A Thought on Bitachon
From the shiurim on Kav Hashgachah Pratis
Esteemed in the Eyes of Hashem, and He loves the poor. On Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur He decrees that they be given all their needs, through the hands of the rich. But the rich man thinks that he became wealthy through his own power and talent. In truth, Hashem enables the rich man to make enough in one day of selling on a market day, or on any other day, to provide many times more than all the poor man’s needs. He profits at the expense of non-Jews. But if he lacks emunah and refuses to share his money with the poor, non-Jews will profit from him instead. What kind of emunah is this, when a Jew withholds money from another Jew, thereby causing non-Jews to profit?
(Based on Divrei Shemuel, Parshas Bechukosai)
The Rich Man and the Poor Man
There was a poor man who felt he had no choice but to become an informer against his fellow Jews. When he saw merchants traveling with wagons filled with contraband, he would beg them, “Please have pity on me. I am a poor man.” Some of them were smart enough to notice that he was trying to examine their stock, and so they gave him a nice donation and left them to go on his way unharmed. Others tried to get rid of him by giving him just a few pennies, which he refused. They then insulted him, and he ran to the customs officials to inform on them so that they would be caught with their contraband and arrested.
Then they went back to the poor man and offered him a lot of money to bribe the authorities to release them, but he replied, “What can I do now? It’s already in the hands of the judge. You should have taken care of this in advance.”
This is a parable of a rich man whose income was decreed for him on Rosh Hashanah, but it was also decreed how much money he must lose during the year. If he is zocheh, he gives that portion of his wealth to the poor. But if he is not zocheh, non-Jews will come and take it from him forcibly.
When a poor man comes and begs the rich man for tzedakah, the rich man who is wise will realize that he must forfeit a portion of his wealth, and he will give the poor man a fine donation. But a fool will react with anger and give nothing, so the poor man will cry and complain to Hashem. As a result, the rich man, or one of his beloved children, will become ill. Then, in his distress he will offer money to the poor man so that he the poor man will daven and say Tehillim for him. But the matter is no longer up to the poor man, for it is now up to the Beis Din Above.
(Based on Ma’aseh Bereishis)
Material Loss, Eternal Gain
This gemara implies that losses are part and parcel of a person’s life. Why is this necessary? It is because no one is perfect, and every person must be cleansed of his sins and must experience some suffering. But Hakadosh Baruch Hu, in His kindness, exchanged his physical suffering for the loss of his possessions....
If a person is zocheh, this loss is incurred by his doing a mitzvah, such as tzedakah or chessed. He then gains in several ways: a) He gained a positive Torah mitzvah, exchanging something worth very little for something eternally precious. b) As the Zohar explains in Parshas Terumah, a mitzvah on which he spent money earns far more reward than a mitzvah he fulfills without any expenditures. c) The material loss he incurs because of the mitzvah is only temporary, because Hashem will certainly compensate him, giving him many times his loss.
I have explained this at length so that people will understand how this works. Ultimately, every person must suffer a loss of his possessions as punishment for his sins, so that he will not need, chas v’shalom, to be punished in Gehinnom or through some other terrible punishment. Why would a person avoid giving tzedakah and doing chessed and then, chalilah, have to bring the rebellious Gentiles into his home or have to go to doctors?! As Chazal say, “A home that is not open to the poor – will be open to doctors.” It is far better for a person to act with wisdom in the first place and to open his home to the poor, to separate ma’aser, and to do chessed. Then it will be good for him in all ways.
(Based on Ahavas Chessed, ch. 13)
Tzedakah and Emunah
Every Jew says Shema Yisrael twice each day, and certainly he believes its words. However, even though he says the words, they might not speak to him. Although he has basic faith, he does not truly believe that everything that occurs to him and all that is done to him comes from the Creator yisbarach.
The proof is that he does not give tzedakah. If he truly believed that everything was from Hashem, why wouldn’t he give tzedakah? It is known that the world is upside-down: Those who are considered lowly in this world are highly esteemed in the Eyes of Hashem, and He loves the poor.
