Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear

The Mishnah Berura writes at the end of siman 218 in Ohr HaChaim , in the name of the Acharonim , that if a person had some type of miracle performed for him, he should set aside money according to his means and give it to Torah scholars and say, “May it be the will of Hashem that this takes the place of the Korban Toda that I owe.” It is also proper for the person to do something on behalf of the community and every year, on the anniversary of the miracle, he should privately thank Hashem and then, with joy, relate the miracle to others. The Mishnah Berura writes elsewhere that if he makes a seudah to celebrate the miracle and say words of thanks and praise to Hashem, it's considered a seudat mitzvah . None of this is obligatory. It's a suggestion of how Hashem would want a person to express his gratitude to Him. Tonight at the Seder, Hashem told us exactly what He wants us to do to give Him hakarat hatov for the wonders and miracles that He performed for us in taking us out of Mitzrayim . He wants us to spend this night telling over everything that He did then. He wants us to feel so much gratitude that the praises are freely flowing from our mouths. The Zohar HaKadosh writes about this night, that if a person is truly happy to say over the Sipur Yetziat Mitzrayim , he will be invited to rejoice with the Shechina HaKedosha in Olam HaBa . Someone who is happy doing this mitzvah is considered a person who is happy with Hashem and merits that Hashem personally comes to help him. Hashem takes so much delight in hearing us relate this story. So many mitzvot that we have are all just a zecher l’Yetziyat Mitzrayim . Tonight we have the mitzvah of actually being מספר יציאת מצרים . Hashem gets so excited, kavayachol. It says that He gathers all of the angels together and He tells them, go listen to the words that His children are saying about Him. The Zohar mentions the word joy over and over in just a few lines. All of the segulot come to a person if he does this mitzvah with joy. We should feel as if there are angels surrounding our tables who were sent to listen to every word we say. They were sent by Hashem who is taking so much delight in everything we say. When the angels hear about our praises, they go back up to Hashem and thank and praise Him for the miracles He did for us. And this gives Hashem, kavayachol , so much strength. The Pirkeh d’Rebbi Eliezer writes that the night of the Seder was sanctified by Hashem during the six days of Creation. It was on this night that Yitzhak Avinu called to Esav to give him the berachot . He said, “My son, on this night the entire Jewish world will say Hallel. The storehouses of blessing are open. Prepare for me the food that I like so that I can bless you on this holy night.” Then Rivka called to Yaakov and she said to him, “Tonight the storehouses of blessing are open. The angels in heaven are singing to Hashem on this night. Hashem is going to redeem His children in the future from slavery. Go prepare tasty foods for your father so that he could bless you.” The night of the Seder is compared to Yom Kippur. There is so much joy in Heaven, especially when we say the story of Yetziat Mitzrayim with joy. It's a night of miracles. The Mishnah says, after we pour the second cup of wine, “ כאן הבן שואל ” - here is where the child is supposed to ask. The Bet Aharon said, besides for the simple meaning here of a child asking his father the Ma Nishtanah , it is also hinting to us, the children of Hashem, that we have an opportune time to ask from our Father as well. Let us utilize it to ask our Father on this night to redeem us and bring an end to this long galut . May we be zocheh to fulfill all of the mitzvot of the night the way Hashem wants us to and bring so much joy to the heavens and arouse our Father to bring the Geulah Shelema . Amen. Chag kasher v'sameach .

People have spent hours upon hours cleaning their homes and making sure to get rid of every last bit of chametz. The nashim tzidkaniyot have had sleepless nights doing very difficult tasks to ensure that not even a crumb of chametz will remain in their homes. And although it is good to feel satisfaction over our accomplishments in avodat Hashem, we still must be careful not to let it get to our heads. There is a yetzer hara that tries to make a person feel that she is the best cleaner, and that she has her Pesach cleaning down to a science, and there's no way it would ever be possible to find any drop of chametz in her house. We must always remember, no matter how much hishtadlut a person puts into any mitzvah, there is no guarantee of success. If we truly want success, we have to beg Hashem to give us siyata dishmaya . We have to pray to Hashem to bless our efforts and ensure that indeed we will be saved from even a ma'shehu of chametz on Pesach. We may have the best cleaning tools, the greatest cleaning crew and the greatest drive to succeed. But if we don't have help from Hashem, we have nothing. Part of getting siyata dishmaya is humbling ourselves and recognizing we can't do the job without Hashem's help. The Divrei Yatziv related a story that was told to him by his grandfather, the Divrei Chayim , about a tzaddik, who was careful with every chumra and hiddur when it came to chametz on Pesach. One year, during the seder, this tzaddik was served soup and floating on the top was a wheat kernel. He had complete chametz right in front of him and he fainted on the spot. After Pesach, he fasted many days and did teshuva for unintentionally owning chametz on the holiday. He then did what's called a she'elat chalom to find out why this happened to him. And he was told in a dream it was because he felt too confident in his own efforts and never asked Hashem for help in fulfilling the mitzvah. When someone has Hashem's help, he has everything. Rabbi Avraham Eliyahu Meisels was moser nefesh to keep every last detail of Halacha. But because of it, he was taken to Siberia to do back-breaking labor. But even while he was there, he displayed the same mesirut nefesh and continued following every single Halacha. When the Shevet Halevy gave a eulogy for Rabbi Meisels, he said, "When the rabbi was asked about his experiences in Siberia, he would say, in this world he's not revealing them. But when he stands before the Kiseh Hakavod after 120, it's going to be the first thing he speaks about." But here and there, he did tell of a few episodes. And his children told one of them. They said it was so hard for people in Siberia to keep track of time. Regarding Shabbat, most people were able to just keep counting seven days and know what day it was. But keeping the holidays was much more of a difficult task. But their father was steadfast in his commitment to Torah and mitzvot, and he did everything in his power to keep track of the days, to know when each holiday would begin. One year, after he finished bedikat chametz, he washed his hands and was about to eat the last piece of chametz which he saved. Before he got a chance to say hamotzi on the food, an officer was banging at his door. He had been summoned by the commander because a package arrived for him. He was so happy. He was hoping it was matzot for Pesach. When he arrived, the commander told him, he checked through his package to make sure everything sent to him was legal. He found a calendar hidden there, which was against the law for him to have. With great anger, the commander threw the calendar down to the floor, right in front of the rabbi. Miraculously, the calendar opened up to the month of Nisan and the rabbi was able to see that he was one day off in his calculation. That night was the first night of Pesach. Hashem had just protected him at the last moment from eating chametz, by having that officer knock on his door. When we have siyata dishmaya in our performance of mitzvot, we have everything. It's up to us to humble ourselves and realize that we cannot succeed without the help of Hashem. And then, we have to beg Him for His help.

