Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear

A wealthy man told me that although his business is thriving, he understands that he did absolutely nothing to earn his wealth. He then related just one example of how Hashem orchestrated events to bless him with the wealth that he has. He had an average business here in America and was looking to open a similar business overseas. While he was on the flight to go to this other location and see the opportunities there, he made conversation with the man sitting next to him. He mentioned what line of business he was in and how he was looking to expand. The man told him he knows someone with a similar business in the exact location he was looking to open and this person was looking for someone to buy his company. He said his business was doing great, but because he lost a lot of money in other investments, he needed to sell right away. He made the connection and this man bought the business, and it has been thriving ever since. He told me he sees so clearly how Hashem practically put this opportunity right in his lap. He also mentioned that just a few years before that, he was so poor that he was evicted from his apartment for not paying the rent on time. Look how quickly Hashem can take a person from poverty to riches. We know every dollar that a person earns comes from Hashem. Shulchan Aruch writes, it's a good idea to say the parashat Hamann every day and the Mishna Berura explains, by internalizing what it says there, the person will take to heart that his hishtadlut is not what earns him his money. Just like the mann, those who gathered more didn't gain, so too, those who do too much hishtadlut don't gain from it. We constantly need chizuk in this area. Someone told me he bought a stock and after a few weeks sold it with modest gains. A week later, the stock skyrocketed over 100 points, which would have earned him a huge profit. He continues following this stock every day, watching it go higher and higher, regretting the fact that he sold it. He keeps thinking about the money he should have had and it's eating him up. How can we give this man chizuk to stop regretting his actions? I told this man, we believe be'emunah shelema , what the Gemara says, that a person's income is decided on Rosh Hashana, and he will only get exactly what Hashem said he will get. It does not matter if the money comes from a stock or from a business deal or in the form of a gift. It is all included in the number that Hashem had already decreed. If this person would have made all the money he feels he should have from that stock, it would have just meant that he would get less in other areas or have to lose in other areas. We should imagine that our parnasa is like wine in a barrel that has many spigots. If someone empties a lot of wine from one spigot, then there will just be less wine to come out of the others. The amount of wine does not change based on how often the person opens the spigots or which ones he chooses to open. So too our parnasa does not change if we earn a lot in one source. Therefore, this person should not feel bad that he sold the stock. That will not change what he'll earn this year by even one penny. Any money he is supposed to have will come one way or another. The main hishtadlut is for us to realize that the money comes from Hashem and to pray to Him to send it. If there was any way that a person could possibly get an increase on what was decreed on Rosh Hashana, it would only be through a spiritual zechut. Believing that parnasa comes only from Hashem and internalizing that in his heart is an enormous zechut. The best thing this person can do is stop regretting his decision to sell. Rather he should focus on the fact that Hashem has infinite ways of bringing parnasa and the only determinant of how much money he will make is the will of Hashem.

It may happen that when a person sets out to do a mitzva, he runs into obstacles. He then continues trying to do the mitzva, but the obstacles get harder to overcome. He may think to himself, I don't understand, I'm trying to do something for Hashem. Why would He keep trying to stop me? Does He not want me to do the mitzva? The answer is, for sure He wants you to do the mitzva, but He wants you to get the most out of it. The harder a person tries to do a mitzva, the greater the mitzva becomes. If it gets extremely difficult to do, and the person continues to persevere, his rewards for that mitzva will be unimaginable. The Sefer Sas V'Imratecha tells the following story, which took place a number of years ago. Two great Rebbes, who were brothers, arranged a tish on Tu B'shvat, and suddenly, at around midnight, one said to the other that they hadn't done the mitzva of Birkat HaLevana yet. This was the last night to do it, and there were only a few hours left to get it done. The problem was that it was overcast with thick clouds, and there was a very slim chance that the moon would appear in the next few hours. At that time, they were in the Zichron Moshe shul in Yerushalayim. They decided to travel towards Yericho, and hopefully spot the moon there. They figured that the eastern part of Israel was hotter, and maybe had less clouds. They were approaching Yericho, and were stopped at a checkpoint. The sky there was filled with clouds as well. They asked one of the soldiers if they could put out a message asking soldiers in other locations if anyone could see the moon from where they were stationed. The soldier was dumbfounded by the request, and asked the Rebbe why he wanted to know such information. The Rebbe told him about the mitzva of Birkat HaLevana, and how there were only a few hours left to do it. The soldier put out the request, and almost every reply was negative, except for one, who said he was near Me'arat HaMachpela, and he was able to see the moon. The Rebbes became so excited, and urged their driver to go there immediately. The soldier told them by the time they got there, the moon would probably be gone, but they didn't pay any attention to him, and they hurried there at once. When they finally arrived, it was two o'clock in the morning. Baruch Hashem, the moon was still visible, and they recited Birkat HaLevana with great jubilation. Even though it was very late, and they were extremely tired, they wanted to take advantage of the fact that they just did a mitzva with great self-sacrifice. One of the Rebbe's sons was with them, who was married for twenty years without children. They decided to go to Kever Rachel to pray, and there they prayed from the depths of their hearts, and miraculously, that year, the Rebbe's son was zocheh to have his first child. The value of a mitzva done with great difficulty is enormous. If we ever set out to do a mitzva and we run into obstacles, it's a gift from Hashem to enable us to get a much bigger mitzva for the very same deed, but it requires effort and perseverance. Hashem never wants to stop us from getting a mitzva. He only wants to make it better for us.

The midda of קנאה , jealousy, can ruin a person's entire life. It can cause him to always feel lacking and dissatisfied. The Orhchot Tzadikim writes that it could lead a person into doing the worst averot . It is a Midda that everyone is born with, and it is up to us to uproot. One of the things that people are jealous of is other people's material success. There is so much more to life than money and materialism, and it's not worth wasting time and energy agonizing over. I recently heard of a man who spent years planning and then having a yacht built for him which cost over $90,000,000. Lo Aleinu, he got sick and was never able to go on it even once. On his deathbed he repeated over and over, "What is it all worth? What is it all worth?" The only thing that is everlasting in this world is Torah and Mitzvot. The Orhchot Tzadikim writes further that when a person is jealous of other people's looks or wealth or any other strength that they may possess, he is in violation of one of the most basic principles of Emunah, namely, that Hashem runs the world and gives each person exactly what he needs to do his job. When someone complains that he doesn't have what someone else has, he is saying that Hashem is not being just. He is complaining against the One who decided who got what. If someone could give himself the proper chizuk he can turn that potential flaw into a great avodat Hashem. The next time a person sees what someone else has and feels bad that he doesn't have it he should stop himself and say, "Hashem decided who gets what. Hashem decided that I shouldn't have this right now. I am going to believe in His hashgacha and stop desiring it. I am going to trust that Hashem gave me what I need to do my job and I am going to be happy with it." This would be such a great avoda. The Orhchot Tzadikim writes further that jealousy could also lead a person to go off the derech. Sometimes what a person desires is something that a wicked person possesses. So he says to himself it doesn't make sense that the wicked get all the good things while he, who he feels is righteous, doesn't. He causes himself to ask the age old question of why the wicked prosper. It is only because of his jealousy that he decided what the wicked man has is good and that's what causes him to ask this question. He may then say it doesn't pay to be righteous. I might as well also do evil, maybe I'll get that blessing too. Material success does not necessarily mean it's a blessing. There's a concept of materialism being just the opposite. Nobody knows who is truly enjoying blessing and who isn't. Hashem is righteous in all of His ways. He rewards good and punishes evil. The Orhchot Tzadikim adds that jealousy makes a person hate others for no good reason. He is bitter at the people who have what he doesn't have, and he could only be happy when they lose it. One of the greatest antidotes to jealousy is strengthening emunah. The more a person believes that Hashem is the One who decides who gets what and that each person gets based on his purpose in this world, it will be easier to focus on what he has rather than desire what everybody else has. Every time we overcome jealousy and believe in Hashem's hashgacha we turn a potential aveira into a great mitzva.

