not necessarily raise his staff and block missiles from Iran, but rather, when the Megillah is written about our times, it will say "that in such and such a year, Hashem put it in the minds of wise men to create a system called the Iron Dome that would knock down the missiles of our enemies. And Hashem made wondrous miracles, knocking down all those missiles and protecting His people." We are witnessing today miraculous salvations—a full month of ballistic missiles being fired, each one that could, lo alenu, be catastrophic—and our people are still rejoicing in their preparations for Pesach, still living everyday life, feeling protected, learning Torah, and praying stronger than ever. We hope in the coming days to see the ultimate yeshuah and celebrate the Geulah Shalema. Amen.

This week is Parashat Tzav as well as Shabbat HaGadol . On Shabbat HaGadol , the final Shabbat that the Jewish People were in Mitzrayim , Hashem commanded them to begin the process of offering the Korban Pesach . Why did Hashem command the Jews to take the sheep for the korban four days before they were going to offer it? The Midrash answers, the time of the Geula had arrived but the Jews did not have the merits to be redeemed so Hashem gave them an additional commandment regarding the korban to help them. Look how precious a mitzvah is! Even the preparation of the Korban Pesach was able to give the Jews the merit to be redeemed. The parshiot we are reading now are discussing the korbanot . The pasuk says when a Jew brought a korban, it was considered a ריח ניחוח לה' – it brought up a pleasing aroma to Hashem. What did Hashem love so much about a korban ? Perhaps we can explain from a question asked by the Acharonim : Why is it that the construction of the Mishkan did not override Shabbat while the offering of korbanot did? Seemingly, the building of a home for the Shechina to dwell in should be more important than offering sacrifices there. Rabbi Menashe Reizman quoted the sefer Nachat Yaakov who answered that the construction of the Mishkan was primarily done by Hashem. It was not humanly possible for a person to put it up, as the pasuk says הוקם המשכן. Many of the vessels as well were made by Hashem. The Menorah, for example, Hashem told Moshe to throw it into a fire and the Menorah came out. All the embroidery was miraculously made. Regarding the construction of the Second Beit HaMikdash, there were enormous stones, some 30 feet tall. How was it possible for a person to lift them so high upon a wall. The Yerushalmi says, when the people made the effort, Hashem miraculously lifted those stones for them. So therefore, since the Mishkan and the Beit HaMikdash were made by Hashem, although it was very important to Him, that did not override Shabbat. The korbanot , however, were performed exclusively by us. All of the difficult tasks involved in bringing a korban were done by the sweat of the people and Hashem loved their deeds so much. He loves when we put toil in to fulfill a mitzvah. That is what is so precious to Him and that even overrides Shabbat. Although today we cannot put in the same efforts of offering an actual korban , there's still a lot that we can do. The Midrash at the beginning of this week's parasha brings a mashal about a king who was traveling through the desert and his good friend came there to give him a basket of figs and a barrel of wine. The king told him, "You have honored me greatly by coming all the way here to give these thing to me." The friend replied, "My master, the King, this is just a small token of the honor that I want to give you. When you come back to your palace, you'll see there how much honor I'm really going to give you." That's the mashal. The nimshal is Hashem tells us, "זאת תורת העולה – You have honored Me by bringing a korban olah ." And we tell Hashem, "This is just a small token of the honor that we're capable of bringing You. When You come back to Your palace, there we're going to give You the real honor." This Midrash is obviously talking about today's time when we can't offer a real korban . So what temporary honor are we giving Hashem? Learning about the korbanot , drawing lessons from the korbanot . That in it of itself is so precious to Hashem and He considers it like we are honoring Him. But we tell Hashem, "Soon, when You bring back the Beit HaMikdash, there we're going to truly honor You, the way we're supposed to." As for today, we're still learning the lessons of korbanot , we're seeing how precious the nitty gritty involvement of a Jew in a mitzvah is to Hashem. We hope that just like Shabbat HaGadol was the last Shabbat for the Jews in Mitzrayim , so too it will be our last Shabbat in this long exile. B'ezrat Hashem, we should see the rebuilding of the Beit HaMikdash and be able to bring Hashem true glory inside of it. Shabbat Shalom.

The Sefer HaBatim writes regarding the mitzvah of Sippur Yetziat Mitzrayim on the night of the Seder, that in this mitzvah, number 150, we are commanded to speak about how Hashem took us out of Mitzrayim in order to strengthen our emunah in the hashgachah of Hashem upon us and in the wonders that He performs. This means that one of the primary messages we are meant to internalize on the night of the Seder is that Hashem runs the world and everything that takes place within it. On the night of the Seder, there is a special segulah for emunah that we can take with us for the rest of the year. The same divrei Torah that a person can say at any time during the year carries even greater value on the night of the Seder, when the matzah and maror are placed before us. It is certainly important to strengthen ourselves all year long in emunah in Hashem's hashgachah, but on the night of the Seder, we are able to receive the ultimate strength in it. It becomes so clear how much Hashem is involved in even the smallest details of our lives. Michael Cohen, the head of the Mitzvah Man organization, related that he received a phone call asking if he could help a woman who was living in a small apartment with three young children. She did not have a washer and dryer, and three times a week she had to take her children to a laundromat and wait there for an hour or two until the laundry was done. She needed a special washer-dryer unit that would fit into her small apartment. It was called a gas top-loaded dryer. The caller asked Michael if he happened to know anyone who had such a machine available for donation. He replied that he had never even heard of such a thing and did not know anyone who would have one. The very next day, he received an email from someone who owned an appliance store in the neighborhood that was going out of business. The man wrote that the only item left in the entire store was a gas top-loaded dryer, and he was wondering if Michael knew anyone who might need it. Michael could not believe what he was reading. Within a day, the machine was installed in the woman's apartment, and she had tears of joy as she thanked everyone involved, knowing she would no longer have to struggle to do her laundry. The hashgachah of Hashem is truly remarkable. Another woman related that she had received hand-me-down dining room chairs a couple of years earlier. One day, as she walked past them, she thought to herself that they could really use an update. She did not mention this thought to anyone. Three days later, someone texted her a picture of a set of gently used dining room chairs, asking if she would like them. She felt as if she had received a gift directly from Hashem, Who alone knows a person's thoughts and desires. Another woman said that she later realized she had not given proper kavod to a certain Rosh Yeshivah. Every time she thought about it, she felt a deep discomfort. After several months, she began praying to Hashem to give her an opportunity to ask forgiveness. Shortly afterward, she was with her sister, who asked her for a favor. Her sister had an important meeting that she could not reschedule, but at the same time she had a phone meeting with someone else who was supposed to help her with a certain matter. She asked her to answer the call on her behalf. Astonishingly, the call came in from that very Rosh Yeshivah from whom she had been hoping to ask forgiveness. She immediately took the opportunity and apologized. How could such a thing happen? How does a random woman get the chance to speak directly to a Rosh Yeshivah at just the right moment? The answer is clear — the hashgachah of Hashem is everywhere. The more we look for it, the more we will see it.