A few days ago, I was leaving a shul that I usually don't pray at, and a young man stopped me, telling me he wanted to relate a story that happened to him. He then told the most amazing story of hashgacha peratit . I thought to myself, if I wasn't there at that time, I most probably would have never heard that story. And just like this man had a story, so too there are millions of people with stories that we will never hear about. Each one of them is most probably more amazing than the next. The hashgacha of Hashem is wondrous and we see it, time and time again. Especially when it comes to parnasa . Sometimes, when an amazing story is related, people say, “That's not real life. It never happens to anyone that I know.” And at first glance, it may seem that they have a good point. But when we hear story after story after story of the unbelievable yeshuot that Hashem brings people, we have to refocus and say, “This is real life, and we only hear a minority of stories. There are millions more that we'll never hear about.” This is how Hashem acts on an everyday basis. Just because a person didn't experience it yet in his own life doesn't mean that it's not happening to millions of other people. Hashem has different calculations for every single person and helps everyone in different ways. For some people He gets them a regular job and they earn their parnasa in a regular way. That's Hashem, every step of the way. For others, He sends them holiday bonuses. For others, a relative helps them out. Every person is dealt with on an individual basis and gets his parnasa exactly the way he is meant to get it for his purpose in this world. This particular young man told me, after he had his fifth child he could no longer fit in his very small two-bedroom apartment. The time had come for him to try to find a house. After searching he found something perfect, but was not able to afford it, especially since he was still learning in kollel. Nonetheless he made a hishdadlut and inquired of the owner if there would be any way in which they could make a deal. The owner was very nice and seeing that the young man was honest and had Yirat Shamayim, he wanted to help him. He offered to lend him $500,000 for the down payment that needed to be made. He agreed to get paid back $8,000 a month for the next five years. It was a great opportunity for this growing family to get a house, but even that would be way too much for them to afford. The young man asked his father what to do. His father told him, “You need a house, and this is a great opportunity. We'll figure out how to make the payments.” And with that, he signed on the deal. He then went with his father to apply for a home equity loan to be able to pay this man back. In the meantime, there was a parlor meeting for his brother's yeshiva which he was asked to attend. At that meeting a very wealthy man approached him, someone he had never spoken to before. The man said he was looking for someone to be in charge of giving out his tzedaka. He primarily wanted to give to orphans and widows and needed someone to maintain and run this tzedaka fund and asked this young man if he would consider doing it. The young man replied that he would. The wealthy man then asked him what he did on a daily basis. He replied, he learned all day in a kollel. The wealthy man then said he was looking for someone to make a Yissachar-Zevulun deal with and he offered it to him. The young man called his rabbi and asked if he should do it and the rabbi said yes. The wealthy man, on his own, then offered to pay him $8,000 per month to do the Yissachar-Zevulun deal. When the young man heard that number he was in awe of how Hashem was taking care of him. It has now been over two years since that meeting and every month the $8,000 comes in and goes straight to paying the loan back to buy the house. Hashem takes care of everyone in their own way. We have to know that we could always be helped, and tefila and good deeds are the best way to access it.

On the night of the Seder we are commanded to relate the story of Yetziat Mitzrayim and thereby imbue into our families the emunah that Hashem runs the world. The Haggadah tells us we have to relate the story even if everyone at the table are חכמים . Which means, even if everyone has a wellspring of emunah that they have already learned from their parents and rabbis, they still need to hear the story. And even if everyone at the Seder are נבונים , which means they are able to see Hashem just by analyzing the world and creation and how everything works. And some texts say אפילו כולנו זקנים , even if everyone at the Seder is an elderly person who has lived a full life and has seen with his own eyes countless episodes that clearly show that Hashem is running the world. As I'm writing this lesson, a man just came over to me and said, his relative was told by a doctor that he is about to lose his eyesight in one eye, lo alenu . The man was broken and asked if there was perhaps someone who could give him chizuk . His relative made him an appointment with a big rabbi who's a dayan and a posek who he felt would give him the proper chizuk . At the meeting, the rabbi revealed to this man something he never told anyone in his community about, that he himself has only one eye that works. He proceeded to tell him how much he's able to accomplish with one eye and how everything about his life is completely normal. The man got so much chizuk from that meeting. The relative told me he had no idea that this rabbi only had one eye. What were the odds that the one person he sent his relative to for chizuk would have the same issue as him? Only Hashem can orchestrate such a meeting. The Haggadah continues and says, אפילו כולנו יודעים את התורה . Even if everyone at the Seder knows Hashem through delving into His Torah. The greatest proof of Hashem's existence is the wisdom inside of the book that He gave us. Even if someone has emunah in Hashem from all of these different sources, he still has a mitzvah on the night of the Seder to relate the story of Yetziat Mitzrayim . Once a year, we are commanded with a מצוות עשה מן התורה to gain emunah in Hashem specifically through relating the story of Yetziat Mitzrayim . That is the mitzvah of the night. A person may know with such a clarity אין עוד מלבדו - there's nothing in this world with any power besides Hashem. Yet on this night, he must strengthen his emunah by speaking about the wonders and miracles that Hashem performed in taking us out of Mitzrayim . And the better a person does this mitzvah, the more praiseworthy he becomes. The story he tells this year about Yetziat Mitzrayim will not be the same as last year. The Chatam Sofer writes, when a person yearns to do a mitzvah properly, he merits a special heavenly assistance in doing it. The greatest rabbis who ever lived, who seemingly knew the entire Torah backwards and forwards, came up with the new chiddushim every year in their sipur Yetziat Mitzrayim . The Torah is endless. The Chafetz Chaim said that after thousands of years of the greatest Torah scholars learning day and night, we haven't even scratched the surface of the Torah yet. It was known that every year the Chatam Sofer would have an entirely new approach of analyzing Yetziat Mitzrayim . Obviously, this requires preparation. To do this mitzvah properly, a person has to open books and listen to classes and be ready to teach his family about Hashem taking us out of Mitzrayim . All we have to do is make the effort and then Hashem will take over. The Panim Yafot in Parashat Bo writes, there's a great light that Hashem reveals on this night and each person, according to his level of preparation and purity, will receive benefit from this light. It's the same light that Hashem revealed on the night of Yetziat Mitzrayim, that is infinite, that can connect a person to Hashem in the deepest way. On this night, there may be a large variety of people at a person's Seder or there may be a large age gap between people anywhere from 20 to 30 to 40 years. The pasuk tells us to tell the story באזני בנך ובן בנך - in our children and grandchildren's ears. The Kol Yehudah writes, it doesn't say ears twice, to teach us that with the help of Hashem that He gives that night, we will be able to give the exact same message to everyone at the table and they'll all be able to gain in their own way from it. There's a special segula on the night of the Seder to give emunah to anyone who participates and may Hashem give us the siyata d’Shamayah to do it the best way possible.

A lot of money needs to be spent to prepare for a holiday, especially a holiday like Pesach. Whether it's food, clothing, or matzot, the money adds up. Shulchan Aruch writes in siman 529 that we are supposed to honor the holiday, and when it comes to something that will bring more honor to the holiday, we should not be cheap about it. The Mishnah Berura explains, because parnasa is determined on Rosh Hashanah, but the money that we spend on Yom Tov is not included in that allotment. The more a person spends on Yom Tov , the more Hashem will give him to cover it, and the less he spends, the less he'll be given towards those Yom Tov expenses. Part of honoring the Yom Tov is spending with happiness rather than complaining about all of the expenses. Hashem has unlimited funds to help us pay for all of our Yom Tov needs and that is how we are supposed to feel about them. A man told, he began learning Hilchot Shabbat during all of his Shabbat meals. They learn two halachot at each meal and last year at one point, they came to a halacha regarding how Shabbat and Yom Tov expenses come back to the person. It said there, the reimbursement applied to four areas, Talmud Torah , Shabbat, Rosh Chodesh and Yom Tov and the Rabbis gave an acronym to remember them, TiShReY. One of the children in the family got very excited when hearing this halacha and he said to his father, “Is this true? Everything we spend comes back?” The father answered with steadfast emunah saying, “Absolutely, every last shekel we spend comes back.” The child then asked the father how Hashem gives the money back. The father said, “The Ribono Shel Olam has His ways of providing.” The child then asked, “Could it be that someone would just come over and put the money in your hand?” The father said, “Yes, that's possible.” A short while later, it was coming to Erev Pesach. This family had strengthened themselves in emunah and had bought everything they needed, relying on the open hand of Hashem. On Chol HaMoed , they went to the park for a short outing and a car stopped right near them with the driver calling to one of the children to come to him. The father saw what was happening and got suspicious. He went over to that man himself and asked what he needed. The man said he had an envelope to give him and he proceeded to hand it to him. It was obvious that there was a lot of money inside. At first, the father refused to accept it, asking why he would be giving him this envelope being that they didn't even know each other. The man explained that he and his wife put money aside to give to a family with children for the holiday. They decided they were going to go to Bnei Brak and give the envelope to the first family that they would meet. So he said, “You are the first family we met, so this money belongs to you. Please take it.” Considering the incredible series of events, the father understood this was HaKadosh Baruch Hu sending him the money, and so he took it happily and thanked the man. At home, they counted the money and, amazingly, saw that it equaled the exact amount that they had spent on Yom Tov expenses. Not only that, but for some inexplicable reason, on the envelope was written one word that explained everything - “Tishrey”. They were all in awe. Hashem is the One who gives us money and He told us whatever we spend on Yom Tov , He will reimburse us for. And therefore, we should spend with happiness knowing that we are honoring the holiday the proper way.