There are times when a person feels like he is being pushed to his limits. He already experienced one difficulty, and then another was added, and then another. He feels like Hashem is picking on him, and he's having a very hard time understanding how Hashem could do this to him, especially since he learned about how much Hashem loves him. We must constantly remind ourselves that the only things that are valuable and eternal in this world is our service of Hashem. Everything else in this world is just a distraction. When someone is able to serve Hashem at a time of extreme difficulty, and continue trusting in Him that He's doing the best for him, that could accomplish what would normally take a person ten lifetimes to accomplish. Let us learn from one example in the Torah. The Zohar Hakadosh tells us there is nothing in the world that has the power to nullify a decree of death, plague, or sickness, like the Parasha of Akedat Yitzchak. Of course, this doesn't just mean reading the words, rather, it's understanding and internalizing them. What was so special about Akedat Yitzchak? Let us analyze for a moment some of the difficulties involved in this great test of Avraham Avinu. He was promised at the age of 70 a child that would take over his legacy and continue his life's mission. He then patiently waited for 30 years to have that child. He then invested all of his time and energy building up the child for 37 years, and then Hashem told him to sacrifice the child as a korban. On the surface level, it seems like a very cruel request, something beyond comprehension, coming from a loving and merciful God. Furthermore, Avraham was being asked to do something that he was preaching his whole life against. He would tell all of the idol worshippers that God didn't want them offering their children as sacrifices. Moreover, Hashem seemed to be contradicting what He already told Avraham, that Yitzchak would be the future of Klal Yisrael. It was such a difficult request that made no sense. Avraham could have had many questions here, yet he chose to trust Hashem and do the command with joy and zeal. The Sefat Emmet gives us a beautiful insight into how Avraham was able to overcome this monumental test. He said Avraham was a navi. He was able to see the future, that Moshe Rabbeinu and all of the greats throughout history were destined to come from Yitzchak. We know that every tzaddik brings so much nachat ruach to Hashem with his Torah and good deeds. With the Akedah, Hashem would be losing out on all of those greats. Hillel Hazaken, Rabbi Akiva, Rabbi Yochanan, Rav and Shmuel, Abaye and Rava, the Rambam, Rashi, the Baal Shem Tov, the Gra, the Chafez Chaim, and so on. It must be that this one act of sacrifice was going to be greater than all the deeds of all of the greats throughout history combined. Avraham contemplated how special this was going to be for Hashem, and that's what gave him the chizuk, to do it with joy. And indeed, we are still benefiting today, thousands of years later from that one act. Avraham heroically passed the test and amazingly did not tell one person afterward what he did. He was purely L'Shem Shamayim. We only know about it because the Torah told us. Hashem put Avraham in the most difficult circumstance and asked him to do the incomprehensible. That is where all of Avraham's glory lies. Similarly, when a person finds himself in a very difficult situation in life, and it keeps getting more and more difficult to the point where he can't comprehend how Hashem could put him in such a situation, and he feels like he wants to turn the other way in anger and frustration, that is when he must give himself chizuk and say, if he is able to overcome this and continue serving Hashem with joy now, that could be more valuable than what he does for his entire life. One deed done under extreme difficulty is worth infinitely greater than deeds done under normal conditions. The greatest chesed that Hashem can give a person is the opportunity to earn an eternity of bliss. We are in this world on a mission, and Hashem who wants us to succeed always puts us in the exact circumstances we need to be in to achieve that success

The Gemara says in Masechet Sotah that we have a mitzvah to emulate Hashem. And one of the ways in which we do this is by visiting a person who is sick, just like Hashem did in this week's parasha Vayerah when Avraham was home, healing from his brit milah . Our greatest Rabbis would take away time from their Torah study to go visit sick people. When we do bikur cholim , we are connecting to Hashem. The Gemara says in Masechet Nedarim that when a person visits the sick, he brings life to that person and part of the mitzvah entails praying for the person to be healed. The Gemara says the Shechina rests right above the bed of a sick person and therefore, we are able to pray for the person there without even mentioning their name. If the visitor can give the sick person any words to lift his spirits, it makes the mitzvah infinitely greater. When Hashem came to visit Avraham, He gave him the ultimate chizuk , as explained by the Maharshak. The Rabbi asked, why did Hashem send all three angels to Avraham's house? One of them was just there to go overturn Sedom. Furthermore, why did Hashem leave Avraham in pain for three days? Once He was going to heal him anyway, why didn't he heal him right away? The Rabbi answered,לפום צערא אגרא – according to the pain is the reward. If Avraham would have become healed immediately from the brit milah , it would have detracted from the value of that mitzvah. Moreover, every day that a person serves Hashem the way he is supposed to, he creates an angel. The three angels who came to visit Avraham, said the Rabbi, were the three angels that Avraham created by doing the avodah that was expected of him during those three days. By Avraham accepting the pain he was going through, yearning to perform mitzvot despite that pain, he accomplished world changing events. On the first day, Avraham created an angel that was going to save Lot, who was going to be the father of the Mashiach . On the second day, Avraham created an angel that was going to inform him about the birth of Yitzchak Avinu. And on the third day, he created an angel that was going to rid the world of the evil of Sedom and, some say, the angel who came to heal Avraham. When Hashem came to visit Avraham, He gave him the ultimate chizuk. He revealed to him what he was accomplishing by going through the pain of that brit milah and how great it was that he was accepting it with love. Every sick person endures a great deal of yissurin . They have no idea how much they are accomplishing with their suffering. If they are able to do what they can spiritually, while they are sick, and they accept what they are going through with love, they will also be creating angels and those angels may be changing the entire course of history. We don't know how valuable accepting yissurin is, but one day everyone will be able to see how much they accomplished by doing their jobs despite being in a state of affliction. Sometimes all the job entails is not complaining. Everyone has a mitzvah to visit the sick and thereby emulate Hashem. Each visit will add more life to the patient. May Hashem bring רפואה שלמה לכל חולי ישראל. אמן.. Shabbat Shalom.