Yesterday we spoke about the feeling of rejection when it comes to relationships between people. Unfortunately, there are those who feel rejected by Hashem as well. They have been praying and improving for years, yet they have not seen the results they were hoping for. They begin to wonder if Hashem truly appreciates their efforts, and some even entertain thoughts of stopping. There are those who have already stopped praying altogether, thinking that Hashem is not interested in their tefillot. If they would only know how much they are accomplishing with their tefillot and good deeds, and how much Hashem cherishes everything they do, they would be running to continue. Not being answered is not an indication that Hashem does not love their tefillot — it is just the opposite. Sarah Imenu was not answered for decades, and Chazal teach that Hashem delayed because He desired her prayers so much. When Kayin felt rejected by Hashem, he committed a terrible aveirah. Yet Hashem Himself told him, " למה חרה לך ולמה נפלו פניך… אם תיטיב שאת " — why are you upset? I am not rejecting you. All you need to do is improve. Hashem never rejects anyone. At one point, a heavenly voice was heard regarding Elisha Acher, saying that everyone is welcome back except him. Acher had committed extremely grave sins. Yet the Reshit Chochmah writes that even that heavenly voice did not mean that Hashem did not want him back. In the end, he was accepted in the upper worlds, even without doing teshuvah — and certainly had he done teshuvah, he would have been accepted even more so. That heavenly voice was a test. He was meant to respond, "No — I still want to come back." As Chazal teach, כֹּל מַה שֶׁיֹּאמַר לְךָ בַּעַל הַבַּיִת עֲשֵׂה, חוּץ מִצֵּא , whatever the Baal HaBayit tells us to do, we must follow — except if he tells us to leave, then we do not go. Hashem is the ultimate Baal HaBayit, and even when it appears as if He is pushing us away, it is only a test. Hashem desires every Jew to be close to Him. His love for us is beyond comprehension. We may not understand His ways, but we know with certainty that He always wants us. If we would understand even a fraction of how much He desires our avodah, we would serve Him with far greater enthusiasm. Rabbi Ephraim Wachsman told a story about a man we will call Reuven, who hired a well-known singer to perform at his daughter's wedding. A few weeks later, another man, Yehuda, called that same singer to ask if he was available for his daughter's wedding — which happened to be scheduled for the very same night. The singer declined. Yehuda wanted this singer very badly and asked for Reuven's number. He called Reuven and offered to pay for another singer if he would be willing to give up his booking. Reuven politely declined. Yehuda then offered to pay part of the wedding expenses. Again, Reuven declined. Eventually, Yehuda even offered to pay for the entire wedding — and still, Reuven refused. Yehuda was astonished and asked him to explain. Reuven answered that when his father had been ill, his mother cared for him tirelessly, day and night. The entire family felt tremendous gratitude toward her. When she heard the name of this singer, she remarked how meaningful it would be if he could perform at the wedding. "For me," Reuven said, "having this singer at the wedding is kibbud em. There is no amount of money that would make me give that up." The singer later said that when he performed at that wedding, he sang with more heart and enthusiasm than ever before, because he understood how much they wanted him and what they were willing to give up for him to be there. When a person feels wanted, his performance is on an entirely different level. If we would only realize how much Hashem wants our avodah, we would serve Him with that same excitement. Hashem never rejects anyone — it may appear that way sometimes. In truth, He is waiting to see that even without the results we hope for, we continue striving to come closer. And when we do, our reward becomes infinitely greater, allowing us to merit closeness to Hashem for all eternity.

As I was speaking to different people about the various issues they were going through, it struck me that all of them, deep down, were suffering from the same kind of pain. One person was struggling with shidduchim, another was having difficulty finding a job, another was dealing with family issues, and the list goes on. Yet beneath all these different situations, there was one common thread — the pain of feeling rejected or excluded. The hurt of feeling unwanted was just as painful as not being married or not having an income. In fact, studies have shown that the same regions of the brain that become active when a person experiences physical pain also become active when someone experiences social rejection. Even a brief moment of rejection can sting — for example, when a phone call is declined or when someone passes by without acknowledging us. All the more so when friends gather and one person is not invited, when teams are formed and one individual is left out, or when a party is planned and someone is not included on the guest list. All of these experiences can cause deep emotional pain. The Gemara tells us that Rachel, the daughter of Kalba Savua, wanted to marry Akiva the shepherd because she recognized his great qualities, even though at that time he was unlearned. Tosafot ask that there is another Gemara in which Rabbi Akiva says about himself that before he became learned, he wanted to bite Torah scholars like a donkey bites — which seems to indicate that he did not have good character. Rabbeinu Tam answers that in truth he did possess good character, but he became angry at the Torah scholars because he felt that, since he was an am ha'aretz, they were distancing themselves from him. In other words, he felt rejected by them. In general, when a person feels rejected, it causes him pain, and naturally a person tends to dislike someone who causes him pain. People have a deep need to feel wanted, accepted, and included, and when that need is not fulfilled, it creates real suffering. How is a person supposed to deal with this pain? Fortunately, we know that every amount of pain a person experiences is precisely calculated and given by Hashem for his benefit. The Chovot HaLevavot teaches us that people are not truly capable of hurting us; they are merely messengers of Hashem. When a person experiences rejection, he should not think that there is something inherently wrong with him. Rather, he should believe that Hashem determined that he needed to be excluded at that moment for his own good. When someone is rejected in shidduchim, it is because those individuals are not the ones Hashem intended for him or her. When someone is turned down for a job, it is because Hashem knows that position is not good for him. It is true that a person does not necessarily need to experience rejection in order to get married or find employment, but if he does go through it, it is because that experience is necessary for his growth and benefit. The Reshit Chochmah writes that when it comes to kaparah, emotional pain can accomplish even more than physical pain, and if a person is embarrassed, it can erase countless sins. We do not fully understand all the benefits of suffering, especially emotional suffering, but when we trust that Hashem knows what is best for us, it becomes easier to bear. Moreover, when a person feels rejected, instead of remaining stuck in the pain, he should channel those feelings into heartfelt tefillah to Hashem. Leah Imenu felt tremendous pain when Yaakov chose Rachel over her. What did she do with that pain? She turned to Hashem and cried out for children and blessing. As a result, she merited to have six of the twelve shevatim. She became the mother of the bechor, the mother of the kohanim and levi'im, the mother of the kings, and the mother of Mashiach Tzidkeinu. Feeling excluded or rejected may be very painful, but we must remember that it is always for our ultimate good, and if we respond correctly, we can gain immeasurably from it.