With the resha'im in Iran, firing over 300 missiles capable of causing complete annihilation, we are reminded of the words in the Haggadah, בכל דור ודור עומדים עלינו לכלותינו - in every generation they rise up against us to destroy us. And how fortunate we are to see the conclusion of that statement with our own eyes. והקב"ה מצילנו מידם - and Hashem saves us from their hands. Sometimes Hashem saves us with open miracles like in Yetziat Mitzrayim. And sometimes He saves us from behind the scenes like in the story of Purim. Giving us the capabilities to create machinery that can shoot down ballistic missiles and cruise missiles and giving us additional countries using their capabilities, is Hashem saving us from behind the scenes. But it's not really so hidden. To have that kind of threat with zero damage is HaKadosh Baruch Hu shooting down every missile out of His eternal love for us. In the Haggadah of Rabbi Eliezer Ashkenazi, he points out the fact that the Haggadah emphasizes Hashem saving us from our enemies, rather than Hashem wiping out our enemies. The reason, he says, is because if Hashem would just wipe out our enemies, we wouldn't necessarily see His love for us, because perhaps our enemies deserve destruction. But when Hashem comes just to protect us, that shows His complete love. It's only for us. Like when He told Avraham Avinu, אנכי מגן לך - I am your protector. And this is only what we see openly. We have no idea how much Hashem is protecting us from the billions of enemies that we have who are constantly plotting to harm us. We say לעושה נפלאות גדולות לבדו כי לעולם חסדו . We thank Hashem for the great wonders that He does for us that only He knows about. When Yitro came to visit us after Yetziat Mitzrayim , he told us more of the danger that we were in than we even knew, because he was in the government in Mitzrayim . If we would know about the miracles that Hashem is constantly doing for us, we wouldn't stop thanking Him. Regarding the Asher Yatzar , Rabbi Menashe Reizman pointed out, it says גלוי וידוע לפני כסא כבודיך - only Hashem knows how many miracles He's performing with our bodies constantly. If our bodies would be transparent and we would see the open nisim that are happening every second, we would be so appreciative. It says, הללו את ה' כל גוים - the nations of the world are going to give Hashem the greatest praises of all because only they know how much Hashem protects us. Only they see how many times their plots get foiled back in their faces. After Hashem showed us His love by protecting us, we hope now that He will avenge our enemies and bring the Geula . In the Haggadah we say, Dayenu , which many Mefarshim explain means, if Hashem would have just done one of the chasadim that He did for us during Yetziat Mitzrayim , it would have been enough of a reason to thank Him. How much more so that He did chesed after chesed after chesed . We say there, אילו הוציאנו ממצרים ולא עשה בהם שפטים - even if Hashem would have just taken us out of Mitzrayim without inflicting punishments upon the Egyptians, it would have been more than enough to thank Him. Hashem could have made Pharaoh not be able to sleep one night like Achashverosh and asked for His book of Chronicles to be read. And it would have said that Yosef HaTzaddik saved his country and he never paid him back. And then, with that, he could have released the Jewish people. But instead, Hashem allowed us to see revenge against the people that tortured us. And that was an additional level of love that Hashem did not have to do. We need to appreciate so much that we have Hashem on our side. And now, more than ever, we need to storm the Shamayim with our tefilot and good deeds to merit the Geula Shelema b’karov . Amen.

This week's parasha, Tazriya, speaks about tzaraat , which Chazal tell us primarily came as a result of the sin of lashon hara . The Zohar HaKadosh, in parashat Tazria writes, the same way a person is held accountable for the negative speech that he says, so too he is held accountable for the positive speech that he could have said but refrained from. One of the primary purposes of a person being created is to use his speech for holiness and good. When a person is presented with an opportunity to give another person a kind word or a compliment, he is obligated to do so. A person's words can have amazing effects on other people. Our words can give strength, courage and even life if used properly. The Be'er HaParasha tells a story of a working man who we’lll call Yehuda from Borough Park, whose ability to guard his eyes is something to be admired. One day, one of his friends asked him if perhaps he doesn't have the same tests in this area that everybody else does. The man answered, he has very big tests and he explained how he is able to overcome them. When he was younger in yeshiva, he worked hard on guarding his eyes as best as he could and, although he wasn't perfect, it was definitely noticeable to others that he was being careful. One Purim, a classmate of his, had a little too much to drink and he came over to Yehuda and asked him to give him a beracha . Yehuda said, “Who, me? Who am I to give you a beracha ?” The other boy told him, “What do you mean? You are the tzaddik of the yeshiva. There is no one like you in guarding their eyes. Ask anyone, they'll tell you the same thing. There is no one as big of a tzaddik as you are in this yeshiva.” Yehuda said, those words had such an impact on him. From that day on, whenever he had a test in this area, he would quickly remind himself what a tzaddik people considered him and how it would be beneath him to give that up in a moment of weakness. That boy, who was drunk that day, has no recollection of what he said, but with his one comment, he gave chizuk to Yehuda for an entire lifetime. Another rabbi said, in his yeshiva, they had a rule, whenever a boy got engaged, a member of the staff had to go to the engagement party and represent everyone else. One time, a boy got engaged and the party was a four-hour drive away. Rabbi Binyamin, the Mashgiach of the Yeshiva, was slated to go, but he couldn't see himself traveling back and forth for eight hours. He asked the Rosh Yeshiva if he could possibly skip the party, but the rosh yeshiva adamantly denied his request, saying it was imperative that someone from the rabbis of the yeshiva represented them. So Rabbi Binyamin went, and when he arrived, his student was very happy to see him. They honored him by asking him to say a few words. He got up and gave a Devar Torah and spoke about the chatan . Most of the crowd was not listening, and the rabbi felt that his words were falling on deaf ears. Nonetheless, he gave the speech as if people were listening. He then danced with the boy and went on his way. Some years later, Rabbi Binyamin bumped into this boy, his former student, and was surprised to see him holding a sefer and carefully analyzing it while waiting for a bus. This boy, everyone was sure, was not going to be from those who delved into Torah study. The rabbi greeted him warmly and asked him what he was up to. The young man said he was currently a Maggid Shiur in a very good Yeshiva. The rabbi asked him how that came about. He said he was not planning on staying in learning, but that day, when the rabbi spoke about him at his engagement party, his in-laws were listening very intently, and they got so inspired and felt that their future son-in-law could become big in Torah. So, along with his wife, they encouraged him to continue learning, and from that day on, his learning took on new meaning and was elevated to a much higher level. The rabbi thought his words were wasted, but little did he know, those words changed the lives of that family and generations to come. Our words are very powerful. We must never hold back from giving people the words of encouragement that they so desperately could use. Shabbat Shalom.