There are people who have been hurt in the past by others and were never able to get over it. They carry the pain with them and hold a deep-rooted grudge towards the individuals that hurt them. Holding on to pain and carrying around negative energy is very detrimental. It is a very big test to be able to forgive and move on, but the person must know that by doing it, he will be the one who gains the most. We believe, be'munah shelema, that people do not have the ability to harm us. They are only messengers carrying out the will of Hashem. With that emunah, it becomes easier to forgive. Rabbi Braverman told that after a class he gave, a thirty-year-old woman came over to him and was bemoaning the fact that she hadn't even gone on one date in the past ten years. She told the rabbi the reason was because at age nineteen, half a week before her wedding, her chatan called it off. He had already called the hall to cancel a full week before that, but she didn't know about it yet. Other people knew that her wedding was canceled even before she did. It was so humiliating. She would never forgive him for it. The rabbi told her she was missing some details in this story. The woman was taken aback and asked the rabbi if he suspected her of lying about it. The rabbi said, "No, but the way you should tell the story is as follows." "Ten years ago, Hashem saved me from marrying someone who would have been terrible for me. He did a miracle and made the guy back out for no good reason, just to save me." The rabbi continued, for the past ten years, instead of thanking Hashem for saving you from a bitter marriage, you have been punishing yourself instead. The woman never considered looking at it that way. This new perspective enabled her to let go of all the anger she was holding onto. Shortly after that meeting with the rabbi, she met the person that became her husband. By holding onto grudges, we are the ones who lose the most. Rabbi Goel El-Karif told a similar story of a couple that couldn't have children for six years. When the doctor gave them the devastating news that there was no hope, that is when the rosh kollel of the boy told the couple he might know the problem that is preventing them from conceiving. He told the boy, you broke off an engagement, but you never got forgiven from the girl. The boy felt that he was justified in breaking it off and never thought that he needed to ask forgiveness for it. The rosh kollel went to speak to the family of that girl and saw how bitter she was about it. She herself had never gotten married and felt the reason was partly because she was humiliated by having her engagement called off. They then did everything in their power to get forgiven and after a lot of hard effort, the girl finally forgave him. Within that year, the girl got engaged. Her chatan was everything she could have ever wanted. She saw so clearly that Hashem gave her the salvation she had been anticipating for years. But she also saw that the couple she forgave was still not blessed with children. That is when she really worked much harder to truly forgive to the point that she herself was praying for them to have children. Baruch Hashem, a few months later, the good news came. The couple was expecting. Again, we see that the grudge this woman was holding onto was preventing her from moving forward. Hashem runs the world. Nobody could affect another individual if it's not what Hashem wants. If someone understands this, it will make it easier to forgive. And by forgiving, we are helping ourselves the most.

Rav Yitzchak Zilberstein told a story in his Sefer בך בטחנו about a great Admor who appeared to his son in a dream a year after he passed away to give him a message. The son asked his father to tell him what it's like in the upper world. His father was not able to reveal too much, but he did tell him that the reward for every little deed that we do is tremendous, even for little things like getting a chair for someone to sit on, serving a cup of water or giving someone directions. We have no comprehension of how great the reward for these minor deeds are, all the more so for deeds that are more difficult to do. He said further, if someone sings a song of praise to Hashem, even if he's sitting at a Shabbat table all alone, it is as precious to Hashem as the Leviyim singing to Him in the Beit Hamikdash. We can't imagine how great even one Amen is. A man by the name of Mati had to deliver an envelope to someone who worked in a bank in Tel Aviv. When he arrived he was told the person he needed was in a meeting. In the meantime he sat down to eat an apple. He was accustomed to always saying all of his berachot slow and loud, so right there in the bank he made the beracha out loud. One of the bankers there went over to him and said, "What are you yelling? This is not Bnei Brak, please talk quietly." A few days later he returned to that bank with another letter to deliver and once again he had to wait. This time he said his beracha quietly. The same banker saw him and said, "Why did you say the beracha so low? I wanted to hear it." Mati told him he was only following orders. The banker then told him he used to be religious but he lost everything. Last week when he berated him for saying the beracha out loud, his mother came to him in a dream very angry saying how much suffering he was causing her in the upper world. She then said, "If you would have answered Amen to that beracha, it would have elevated my soul so much. But instead, you yelled at the person for doing it." The banker then told Mati he couldn't believe that even an amen from someone like him would be meaningful. The banker then apologized and gave Mati something else to make a beracha on so he could answer Amen. Hashem appreciates every little deed that a person does and will reward him greatly for every one of them. How much more so if the deeds are difficult to do. A rosh kollel in Lakewood recently told the following story about one of the students who learned in his kollel who we'll call Yehuda. Lo aleinu, Yehuda's wife had a miscarriage at a late stage. The rosh kollel told Yehuda to take off as much time as needed to be with his wife and give her support. This was on a Friday. On Sunday morning Yehuda was back in the kollel learning the full day. The rosh kollel asked him about it. Yehuda told him they were inspired by a statement from the Zohar: " חזו בני חביבי דמשכחין בצערא דילהון ועסקין בחדוותא דילי - Hashem says, "Look at my precious children. They forget about their own sorrows and they take delight in my Torah." They wanted to fulfill that precept and bring pleasure to HaKadosh Baruch Hu. So the man's wife encouraged him to go learn. The very next day Yehuda received a call from a cousin of his asking if he could borrow his violin. The cousin came to pick it up. Before leaving, he wanted to test it out. This cousin had no idea what was going on in Yehuda's life with the miscarriage. He then started playing a song and the words were " חזו חזו בני חביבי "- the very same words that had just inspired Yehuda and his wife to go learn. They felt Hashem was talking to them directly telling them how much He appreciated that sacrifice. Our deeds are so valuable, and therefore we should do every one of them happily and enthusiastically.

So many people have said they can't believe how much learning Emunah has changed their lives for the better. They feel bad that they didn't start learning about it earlier. They now live every day of life together with Hashem and there is so much more meaning behind everything they do. A young woman recently shared with me how she discovered Emunah and how her life has improved in so many ways because of it. About five months ago, she met a girl who she is now proud to call her good friend. They met at work and over many long and deep conversations, they forged a strong bond. She has an elderly grandfather who is very sick and she is watching as her beloved grandfather turned from a sweet little man who woke up at five every morning to pray and learn to a shriveled old man confined to his bed with an oxygen machine. She has been praying and crying so much. Her grandfather barely speaks but whenever she comes, he does, and the only thing he tells her about is that he wants to meet her chatan and dance at her wedding. She is currently 20 years old and has been in shiduchim for two years. She's enjoying her days as a single girl and not feeling at all pressured to get married. However, every time she steps foot through her grandfather's door, things suddenly shift and she feels desperate to get engaged. She really wants to fulfill the wishes of her grandfather to meet her chatan and come to her wedding. Every time she goes to him, he looks at her beseechingly as though begging her and blessing her all at the same time. And every time she leaves, she feels so bad, crying herself to sleep. One night, she described all of this to her new friend. She had been to her grandfather that day and he didn't look so good. He motioned to all the machinery he was hooked up to and he rasped, "You've got to hurry up." She left and cried for hours. She wanted to give her grandfather what he was asking for, but it wasn't in her control. So when she cried to her friend that night, the friend came up with a great idea. Since they both know everything is only in Hashem's control, they should work on strengthening their Emunah. They decided to start learning a book on Emunah every night. The first night, the friend read while she continued to cry. She didn't even have the book yet. The next day, she went to get the book with anticipation of the inspiration that it was going to bring. They read together two lessons each day and although they were from such different backgrounds, the timeless words connected them in a way they can't describe. They grew very quickly and she no longer felt that helplessness when she went to her grandfather. She felt much more confident and secure knowing that everything was in Hashem's hands. Her prayers took on a new dimension. She prayed with newfound energy and fervor knowing who the real Boss is. As they approached the end of the first book, they agreed to continue with the second volume. On October 30th, just a few weeks ago, they read the final chapter of the first book. The very next day, she got engaged. Baruch Hashem, her grandfather is alive and breathing, and with Hashem's help, was able to meet her chatan. The l'chaim was celebrated at her grandfather's house with just a few people. She watched as her dream came true, as her grandfather drank l'chaim and blessed them both. Emunah has changed her life in every way. She's so much happier, calmer and most importantly, more connected to Hashem. Everyone can experience these same feelings with Emunah. It is very doable and available to all.

