Anyone who influences himself in a specific direction actually causes himself to be led in that direction (Bava Metzia 33a). This means that a person can cause something to happen to himself much more easily than he can cause something to happen to another person, because when he influences himself, there is no one to oppose it; this is not the case when he tries to influence someone else. If a person fears poverty, in essence he is “inviting” poverty to come to him. As it says in Iyov: “That which I feared has come upon me.” When a person has a particular fear, he makes himself vulnerable to whatever it is he fears, and that causes the thing he was afraid of to be manifest.
This applies especially to poverty, which is the state of lacking. When he believes that he will lack wealth, that very belief brings about a lack of wealth, and poverty will always follow him.
This is not like someone who is afraid of falling, for a fall is generally caused by an obstacle that is in his path. [This fear is not dependent on his thoughts alone but also on some object outside of himself, which could cause him to stumble.] In contrast, if he fears a lack of money, he is preparing himself for that very circumstance, and that leads him to poverty.
Moreover, regarding something outside of himself, such as a possible fall, the Rishonim say that the fear of it brings it upon a person, for if a person were to take a wooden board and place it on the river from one edge to the other to use as a bridge, he will be very close to falling when he passes over it, because of his fear of falling into the water, but if it was laid on the ground, he would not likely slip off of it. This is only because of the thought and the fear of what would happen if he would fall into the water, because a person’s mind totally controls him. Moreover, regarding poverty, a person’s thoughts and his mind have power over him, and he brings the poverty upon himself.
(Chiddushei Igros Maharal MiPrague, Bava Metzia 33)
Fear Causes Us to Lose Out in Avodas Hashem
One thing that causes us to lose our zerizus is the great fear that we have of all sorts of things that come up in life. A person may fear cold or heat, and another time he may fear being hit, and another time illness or wind, and so on. This is as Shlomo Hamelech said (Mishlei 26:13), “...there is a young lion on the path, a lion in the streets.” Chazal speak disparagingly about this middah, and even call it a sin. We are taught (Tehillim 37), “Trust in Hashem and do good; dwell in the land and be nourished by emunah.”
(Mesillas Yesharim ch. 9)
That Which I Feared Has Come to Me
Rabi Yehuda bar Natan walked behind Rav Hamnuna and sighed. Rav Hamnuna asked him: Do you want to bring yissurim upon yourself? It says that yissurim come upon a person who is afraid of them. Rabi Yehida bar Natan then asked him, “Doesn’t it say, “Fortunate is the man who is always afraid?!” Rav Hamnuna responded that this passuk refers to a person who is afraid regarding words of Torah. A person needs to fear that he will forget the words of Torah, and thus he needs to go back and review them again and again.
(Brachos 60a)
Through Emunah He Brings Upon Himself All the Good and All the Blessings
As my holy father z”l said, “the word emunah is related to the concept of nurturing, as in (Esther 2:7) ‘And he was omen Hadassah, who was Esther,’ meaning that Mordechai nurtured her. Emunah is the catalyst for the shefa. The person who internalizes this is able to draw to himself all the good and all the blessings from the Source, and this is something very deep, as it has been said (Yalkut Shimoni, B’shalach 240), “Am Yisrael were redeemed only through emunah.”
Regarding this Moshe said (Shemos 6:12): If Bnei Yisrael did not listen to me, how would Pharaoh listen to me?! This is very puzzling. Moshe Rabbenu a”h, the master of all nevi’im, asked how Pharaoh would listen to him? Certainly he well knew that Hashem is omnipotent and could certainly cause Pharaoh to listen to him.
We can understand his intention in light of the fact that Am Yisrael was redeemed only through emunah, but despite this, “from extreme stress and hard work” they did not listen to Moshe. In response to this, Moshe wanted to know: If Am Yisrael did not listen to me, then how will they be redeemed? How will Pharaoh listen to me? The redemption is in the merit of their emunah. As my father z”l explained, Moshe meant: They will not believe me, so how could Pharaoh listen to me and send them out? For my speech is impaired, and there is no need to speak to Pharaoh in any case. For Moshe knew that Pharaoh certainly would send them against his will, and [once he was forced] he would obey immediately.
Moshe felt that when Am Yisrael would believe in and listen to him, then Pharaoh would certainly hear what he had to say, but as he said: They did not believe in me and did not listen to me; how then is it possible that Pharaoh would listen?
His desire was for Hashem to influence Am Yisrael with wholesome emunah, so they would fully believe that Hashem would take them out of Mitzrayim, and then Pharaoh, in turn, would listen to him.
(Ohr Yitzchak, Radvil, Parshas Noach)