The hashgacha of Hashem is mind-boggling. There are so many things going on behind the scenes that we are completely oblivious to. We don't realize how far-reaching every deed we do goes. We don't realize the ramifications of every action and thought that we have. All we need to know is that we must try our hardest to follow the will of Hashem in every situation He puts us in, and everything will turn out perfectly. I heard a story on Stories to Inspire that was told over by Mr. Don Ghermezian. He was traveling somewhere, and his good friend Jeff was supposed to meet him. In the end, Jeff did not end up making his flight, because his Crohn's Disease was acting up and he had to go to the hospital. The doctor said his intestines had rotted and he needed to have two feet of them cut out and would then have to wear a colostomy bag for the rest of his life. The news was extremely difficult to deal with. It meant Jeff would have to have a bag on him to collect his waste, because he would no longer be able to go to the bathroom normally. When Don heard what was happening, he was heartbroken. He immediately called one of his rabbis, Rabbi Eliyahu Netaneli, to seek counsel. After hearing what happened, the rabbi asked Don to call him back in twenty minutes. When Don called back, the Rabbi said, “Your friend Jeff, he was on a flight a few weeks ago, and that's when his Crohn's started flaring up. On that flight, someone did something to Jeff that got him so upset he wanted to kill the man, but he ended up holding himself back. Please call Jeff and verify that what I said happened.” Don called Jeff and told him what he heard. Jeff was in awe of how Don knew that, as he hadn't told anyone of the episode. Jeff then said he was on an airplane with his wife, and he was in row 9 seat A, and his wife had 9C. There was a man in between them in 9B. He politely asked the man to take the aisle seat so he and his wife could sit together, but the man refused. Then he offered him the window seat, and he refused that too. Jeff got very upset, but his wife calmed him down and he left it. When they finally landed, this man was taking his carry-on out of the overhead compartment, and it landed right on Jeff's wife's head and injured her. Now Jeff was livid. He pushed the man, and again his wife calmed him down and he held himself back. Don heard the story and called back Rabbi Netaneli, saying he was right about what happened. What Rabbi Netaneli said next completely blew Don away. The Rabbi said, “That man on the plane is a gilgul of a man named Reuven who lived 80 years ago, and your friend Jeff is a gilgul of a man named Levi who lived at the same time. They both lived in the same city in Israel. Levi was a shoemaker and Reuven was a tanner. Levi became much more successful than Reuven. They were friends for their entire lives, but towards the end of their lives, in a moment of anger, Reuven cursed Levi. This curse manifested itself in Levi, or Jeff now, getting Crohn's disease. When Jeff held himself back from hurting the man on the plane, the one who cursed him in the previous life, his neshama forgave Jeff for half the curse. He was supposed to have Crohn's for his entire life, but now the Crohn's acted up and they were going to remove the intestine part that had the Crohn's, and it was going to end. But he was going to have to have this colostomy bag.” Rabbi Netaneli then said, “Tell Jeff, we're going to take care of the other half of the curse in a different way. He was going to ask three people in Israel to go to the kever of Reuven and ask him to forgive the rest of the curse, and then Jeff would be totally healed.” Don said to the Rabbi, “There is no cure for Crohn's.” The Rabbi wasn't fazed. He said, Tell Jeff he isn’t going to need the surgery.” Don then said Jeff was scheduled to go into surgery the next morning at 6 a.m. with the head of the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation in Canada, Dr. Richard Fedorek, doing the procedure. They weren't about to cancel the surgery at this point. Nonetheless, he called Jeff to tell him of the revelation that he had just learned of. Jeff was hopeful, but he wasn't going to cancel the surgery. The next morning, Dr. Fedorek came in with three others to do the surgery. But before they started, they did an ultrasound and it showed the Crohn's had improved significantly. The doctor said he wanted to wait 24 hours before operating. Jeff was already under anesthesia and when he woke up, he was so happy to hear the news. The next day, they did another ultrasound and this time, the doctor could not believe what he saw. He told Jeff, “The Crohn's is gone.” He had never seen anything like this in his entire career and his only explanation was that it was a medical miracle. Jeff was immediately discharged and celebrated with his friends and family. We can't possibly fully understand anything that goes on in this world because we know so little. Hashem is orchestrating meetings even between people who lived together in previous lifetimes to make their tikkunim . The hashgacha of Hashem is beyond our comprehension. But if we do the best we can, in every situation Hashem puts us in, we will surely accomplish what we need to accomplish.

The Chovot HaLevavot writes in the Sha’ar HaBitachon, perek 4, that if a person needs something and is contemplating asking someone for help, he should not feel that he has any more chance of getting what he's asking for if he asks a powerful, prominent individual as opposed to asking a less prominent individual. Rather, he should believe it's all the same, being that it will be Hashem who is giving him what he's asking, not the people he's asking from. And if Hashem wants someone to get something, He could give it to them through anyone. A man told me, he made a wedding for his daughter this past year, but still owed the caterer $11,000 months later. His son's bar mitzvah was approaching and his wife was anxious about getting the wedding bill finished with before they started a new one for the bar mitzvah. One night, she was speaking about this dilemma with a friend of hers on the phone, just to vent a little. Two weeks later, this friend of hers went on vacation and there was a very wealthy man staying in the same hotel. One day, this wealthy man was relaxing and had a little too much to drink. He said in a loud voice, “Tonight is Tu B'Shvat. I need the fruits for it. If anyone can get me the Tu B'Shvat package, I'll give them $500.” When nobody responded, he upped it to $1,000. This friend of the woman's went over to him and said she could get him the fruits for Tu B'Shvat, but instead of giving $1,000, she wanted him to donate money to two people that needed help. She told him the amounts of money that each needed, including this friend who needed $11,000. The man said okay, and amazingly, a week later, mailed a check for the full $11,000 for this person to pay the caterer. Here, this woman who was told about the issue, was not even in a position herself to help, but Hashem used her to bring about the help through another individual. Another man related, he purchased a large property in Europe with a partner. The partner put down 60% of the money while he put down 40%. The property was registered under the name of a company that they made up, but legally, the one with the higher percentage was the one authorized to make decisions about the property without consulting the other partner. One day, this partner called the man and said he wanted to sell, and when he mentioned the price, it was shocking because it was an extremely low number and would only give each of them a very small profit. The man knew they would be able to sell for much more at a later date. He was planning on earning in the hundreds of thousands of dollars from this property, and now his partner was selling for so cheap. He figured his partner was swindling him, but there was nothing he could do to stop it. He decided to go to the kever of a great tzaddik and pray to Hashem for help. While he was there, he noticed another man who appeared to be a very distinguished rabbi. He went over to him and asked him if he would include him in his prayers and explained his situation. They got into a conversation, and he quickly understood this was not a rabbi at all. He actually worked as a taxi driver and helped collect money for various organizations. When the man heard that, he stopped telling all the details of his story. The taxi driver encouraged him to finish telling the story, and so he did. And at the end, the taxi driver asked him for his number. Several days later, the taxi driver called him and said he had someone who was willing to help him, and he gave him the phone number of a friend of his who was very wealthy. When the wealthy man heard the story, he said, “Your partner is definitely swindling you. If you want, I'll offer him more money than he said he's getting, and if he sells it to me, I'll take it.” The man was so appreciative. The wealthy man offered more, and the partner declined, saying he decided he wasn't going to sell after all. The man was saved, and where did his help come from? The “rabbi”/taxi driver's friend. It doesn't matter who we ask the help from, as long as we know it's Hashem and only Hashem who will send the help.

Nisan is the head of all months. It's a month of miracles, a month that is auspicious for Geula , and we are all hoping that we will finally be zocheh to experience it. The Torah tells us, שמור את חודש האביב , from which we learn that we have to ensure that Nisan comes out in the spring by sometimes adding an extra month of Adar. The sefer Nifseh Chaim explains, in Nisan we were commanded to slaughter the korban Pesach , which is a sheep. The Ramban says, one of the reasons for that korban is because the constellation of the month is a sheep, and it has influence on growth. The Torah told us to slaughter the sheep, to teach us that our leaving of Mitzrayim and blossoming into a nation was not going to be a result of the influence of the sheep, but rather it was going to be clear to all that Hashem is in charge of everything, and He was the one taking us out of Mitzrayim . This constellation governs during the first month of spring, and perhaps this is why Nisan has to come out in the spring, to remind us that we are governed by Hashem, and our growth always comes from Him. We get our strength from following His mitzvot. אין מזל לישיראל -We are above all of the mazalot . Even things that were destined to happen can be changed when we believe wholeheartedly that Hashem is in charge and not the natural forces of the world. A woman told me, she has a sister who is 38 years old and, baruch Hashem, is getting married about a week before Pesach. A few weeks ago, she was on the phone with her and she was feeling angry that her parents were only going to give a small amount of money towards the wedding. She herself did not have the funds to make a wedding and was feeling a great deal of stress trying to figure out where she would get the money from. All of a sudden, in the middle of the conversation she said, “Wait a second, what am I saying? Hashem is the One in charge of money. It's not Abba or Ima that is in charge of paying for the wedding. It is only Hashem and He will send the money the way He wants. It's not my job to worry and definitely not my job to be angry at Abba or Ima.” At that moment she felt so much calmer and better about things. Her sister was so proud of her, and they began talking about something else. A few minutes later, she said to her sister that their aunt was calling on the other line and her sister encouraged her to hang up with her and answer it to see what their aunt wanted. She spoke to her and then called her sister back twenty minutes later completely flabbergasted. Their aunt told her, she's going to fly in from the U.S. for the wedding and she wanted to pay for the entire thing. Not only that, she wanted to pay for the entire family, both sides, to stay in a hotel for the Shabbat sheva berachot , which would be Shabbat HaGadol, and then she said she also wanted to pay for everyone to stay there for the entire Pesach as well. It was an amazing yeshua that came within moments of this woman believing in the power of Hashem, rather than the way the natural way of the world seemed to be progressing. Another woman said her mother has had many health issues this past year and on top of it all, she was hit by a car that left her with post-traumatic stress disorder. And then when it seemed like she was finally improving, she lost her appetite to eat or drink until they had to admit her to the hospital. There, even more problems began to surface. The woman has two siblings that were not on speaking terms. She felt that making peace would be such a great zechut, it would help their mother immensely, and so she worked up the courage to text one sibling asking if he could acknowledge the other's presence with a word or two as a zechut for their mother. She didn't get a reply until the next day, when she received confirmation that he did greet the other sibling and even gave him a hug. Not too long after that their mother perked up. She became more conversational and even ate a little. It was a small yeshua, but it was something that she hadn't done in a long time and it gave them a lot of chizuk . We are above the mazal . Our deeds and our emunah are what accomplish things. When we know that Hashem is in charge and act accordingly, great things happen.

