It states (Eichah 3:37) צִוָּה לֹא 'ה וַתֶּהִי אָמַר זֶה מִי, "Who has spoken, and it came to pass, unless Hashem commanded it?" Rashi writes, "If I will say that the bad that came to me wasn't from Hashem, rather from chance, it isn't so. Both the bad and the good wouldn’t have occurred if Hashem didn't command it."
It states (21:12) זָרֶד בְּנַחַל וַיַּחֲנוּ, "they encamped along the river of Zered." זָרֶד is similar to זָרֶת, which is a measurement – a half-amah. The Midrash (Bamidbar Rabba 19:24) states that this river was called זָרֶד נַחַל because it was only a half-amah deep. And yet they couldn't cross it for thirty-eight years! As it states (Devarim 2:13-14), "Now get up and cross the brook of Zered. So we crossed the brook of Zered. The days when we went from Kadesh Barnea, until we crossed the brook of Zered, numbered thirty-eight years..."
This tells us that it is all up to Hashem. As the Lechovitzer zt'l said, "With Hashem's help, we can cross the sea. Without Hashem's help, we can't cross a doorway."
It states (21:8) כָּל וְה ָיָה נֵס עַל אֹתוֹ וְשִׂים שָׂרָף ָלְך עֲשֵׂה וָחָי אֹתוֹ וְרָאָה ה ַנָּשׁ וּ ךְ, "Hashem said to Moshe, 'Make yourself a serpent and put it on a pole and let whoever is bitten look at it and live.'"
How could the same creature – the snake – cause death and life? (Granted, it was an actual snake that caused the illness, and a copper snake brought the healing; nevertheless, there is a lesson that we can learn from this similarity.) The Imrei Emes zt'l explains that this showed the nation that both healing and illness come from Hashem. When they sinned, they were bitten by snakes and became ill. When they did teshuvah, they were healed by a snake. This is as the Ramban (21:9) writes, "The snake was the source of their illness, but when they looked at the snake, they were healed. This was so they will know that Hashem gives life and the contrary."
Stories Illustrating Hashgachah Pratis
When Reb Gershon Eidelstein zt'l was a chasan, the family arranged a rental apartment for the new couple in Tel Aviv. On the night before the wedding, he went to his new apartment. He needed to use the bathroom, but after looking around, he realized that there was none! He went to the landlord to complain. "Why did you rent me an apartment without a bathroom?" The landlord said, "You said you wanted a one-room apartment. If there were a bathroom, it would be a two-room apartment!" Reb Gershon went outside to find a bathroom. He came to an old-age home. He told them his dilemma, that he rented an apartment without a bathroom, and the managers of the old-age home agreed to allow Reb Gershon Eidelstein and his rebbetzin to use the bathroom whenever they wanted. Reb Gershon lived in his apartment, under these conditions, for a few months, until he moved to Bnei Brak. Even after he moved to Bnei Brak, he kept up a connection with his old landlord and would invite him to all of his simchos. The landlord came to all his simchos, and Reb Gershon honored him tremendously, dancing with him and treating him as if he were the most honored guest. People asked Reb Gershon why he was so kind to this landlord. He replied, "He gave me a place to live, and I owe him hakaras hatov. Now, regarding his cynical joke about the 'two rooms', I forgave him. I know that it was from Hashem, so why should I be angry with him?"
People think that illness is from chance, and they believe healing is from medicine. This episode was a reminder that everything, the good and the bad, the sickness and the healing, comes from Hashem.
The Rebbe of Tosh zt'l would send an envelope with money to a particular person every month. Even when the receiver of this monthly stipend moved to a different address, the Rebbe made the effort to get the correct address, so he could continue sending him this stipend. Once, the Rebbe told his driver the reason he gives this person a monthly stipend. The Rebbe once broke ice over a river to be tovel in it. When one does this, he must be cautious to tovel near the opening in the ice so that he can get out. But this man was there, and he cruelly covered the opening with a wooden plank. The Rebbe almost drowned. In the last minute, the man moved the plank away. This saved the Rebbe's life. The Tosher Rebbe explained that he isn't angry at this person for blocking the entrance, because he knows that it was from Hashem. So, why should he be angry with him? But this man moved the plank away from the entrance, which saved his life. For that, he owes him hakaras hatov. This is the reason he sends him a monthly stipend.
