Emunah That Hashem Can do Anything:
The pasuk in Tehillim (37:3) states: “Trust in Hashem and do good; dwell in the land and be nourished by emunah.” Rashi explains that when one trusts in Hashem and does good things, he is able to live peacefully in the land and “be nourished by his emunah”, in the sense that he will eat and be sustained as reward for his emunah.
The Tiferes Shmuel explains that when one has bitachon in Hashem and recognizes that He is in control of every aspect of the world, and that no other force has any power besides Him, he will know that Hashem will take care of him and he will have what he needs. As Rashi explains, since he knows that Hashem is in control and that He is the provider, he will not say: “How will support myself if I don’t steal?”
He goes on to cite the Gemara (Rosh Hashanah 29A) that states: “Did Moshe’s hands make or break the war? Rather, he was telling them that whenever Yisroel looks upwards and subjugates their hearts to their Father in Heaven, they will overpower their enemy, but if they do not, they will fall.” The Tiferes Shmuel quotes his father, Rav Yechiel of Alexander zy”a, as explaining that in order for Klal Yisroel to be victorious, they must accept that everything is up to Hashem’s will, and nothing in the hands of man or is dependent on “nature”.
He uses this concept to explain the Medrash (Bamidbor Rabbah 2:11) that says that after Avrohom Avinu saw in the astrological signs that he would not bear children, Hashem told him that He would provide him with children from the very same star that he had used to determine that he would not have children. He explains that when someone is in need of a yeshua, and it seems that it is naturally impossible for this salvation to arrive, he should not despair. Rather, he should place his trust in Hashem and have faith that He will save him because He is the only true power and He can do anything. In the merit of one’s emunah that Hashem will supernaturally help him, He will, in fact, send a miraculous salvation. Thus, Hashem told Avrohom that in the merit of his emunah, He would send his salvation through the very nature that seemed to be against him.
He continues to say that this is a Jew’s main avodah in this world – to trust solely in Hashem for his salvation and not to place any faith in one’s own abilities or any other force. This is as Dovid Hamelech said: “Trust in Hashem and do good” – have emunah and trust that Hashem will help, and when you do this, you will be able to dwell securely in the land.
This also explains the pesukim in this week’s Parshah: “When you come to the land” – when you come to Eretz Yisroel and wish to acquire the land. “That I will give you” – you must know that it is Hashem who is giving it to you, as He is the only force that can accomplish anything. It would be impossible to conquer the land with our own strength. Only Hashem can give it to us, as is stated (Tehillim): “Not with your sword will you inherit the land, and your might will not help at all because Your right hand and Your arm and the light of Your face are dependent on His will.” Once one does this: “The land will rest a resting for Hashem” – the land will be holy to Hashem and all will recognize that it is His.
He uses this concept to explain the severity of the sin of transgressing the prohibition to work one’s fields during the year of Shemitah. Chazal say that if one does this, he will be punished by having to sell his possessions and, ultimately, even having to sell himself as a slave. This is because the mitzvah of Shemitah represents emunah and bitachon, as is stated in Sefarim Hakedoshim. One who transgresses this mitzvah is displaying a lack of emunah and bitachon. He is showing that he believes that he can provide for himself by working his field. Therefore, Hashem removes His protection from him and allows him to try it on his own, which will lead to him having to sell all of his possessions and even himself.
This is the meaning of the pasuk: “And if you will say, ‘What will we eat in the seventh year, for we haven’t planted?” If one doesn’t plant and doesn’t harvest, according to the laws of nature, he won’t have anything to eat, and he will wonder what he will do. Still and all, if one believes and trusts in Hashem, he will recognize that He can feed him, just as He feeds every living thing, and in the merit of this bitachon, Hashem promises to send down His blessings, and we will be saved in a supernatural way.
We are currently in the midst of a difficult golus, and many people are suffering from a variety of ailments. The only solution is to strengthen our emunah and bitachon and depend on Hashem to save us. Even of one is in a situation that has no natural solution, he should not lose hope. He should know that Hashem can miraculously send his salvation, and in the merit of this bitachon his salvation will be sent in a supernatural way.
