Now, what is the difference between the farmer and the melamed? Why did the melamed read the letter without emotion and the farmer became so emotional? This is a great question, considering that the melamed was far more intelligent than the farmer. So why was the farmer so emotional, until he fainted, and the melamed was unmoved? The answer is obvious. The melamed knew in his mind what had occurred, but since he didn't know the farmer's father and had no connection with him, he didn't feel anything in his heart. Why should he care that ploni died? Whereas when the farmer heard that his father died, it shook him to the core until he collapsed.
We all know that Hakadosh Baruch Hu created the world, but this knowledge isn't sufficient. One must live with emunah, as it states (Chavakuk 2:4) יחיה באמונתו צדיק. Emunah cannot be external knowledge. Instead, it is like "seeing" that there is a Creator in the world. The emunah must be alive to him.
A mashal is told about a person who was being tried for murder. There were witnesses who testified that they saw the accused murder the victim.
The accused’s lawyer got up and announced, "My client is innocent. In five minutes, the true murderer will enter the courtroom and admit that he is the murderer. And then everyone will know that my client is innocent."
The court waited five and then ten minutes. Everyone kept looking at the door to see who would come, but no one came.
Finally, the judge told the lawyer, "You knew that no one would come. Why did you lie to us?"
The lawyer replied, "If you noticed, during these ten minutes, everyone was looking at the door. They all wanted to see who the true murderer was. The witnesses were kept looking at the door. That proves that they are false witnesses, because if they truly saw the murder, as they claim, they would know that no one was coming, for according to them, the murderer is already in the courtroom!"
The judge was impressed by the lawyer's clever proof but argued that he could prove from what occurred that the man on trial did indeed commit the crime. The judge explained, "The only person who didn't look to the door was the accused person, himself. And that proves that he committed the murder. He truly knew no one was coming."
The lesson is that every day a Yid shouts אחד 'ה אלקינו 'ה, and when he says אחד, he thinks about the oneness of Hashem and his emunah in Hashem. And then, immediately after the tefillah, he looks around to see where his parnassah would come from. Why does he look around? He just proclaimed that everything comes from אחד 'ה! This means that his emunah hasn't reached his heart. Because had his emunah reached his heart, he won't look anywhere but to Hashem.