The salvations of Hashem can always come in an instant. Our belief and hope in Hashem's ability to help us is a very important part of our service to Him. It never matters if it looks like we can or cannot be helped, and it never matters how long we have already waited. Hashem can always bring salvations in the simplest ways. A woman related that after twenty-one weeks of pregnancy, her doctor suddenly told her that she was at high risk of giving birth too early for the baby to survive. She reached out to Jewish organizations for help in finding a specialist, but they were unable to find anyone for her. The community organized a tehillim group on her behalf, and a couple of weeks later her doctor transferred her to a hospital closer to her home, which he believed had a better team of doctors to handle her specific issue. Once she was admitted, the first doctor she saw told her that she was in the middle of conducting a research study on the very condition she had. She explained that this woman was a perfect candidate to try a procedure that had never been done this late in pregnancy. No other hospital in the country would have offered her this procedure. Baruch Hashem, it was performed successfully, and the baby was born perfectly healthy after a full nine months and two days. The hospital, which was literally a five-minute drive from her house, was the one that Hashem brought her to in order to save her baby. A man related that he had a tenant living in his basement for five years. The first three years were good, but then one day the tenant became angry with them and stopped paying rent. For the last two years, they suffered a great deal of aggravation from him. He turned the basement into a disaster; it became completely unrecognizable. It was an illegal apartment, and since the tenant knew that in the laws of New York they often side with tenants, he took full advantage of the situation. On one occasion, he even called the police and had their twenty-year-old son arrested, claiming that he had scratched him — which was completely fabricated. The hot water tank was accessible only through the basement, and out of spite he repeatedly shut it off. The police told the family they were not allowed to enter because he was living there. This past year, from after Yom Kippur until after Sukkot, they had no hot water at all and had to go to neighbors to use their shower. No one was able to help them with this. All the lawyers they contacted said that the tenant had the upper hand and that they would have to comply with whatever he demanded. Recently, this man decided to strengthen his belief in Hashem's power to help him. He worked on his emunah, bitachon, and tefillah. The tenant, wanting to aggravate them even more, called HPD to complain that he was not getting hot water. The next day, inspectors came down to check the property, and when they saw that it was illegal, they told the tenant he had to vacate within two weeks. They posted a notice and left, but he tore it down. Two weeks later, they returned with the police and the Red Cross. It took three hours to remove him because he resisted, but in the end they succeeded in getting him out. Everyone told the man they had never heard of HPD removing a tenant like that. Here, Hashem used the tenant himself to bring about their salvation and remove him. Another man related that he had been without an income for a couple of years, and with a large family his situation had become very difficult. He had sent out his résumé to over twenty companies and received little to no response. Recently, he accepted upon himself to add a significant amount of hours to his Torah study. After that, the salvation came quickly. The very next day, he ran into a friend who had no connections at all in the business world. He was a rabbi in a yeshivah and certainly did not seem like a useful resource for finding a job. But the man said to himself, Hashem is the One who gives me parnassah — it does not matter whom I ask. He told this rabbi that he was looking for a job. The rabbi replied that he knew of a company that was desperately looking for someone, and he made the connection. Within a week, the man had the job. Salvation can always come in any form. It is up to us to believe it and to feel it in our hearts.

The pasuk says in this week's parasha Vayikra , אדם כי יקריב מכם קרבן לה' מן הבהמה מן הבקר ומן הצאן" תקריבו את קרבנכם– when a man brings a korban from amongst you to Hashem, it should come from animals, either cattle or flock." The mefarshim are bothered by the placement of the word מכם – from you. Seemingly, it should have said "אדם מכם כי יקריב קרבן – a person from amongst you who brings a korban ." One explanation given is that Hashem is telling us, when we give a korban, He doesn't just want an animal, rather אדם כי יקריב מכם קרבן – He wants us to sacrifice of ourselves as well. How so? מן הבהמה – we need to go against our animalistic natures. מן הבקר – refers to the animals who are bold, we need to go against our bold nature when it comes to avodat Hashem. And מן הצאן refers to animals who are bashful, we need to go against our bashful nature when it comes to avodat Hashem. For example, if someone has the opportunity to help the masses but he feels, "Who am I? It's not my place." That is when he needs to go against his bashful nature and say, "I'm doing the will of Hashem and this is what it calls for me to do." And if someone was wronged or shamed, and he could easily get back at that person who inflicted the harm, that is when he needs to sacrifice his brazen nature and instead act humbly, like Hashem wants, and keep quiet. Although we are not able to physically bring korbanot today in the Beit HaMikdash, we could offer korbanot of ourselves all the time by overcoming our nature to do the will of Hashem. If someone has been praying for something for a long time, and instead of his situation improving, it only got worse, his inclination will tell him, "Why bother? Prayer is not helping anyway." At that moment, he has an opportunity to offer a korban to Hashem and say to himself, " Tefila is what Hashem wants from me. Although I don't feel like doing it, I'm going to go against my inclination and I'm going to continue praying with all of my heart." If someone has been trying to get married for years without success, his inclination will tell him, "There's no point in continuing to try, nothing's working anyway." At that moment, he can offer a korban to Hashem and say, "It's the will of Hashem for me to get married, and therefore I'm never going to stop trying. If someone was having trouble conceiving and then, after a long difficult process, when she was about to give birth to a child, lo alenu , she lost it. Her inclination might tell her, "How can I ever go through that again? I have a few children already and Hashem is making it so hard for me to have more. I might as well just stop. Why do I need all this extra pain for nothing?" At that moment, she can go against her inclination and offer a korban to Hashem and say, "I was trying to do Hashem's will by bringing more children into the world. I know Hashem will reward me for every bit of pain that I went through in trying to do His will. Results are not in my control, but efforts are. Hashem always determines what's best for me. And therefore, I'm going to continue trying to do His will, no matter how difficult it is." Each person, in his or her own circumstances, can offer the greatest korbanot to Hashem all of the time. Shabbat Shalom.