In this vein, the Lechovitcher Rebbe zy”a explains the aforementioned pasuk in Tehillim as follows: “Shachein eretz, to dwell in the land – even if one is ‘laying in the ground’, meaning that he has fallen to a place of seemingly no hope, he should nourish himself with emunah, he should still fortify himself with emunah and not fall to despair.”
Did You Wait for the Yeshua?
A person should know that when he stands before the Bais Din Shel Maaloh, they will judge his level of emunah and bitachon. They will ask if his belief and faith remained strong even in difficult times.
Chazal say (Shabbos 31A) that when a person passes away and is brought for his final judgment, he is asked if he did business with emunah (honestly) and if he awaited the yeshua. The Kobriner Rebbe zy”a explains this as one question. A person is asked if he had emunah and waited for his personal yeshua from Hashem, knowing that He would send his salvation.
Leaving Everything to Hashem:
Rav Shimshon Pinkus zt”l (Sefer Tiferes Shimshon) explains the question of “what will we eat on the seventh year, for we have not planted and we have not harvested the crops” (25:20) by saying that this question could be asked at many stages of life. One could ask: “How can I dedicate time to learn Torah? How will I manage to marry of my children if I don’t work all the time?” Therefore, one must know how Hashem expects him to answer this question.
He writes that the main form of emunah and bitachon that is expected from a person is “to leave everything up to Hashem” by recognizing that everything is in His hands and He can do whatever needs to be done without any of our assistance.
He explains with a comparison to an airplane. When a passenger is traveling by plane and the ride gets bumpy, he relies on the pilot to do his job. He doesn’t offer his help, as he knows he can’t do anything and the pilot is the only one who knows how to fly the plane. On the other hand, after a person’s oldest daughter gets engaged and he manages to come up with a lot of money for the wedding expenses, he already begins to worry about what he’ll do when his second daughter gets engaged. He doesn’t rely on the One who provided him with the funds for the first wedding to take care of the second one. If he would have a very wealthy relative who helps him all the time, he wouldn’t be worried. He would depend on that relative’s help. In truth, he has the wealthiest relative – Hashem – and he should rely on Him to provide whatever he needs, just like He did in the past.
This is the meaning of emunah, which is the root of bitachon – the acceptance that Hashem does not need our help.
We have to recognize that Hashem has no boundaries or rules that He must keep. He can change the order of nature any time He wants, so He can help us in any way He desires.
No Reason to Worry:
Rav Aharon Hagadol of Karlin zy”a once said, “As long as Hashem is around, I have no reason to worry!”
A young boy grabbed his arm and said, “Rebbi, what are you saying? Of course Hashem is always around!”
He replied, “That’s what I meant. There is never a reason to worry.”
Working in Accordance With Halacha is Considered Like Learning:
By saying the words “when you make a sale”, the Torah is giving permission for a Jew to engage in business and work for a living. On the other hand, the Torah also says (Yehoshua 1:8): “This book of Torah should not leave your mouth; you shall toil in it day and night.” How can both of these things be true? If one is involved with business, how can he learn all day and all night?
In truth, however, this is not a contradiction. If one does business honestly, according to the dictates of the Torah, it is considered as if he never interrupted his Torah study.
The Me’or Einayim writes (Yismach Lev in Maseches Shabbos) as follows: Chazal say (Shabbos 31A) that when a person passes away and faces his final judgment, he is asked if he did business with emunah (integrity), and then asked if he set aside time for Torah study. When one does business, it is part of his avodah and a portion of his Torah. The Baal Shem Tov zy”a said that when one learns Torah l’shma, it is very valuable to Hashem. For example, if one learns the sugya of “machlif parah b’chamor” (trading an ox for a donkey), it is very great. It is all the more great if one actually trades an ox for a donkey, meaning that he engages in business according to the mandates of the Torah.
