אראנו ולא עתה אשורנו ולא קרוב “I shall see him, but not now, I shall look at him, but it is not near.” (Bamidbar 24:17)
Bilaam’s pronouncements encompass four periods in our nation’s history: from the time they spent in the Wilderness; their conquest of the Land; the period of greatness following their conquest; and the End of Days, where he “sees” the greatness of our nation – not now – but later. HoRav Yitzchak Zilberstein, shlita, notes that one of the principles of our faith is the belief that everything that Hashem does is good – even if we do not presently “see” the good before us. As the above pasuk implies, “I shall see him – but not now.” Presently, we do not see the good. It hinges on our faith in Hashem and our trust in His chachomim, wise men/sages, whose words we accept as the truth, even when the circumstances appear to be totally opposite of what they say. Hakol l’tovah, everything is for the good. This is what is meant by emunas chachomim, faith in the words of our sages.
The sky may be clouded over, darkness may be settling in, but if our wise leaders say, “Do not worry; It will be good,” we believe that we will, in the near future, be privy to an unambiguous and unconditional good.
One of the chassidim of HoRav Chaim Halberstam’s (Sanzer Rav, zt”l) had been waiting for years to be blessed with a child – to no avail. One year he said, “Enough!” He came before the saintly Rebbe and pleaded, “It is erev Rosh Hashanah, a new year is about to commence. Please, Rebbe, bless my wife and me that we will finally hold our own child in our arms.” The Sanzer blessed him that they would have a ben zochar, male offspring, that year.
The man’s faith in his Rebbe’s blessing was unequivocal. If the Rebbe said that they would be blessed with a boy – then they would have a boy. The prospective father immediately went to the Russian ministry to file the birth of his son. When the clerk asked for the child’s name, the man said, “Yitzchok.” This demonstrates his level of emunas chachomim. The Rebbe hut tzugezagt, gave his word. He was certain that it would occur. Why not file now? [Indeed, this should be a Torah Jew’s relationship with his Rebbe. The Brisker Rav, zt”l, notes that once Eili HaKohen assured Chanah, mother of Shmuel HaNavi, that she would be blessed with a child, her entire countenance was transformed. The pain that she had lived with for nineteen years, the prayers that had accompanied her every movement, changed, once she received the Kohen’s assurance. The veil was lifted. She was a new person. It was like money in the bank!]
One year passed, and the Sanzer’s blessing was realized. The proud father and mother were blessed with a child. The blessing, however, was not fulfilled exactly as the Rebbe had promised. They were blessed with a little girl. The Rebbe had “promised” a boy. Nu! A girl is fine. The proud parents were ecstatic with their new addition. What about the fact that the Rebbe had said a boy? This did not in any way trouble the chossid. The Rebbe said a boy; it would be a boy. When? It is unimportant. The Rebbe “hut tzugezagt.” It will happen. Certainly, there must have been a good reason that the Rebbe’s blessing did not materialize exactly as he had spoken. Be patient.
Another year passed, and their family expanded with the addition of another child – a girl. The chossid’s faith in the Rebbe was rock solid, remaining unshaken. The Rebbe said a boy; it will happen. This went on for the next three years. Each time, they were blessed with a little girl. They now were a family of seven! Father, mother, and five daughters. It was during the sixth year that the Rebbe’s blessing achieved complete fruition with the birth of their son, whom they named Yitzchok.
The chossid was firm in his belief that there was a good reason that the birth of their son (which had been the Sanzer’s original blessing) was preceded by the birth of his five sisters. The reason became clear twelve years later when their son reached the age of twelve.
One day, the Russian army dispatched two soldiers to collect boys who had turned eighteen years old to be drafted into the army. They had papers to pick up “eighteen” year old Yitzchok to be inducted into the army.
Father, mother and sisters all countered that Yitzchok was a mere twelve years old. Indeed, all that the soldiers had to do was to take one look at Yitzchok and see that he was short, his body build clearly not that of a teenager, his face smooth. The soldiers did not accept the various proofs which the family members provided, and they took Yitzchok with them to their commander. Let him decide how old Yitzchok really was. The commander took one look at the young boy and screamed at his soldiers, “How could you for one moment think that this child is ready to be a soldier in our glorious army?” Boruch Hashem, Yitzchok was returned home, where he continued in his Torah studies, achieving great success in scaling the heights of Torah knowledge. He ultimately became one of the preeminent Torah leaders of his generation. The Rebbe’s blessing materialized in such a manner that Yitzchok was able to devote his entire life to Torah study. His parents never doubted the veracity of the Sanzer’s blessing for one moment. (Peninim on the Torah)