Parnasa comes from Hashem. Those who know that are much calmer when it comes to earning a livelihood. A man said he contacted a well-known photographer regarding the possibility of having him take the pictures at his daughter's wedding. At the end of the conversation, the man said he would think about it and get back to him. The photographer replied with the following words, "No problem. I'll wait until I get a final answer from you. But at this point, I won't be able to reserve the date. But you should know, it doesn't make a difference. If Hashem decided I should be your photographer, it'll work out. And if not, it won't." The man then said to the photographer, "It sounds like you have a lot of emunah. That must be why you're so successful." The photographer proceeded to tell him stories that showed how clear it was that Hashem decided his parnasa. Another man said he attended a siyum and was very inspired to want to finish a masechet himself. He was very busy at work and didn't know how he would fit it in. He spoke to a couple of people and they found a rabbi who wanted to teach them every day in the office from 2 to 2:45. He started the class but was a little concerned that it may affect his earnings. A very short time later, someone called him with a business offer that would enable him to earn a much higher salary with less hours. He saw how quickly Hashem could give him parnasa, and he felt that his push to learn was what gave him the zechut for it. A woman said her husband works for a certain yeshiva and last year he was offered a similar position at a different yeshiva. This yeshiva was offering a higher salary but required him to travel a little more. They were not sure if he should accept it. They said to each other, Hashem is in charge of parnasa, and they prayed that He should lead them in the path that He wanted them to take. They prayed very hard and then asked their rabbi what to do. He told them they should take the new job. This year, unfortunately, that first yeshiva had to close down. The woman said, "Hashem didn't want my husband to be out of a job even for one day. He arranged for him to get that other job and take it before anything happened with the first yeshiva." She was so thankful, especially, to see the loving hand of Hashem in their lives. Another man from Israel said he was experiencing real financial difficulty. He didn't know where he would get the next shekel. He prayed everyday for a yeshuah. He had heard stories of people suddenly getting repaid just when they needed it for things they had done years before. But he knew he wasn't owed any money from anyone. But he also knew Hashem could bring his salvation in a way he could never imagine. One day, he got a call from an organization for tutors saying that last year his brother was learning with one of their tutors and this year they mistakenly kept taking money from his parents' account, even though his brother was no longer there. They just realized the error and were calling to see if his parents perhaps wanted to donate the money or whether they wanted it back. He asked them why they were calling him, and they said his was the only number they had on file. He called his parents to tell them, and that gave him the opening to tell them that he could really use the money. They had no idea about his financial situation and told him to tell the organization to give him the money. It was exactly what he currently needed. A couple of weeks later his parents told him their neighbors wanted to sponsor tuition for the children of a family who needed assistance. She told them about him and they were happy to pay. Just like that Hashem took him out of his financial crisis. Hashem can bring parnasa in unlimited ways. If we could internalize this, we'll be calmer and we'll pray with the proper emunah.

The pasuk says in this week's parasha, Lech Lecha , ויוצא אותו החוצה . Avraham Avinu, who knew how to read the stars, told Hashem that he saw he was not going to have children. Hashem told him to go outside of his astrology, because אין מזל לישראל . It doesn't matter what the stars say, because we are above the stars, and things can always change. These words have given so much hope to people who have been told throughout the generations that in the natural way of the world they would be unable to have children, or unable to accomplish something they hoped to accomplish. Our tefillot and our emunah can transcend nature. Sometimes people get their hopes up and pray hard, but then they get let down, and they want to give up. The emunah that a person portrays after a letdown is such a great zechut. It could be that the entire letdown was created just for the person to have emunah at that time, because that emunah can be the catalyst for his ultimate yeshua. We never know which tefila or which avoda will change a mazal. Every one of them is valuable, and we should never underestimate any of them. A young man who learns in kollel told me he had been married for two years without children and things were not looking good for them. Last year before Sukkot, they felt uneasy about spending time with their families, with all of their other siblings already having children, and perhaps pitying them for not having. They had wanted to go for a long time to Eretz Yisrael, to pray by the kotel, and pray by kivrei tzaddikim and get berachot from gedolim. They decided this would be the perfect time to go. It was expensive, and they didn't have that much money, but they knew they needed a lot of רחמי שמים , and heartfelt tefilot in מקומות הקדושים was a great way of getting it. The first couple of days there, they went to the Kotel, kever Rachel, Ma'arat Hamachpela, and prayed for a long time at each place. They went to a couple of more places during chol ha-moed, and they had their main full schedule planned for after the holiday. But then came Shemini Atzeret, October 7th, and the tragic news began to spread. Their prayers changed from focusing on themselves to focusing on Klal Yisrael. Their plans were canceled. They spent the rest of the time there, indoors, including a few bomb shelters. Of course, their hearts were with all of those people who were suffering so much, but they couldn't help but also feel that their chance of having children was also getting ruined. This was their one chance in Eretz Yisrael to get the yeshua they had been desperately seeking. They decided to strengthen their emunah and accept that now Hashem wanted them to pray for others rather than themselves. They fully accepted the situation Hashem put them in and were happy with it. The very next night, at the house of the people they were staying by, their child who has Down syndrome turned to this couple and said, "You're going to have a baby." They were awestruck. Baruch Hashem, just two weeks later, they discovered that they were indeed expecting a child. There were many scares during the pregnancy, but Baruch Hashem, she gave birth to a healthy baby girl. Things don't always happen the way we want or plan or hope, but our job is to always embrace the will of Hashem and do the job that He wants us to do. We never know what Avodah will bring our yeshua, but we do know that no matter what, we can always be helped, and we need to hope and pray with that attitude. Shabbat Shalom.