Rav Moshe Feinstein, zatzal, writes in his sefer , Igrot Moshe , that the main stress of a parent when it comes to chinuch of children should be in emunah in Hashem. The children should be taught that everything they get is a present from Hashem. Then, they'll develop a love for Hashem as well as their parents who are Hashem's messengers to give them. And then they'll listen, with love, to whatever their parents tell them to do because they will know that's what Hashem wants from them. And perhaps we could add, when a child develops a love for Hashem, the child will be able to trust Hashem when he doesn't get what he wants. And he'll also be happy to sacrifice for Hashem when the time calls for it. A parent has the ability to train his child to always be happy, no matter what situation the child is in, if he could successfully train him with the proper emunah. I heard a story about a certain boy's elementary school in Bnei Brak whose principal promised them a special trip for whoever would be an excellent student for an entire month. The day came for that trip and the children were so excited to go. They were going to go to a certain lake and swim there, and it was known to be a very fun place. When they finally arrived, the principal went to pay and he heard a lot of noise coming from the lake. He saw there were girls there already. The rabbi told the attendants of the lake that they booked this lake, and they said they needed privacy. The attendants said yes, they were going to tell the girls to stay on one side and give them the other side. The rabbi said that was unacceptable. The attendants apologized and said there was nothing else they could do, the other group had just arrived a half hour before. The rabbi got back onto the bus and told the children what was going on and they became very upset when they heard. They all began complaining, saying they earned the trip and they didn't want to leave. The rabbi didn't know what to do. There were no other options. Suddenly, the quietest boy from the sixth grade asked the rabbi if he could have the microphone to speak to everyone. The rabbi gave it to him and he said, “Listen everyone, why are we not going to the lake right now? Because we are following what Hashem wants from us. We should feel so proud of ourselves for doing the will of Hashem. Let's all sing Ashrenu, ma tov chelkenu .” And he started singing the tune, and the entire bus began singing louder and louder, and they traveled back to Bnei Brak happy with their avodat Hashem rather than crying over the missed trip. The rabbi was so impressed with this boy. He called the boy's mother to tell her what he did and then asked her if she herself trained her children this way. She said that recently, they traveled for a very long distance to do certain errands and they were out in the heat for a long time. Before they were going to head back and catch the bus, the children asked if they could each buy a cold drink. The mother, seeing how hot the children were, allowed all six of her children to pick out a drink from the store and they all got the same drink which was quite expensive, especially on their tight budget. On the bus, before they started drinking, one of the children noticed that there was an ingredient that many hashgacha agencies did not approve of and only a couple would actually give hashgacha to it. The mother, seeing how badly they wanted that drink, told them, “You could rely on the hechsher to drink if you really want, but if you want to be strict and not drink it, it would make Hashem so proud of you and He would surely give you many berachot .” The oldest child said, “I'm not going to drink it,” and each of the children followed. When they got home that night, she told her husband what their children did. He was so proud of them. They all started dancing to that song, Ashrenu , ma tov chelkenu . The father made them all feel so special and said, “You should all be proud of yourselves for bringing so much satisfaction to Hashem.” He also told them he was going to take them to the store so they could each buy a special candy for what they did. This is how this boy learned to have that attitude. And that inspiration that he got was used to inspire dozens of other children that day when they couldn't go to the lake. With the right chinuch , a child could always be happy, as well as feel accomplished knowing that he is bringing satisfaction to Hashem.

In this week's parasha, Shemini, we read about the kosher and non-kosher species, those that we’re allowed to eat and those that we’re not allowed to eat. One of the birds listed, which is not kosher, is called the chasidah . Rashi brings down the reason it's called a chasidah is because it does chesed with its friends by providing them with food. The Chidusheh HaRim asked, if that's the case, seemingly it should have been a kosher bird, based on the Ramban who said that non-kosher birds are ones that are cruel by nature. The Chidushei HaRim answered, since it only does chesed with its own friends and whoever is not its friend, it doesn't help, it's considered a cruel bird. This is because when it comes to helping others, especially with food, we are not supposed to differentiate between one and another. Whoever needs help, we help. Rav Yissachar Dov from Belz once told his students a story of a doctor who finished his studies and then went to get a letter of recommendation from one of the top doctors in his field. The top doctor asked this young doctor what he would do if someone came in with a cut that wouldn't stop bleeding. Immediately, the young doctor replied with a certain medication that would surely stop the bleeding. The doctor then asked him what he would do if he didn't have that medication available. The young doctor replied he would go get an article of clothing and burn it and use the ash to stop the bleeding. The doctor then asked him what he would do if he was not able to find any clothing. The young doctor was left without an answer and with that the top doctor refused to give him a recommendation. He told this young doctor, “You were supposed to say that you would take off your own shirt and burn it to help out your patient.” Those are the automatic feelings a person is supposed to have when he knows someone else is in need. If someone is able to help someone else in the same area that he himself is needy in, that makes the chesed infinitely greater. A man told that his son is a good student and got an excellent shidduch proposal. A girl with good middot , yirat shamayim and a great family. They were very interested and told the shadchan they were in. The shadchan then got back to the girl's parents who went and investigated the boy and they replied, “We heard a lot of good things about him, but we are looking for someone on a higher level of learning.” This boy, who knew about the proposal and was waiting tensely for a response, was very disappointed to hear that they were not interested in him. Several days passed and he got over the insult. He told his father, his chavruta was really something special in learning. He is exactly the type of boy that this girl's family is looking for. Of course, it wasn't pleasant that they didn't want him, but why should that stop him from finding a good shidduch for his chavruta ? The father agreed and called the shadchan giving over the proposal in the name of his son. A few days later, the shadchan called back, this time, with a positive response from the same family for his own son. The shadchan said that the girl was so moved by this whole idea. She said, “A boy who is able to get over an insult and still be interested in helping his friend with the shidduch that he wanted is somebody who I would want.” And indeed, the shidduch materialized and, b’ezrat Hashem, the wedding date has been set. A real ba’al chesed doesn't only do chesed with his own kind or his own friends. He does chesed with everyone and is even willing to sacrifice his own pleasures to help somebody else. Shabbat Shalom.