The Gemara says, " בניסן נגאלו ובניסן עתידין להיגאל ." In Nisan we were redeemed from Mitzrayim, and in Nisan we will be redeemed again. Just as the אורות הגאולה shone at the time of Yetziat Mitzrayim, so too every year those same lights return, making the month of Nisan an especially auspicious time for geulah. Chazal also teach us that the geulah will come בזכות האמונה . It is through our emunah that we will ultimately merit redemption. We are living in historic times. So much is happening in the world, and especially in Eretz Yisrael. We hope and pray that this will be the month of the final geulah. Now is the time to strengthen ourselves in emunah — emunah that the geulah will come, and emunah that Hashem is controlling everything and doing everything for our good. People who invest time learning emunah and listening to emunah classes become transformed by it. They gain the ability to rise above their circumstances, and their words and attitudes bring tremendous kavod to Hashem. A woman recently described the many hardships she had endured over the past seven years. Naturally, one would expect such a person to break down in tears. Yet instead, she spoke about how much she loves Hashem and how she understands that all of her struggles are shaping her into the person Hashem wants her to be. Her words were incredibly precious. Such strength can only come from deeply internalized emunah. A man shared that last year he flew across the country for crucial business meetings at a time when it seemed his entire livelihood was on the verge of collapse. When he arrived, he was so overwhelmed with anxiety that he could not think clearly. Someone advised him to listen to emunah classes. He locked himself in his room for twenty-four hours, listening continuously. He barely ate or slept, stopping only to pray. By the end of that time, he said he felt emunah flowing through his veins. Strengthened and calm, he entered his meetings with complete trust in Hashem — and he witnessed open miracles. What began as a frightening trip turned into the most successful business experience of his career. A woman told me that a few years ago, her daughter had begun drifting away from her connection to Hashem. Then, on Rosh Chodesh Nisan, while riding an electric scooter to work, she was struck by a car. She was thrown off and lost consciousness. Hatzalah rushed her to the hospital, where doctors discovered five hematomas in her brain. One doctor told the mother that there was a strong chance her daughter would not survive. The mother responded with unwavering confidence: "I know she will live." She explained that she had previously received berachot from Gedolim assuring her that she would yet see nachat from this daughter. "I haven't seen that nachat yet," she said, "so I know she will live." Her Emunat Chachamim was steadfast. That very evening, the girl regained full consciousness. The attending specialist said that in such cases, most patients do not survive, and those who do usually suffer permanent damage. For her to be completely fine was nothing short of an open miracle. The experience awakened something deep within the girl. She chose to spend a year in Eretz Yisrael, where she reconnected and began to grow rapidly. Today, she brings her mother immense nachat — just as the Gedolim had promised. This is the power of emunah. It gives strength, clarity, and brings tremendous kavod to Hashem. Let us take advantage of these powerful days of Nisan and strengthen ourselves in emunah. And with Hashem's help, may we merit to see the complete and final geulah במהרה בימינו אמן .

Somebody recently asked me how it's possible that there are so many stories of hashgachah peratit. I told him, there are millions of stories happening to people every single day. If all those people would relate their stories, there wouldn't be enough paper in the world to contain them. Just the other day, I was walking in a neighborhood that I normally do not frequent, and while there, two people approached me to tell me stories that had happened to them over the past couple of days. If I hadn't been there, they wouldn't have thought to share their stories. They, like millions of others, would have remained unknown. Stories are happening constantly because Hashem is involved in everyone's lives at every moment. The first person told me he is an accountant, and during tax season he often stays late at work. When he stays late, he orders dinner from a nearby restaurant. He enjoys having a Coke with ice with his dinner, so he ordered one with his meal. When the food arrived, he went to the ice machine in his office, but saw that it was broken. It looked like he would have to miss out on the ice that night. However, when he opened the bag from the restaurant, he saw that they had sent him a separate cup filled with ice along with the Coke. He said that in his entire life he had never once received a cup of ice from a restaurant delivery. It felt like a small but personal gesture from Hashem, as if He was saying, "I know you like your drink with ice—I want you to enjoy it tonight." The second person told me that he had learned last year the concept that money spent on Shabbat is not included in the yearly allotment that is determined on Rosh Hashanah, and whatever is spent on Shabbat is always returned. Inspired by this, he decided to host many guests each week and serve the finest foods. From then on, he began spending between two and three thousand dollars every Shabbat. After six months, he began wondering how Hashem would pay him back all that money. Last week, he received a phone call from the homeowner from whom he rents a summer house. He had a four-year agreement and had only used it for two years so far. The homeowner said he wanted to terminate the contract. The man replied that his family loved the house and were looking forward to returning. The homeowner then offered him ten thousand dollars to cancel. He declined. The offer went up to twenty, then thirty, then forty thousand dollars, and he still refused. Finally, the homeowner offered fifty thousand dollars. At that point, his wife told him to accept, and he did. Afterward, he went back and calculated all the extra money he had spent on Shabbat food over the past six months. The total came out to just under fifty thousand dollars. In one moment, he saw clearly how every dollar he spent on Shabbat had been returned to him in a way he never could have imagined. Hashem is involved in everyone's life every minute of the day. When we share these stories, we give others chizuk and help them come closer to Hashem by seeing how much He is involved in every detail. If anyone would like to share their stories, they can email them to livingemunah123@gmail.com If we would only open our eyes, we would see that our lives are filled with endless stories of Hashem's loving Hand.