Chazal have taught us a wondrous segula to have our tefillot accepted faster. Namely, if someone is in need of a yeshua and knows of someone else with that same need and prays for that person to be helped. With this statement, the chazal are also teaching us how important it is to pray for others. The Be'er Mayim Chayim explains, when we pray for others, we are showing that we care about the pain of the Shechina, kaviyachol. The pasuk says, when a Jew is in pain, Hashem is in pain, and Hashem's pain is equal for every single Jew that is hurting. So when we pray for others to be relieved from their suffering, we are also praying for some of the pain of the Shechina to be relieved. Rav Moshe Feinstein zt"l writes in the Igerot Moshe (YD 4:51), about how much every single person's tefila makes an impact, even if the person has done many averot. Then he writes, if someone was asked to pray for someone else, he should feel the responsibility of that request. Nobody knows whose prayers will have the most impact. By praying for someone else, the person is doing the ultimate chesed and also fulfilling the great mitzvah of ואהבת לרעך כמוך . Then he concludes by saying, since it's an absolute obligation to pray for our friends and give them berachot, even if we're not asked to pray for someone, if we know they're in need, we should pray for them anyway. The Chida writes in his Sefer Nachal Kedumim, when praying for others, we must really have pure intentions that they should be helped and not just pray as a ploy to get the help that we are looking for. If we are able to pray with pure intentions for others, then the segula works. If someone has been doing it and hasn't been answered yet, he should not cast doubt upon the segula of the chazal, but rather attribute it to his own shortcomings. The Shulchan Aruch writes that washing netilat yadayim for bread with a lot of water is a segula to become wealthy. The Mishna Berura writes there, if someone is careful to always wash with a lot of water but hasn't been blessed with wealth yet, it's because he has a deed which is blocking the parnasa from coming at the moment. Chazal's words are emmet. Sometimes Hashem shows us clearly how segulot do work. A rabbi told me he knows of a couple that was married for nearly eight years without children. They became friendly with another couple who was married for a few years without children. They accepted upon themselves to truly pray for one another to be helped. This past year, Baruch Hashem, one of those couples had a baby. And then, on the very same day, the woman from the other couple went into labor more than six weeks early and had a baby on the same calendar date. They were in awe of the hashgacha of Hashem, both for blessing them with children and also for showing them how their prayers for each other is what brought about their yeshua. Tefila is always special. When we have a true desire for other people to be helped and we pray with that kavana, it makes the tefila even more special.

We say in Ashrei that Hashem is משביע לכל חי רצון . The Seforno explains this to mean that Hashem gives everyone chesed because that is His desire. This should give us a lot of chizuk knowing that Hashem's desire is to give every one of us chesed all day long. Everyone has different needs and Hashem gives everyone what they need when it's good for them. A young man who will call Zevulun told me that there's an older man who we'll call Yosef who eats by one of his relatives every Shabbat lunch. If those relatives are ever away for Shabbat, they inform Yosef in advance so he can make other plans. A couple of weeks ago, those relatives went away and totally forgot to tell Yosef. That Shabbat morning, Zevulun was walking to shul as usual. This time, for some inexplicable reason, he decided to cross the large highway-like street much earlier than he normally does on his way to shul. A minute after that, for the first time ever on that walk, he bumped into Yosef. He asked Yosef where he was eating that day and Yosef mentioned the name of the relative that he always goes to. Zevulun then told him that they were away, but it would be his honor if he would come to him for lunch and he happily accepted. Zevulun said he saw openly how Hashem was so concerned about where Yosef would eat his Shabbat lunch that day that He orchestrated that highly unlikely meeting. A few years ago, a young orphan asked Zevulun to get him a candy/toy bag from the minyan he attends on Simchat Torah. They both pray in the same shul, but Zevulun's minyan gives out much better bags. Zevulun was unable to get him a bag that day and he felt very bad about it. He has since moved to a different shul. This year, a couple of days before Simchat Torah, he bumped into the man who was in charge of giving out the bags at that other minyan. He asked him if he could please set aside a bag for the orphan who prays in a different minyan in that shul and find him to give him one. That Simchat Torah, this man searched the building for the young orphan, but he wasn't there. As he was giving out the bags to the rest of the children there, someone came over and asked him for an extra one for someone else. That was against the rules, so he immediately said no. And then he thought about it and asked that person who the bag was for. The person mentioned the name of that young orphan. The man couldn't believe it and happily gave him a bag. Hashem made sure to give this orphan the toy and candy bag that he wanted so badly. He caused Zevulun to meet the man who gave them out. And even though the orphan wasn't even in the shul that day, He sent a messenger to get one for him. Another man told me his mother had a brain operation scheduled for 9am one day, but they had to reschedule it for 1pm. It was a two hour surgery and Baruch Hashem it was a success. While her family was in the waiting room, they saw another family saying Tehillim. Then the doctor called that family and they all huddled around to hear what he had to say. Baruch Hashem, their father was doing well after they successfully removed a tumor in a 10 hour brain surgery. The doctor said during the surgery they found a major issue. There was a very dangerous aneurysm behind the tumor. They only found it because of the tumor. The doctor operating on him was not an aneurysm specialist and wasn't able to do the surgery on it. But they needed to take care of it immediately. The doctor in the very next room who just finished operating on this other family's mother was considered a top neurologist whose expertise was in aneurysms. He went right in and saved that man's life. He was only there at that time because the surgery was postponed for that woman for over four hours. Hashem takes care of every single person's needs, billions of people, all at the same time. Whether it's finding someone a place to eat Shabbat lunch, or bringing joy to a young orphan, or saving someone's life, He is always taking care of us. This knowledge should bring us so much serenity and joy.

When a person hears an amazing story about how Hashem saved someone from his problem, it's supposed to give him chizuk to realize how fortunate he is that he also has Hashem who could help him from his problem as well. People have said, however, that hearing these kinds of stories can have the opposite effect on them. It makes them feel worse that everyone else gets help for their problems, but those kinds of stories never happen to them. They want to feel encouraged, but it's hard for them. They are asking for advice on how to improve their attitudes. First of all, every Jew has a responsibility to believe in and hope that Hashem will save him from his problem. When a person knows he has an obligation to do something, it is easier to get himself to do it. But whether or not we hear a story about Hashem saving someone else with a similar predicament, we must strengthen ourselves to constantly hope and pray to Him to help us and believe that He can do it in an instant with ease, no matter how difficult things seem to be. When we hear of Him doing it for others, we should take the lesson that Hashem is capable of helping, and He does help, and it should encourage us to pray even more. Furthermore, when a person hears about a salvation from Hashem, he has an extraordinary opportunity to do a great avodah. The Tiferet Shlomo in Parashat Yitro writes, there is a special service in thanking and praising Hashem when He saves others. The pasuk tells us, when Yitro heard about what Hashem did to save the Jews from Mitzrayim and at Kriyat Yam Suf, he praised Hashem for saving them, even though He was not part of that salvation. This is a beautiful midda, to be able to appreciate what Hashem does, even though we are not the ones being saved. Our job in this world is to bring glory to Hashem, and this is one of the ways to accomplish that. To thank Hashem for salvations that He brings others is a pure praise, just appreciating Him without ulterior motives. Says the Tiferet Shlomo, this is why the Torah mentions these words of Yitro, to praise Him for doing such a beautiful avodah. Whenever a person praises Hashem, it brings glory to Him. The more difficult it is to praise, the more precious the praise becomes. To thank Hashem when we receive open good is very valuable. It shows that we recognize that the blessing came from Hashem. But to thank Him for someone else's salvation is much more difficult. And to thank Him when that person himself is going through hardship is even more difficult. Take for example somebody who was having difficulty getting married and hears a story about Hashem's Hashgacha Peratit in bringing someone else who was also having difficulty their zivug. To thank Hashem for that is worth so much more. There are people who are able to thank Hashem even during their most difficult times. I was recently visiting a mourner during his shiva, and he was telling a rabbi there about how thankful he was to Hashem for doing certain things to make the death easier on his relative. This was a very big tragedy of the relative passing at a young age, yet the mourner was finding ways to praise Hashem. The rabbi listening to this told the mourner, you can't imagine how much nachat ruach you are bringing Hashem at this moment. Instead of complaining and being bitter, you are praising Him. The more difficult it is to praise, the more valuable it becomes. So if someone has been feeling bad about hearing of others getting salvations, he should utilize the opportunity going forward to thank and praise Hashem for the salvations that He brings His children. And if it's hard to do, it's even more valuable.