Although Hashem does not reveal Himself openly to people, He has infinite ways of communicating with them. We all know He listens to our tefilot , and we all know He helps us all the time. But when we see it so clearly, it gives us extra chizuk . A woman told me, when she was about four months pregnant, she went for a standard sonogram. The radiologist detected an abnormality at the base of the baby's spine. It was shown to the senior radiologist who concluded that it was a probable case of sacral agenesis, a rare condition which affects the part of the spine just around the tailbone. The doctors recommended an MRI to establish the facts fully, and so they went for a detailed scan, and it showed indeed that it was a case of sacral agenesis. The repercussions of this are very difficult to live with. They explained that the baby, who was a girl, would be very unlikely to have any movement or feeling in the lower parts of her body, in effect making her paralyzed from the waist down. That would also affect having any bladder or bowel control. The doctors suggested terminating the pregnancy, saying it was going to have negative effects on the rest of their family. Of course, this was not an option. The specialists were not encouraging either, and the family was devastated. They started the long, slow process of waiting for the birth. Under the guidance of their rabbi, they kept the whole situation quiet to keep the possibility open for a hidden miracle to take place. They utilized the time to pray, to say Tehillim , to get berachot from tzaddikim , and to visit kevarim of tzaddikim from past generations. They received a beracha from Rav Chaim, zatzal , and believed in their heart of hearts that Hashem could do anything. The day the woman went to the hospital to give birth, she had a lot of anxiety about the unknown. They kept giving each other chizuk , saying the doctors don't make the final determination, only Hashem does. During the labor, the doctors said they were most probably going to have to operate soon after birth to relieve any buildup of feces due to the baby not being able to clear her waste naturally. That date was May 4th, 2020. While she was in hospital, she got a call from her father. He had just read a daily message on an email which many people in their family receive. He told her he wanted her to read it immediately. She really didn't feel like reading an email at that point, but she did it because her father asked her to. What she read there completely blew her away. That email was discussing hidden miracles, and it quoted an Alsheich saying, “We must believe that Hashem can create something from nothing in an instant. If a person was told, lo aleinu , that he might be missing part of an internal organ, but it hasn't been confirmed, he should pray to Hashem that He create the missing part right now because it's still hidden. The same way that Hashem can create something new, He could also remove something that was there already.” The email continued with more similar statements. Here, her rabbi told her to keep this quiet so that Hashem can perform a hidden miracle for them, and then on the day of the birth, she gets a message talking about Hashem doing hidden miracles with the body. The rest of the story is even more amazing. The baby was born kicking and screaming with plenty of movement in her legs. She was also accompanied by a large sample that showed she was very capable of moving her bowels. They were shown immediately upon birth who runs the world. The doctors did not want to withdraw their diagnosis and warned of possible future problems. Baruch Hashem, today, she is almost four years old with no issues at all. They are so grateful to Hashem for the hidden miracle He performed and for showing them how clearly He was involved every step of the way.

The Shomer Emunim writes at the end of Perek 5 in his Ma'amar on Hashgacha Pratit that any afflictions which Hashem brings upon a person is only because of His endless chesed and love for the person, as it says in Mishleh Perek 13. Furthermore, any amount of suffering or inconvenience that a person experiences in this world, even something very small, wipes away potentially much worse suffering in the World to Come. If the person believes that whatever happened to him came about only because of Hashem, and he accepts it with love and doesn't question it or complain, then it wipes away infinite times more than it would have if he did not accept it with love. If the person who accepts with love would be able to see what he's accomplishing with his acceptance, he would get up and dance with joy for the chesed that Hashem just did for him. Just like when a loving mother cleanses her baby from a dirty diaper, the baby cries because he doesn't understand what his mother is doing for him. But if he would, he would kiss and thank her for it. So too, a person, if he understood what Hashem was doing for him with the yisurin , he wouldn't stop thanking Him. Then the Shomer Emunim writes further, if a person is not just passive, but rather he kicks back and complains when he receives affliction, then the afflictions do not wipe away anything, and he'll still have the stains on him that will need to be purged in the future world. That means the person will end up having to suffer twice, lo alenu . The choice here should be obvious. If a person can train himself to accept his afflictions with love, he'll feel better about them in this world, and will gain endless amounts of kapara for the Next World. But if the person complains and is bitter about his suffering, it is counterproductive, causing him to lose both in this world and the Next. There is one exception, however. If the person's afflictions are very severe, and because of his pain, he instinctively complains, similar to Iyov, then the Gemara says, אין אדם נתפס בצערו - a person will not be held accountable for those instinctive reactions, because the pain he was suffering was so difficult to deal with. However, that person should know, if he does have very difficult yisurin , and still manages to hold back his complaining, and rather accepts them from Hashem instead, then he would elevate himself to a status of the greats of all time. Rav Chanina bar Papa said, if Iyov wouldn't have complained about his suffering, then the same way we say אלוקי אברהם אלוקי יצחק ואלוקי יעקב , we would have added to that list, אלוקי איוב . Iyov would have been on par with the holy Avot , for accepting the very difficult afflictions that Hashem sent upon him. The Shomer Emunim writes further, according to the amount that the person accepts, that is how purified the yisurin will make him. And as well, acceptance is able to sweeten his judgments, and give him atonement for all his averot , and then he will not need any more affliction. Rabbi Yehoshua said, accepting suffering is so great, it has the power to bring salvation to the entire world. Therefore, a person should accustom himself to always accept every inconvenience with love. And if he is able to accept the small afflictions with love, he won't need anything bigger, because the zechut of his acceptance will accomplish what the additional yisurin would have been needed to accomplish. The Shomer Emunim then ends Perek 9 by saying, when a person accepts the small little inconveniences, it's considered as if he got much bigger yisurin , as brought down by many sefarim kedoshim . And therefore, we should always train ourselves with every little inconvenience to say, “Thank you Hashem for doing what's best for me.”

There are times when a person is confronted with very big tests, and sometimes those tests entail giving into another party for peace. Whether it's giving up money, property, or just plain old honor, it's always very difficult to do, especially when the person feels that they should not be the one to give in because it was the other side that caused the problem, and they should be giving in. We must know the great value in being the one to sacrifice for peace. According to the effort is the reward. Many times, Hashem will present someone with an opportunity to give in as a vehicle to bring that person a blessing that he needs very badly. The rule is, a person never loses by sacrificing for Hashem. It may appear that way at the onset, but in the end he will only gain. A man related, he deals in real estate. Being that he has no steady income, he is constantly connecting to Hashem and asking for His help. Sometimes he doesn't make any money for months, and then one day, in one swoop, he'll get a half a year's salary. In 2022, his third son became engaged, and they set the wedding date towards the end of November. From months in advance, he booked the wedding hall, the band, and the photographer. He also booked the caterer for the Shabbat Sheva Berachot . All of the Sheva Berachot meals were confirmed as well. One day, he received a phone call from his father-in-law telling him that his brother-in-law was about to celebrate his son's engagement, and their wedding was scheduled for the same week as his, and that would mean that both Shabbat Sheva Berachot s would fall out on the same Shabbat. His father-in-law explained to him he really wanted to attend both, and politely asked him if he could switch his wedding date. Initially, this seemed like an impossible request, being that it would mean he would have to change so many things. He also felt that, if anything, his brother-in-law should be the one changing his wedding date, because his was set already beforehand. His father-in-law did tell him it would be too complicated for his brother-in-law to switch, but he felt it was just as complicated for him to switch also. He told his father-in-law respectfully he would see what he could do. After going back and forth with it in his mind, he decided to get over the unpleasantness of it and ask his mechutan if he would be okay with them switching the date. The mechutan thought about it, and then said, he would be okay with it if he would take care of making all the changes himself. And so, he contacted everyone that he needed to, and baruch Hashem, was able to reschedule the wedding for ten days later, with everything being exactly the same. As the wedding drew near, the man received an invitation to a huge event where apartments and properties would be featured for sale. It was like a real estate fair, and the date was the same date that his son's wedding was originally scheduled for. Now that the date was changed, he was able to attend, and at that fair, he found a property worth twenty million dollars and succeeded in closing a deal between a buyer and a seller on it. He got his two percent commission, which came out to four hundred thousand dollars, the largest commission he had ever earned. He then understood that Hashem had blessing in store for him, but he needed him to first do that heroic act of giving in for peace to access it. By giving in, he not only earned endless rewards in the Next World, he also received dividends in this world as well.