This is an even greater avodah because everything in this world was created for Hashem’s glory, and everything in existence must be treated according to the laws of the Torah. Furthermore, if one does business in accordance with the Torah, he is fulfilling the mitzvah of having “righteous scales” (doing business honestly), and avoiding aveiros. Therefore, one who does business in this way, it is considered as if he was continuously learning Torah.
This is the meaning of the Gemara that says that a person will be asked if he did business with emunah. He will be asked if he had emunah in Hashem and in His Torah even while he did business, and if he, therefore, conducted his business in the Torah way. He will then be asked if he set aside time for Torah study, meaning if even the times set aside for work were used in a way that is considered akin to learning Torah.
Do Not Cause Pain to Your Friend With Your Words:
Included in the Torah’s command not to wrong another Jew is the commandment not to harm a fellow Jew with one’s words.
When Rav Meir Shapiro zt”l served as Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivas Chachmei Lublin, he would encourage the talmidim to say divrei Torah in front of their peers so that they would become trained in public speaking, which was a skill they would need to have when they would later become Rabbanim or teachers of Torah. One student once was giving a nice drasha when another talmid suddenly called out that what the bochur was saying was not his own chiddush, rather it is written in the Malbim. The talmid who was speaking got very embarrassed, but Rav Meir said, “No. This is not a Malbim. It is a ‘melaven’ – ‘melaven pnei chaveiro b’rabim’ (embarrassing one’s friend in public).”
During the horrific years of “Tach V’Tat”, when many Jewish communities were destroyed in vicious pogroms, the Taz zt”l accepted upon himself to go into golus as a means of bringing a yeshua for Klal Yisroel. He traveled to places where no one recognized him and lived like a penniless pauper. In one city, he bumped into one of his students, but he warned him not to tell anyone who he was. The student saw that he had no money with him, and realized that he needed a job. He suggested that he work for the butcher, and arranged a job for him as menaker (one who removes the forbidden parts of the animal).
The Rov of that city was very stringent. When he was presented with a shailoh, he usually ruled that the animal in question was forbidden. After the Taz started working as a menaker, the butchers realized that he knew how to learn, and they began bringing their shailohs to him. After a few weeks, the Rov saw that no shailohs were coming to him, and he went to ask the butchers why this was so. They told him that the new menaker was ruling on their shailohs, which greatly upset the Rov. He declared, “The menaker is feeding people treif meat!”
He immediately placed the Taz in cherem and forbade him from setting foot in the bais medrash, and everyone accepted the Rov’s words that he had been permitting people to eat treif meat.
A few weeks later, a young girl brought a chicken with a shailoh to the Rov. As she left the Rov’s home, the Taz saw that she was crying. He asked her why she was so upset but she wouldn’t speak to him because he was in cherem. The Taz looked at the chicken and understood what the shailoh was. From her tears, he understood that this chicken was needed to feed her family and now that the Rov had said that it was forbidden, they would have nothing to eat.
He told her, “Go back to the Rov and tell him that Sefer Turei Zahav in such-and-such place says that the chicken is permitted.”
The girl did as she was told. The Rov looked up the source in Sefer Turei Zahav and saw that she was correct. He admitted his mistake but he asked her how she knew about this Turei Zahav. The girl tried to avoid answering but finally said that the man who had been placed in cherem had told her about it.
The Rov called the Taz to come inside and demanded that he tell him who he really was. He revealed that he was the author of Sefer Turei Zahav, and this is how his golus ended. Later, the Taz told his students that he had really accepted to stay in golus for longer, but in order not to cause pain to the girl, he allowed his exile to end.
From this story, we can see the Taz’s greatness. He accepted to give up his golus in order to avoid transgressing the prohibition of wronging another Jew. He couldn’t bear to see the girl’s pain when he had the ability to help her.
In a similar vein, the Gemara says that “koach d’heteira adif”, the power of leniency is stronger than the power of stringency. Rav Shlomo Kluger zt”l explains that when a Rov rules stringently and says that a chicken is treif when, in fact, it really is kosher, he may be causing pain to an entire family. Sometimes, he doesn’t even know the family and will never meet them, which means that he cannot ask them forgiveness. However, if he rules leniently and says that a chicken is kosher, even though it is really treif, he has sinned bein odom l’makom and he can always ask Hashem for forgiveness.