People reading this story might say that this is a madreigah for tzaddikim of years ago, which doesn't apply to us. But remember that we are telling a story of someone who lived in our lifetime, not very long ago. He understood that everything is from Hashem, as Dovid HaMelech said (Shmuel 2, 16:10) 'ה כִּי ק ַלֵּל לוֹ אָמַר "Hashem said to him, 'Curse him.'" Everything, the good and the opposite, is never by chance. Everything is from Hashem.
There is a wonderful vort taught by the Maharil Diskin zt'l (quoted in Har Tzvi). It states (21:23) כָּל אֶת סִיחֹן וַיֶּא ֱסֹף בִּגְב ֻלוֹ ע ֲבֹר יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶת סִיחֹן נָתַן וְלֹא בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל וַיִּלָּחֶם יָהְצָה וַיָּבֹא הַמ ִּדְבָּרָה יִשְׂרָאֵל לִקְר ַאת וַיֵּצֵא עַמּוֹ, "But Sichon did not permit Yisrael to pass through his territory, and Sichon gathered all his people and went out to the desert toward Yisrael. He arrived at Yahatz and fought against Yisrael."
We wonder why Sichon wasn't afraid to fight this war. He should have known by now that Hashem fights the wars for Bnei Yisrael. The Maharil Diskin answers that Sichon won a great, difficult war against Moav and he conquered the city Cheshbon. This caused him to think he was stronger than he really was. As Rashi (21:23) writes, מְלֵאָה חֶש ְׁבּוֹן ה ָיְתָה א ִ לּ וּ ןָׁהלְכ ָבְש יְכוֹלָה בְּרִיָּה כָּל אֵין יַת ּוּשִׁין, "Even if Cheshbon was filled with mosquitos, no human being could conquer it." When Sichon conquered Cheshbon, he mistakenly thought that he had won it with his own strength. He felt invincible, and he dared to fight with Bnei Yisrael.
He didn't realize that he won this war solely for the sake of Bnei Yisrael. As Rashi explains, it was forbidden for Bnei Yisrael to conquer the cities of Moav. But Hakadosh Baruch Hu wanted to give the city Cheshbon to the Jewish nation. So, Hakadosh Baruch Hu had Sichon conquer Cheshbon, so it no longer belonged to Moav, and now Bnei Yisrael were permitted to conquer it. Sichon didn’t conquer Cheshbon on his own. Hashem conquered it for him.
If Sichon would have the true emunah that wars are won by Hashem (מלחמה איש 'ה), he wouldn't have felt so arrogant, and wouldn’t have fought against Yisrael, thereby losing his life and his kingdom.
Let us know that wars, successes, and everything man accomplishes – the good and the opposite – they are all decreed from Above. With this awareness, we won't lose our rational minds. Also, we won't lose our peace of mind when things don't go the way we hoped they would. We know that everything is in Hashem's hands, and we accept how Hashem leads us, and it will be good for us in this world and in the next world.
Parnassah is from Hashem
In his younger years, Rebbe Moshe of Kopishnitz zy'a worked in the New York diamond center, but there was a time when he wasn't making sales. He said to his father, Rebbe Avraham Yehoshua Hershel of Kopishnitz zy'a, גארנישט מאך איך "I make nothing." (He meant that he wasn't earning anything). "I am worried about my family. How will I place food on the table, and how will I clothe them?" His father told him, "You said it correctly. גארנישט מאך איך, 'I do nothing.' You must always remember these words. Parnassah isn't from one's work. It is from Hashem's decree."
Some weeks passed, and he still didn't make any sales. Friday afternoon, as he was returning his diamonds into the safe until next week, he said to Hashem גארנישט מאך איך, "I make nothing. Everything is from you." He said this with clarity that parnassah is from Hashem. Immediately, the phone rang. A diamond merchant was on the line, wanting to purchase a large quantity of diamonds. With this one sale, he earned what generally took him weeks to earn. His problems were resolved in a moment.