Every moment of life that Hashem gives a person in this world is the greatest chesed . Rabbenu Yonah writes, with a moment of life, a person can make teshuva and go from being in the deepest darkness to the greatest light. The Gemara tells us how, on different occasions, people utilized the final moments of their lives to acquire eternity. Rav Aaron Dov Gellis related that he once had a relative who had a severe illness and the doctors were periodically treating him with blood transfusions in order to lengthen his life. It got to a point, however, where those procedures were only capable of granting him a few more days, possibly just a few more hours of life, and each time he underwent a transfusion he endured pain all over his body. Deeply troubled by the pain his relative was going through, Rabbi Gellis went to ask the Chazon Ish if it was worthwhile to continue those transfusions for just a small amount of life. The Chazon Ish immediately replied, “Every moment that a Jew lives is extremely valuable to the Ribbono Shel Olam . He should most definitely continue getting the transfusions.” Many years ago a man named Rav Yitzchak was told by his doctor in Mount Sinai Hospital that the results of his tests were terrible, as the disease spread all over his body. Tears began streaming down Rav Yitzchak's face as he asked the doctor if there was anything he could do to cure it. The doctor replied there was a surgery that could be done that would extend his life for about six months, but the entire six months would be filled with pain across his entire body. The doctor then suggested it would be better for him to pass on sooner with as little pain as possible. Rav Yitzchak said he wanted to speak to the Gadol HaDor Rav Moshe Feinstein about it. His son took him to the Gadol's house so he could personally ask the question. After hearing the entire situation, Rav Moshe empathized with him and then told him to go back and do the surgery. And he explained as follows, “Most people in the world at large live for the pleasures that life has to offer. If the only choice they had would be to be bedridden and inflicted with agony for six months, they would surely rather die. But a Jew knows what life is all about. It's about grabbing mitzvot at every opportunity possible.” Rav Moshe's voice then grew stronger and he exclaimed, “Rav Yitzchak, you're a Jew. You will still be able to put on tefillin . You'll still be able to daven. You'll still be able to do teshuva . You'll still be able to learn more Chumash and Mishnayot . Is that not all worth the pain? Imagine how many mitzvot you could do in half a year. These six months can be converted into eternity in Olam HaBa . Is that not worthwhile?” Rav Yitzchak went back to the doctor, and told him what the Gadol had said. The doctor began tearing up himself. He said he was a Jew who moved from Israel many years before to study medicine and eventually became the chief surgeon at Mount Sinai Hospital. He never knew what it meant to be a Jew, to truly value life and recognize that every minute is given for a purpose. The surgeon then asked if he could meet Rabbi Feinstein and he did. The surgery was done and it was a success. Rav Yitzchak ended up living for three more years and amassed a fortune of mitzvot during that time. Although he was in a lot of pain, he cleaved to HaKadosh Baruch Hu the entire time. At one point during a visit to the hospital, he saw the chief surgeon who was then wearing a big kipa on his head. “Rav Yitzchak,” he exclaimed, “that day that I met you and the Rabbi changed my life. You went through a surgery and so did I. You had surgery on your liver and I went through a heart transplant. I got rid of my previous lifestyle and rededicated my heart to my Creator. Starting that day, I began to live with a new heart.” Indeed, every moment of life is a treasure. We have to value it and thank Hashem for every breath that we take.

In this week's parasha , Hashem tells Moshe צו את אהרון ואת בניו לאמר, and Rashi writes, אין צו אלא לשון זירוז. Moshe was told by Hashem to inspire and encourage the Kohanim regarding their work with the korban olah . Rabbi Reuven Elbaz in his sefer Moshcheni Acharecha writes that in life Hashem gives everybody moments of encouragement and inspiration, and it is the job of man to grab those moments and use them to elevate himself spiritually and get closer to Hashem. Rav Yechezkel Levenstein the great mashgiach of Ponevezh who has inspired tens of thousands of people with his sefarim entitled Ohr Yechezkel once told a student of his that he attributed all of his spiritual gains to one moment of inspiration which he grabbed and kept with him for the rest of his life. It was during a speech that he heard from the great Mashgiach from Mir, Reb Yerucham Levovitz. In that speech, he learned what it means to feel Hashem's presence at all times and see Him in everything that he does and encounters. Everybody experiences hashgachat Hashem in their own lives. Sometimes they are able to see it more than others. One of the reasons Hashem allows us to see His hand clearly at those times is because He is giving us moments of inspiration. The wise man captures the moment and etches it in his brain for life, utilizing it to get closer to Hashem. And then, even during the trying moments when his resolve is being tested, he doesn't budge from his emunah because he knows Hashem is with him. Rabbi Elbaz gave a parable to crystallize the point. If a man was lost and found himself in a dark forest with wild animals lurking, the darkness being so thick he could barely see a foot in front of him. He has no idea how to escape, but he knows he has to do it quickly before he is caught by an animal. Then, all of a sudden, a bolt of lightning flashes. The entire forest lights up. The smart man will make it a point to capture that image and then use it to navigate his way out of there. So too it is in life. Hashem gives everyone moments of clarity. It is up to us to utilize them to help ourselves navigate through life properly. Everyone experiences hashgacha pratit . It doesn't necessarily have to be with big things. But when those moments happen, Hashem is talking to us. Sometimes they're more clear than others. Dr. Meir Wikler told a story about a man, Meyer Isakov, and his wife who lived in Har Nof. They both had the most wonderful middot and their home was always open to taking guests in. Although they didn't have so much money, they managed to always care for the people who came through their doors. A baal teshuva named Zev Eisner became inspired at Aish HaTorah and left his secular life in California to learn in that yeshiva in Israel. He was very shy and never found peace when going to other people's homes for meals, until he met Meyer and his wife. He felt so comfortable there, he made them his go-to home. The one Shabbat a month he left yeshiva, he would always go eat by them. Baruch Hashem, after nine long years, Meyer and his wife were blessed with their first child. Their joy knew no bounds. Eventually, they moved the baby into a crib in the other room in their apartment. It was a few weeks before Sukkot and Zev was eating over them for Shabbat. Before he left, he asked if he could stay by them for the entire holiday of Sukkot as his yeshiva was going to be closed. "Of course," they answered immediately, even though there was no room in the apartment for him to sleep. Since they were going to sleep in the sukkah anyway, it wouldn't be a problem. The only problem was they didn't have any extra mattresses for him to sleep on and they couldn't really afford to buy one either. They were hoping over the next couple of weeks they would be able to borrow one. However, as Yom Tov approached, they had not been successful in finding one. Meyer gave his wife chizuk saying, not to worry, they were doing ratzon Hashem and he was sure Hashem would help. His wife told him, "I wish I had your bitachon . You know, this mattress is not the only thing we need. Our baby is getting bigger and soon he is going to need a highchair." "I wish I could afford one," replied Meyer. "But you know how impossible it is for us to afford something that expensive now. We could still manage without it and when we really need it, Hashem will provide it." The next day was Erev Sukkot. Even Meyer felt his emunah being tested. He still had no bed for Zev who would be arriving in a few hours. Two hours later, the bell rang. It was Shia who lived down the block. He needed a favor, he also had a new baby in the house and a lot of guests coming over. He needed to make room for them. He said there were a couple of things he wasn't going to need for a while, but he didn't want to sell them. So he was wondering if Meyer had any storage space for them. "What were they?" A folding bed and a highchair. The hashgacha of Hashem was amazing – sending them exactly what they needed at the exact moment they needed it. For Meyer and his wife, that was a moment of clarity, a clear indication Hashem was with them, a moment they would never forget. If we use the moments of inspiration Hashem gives us, we'll be able to grow and become the people we're meant to become. Shabbat Shalom.