One of our responsibilities in this world is to care about our fellow Jew and to do whatever we can to help bring them closer to Hashem. Hashem yearns for a relationship with all of His children, and there are so many who do not even know who He is. At times, a person may feel disheartened. He may have tried again and again to influence others in a positive way and yet has not seen any results. The yetzer hara whispers that perhaps his efforts are accomplishing nothing. But the truth is exactly the opposite. The Mishnah in Pirkei Avot teaches: לא עליך המלאכה לגמור ולא אתה בן חורין להיבטל ממנה . It is not upon you to complete the work, but neither are you free to desist from it. Our responsibility is not to produce results. Our responsibility is to make the effort. Results are never in our control, but effort always is. And in the eyes of Hashem, it is the effort that matters most. If a person is fortunate enough to see the fruits of his labor, that is a gift. But very often, those fruits are not seen until much later—sometimes even generations later. The Gemara tells us that in the zechut of the forty-two korbanot that Balak brought, he merited to have Ruth as a descendant. Although his intentions were not pure, he still performed an act that had value, and that act bore fruit years later in a way he could never have imagined. A person's actions always accomplish something, even if he never sees the results. Every effort to bring another Jew closer to Hashem is infinitely precious. When those efforts are done לשם שמים , there is even greater blessing placed upon them. The Gerrer Rebbe had an extraordinary love for Shabbat and worked tirelessly to inspire others to observe it. One of his initiatives was to have women in the community distribute Shabbat candles with matches on Fridays to anyone willing to take them. One day, a completely non-observant couple passed by, and a woman offered them candles for Shabbat. Not wanting to offend her, they took four candles, implying they would use them for two weeks, although in truth they had no intention of lighting them even once. They placed the candles in the backseat of their car and drove away. The husband worked as a tour guide. A few days later, he was leading a group of wealthy tourists to explore a large cave. As they approached the cave, he turned on his flashlight—only to discover that the battery had died. Panic began to set in. He feared the group would be upset and that it would cost him financially. Then he suddenly remembered the candles in his car. He ran back, retrieved them, and divided the group into smaller sections, giving each group a candle to hold. The experience turned out to be far more beautiful than anyone had expected. The soft glow of the candles created an atmosphere that was far more powerful than a simple flashlight. The group was so impressed that they gave him a very generous tip and spoke enthusiastically about the experience. That night, the man began thinking about those candles. He felt that they had brought him unexpected blessing and wanted to understand more about them. He approached a religious Jew and asked about the significance of Shabbat candles. He was told that they bring peace into the home, as light allows a person to function calmly and pleasantly. The man responded that he already had electricity and did not need candles. The other Jew explained that Shabbat candles are not just about light—they create a special atmosphere that honors the sanctity of Shabbat. He invited the man and his wife to join him for a Shabbat meal. They accepted. Experiencing the beauty of Shabbat—the warmth, the singing, the divrei Torah—made a deep impression on them. That single experience became the beginning of a journey that eventually led them to become fully observant. All of this came from a simple act—handing out a few Shabbat candles. That one small effort ultimately brought back not only a couple, but generations that would come from them. We never know the impact of even the smallest action. A word of encouragement, a smile, an invitation, a simple act of care—each one has the potential to change a life. It is not our role to see the results. It is our role to act. Hashem takes those actions and brings them to fruition in ways far beyond what we can imagine.

Chazal tell us that when Mashiach arrives there will be a magnificent seudah known as the Seudat HaLeviathan. At that great meal will be present all the righteous who ever lived—Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov, Moshe and Aharon, together with the great leaders and tzaddikim of all generations. At that seudah, David HaMelech will rise and lead Birkat HaMazon. Afterward, the Ramami Pano writes that Mashiach Tzidkeinu will come out and distribute dessert to everyone present. Those desserts will consist of the fruits that have been growing in Gan Eden since the creation of the world. Originally, Hashem commanded Adam HaRishon to eat from the fruits of Gan Eden, but he was banished before he had the opportunity to do so. Since that time, fruits have been growing in the lower Gan Eden that exists in this world, and they will be distributed to all of Klal Yisrael after Birkat HaMazon at that seudah. Then Mashiach will take out almonds that had been growing on the staff of Aharon HaKohen in the Kodesh HaKodashim and he will make the berachah of boreh peri ha'etz upon them. It is known that almonds have the ability to calm a person from anger. At that moment, all the tension and pain that accumulated during the long exile will instantly disappear. Then Moshe Rabbeinu will appear holding the original Luchot that we were meant to receive. In their merit the knowledge of Torah will reach an unprecedented level. Torah will never again be forgotten. The yetzer hara will be nullified and the malach hamavet will be driven away forever. Those will be the most glorious days in the history of the world. After a period of time living in the era of Mashiach, the next stage—Olam Haba—will begin. The Gemara in Masechet Berachot teaches that in that world there will be no eating and no drinking. Rather, the tzaddikim will sit and derive pleasure from the radiance of the Shechinah. The Or HaChayim writes in Shemot that there is no pleasure in this world that can compare to the pleasure of seeing the Shechinah in the next world. Every Jew longs to merit that experience. Our rabbis explain that just as in order to enjoy food in this world our mouth and throat must function properly, so too in order to experience the spiritual pleasure of the Shechinah, the part of the body through which that pleasure is received must also be spiritually refined. That part of the body is the eyes—the windows to the neshamah. The pasuk in Yeshayahu says: עֹצֵם עֵינָיו מֵרְאוֹת בְּרָע מֶלֶךְ בְּיָפְיוֹ תֶּחֱזֶינָה עֵינֶיךָ "One who closes his eyes from seeing evil—his eyes will behold the King in His beauty." The Midrash explains that this pasuk means that whoever guards his eyes from looking at improper things will merit to see the beauty of the Shechinah. The Gemara in Masechet Kallah teaches that someone who turns away from such aveirot—even if he is an ordinary Yisrael—becomes worthy like a Kohen Gadol offering a korban olah on the mizbeach, and he will merit to benefit from the radiance of the Shechinah like the malachei hasharet. One of the ways of Hashem is that when He wishes to elevate a person to an especially high level, He first gives him a very great test to overcome. For nearly two thousand years the world has been waiting for the rebuilding of the Beit HaMikdash. For generations we have waited for the coming of Mashiach. Now, as we approach the month of Nisan—the time most auspicious for redemption—we are being tested with our eyes more than ever before. Perhaps this is Hashem's call for us to elevate ourselves to greatness and to make our eyes worthy of receiving the ultimate pleasure of basking in the radiance of the Shechinah. Now is our opportunity to shine. If we can guard our own eyes and guide our children away from seeing things they should not see, we can become elevated to the level of the Kohen Gadol. With Hashem's help we will then merit the ultimate reward—our eyes beholding the radiance of the Shechinah for all eternity.