No Corruption:
Rav Hirsch of Rimanov zy”a states that since it is known that the letter “ayin” is interchangeable with the letter “aleph”, the pasuk can be read as saying that one should not turn away from “the emes”. In other words, one should not corrupt the truth. Rather, he should be truthful and honest.
My ancestor, Rav Meir’l of Kretchnif zy”a, added, “It is impossible to fool Hashem, and people won’t let you fool them. The only one you can fool (by corrupting the truth) is yourself!”
The Damage of a Lack of Emunah:
The Lechovitcher Rebbe zy”a (Sefer Toras Avos) quotes the Rebbe Rav Zushe zy”a as saying that he heard the following explanation from Eliyahu Hanavi. (It is also cited in Sefer Noam Elimelech in the name of Rav Zusha).
Why are the pesukim in a question and answer format. Why does it say: If you will ask what you will eat, the answer is that Hashem will send His blessings. Why doesn’t it just say that Hashem will send his blessings without the need for the question?
The answers is that the nature of the world is that everyone is provided with as much as he needs. But if someone lacks bitachon in Hashem, the pipeline of goodness is blocked for him and he stops receiving his full share of sustenance. In this case, if the people are asking what they will eat, they are causing their pipes to be blocked. Therefore, Hashem specifically guarantees that even people whose bitachon is lacking and who ask such a question will be provided with a new pipelines for Hashem to send His blessing, and they will receive enough produce during the sixth year to last for three years. But if one doesn’t even ask and simply trusts in Hashem to provide for him, he does not need these new pipelines. They will receive their usual sustenance without the need for any new guarantees.
Hashem Can Always Send an Abundance of Goodness:
Sefer Divrei Yisroel explains the question of “what will we eat in the seventh year” by saying that it certainly would be good not to worry and to rely on Hashem to provide; however, it is not easy for everyone to do this. A rich man who has money put away and has business dealings he can rely on will find it easy not to worry, but the pasuk is speaking about people who say “what will we eat if we don’t plant and don’t harvest?” These are people who have no source of income if they don’t work their fields and no savings put away for a rainy day. How can they avoid worrying?
The Torah is coming to strengthen the resolve of these people and to assure them that Hashem will take care of them by sending an abundant harvest in the sixth year, which will last for three years.
One Who Believes Will Never Lose Out:
The Zohar Hakadosh (110B) explains this pasuk as follows: “Rav Yehuda began to explain by citing the verse (Tehillim 37:3): ‘Trust in Hashem and do good. Dwell in the land and be nourished by emunah.’ A person should always be careful with his Master and connect his heart with lofty emunah so that he should be one with his Master.
For when one is one with Him, no one in this world can harm him.
“Look and see! Bnei emunah conduct themselves this way every day. Who are bnei emunah? These are those people who arouse this goodness to themselves and do not worry about what they have. They know that Hashem will give them more, as is stated (Mishlei 11:24): ‘There are those who give away but have more added to what they have.’ They don’t say: If I give away what I have now to others, what will I do tomorrow?’ Rather, Hashem grants them blessings until it is more than enough.”
The Zohar notes that when Hashem promises to provide enough food in the sixth year to last for three years, the pasuk says “v’asisa es hatevuah l’shalosh shanim”, with the word “v’asisa” written without a “hei” at the end. It explains that a letter is removed from the word to hint that even if a person rests on the seventh year and removes all of his work, he still will receive this blessing.
The Zohar then relates a story to illustrate this point: Rav Chiya and Rav Yosi were walking on a road and came to a mountain. They noticed two men coming towards them. As they watched, the two men were approached by another man who said to them, “Please give me some bread to eat. It has been two days since I have had any food!”
One of them took out the food and drink he had prepared for his journey and gave it to him. His friend asked him, “Now what will you do? You won’t have enough food!” He ignored him and sat next to the poor man as he ate and drank his fill. He then gave the man the...