When Hashem makes a decree upon a person, there are many ways in which it can be carried out, and our deeds can change things for the good. The Gemara says, Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai had a dream on Rosh Hashana that his relative was destined to lose a certain amount of money. Over the course of the year, he advised his relative to give large sums of money to tzedaka. By year's end, the man had given to tzedaka everything he was destined to lose except six dinarim. The king levied a large tax upon everyone, but this man was only charged six dinarim. He was able to fulfill the decree by giving tzedaka instead of losing it a different way. He got the merit of helping people and gained eternal reward. A man said, This past Elul, his bet midrash was asking people to contribute money to buy air conditioners. The air conditioners would help them be able to concentrate more on their learning and have more kavana in tefila. The man wanted to contribute, but he wasn't sure how much he wanted to give, and eventually he forgot about it. A couple of weeks later, his very own home air conditioner stopped working. He called some people who knew about these things, and they all said it sounded like the problem was not fixable. He then called two different repairmen to come down, and they both said he needed to switch the circuit board inside the unit, which would cost at least eight hundred shekels. The man then realized, this was min hashamayim. They were collecting for air conditioners in the bet midrash, and he hadn't given anything yet. He immediately called the gabbai and said he wanted to donate one entire air conditioner. He was not surprised by the end of this story. He called another air conditioning technician, and he told him to try putting his finger on a certain button for a long time. He tried it, and the air conditioner started working again, as though nothing was ever wrong. It seems like this man was decreed to pay a certain amount of money for an air conditioner, and he fulfilled it by donating the money to tzedaka, and then no longer needed the trouble of fixing his own air conditioner. Another man told me he rented an apartment starting in September, and he received a phone call from someone saying he had been providing the sukka for the tenants of that apartment in the past, and offered it to him now. It was a very large and beautiful sukka, which would cost him fifteen hundred dollars to use, plus six hundred and fifty dollars to build. The man usually rented a sukka for twelve hundred, but it was not that nice. So he told this person he was willing to spend the extra money to do the mitzva in a more beautiful way. The next day the sukka came, and the following day the builder came. The builder asked him where the brackets were. The man didn't know what he was talking about. The builder said he needed at least twenty brackets to put the sukka together. The man immediately called the person who delivered the sukka to inquire about the brackets. He said the brackets should be stored in the apartment somewhere. The man searched the apartment, and there were no brackets. To buy new ones would cost another six hundred and fifty dollars. The man was livid. He wasn't told about the brackets, and now he wanted to back out of the whole thing. He was going to yell at this man for not telling him about the brackets in advance. But then he caught himself. Although he admits he does have a problem with his temper, he wanted to start the new year the right way. He told Hashem he was going to swallow it and go and buy the brackets. This also meant a lot of time with traffic and lines at the sukka store. But he overcame his nature and got in the car to go. When he was just two blocks away from his house, he saw his brother-in-law turning the corner and said hello, and then told him he was going to buy brackets for his sukka. His brother-in-law replied, "Oh, I forgot to tell you. Last week I was driving by your house, and I saw your housekeeper put out a whole bunch of good brackets by the garbage. I took them for you but forgot to tell you about it. Come to my house now, and I'll give you them." The man immediately thanked Hashem.He said to himself, Hashem was testing my anger. Once I passed the test, He gave me the brackets. What were the odds that on the way to buy the brackets, he would see his brother-in-law, the only person in the entire world, who had his brackets at that time? There are many ways things can play out. Our decisions will determine the outcome.

In this week's Parasha , Noach was commanded to bring into the Teva two of every kind of animal that existed in the world to keep it's species alive. The sefer Birkat David quotes from studies that were done investigating how many species exist in the world. It said there are 10 kosher animals, 5,300 non-kosher animals, 18,000 kinds of reptiles, 9,000 kinds of birds and hundreds of thousands of insects. As big as the teva was, it was mathematically impossible for all of those animals to have fit on it. Furthermore, Noah and his family were given the job of feeding those animals. Even if every one of them would have spent all of their 24 hour days feeding the animals, they still wouldn't even come close to reaching every animal each day. Moreover, where was all that food stored ?Just the elephant alone eats approximately 300 pounds of food a day. Obviously this must have been accomplished by way of a miracle from Hashem. If that's the case, the Ramban asks, why did Hashem instruct Noah to build such a big Teva ? Anyway, it wasn't going to fit everything. He answered, Hashem wanted the miracle to be minimized as much as possible. And then he added, this is the way of all miracles. Man has to do all he can. And then Hashem does the rest. This is how it is with everything we do in life. We go through the motions, doing what we can, and Hashem is the One who gets things done. With this knowledge, if a person ever runs into a situation where it doesn't seem possible for him to accomplish his goal, but he knows it's the right thing to do, his job is to proceed with it, and he can then leave the rest to Hashem. Rabbi Avraham Salem, a mohel in Israel, told the following story about himself. Some years back on a hot day in the month of Elul, he had many brit milas scheduled in Netanya and the surrounding areas. The second to last one of the day was scheduled for 7:00 PM in one location. And the last one was in a different location pretty far from there, with sunset being at 7:15. This meant the mohel would have less than ten minutes to get there and do that last brit milah . He had no other choice. That was the only possibility for him to get all of them done on that day. While he was driving to that last brit milah, he saw smoke coming from underneath his car, and he quickly pulled over. He saw one of his tires was completely flat. It was too late to first call a taxi. He made a tefila to Hashem, "Please help me get this Mila accomplished." It seemed impossible to get there and complete it before sunset. But this rabbi knew he had to put in the effort and Hashem would decide what happens. So he waved down the next car driving by and begged the driver to help him. The driver was apprehensive, not knowing who this man was. The rabbi already started thanking him and got into his car and told him, "Please just go. I assure you we are doing holy work. I'll explain on the road." It was about a five mile drive to the next place, and there was nine minutes to go until sunset. The rabbi told the driver who was not religious, "You are Hashem's messenger. I am trying to get a brit mila done by the end of the day. I'm going to say Tehilim now and you just drive" When they arrived at the address, the rabbi was afraid to look at his watch. The driver told him you still have more than four minutes to go. The rabbi ran into the shul and was able to finish the mila before sunset. When he came out, he told the driver, you have no idea how great of a mitzvah you just did. The driver then said, "My name is Shimon. And if I just did a great mitzvah and you are a rabbi, please give me a beracha that I should get married. I'm 45 and I'm still single. I'm so lonely." The rabbi then put his hands on Shimon's head and gave him a heartfelt beracha and concluded by saying, "B'ezrat Hashem, I will have the merit to circumcise your first born son." The rabbi concluded this story by saying it was just one year later when Shimon called him in tears telling him that he got married two months after that episode, and now they had their first baby boy and were hoping he could come do the brit milah. That day that the rabbi tried to do all of those brit milas it seemed like he hit a roadblock and wasn't going to be able to complete the mission. Yet he kept going, because he knew that he just had to make the efforts, and it will be Hashem who actually gets things done. Shabbat Shalom.