The pasuk says at the beginning of this week's parshiot , ויקהל משה את כל עדת בני ישראל – Moshe gathered the entire nation, men women and children, and repeated the commandments that Hashem gave him regarding the building of the mishkan . The Ramban explains, this gathering took place after they got the second set of luchot and Hashem made a new covenant with them that He would rest His presence amongst them and His love for them returned like it was before they did the sin of the egel . The sefer Imrei Yitzchak asked, if all that took place was that everything was going to go back to the way it was before they did the egel , why did they need a new gathering just to repeat all the details of the commandments again? Why couldn't Moshe just tell the Jewish People we're continuing with the project as originally planned. The Rabbi answered based on the Gemara in Masechet Shabbat which says, when the Jewish People sinned with the egel , it was like a bride being unfaithful to her husband at their own wedding ceremony. In such a situation, it would be impossible for this husband to ever view that bride the same as he did before. Hashem, on the other hand, did something beyond nature. Even after the treacherous sin that His nation committed, once they had made teshuva , He loved them the same, just like he loved them before they committed that sin. And for that, Hashem wanted everyone gathered to publicize that He was going to reside amongst them just like He was going to before. As well,every single detail needed to be reaffirmed that it was going to take place with the same love. It is true that sin distances a person from Hashem, but fortunately for us, Hashem gives us ways to return to Him and have an even greater relationship with Him than we had before the sin. But we have to believe in Hashem's mercy to take us back and we have to believe in our potential to get close to Him, despite our past deeds. Rabbi Nachman Seltzer related a story that Rabbi Roseman told him about himself. Rabbi Roseman was walking home one night from the yeshiva in which he taught and came across two boys standing on the sidewalk talking to each other. One of them, whose name was Shmuli, he knew, but as for the other one, who had long hair and was wearing clothing designed to draw attention, as were the assorted accessories that were on him, he did not know. Shmuli called the Rabbi to come over, mentioning that they were involved in a very important conversation regarding reward and punishment and free will. The Rabbi came and added whatever insights he could on that topic for the next 20 minutes. And then, as he was about to leave, he recalled how a few years earlier he gave a boy off the derech some encouraging words that made a huge impact on his life. And so, he did not want to let this opportunity go by without trying the same. He said to that other boy, Jake, "Before I go, could you please do me a favor?" Jake looked surprised and asked what the Rabbi needed. The Rabbi said, "Can you give me a beracha ? I see that you are going through a challenging time in your life and yet, you are still working very hard to figure out the proper direction to take. The value of this is tremendous. I really want a beracha from you." Jake then rested his hands gently on the Rabbi's head and gave him whatever beracha he could think of, and then they parted ways. Two years later, Shmuli got engaged and invited Rabbi Roseman to the engagement party. At that party, Shmuli was so excited to show Rabbi Roseman a good friend of his. He pointed to Jake, who was then wearing a crisp, white shirt and nice pants and a velvet kippah on his head. Shmuli told the Rabbi, the time that he asked Jake to give him a beracha changed his life. He was able to tap into the holiness of his neshama afterward and he made a complete turn around. Every Jew has endless potential for greatness. Hashem is yearning for everyone to get close to Him. Even if people have fallen in the past, they can still reach levels that are even higher than they could have had they not fallen in the first place. And therefore, everyone is encouraged, no matter what they have done, to come back and be close to Hashem. Shabbat Shalom.

Very often we find ourselves in need of assistance from other people. Sometimes we need to get a meeting with someone. Sometimes we need to find favor in another person's eyes. And sometimes we need someone to help us even though we know that we do not find favor in his eyes. At those moments, we must remember that the main hishtadlut is always with Hashem. He is the only One who determines whether we will receive what we need. He can arrange a meeting. He can place favor in other people's eyes toward us. And He can cause someone to help us even when, naturally speaking, we would not find favor in that person's eyes. A man told me that he had been trying for the longest time to get a meeting with a world-famous company. He felt that if he could obtain their licensing rights, it would completely transform the scope of his business. However, despite all of his efforts, he could not even get a single response from them. Recently, he was visiting a friend's office in Manhattan. While he was there, he received a phone call that seemed as though it would take some time. As he spoke, he began walking around the building aimlessly. A few minutes later, he found himself standing near an elevator. Suddenly the doors opened and a group of people stepped out. They asked him if he knew where a certain office was located. Since he knew the building, he told them it was one floor above. At that moment, he realized that this group represented the very company he had been trying to contact. They had flown in from across the country for a meeting with someone else, but had accidentally gone to the wrong floor. And he happened to be standing there the moment the elevator opened. Among the group he recognized someone he had once known who now worked for the company. He immediately told him how much he had been trying to arrange a meeting. The man replied that he would be happy to help him. Hashem can arrange a meeting even with people who seem completely unreachable. Another man, whom we will call Solomon, told me about a business meeting he recently had with a new buyer from a very large chain store. As they were speaking before the meeting began, they suddenly realized that the gardener who had recently done work at Solomon's home was the buyer's brother. This was not Solomon's usual gardener. He had needed a major job done quickly, and his regular gardener was unable to handle it. The new gardener completed the job, but afterward charged Solomon more than he had originally quoted, explaining that the work had turned out to be much more difficult than expected. Solomon could easily have argued with him about the price. Instead, he simply paid him with a smile. The gardener later told his brother, the buyer, about this incident and how impressed he was that Solomon had paid without complaint. As a result, even before Solomon had begun discussing the product he hoped to sell, he had already found tremendous favor in the buyer's eyes. I read a story about Rabbi Meir Schickman, who spent three years in a ghetto during the Holocaust and was later transferred to a labor camp. Each day the prisoners received only one piece of bread. Usually, people would eat the bread immediately, because if they waited it might be stolen, and going even one day without bread could endanger their lives. Rabbi Schickman had a different practice. Each Friday he would save his bread so that he could use it on Friday night to fulfill the mitzvah of Seudat Shabbat. One Friday, however, his bread was stolen. What pained him most was not his hunger, but the thought that he would not be able to fulfill the mitzvah of the Shabbat meal. In the camp there was a self-hating Jew who served as a police officer overseeing the prisoners' work. He was often even harsher toward the Jews than the Nazis themselves, and everyone was afraid of him. Rabbi Schickman desperately wanted bread for the Shabbat meal, and so he decided that he would ask this officer for bread. The other prisoners warned him not to do so, fearing he might be beaten simply for making the request. Nevertheless, the Rabbi approached him and asked. Amazingly, the officer gave him not just a little bread, but two large loaves—enough for everyone in his bunker to eat the Shabbat meals. Hashem can arrange a meeting. Hashem can place favor in someone's eyes. And Hashem can cause a person to give—even when, according to nature, there is no reason he should.