When Rav Yehoshua Leib Diskin, the Rav of Brisk, left his city to make aliyah , the leaders of the Brisk community sent a delegation to Warsaw to ask Rav Yosef Dov Soloveichik, otherwise known as the Bet HaLevi, to become their new Rav. When the Rabbi heard the offer, he immediately declined the position. The delegation persisted with arguments as to why he should become their Rav, but to no avail, until they said, “There are 25,000 Jews waiting for you to lead them.” When the Rav heard that, he said, “If that's the case, then I have to come.” When the Chafetz Chaim heard this story, he cried. And when inquired as to why he was crying, he answered, “Because this proves, we are not anticipating Mashiach . If Rav Yosef Dov felt the responsibility to go when 25,000 Jews were waiting for him, the Mashiach would have surely come, if Klal Yisrael was truly waiting for him.” We know we need Mashiach , but it's hard to yearn for him the way we're supposed to. With a little chizuk , a person can easily come to anticipate the Mashiach the way Hashem wants us to, especially at this time of year, which Chazal tells us is auspicious for Geula . A rabbi from the UK told me he went with his family to visit his grandfather in Eretz Yisrael . His grandfather is a 98-year-old Holocaust survivor, may he live and be well. They spent each day there, devoting most of their time to being with him. For the last day of their trip, they decided they wanted to go on a family outing for the second part of the day after spending the morning with their grandfather. So the night before, they spent a long time researching to find just the right place for their children that would be somewhat fun and also a learning experience. Finally, they found a place called Nachal Tzipori that had a river with beautiful scenery. It was also the place that Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi lived, so they would be able to have a learning experience there as well. The next afternoon, they drove for a very long time, and as they were finally getting close to their destination, they realized they were in some type of Arab territory. Although they drove so far to get there, they did not feel comfortable continuing, and so they turned their car around to go back. But first, the rabbi checked his GPS to see if there was anything else close by that they could do. He saw that less than ten minutes away was the grave of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi in Beit Shearim. They got so excited and quickly drove there, but just as they pulled up, the parks department closed the gates, telling them that it was being closed for the day. It was too late, they had just missed it. At that moment, the rabbi thought to himself, what's the message he's supposed to take? Here, he planned for hours one fun day with his family, and now all they did was drive for a long time to get there, and were going to have to drive a long time to get back. He couldn't quite figure it out, but he accepted it was m'et Hashem. The rabbi mentioned he's part of a worldwide program called Oraysa, where thousands of people learn one amud of Gemara a day, with review of the previous day's learning. He had fallen a couple of days behind on this trip. When he got back to the UK, he sat down in shul to catch up. He couldn't believe the words he was reading in the Gemara in Masechet Rosh Hashanah, daf 31b . The Gemara spoke there about how the Shechina went into exile in ten stages, corresponding to the Sanhedrin which was exiled to ten places. It said, two of the places that they were exiled to were Bet She'arim and Tzipori, one after the other. Those were the two places that the rabbi had just gone to. He checked the date of when that particular page was supposed to be learned, and it was exactly on the day that he traveled to those places. Perhaps the message was, when we encounter our day-to-day struggles and things don't work out so perfectly like we planned them to, it should be a reminder that we are in galut . The Shechina, kavayachol, is homeless. Maybe if we would focus a little more on bringing the Shechina back, rather than on our own inconveniences, that would be the zechut we need to bring the Mashiach and the Geulah . Amen.

The Chovot HaLevavot describes at the end of the Sha’ar HaBitachon the eighth level of trust in Hashem, in which a person understands that he needs Hashem for everything he does, even the simplest tasks, and because of that he is constantly looking to Hashem for help all day long. This will enable him to get to the next level. He will begin to appreciate Hashem's compassion on him, and see that everything Hashem does is with intent to bestow kindness upon him. Then he will reach the very high level of wanting whatever Hashem wants for him. He will not just accept that whatever Hashem does to him is good. He will actually feel that way in his heart as well. He will submit himself entirely to Hashem and will not even desire to be in any other situation than his current one. The Chovot HaLevavot quoted a master of bitachon saying, “I never woke up being in a certain situation and desired to be anywhere else.” This is referring to his physical state. In matters of spirituality, we are encouraged, and we are supposed to want more. Then, after a person's awareness of Hashem grows even stronger, he is ready for the tenth and highest level of bitachon . What the Chovot HaLevavot is about to tell us is the goal of every bote’ach b’Hashem. We may think that the ultimate goal of bitachon is to be able to get whatever we want by trusting in Hashem for it. That, however, is not the goal. A person who is already on the ninth level does not desire more than he has, unless it will benefit him spiritually. The highest level is when a person truly understands the purpose for which he was created. He begins to recognize the importance of the Next World that endures forever. This causes him to despise anything in this world that is not important for that goal. Things that may make other people happy or sad do not affect him at all. He doesn't get upset if he doesn't get a certain physical pleasure or a luxury that others may be yearning for. He understands how fleeting and temporary things of this world really are. He commits himself in his mind, in his neshama, and in his body completely to Hashem. He loves thinking about Hashem and feels empty when he's not contemplating the greatness of Hashem. When he's in large gatherings, he has no desire to impress people. All he wants is to please Hashem. The joy that he gets in his love of Hashem far surpasses the joy that people get from partaking in the pleasures that this world has to offer. Even the joy that people will have in the World to Come is secondary to him, because he loves Hashem so much that nothing else could possibly compare to it. This is the highest level that a person with complete bitachon could possibly reach. This is the level that the Nevi'im and the greatest of all time have reached, those who are Hashem's precious treasure. Although this level is attained by few, it's good just to know that this is the ultimate level. The Ramban counts bitachon as one of the 613 mitzvot. It's a middah that leads to more spirituality and closeness to Hashem. Bitachon is not just a tool to get what we want out of Hashem, it's a very high level of avodat Hashem that culminates with being lovesick over Hashem and thinking about Him all the time and only wanting to please Him. May Hashem help us grow to greater and greater levels in our quest to rise through these levels of bitachon .

The Chovot Ha Levavot, at the end of the last perek of the Shaar HaBitachon gives us a rule about having bitachon in Hashem. He says the more a person learns about Hashem and understands how much control He has over the person's life and how much He cares for the person's well-being, the more bitachon the person will have in Him. This means we need to learn sifreh mussar that teach us about who Hashem is and how much He loves us. The more we do that, the more bitachon we'll have. The Chovot Ha Levavot then describes the ten levels of trust that a person goes through in the natural course of life. It starts with the nursing infant. A baby at that stage of life thinks that his mother's milk is what is taking care of him because that's all he knows. When his perception grows stronger, he shifts his confidence from the mother's milk to the mother herself, as he begins to recognize the abundant care that she has for him. Then his perception grows stronger and he sees that his mother is really dependent on his father who supports the family, and so he shifts his trust to him. He appreciates the value of his father providing for him and trusts in him accordingly. When he becomes physically stronger and is ready to use his own talents to earn a living, then he shifts his trust to his own skills. He does not yet realize that everything that happened to him in his life until that point was all because of Hashem's benevolent control. He is supposed to understand that just like he was not born because of his abilities and was not nursed because of his abilities, so too he was not supported because of his abilities until then, and will not be supported because of his abilities going forward. The Chovot HaLevavot then tells a story about an expert scribe who supported himself through his craft. One day, his neighbor asked him how things were going. The scribe replied, “As long as my hand is in good shape, I will be in good shape.” Unfortunately, that same night, a mishap occurred to his hand and he was never able to write with that hand for the rest of his life. The Chovot HaLevavot said it was a consequence because he believed in his hand instead of Hashem. That hand became a stumbling block for his real purpose in life. If a person earns his livelihood through other people, he will then shift his trust to them, assuming they will help him whenever he is in trouble. However, when his perception grows stronger, he will see that the people he thought were self-sufficient have their own deficiencies and are in need of Hashem's help themselves. He comes to realize that the person he is trusting in does not live forever. He also can get sick or weak. He also has his struggles with business. At that point, he will begin trusting in Hashem, but on a limited basis. He will trust in Hashem for matters that he knows he has no control over. He will pray to Hashem for rain. He will pray to Hashem to protect him while at sea. Or he will pray to be protected from sicknesses and life-threatening circumstances. When his awareness of Hashem gets stronger, he will then trust in Hashem even for things in which he feels like he has at least some control over. But then, when his awareness of Hashem grows even stronger, he'll begin placing his trust in Him to help him with everything he does, even the simplest tasks. He'll find himself asking Hashem to help him get to his destination safely, although it's nearby. He'll ask Hashem for help throughout his day, every step of the way. He will know, even when he's at work talking to a buyer, it will be Hashem deciding if he'll get the sale. A man told me he's a workaholic. He feels any minute he's not at his business, something catastrophic could occur. He is working very hard on trusting in Hashem more. One day recently, he was feeling very run down and in need of a day off. He forced himself to stay home and rest. As he was feeling a little better, he went to his back porch to learn Torah and catch up with his children who are learning in Eretz Yisrael . While he was on the phone with one of them, he got another call from his business telling him someone important called asking to speak with him. He called that man back, who made an order by phone that was the biggest order he had received in a very long time. He told me the lesson was clear. He thought his business couldn't run without him there. And Hashem showed him, on the day he's not there, he'll get his biggest sale. With Hashem's help, tomorrow we'll continue with the final two levels of bitachon .