The pasuk says, שיר המעלות ממעמקים קראתיך ה . There are times when a person calls out to Hashem from the depths of his troubles. He recognizes that he doesn't deserve salvation. But, כי עם ה' החסד , Hashem has so much kindness, והרבה עמו פדות , and endless ways to save a person. So he calls out, no matter how hopeless the situation seems to be, and recognizes that Hashem could still help him. The value of that recognition is so great. It shows how much emunah the person has. This pasuk applied to Yonah, when he called out to Hashem from the depths of the ocean, in a place where salvation seemed unlikely. There, Hashem showed him, הרבה עמו פדות , He could always save and nothing is ever beyond him. Throughout the generations, people have called out to Hashem during their most trying times and have received salvations that they aren't even capable of describing. They say, "I don't know how it happened, but somehow, someway, Hashem saved me." Just a few weeks ago, right before Rosh Hashanah, a man said he went with his father-in-law and two brothers-in-law to the ocean to dip. The ocean looked suspicious, as there were four levels of waves breaking. The man, who we'll call Sol, went in first. He alerted the others that he didn't think they should go in, because he felt a strong pull, even though it was very shallow. They went in anyway, saying they would be careful. One of his brothers-in-law, who we'll call Al, started getting pulled in slowly. His other brother-in-law came out, saying, Al needs help. In a matter of seconds, Al got pulled thirty yards out. He was disappearing and reappearing, as the levels of waves were breaking. Then he got pulled out twenty yards more and was disappearing for twenty to thirty seconds at a time. Sol decided to go in and save him. He started swimming his hardest, making no progress, and then all of a sudden, the current got hold of him and pulled him to where Al was in a matter of seconds. He saw Al's pale white face and body failing. He looked lifeless. Sol grabbed his arm and took two strokes, but on the second stroke, they both got taken further out. At this point, Sol realized he could no longer help his brother-in-law. He felt he was going to die as well. He tried to swim to shore, but was getting pulled back further. He was thinking about his wife and children, as well as his in-laws. Thoughts of the upcoming holiday, along with funerals, were rushing through his mind. He was completely helpless. He kept trying to swim his hardest, but for the most part, he was blacking out. He doesn't know what happened next, but somehow, he managed to get back to shore alive. At this point, Hatzalah came on the scene, and Al was nowhere in sight. Al had been out there already for ten minutes at this point. All of a sudden, Al appeared a hundred yards away and looked like he was standing up straight. He stood there for a couple of minutes, gathered himself, and then came back to shore. They asked him how he survived. He said that he called out to Hashem with his last breaths, crying for help. That second, he felt sand under his feet and was able to stand out there. It was like a sandbar appeared out of nowhere. This was practically an open miracle. We call out to Hashem from the depths, sometimes figuratively and sometimes literally, because we know, כי עם ה' החסד , Hashem is so kind, והרבה עמו פדות , and can always save us, no matter how hopeless it seems.

The love that Hashem has for us is unfathomable. We may not always get what we want, but that's just because what we want is not good for us to have at the moment. Hashem wants us to be happy, and He cares about every last detail of our lives. Even things that may appear to be trivial, are very important to Him. Sometimes He shows us how much He cares even about the simplest pleasures of life. Rabbi Joey Haber related a story that was told to him by Jonathan Ghermezian, one of the owners of the Mall of America in Minnesota. He said his wife was in Israel, and he was home with his young daughter. She was bored, so he took her to the mall. They went to the kosher cafe there, and while they were eating, they saw a religious family who told them they were driving cross-country from L.A. to a wedding, and they had stopped off there at the mall. The head of the family was a rebbe in a school in L.A., and he made small talk with Mr. Ghermezian, not knowing he was the owner of the mall. The rebbe mentioned his last name, and only afterward did it click in Mr. Ghermezian's head that this rebbe may be related to another rebbe that he had when he was younger. He had been looking for this rebbe for a long time to ask mechila for something that he had done when he was younger. And so, after he had already left, he went back to the cafe and asked this rebbe if he knew the rebbe that he was looking for, but he did not know him. Now, Mr. Ghermezian started thinking more. This family couldn't even afford flights to the wedding they needed to go to, so he turned to the children and asked them if they wanted passes to the rides in the mall. They all said they wished they could have them. He told them he would take care of it. Since that day was a national holiday, the back offices were closed, and so he went and stood in line like everyone else to get tickets. When it was his turn, he asked to speak to a supervisor. When the supervisor came out, she recognized him and gave him what he asked for. He went back to where the family was waiting and put the passes in the mother's hand. The mother then said, "Wow, this is amazing." She explained, "for two weeks, we knew we were going to stop off here, and my children knew we weren't going to be able to afford to buy tickets to the rides. They have been talking about this for the past two weeks, how they wished that somehow they would be able to get onto the rides there." This mother, who learns bitachon every day, told her children, "If Hashem wants to put the tickets in my hands, He can put them in my hands." And here she was standing with the owner of the mall, who had just put the tickets right in her hands. When Mr. Ghermezian walked away, he was awed at the hashgacha of Hashem. Here he thought he was making decisions about what to do that day. Little did he know, he was just a pawn in the hands of Hashem to give this family the tickets that He wanted them to have. Hashem caused the man's wife to go to Israel, which left him home with their younger daughter. He made the daughter bored, so he would go to the mall on his off day with her. He made him go to the cafe at the same moment that this family who was traveling across the country would be there. He made him go back to find out the name of a person that this rebbe didn't even know. All just to give this family tickets to the rides. Hashem loves us more than we could ever imagine and is always looking out for our best. It may not always appear that way, but we must know it is the absolute truth.

The joy that we experienced on the Chag is supposed to carry us throughout the year. There is a big yetzer hara that can disturb a person's happiness, and we must not fall prey to it. The Gemara tells us that Adam and Chava had the most blissful life in Gan Eden. There were angels roasting meat for them and serving them wine. But then the nachash came along and told Chava that she was lacking. He made her feel that without that one fruit they weren't able to have she would be missing so much. Then she set her eye upon it, desired it, and ate it, and that ruined everything. They had it all, but the nachash who was the evil inclination made them feel lacking. They felt that they couldn't be happy without the one thing they didn't have. This yetzer hara plagues all of us until today. Hashem gives every person everything he needs to be happy but then he looks elsewhere and sees what others have and becomes envious and can no longer enjoy the wonderful blessings that he has. The secret to the happiness of the Jewish people in the desert was that the openings of their tents did not face each other, and thus no one was able to see what the other one had. Someone could have the most beautiful kitchen but then he looks through his window and sees that his neighbors are redoing their kitchen and all of a sudden his kitchen is not good anymore. Today this yetzer hara has found its way into apps that contain pictures of everyone else's lives. This is bringing the nachash into our homes and destroying them. Someone could have the greatest life but the eye fools him into thinking that everyone else has everything better than him until he can no longer enjoy anything that he has. Rabbi Menashe Reizman pointed out that today even a poor man lives better than the wealthiest people from 300 years ago. Someone from that time who had it all did not have running water in his house. He did not have a shower or a toilet. He did not have air conditioning or heating. His bed was not as comfortable and his kitchen was not as equipped, yet he enjoyed everything so much. Today when we have so much more we are unhappy just because someone else has something that we don't have. It doesn't make sense, but it's the yetzer hara, and it doesn't have to make sense. The best advice is not to look at what others have but rather focus on what Hashem has given us. The same thing applies in the spiritual realms. Some people become depressed because they aren't able to comprehend the Gemara like their peers or they aren't able to give tzedaka like their peers. They must realize that Hashem expects a different avodah from different people. Someone who wasn't blessed with the highest IQ is not expected to comprehend everything. Hashem does not reward for results. He rewards for efforts. There can be two people in the same shiur and one understands everything and the other understands only half of what is being taught. Yet the one who understands half may be better off than the one who understands everything if he invests more effort than him. Someone who gives a hundred dollars to tzedaka can be considered greater than someone who gives a thousand or ten thousand. It's all relative to how much Hashem gives each person. Hashem gives everyone the exact lives that they need to be happy and successful in this world: Their spouse, their children, their living conditions, their brain power, their background. They are all carefully planned out for their success. If we could learn to focus on what we have and what we are capable of doing, we will always be happy and be able to do the jobs that we were sent here to do with joy.