In this week's Be'er Haparashah, there is a remarkable anecdote about a speaker who was delivering a shiur to a group of men. In the middle of his speech, a community leader approached him and handed him a small note. The note explained that a substantial sum of money had been given anonymously, to be distributed among everyone present. For the sake of order, the speaker instructed all the men to pair up, and each pair would arm wrestle. Every victory would earn five dollars. The men quickly paired off, creating a total of fifty pairs, and began the arm wrestling. After ten minutes, the speaker announced that time was up and he would divide the money according to the number of victories. The first pair counted their wins: one person had won three times and would receive fifteen dollars, while the other had won twice and received ten dollars. The same pattern continued with the other pairs. When they reached the last pair, to everyone's astonishment, both individuals reported three hundred victories each, entitling them to fifteen hundred dollars each. When asked how this had happened, they explained that while everyone else had tried to defeat their partner, their efforts had been mostly spent resisting each other, which limited their actual successes. This pair, however, had a different strategy. Rather than competing, each helped the other succeed. They alternated willingly, supporting each other in every round. As a result, they completed hundreds of repetitions peacefully, accumulating far more victories than anyone else. The speaker explained to the assembly: those who struggled with excessive effort and competition did not gain. Their labor was wasted and even caused loss. Those who acted with peace, cooperation, and mutual support earned many times more. This lesson applies to life and hishtadlut . When a person exerts effort out of anxiety, competitiveness, or self-interest, it often blocks the gates of blessing and exhausts the body and soul for nothing. But a calm, peaceful effort, performed with Emunah in Hashem and concern for others, finds success easily and abundantly. The story also teaches that those who focus solely on themselves, on winning or personal gain, toil endlessly and often fail, whereas those who act with consideration for others bring great blessing upon themselves. A woman recently told me she was desperately trying to bring her two sons home from Israel during the war. She had tried every possible way but kept failing. A few days ago, she received a call from someone offering help. He could secure two spots on a plane and asked for the names of her sons. She explained that she was working together with another mother who was trying to get her son home. She insisted that she needed three spots, refusing to abandon the other mother's son. The man explained it could only be two or nothing, which was extremely difficult for her. She felt strongly that it was only right to include the other mother's child, despite the challenge. And so she turned it down. The next day, the man called back and reported that he had been able to secure three spots—and it was a much better option in every way. Baruch Hashem, all three boys returned home safely just yesterday. This story demonstrates that those who care for others do not lose. On the contrary, Hashem provides extra assistance from Heaven to those who act with Emunah, empathy, and consideration for others.

The Zohar HaKadosh writes in Parashat Vayakhel that people do not realize how powerful tefillah really is. Tefillah has the ability to pierce through the heavens and open gates that previously could not be opened. Rabbeinu Bachya writes in Parashat Ekev that tefillah has the ability to change nature, to save a person from danger, and to nullify harsh decrees. The Maharsha writes in Masechet Shabbat ( דף קנ״א ע״ב ) that even though Chazal say a person's lifespan, number of children, and parnasah depend on mazal, tefillah has the power to change mazal. When a person prays during an et ratzon, a time of divine favor, the tefillah becomes even more powerful. David HaMelech asked Hashem that his prayers should reach Him during such a time, as it says: ואני תפילתי לך ה׳ עת רצון . The Midrash asks regarding the pasuk that says Eliezer ran toward Rivka: why was he running so quickly? It answers that once Eliezer realized he was experiencing an et ratzon, because Hashem had already performed a miracle for him by shortening the journey, he hurried to take advantage of that special moment and seek even more heavenly assistance. Rashi writes in Parashat Ki Tisa that when Moshe Rabbeinu saw that his requests were being answered, he understood that it was an et ratzon. He therefore continued asking for more in order to gain the greatest benefit from that special time. The Bnei Yissaschar writes that there are angels appointed in Shamayim to bring our tefillot upward, and they examine the prayers to determine if they are worthy. However, during an et ratzon the tefillot do not require their assistance. They ascend directly without scrutiny. The Mashgiach, Rav Yechezkel Levenstein, said that there is no greater et ratzon in Shamayim than when a person overcomes his yetzer hara. This means a person can actually create his own et ratzon and then use it to ask Hashem for whatever he needs. For example, if a person feels a strong yetzer hara to look at something inappropriate and overcomes it, he should realize that at that moment he has created an et ratzon. We have heard many stories about people who were publicly humiliated but chose not to respond and instead gave a blessing to a person in need of salvation. And those blessings brought about salvations. Why does this work? One explanation is that when a person is humiliated, the yetzer hara strongly pushes him to respond with anger. If he overcomes that impulse, he creates such a powerful et ratzon that his tefillot and blessings become especially potent. People are constantly tested—through anger, jealousy, and many other challenges. If we can motivate ourselves to overcome those tests, we can create moments of divine favor that we can then use to pray for what we need. The Keter Shem Tov brings from the Baal Shem Tov that when a person truly feels pain for another person's suffering, that creates an et ratzon. Even greater than that is when a person can genuinely feel happy when another person experiences success. And even greater still is when two people both need a salvation and one receives it while the other does not. If instead of complaining and asking why he was not helped, the person can feel sincere happiness for the other's simchah, that creates an extremely powerful et ratzon. At that moment he can pour out his heart to Hashem and ask for what he needs. Tefillah is always powerful, but during an et ratzon it becomes even more powerful.