One of the greatest tools that we have to give us chizuk for difficult times are the real life stories that other people share. We are able to see the Yad Hashem very clearly and it helps us have hope even when things are looking very bleak. A woman sent me some details of what took place during her last pregnancy which will give us a tremendous amount of chizuk. She said when she was nine weeks pregnant she began to bleed and the doctor told her she needed to take it easy but most probably would miscarry. She quit her job and was confined to bed rest. At around sixteen weeks, the baby tested positive for down syndrome and spina bifida. The baby was also reading two weeks behind in development. The doctor said not to worry about all the problems because she was going to miscarry anyway. Confused and broken, she didn't know where to turn. She stood in the parking lot of the hospital and began strengthening her emunah that it was all in Hashem's hands and it was all for the best. She received a text from a Rebbetzin of hers asking how things were going. She then called the Rebbetzin and told her what was going on. The Rebbetzin connected her to Dr. Rebarber who confirmed her worst fears. He said the baby's spine was completely curved. The fetus was head to toe. The foot was backwards and would need surgery right after birth. It had heart issues that required them to get a fetal echo twice a week. It was so bad that the doctor told her, "I don't know what you would consider a worst case scenario, having the child or miscarrying." When Chanukkah came around she forced herself to pray by the candles for a completely healthy baby, although that did not seem at all possible. For the time being she was still seeing her doctor in New Jersey. The baby turned 20 weeks and she asked him a question. She forgot the question but will never forget his response. "I can't save your baby until 24 weeks, so do whatever you want." Those words hit her very hard. She had a moment of complete Emunah in Hashem. She said to herself about this doctor, you were never the one saving my baby. She left and never went back. She finally started praying the right way to the Doctor of all Doctors. In the meantime things were getting worse and worse, more appointments, more complications. She felt her prayers were making an impact, but each sonogram seemed to say otherwise. They were told to terminate the pregnancy once again but she encouraged her husband not to listen and to rather continue with the pregnancy and that's what they did. At 29 weeks the baby was only 22 weeks developed. It failed a breathing test. She was hospitalized because the placenta was failing. Things looked the worst they could possibly get. She knew she was in Hashem's hands and only He had the final say on what was going to happen. The NICU team told them a bunch of horrific scenarios, and at the end of their gruesome speech they said not to worry about any of this, because the baby is too small for the ventilator so it won't live anyway. They did a c-section and announced it's a girl. She was praying the entire time asking Hashem to let the baby live. Baruch Hashem the baby came out crying which meant it was breathing. Each team at the NICU slowly came up with their findings. Cardiology said, "I don't know what they were talking about with the heart issues. There are no holes. The heart is perfect." This woman kept a google docs sheet with every issue the baby was supposed to have. The ortho team came and said her foot and spine are perfect. Each team was astonished with their findings. Dr. Rebarber called to say he couldn't believe the baby was alive and healthy. The baby did need to be in the NICU for 188 days and did need to come home with a feeding tube but now she is turning three, completely healthy, Baruch Hashem, and going to school like everyone else. From every issue they were told the baby had, she had none of them. Hashem showed everyone that He is in charge and once again gave chizuk to all of us to know we can always hope to Him for the best results, no matter how bleak a situation seems to be.

We say in the Yom Tov Amida , אתה בחרתנו מכל העמים אהבת אותנו ורצית בנו – Hashem chose us from all of the other nations, He loved us and wanted us. In the siddur of the Gr"a, the question was asked, seemingly love is more powerful than ratzon . So if we already mentioned that Hashem chose us out of love, why do we also say that he chose us from ratzon ? The answer is that love is based on certain qualities that people possess, but ratzon implies desiring something without any specific cause. And thus we add ורצית בנו – Hashem yearned for us to be His Nation and still yearns for every single Jew to be close to Him, even if they don't possess the qualities that they should have. Hashem's desire for us is not dependent on our past performance of mitzvot, He yearns for everyone no matter what they have done in the past and wants more than anything for them to come close to Him. Sometimes, Hashem gives people extra siyata d'Shamaya to realize that there is nothing better for them than to come close to Him. A man who made a complete turnaround in religion was asked what prompted his big change. He replied, he had everything he could possibly want, money was no object, he had a great wife and great children. One night, while driving home, he looked up into the sky and asked Hashem if this was the pinnacle of what life could be, because if it was, he had nothing else to look forward to because he already reached it. The next day, he decided to go to shul and on the way out, he grabbed a CD to listen to in the car. The first words from the speaker on that CD were, "The purpose of life is," and then he quoted from Mesilat Yesharim . The man was floored. The very same night, his mother asked him to stop by because she got him a gift. When he got there, he couldn't believe his eyes. It was a Mesilat Yesharim . He said, "Hashem, I get the message." And since that day, he has grown leaps and bounds in religion and now knows the real purpose of life and couldn't be happier. A young woman emailed that her best friend recently got married and another close friend of hers is dating seriously. This meant, out of her large group of friends, she was going to be the only one left not married, which basically meant she was going to have no friends. She felt lost and alone and knew something needed to change. She had heard of a new program in her community where post high school girls would form groups and get together once a week to learn with a teacher. A girl on her block was hosting the classes for one group, so she decided to try it once. She was older than most girls in that group and they all seemed more religious than her. It was a little awkward in the beginning, but she loved the way that the learning made her feel, so she continued going weekly. Because of the age gap, she would just go to the class, sit there quietly, and leave right when it finished. As the weeks went on, she found herself changing, but the people in her life were making not such nice comments to her. For example, "Why are you wearing that skirt? You look like a grandma." Or, "You are going to class again? Didn't you just go last week?" One night, she got so fed up, she started to doubt what she was doing. She cried to Hashem saying she felt so alone and nobody understood her. She asked Hashem to please help her see that she was taking the right path. At the next class, she started zoning out a little towards the middle when, all of a sudden, the teacher said, "Hashem is telling us, 'I love you! Keep going! I'm so proud of you.'" She immediately zoned back in and felt as if Hashem was talking directly to her. She started crying tears of joy and felt like she got the biggest hug. Since then, she has been growing more and more each day and she couldn't be happier. She also became closer with all the girls in the class and she especially became close to that teacher. Hashem loves every one of us and He yearns for everyone to be closer to Him.