The Sefer HaChinuch writes in Mitzvah תלג , that goodness and blessing come upon a person according to his deeds and thoughts, and our Creator, who wants our good, has taught us about the precious mitzvot through which we can merit the greatest blessings. As well, He taught us a way in which we could have all of our wants for the good, and that is by asking Him, the One who has the wherewithal and ability to provide us with everything we could possibly need.He will answer anyone who calls out to Him with sincerity. The Chinuch continues, besides informing us of the precious gift of tefillah, He also commanded us to utilize it and ask from Him constantly for every single thing we need. If we do that, besides for getting what we want, we will also be ingraining in ourselves the emunah, that He is involved in every little detail of our lives and that nothing can stop Him from giving us everything we could want. That is the end of the quote of the Sefer HaChinuch. We know how precious tefillah is, but sometimes we forget to take advantage of it. A man told me he had two issues in his home that were bothering him for months. One was an electrical issue with something installed in his home, and one was a plumbing issue. For some reason, he was having an extremely hard time getting both of them resolved. The electrician kept telling him he was too busy to come, and when he tried calling different electricians, they would all say, the one who installed it has to be the one to fix it, as it was a special unit. As well, the plumber was unresponsive. This past Friday morning, as the man was making his regular requests in the Amidah, he thought to himself, he never once asked Hashem for help with those quote-unquote petty issues. He decided to pray to Hashem to get them fixed. After shul, he called the electrician, and this time he answered right away. The electrician gave him his ear, and when he was once again informed of the problem, the electrician told him he could guide him on the phone, step by step, what to do to fix the issue. When the man got home, the electrician guided him, and sure enough, the problem was finally fixed. Right after that, he called the plumber, and this time, the plumber answered and finally agreed to come. Two days later, and Baruch Hashem, he came and fixed the issue. There is nothing that is too small to pray for. Sometimes, we just forget to utilize the awesome gift of tefillah that Hashem has given us. I once read a story about a man who was rushing out of his house for an important meeting. As he went to his car, he suddenly realized he didn't have his car keys with him, so he ran back to the house to get them, but couldn't find them anywhere. He began to panic because the meeting was very important, and he was already running late. He started searching faster and faster, opening drawers, moving around papers, and then he stopped for a minute and said to himself, Hashem knows exactly where my keys are. Why don't I make a tefillah and ask Him for help? He then closed his eyes and asked Hashem to please show him where the keys were so he could make the meeting on time. Less than a minute later, he found the keys lying under a magazine in the kitchen. Tefillah is always great, and we must never forget to utilize it at all times.

Parnassah comes only from Hashem, and therefore it does not have to operate according to normal human calculations. If somebody needed more money, it would seem illogical for him to give away what he already has. Yet Chazal tell us: עשר בשביל שתתעשר — give away ten percent so that you will become wealthy. The very actions that appear illogical according to our reasoning often become the very source of blessing that brings a person more parnassah. When we show that we truly believe our parnassah comes only from Hashem — by, so to speak, putting our money where our mouths are — those actions activate even more blessing. A woman we will call Rachel, who runs her own business, recently received a call from a customer who usually places large orders with her twice a year. The customer told her she planned to make her regular order again and would soon get back to her with the details about colors and styles. A few days later the customer called back. She explained that another woman she had recently become close with was asking her to give her the order instead. She said she really wanted to switch and help this other woman, but because she had already told Rachel that she would be ordering from her, she planned to ask a rabbi if it was permitted to back out. Rachel, who firmly believes that all of her parnassah comes from Hashem, told her, "It makes no difference to me which customer my parnassah comes through. If you truly want to switch, you have my blessing." The woman was very impressed with Rachel's emunah and thanked her for allowing her to switch. Practically speaking, this probably meant Rachel would permanently lose a steady customer. Just a few minutes later, Rachel received a phone call from someone who had never ordered from her before. The order this person wanted to place was more than double the one she had just given up. Later that night Rachel called the first customer back and told her not to feel guilty at all for switching, because Hashem had already replaced the loss and even given her more. The woman then told her she had just discovered that the other seller's prices were not as good as Rachel's, and she felt bad for having switched. With Hashem's help, Rachel would now likely have that customer returning in the future — in addition to the new one she had just gained. She demonstrated her emunah, and immediately saw blessing from it. A man we will call Daniel related another story. One day he received a phone call from the rabbi of his brother's shul. The rabbi asked Daniel if he could help resolve a difficult situation involving his brother. His brother owed someone money and had not paid it back, and the matter had created significant tension. The rabbi said, "For the sake of shalom, this issue must be resolved. If it continues like this, I may have to start paying the debt myself." Daniel was not a wealthy man, but he said to the rabbi, "For the sake of shalom, I will pay." He gave the rabbi his credit card and told him he would cover the amount in installments. Just like that, the issue was resolved. Less than ten minutes later, a neighbor called Daniel and asked if he remembered helping him many years earlier. Daniel had forgotten, but the neighbor reminded him of the favor he had done for him twenty years before. The neighbor then told him that he had recently made some money and wanted to repay Daniel for the kindness he had shown him back then. The amount he gave him was far greater than the amount Daniel had just committed to pay for his brother. Hashem can provide a person with parnassah in unlimited ways. Very often, when a person performs righteous acts that involve giving up money, Hashem blesses him with even more in return.