Happy with your Lot
The parashah begins (19:2) זאת חקת התורה, "This is the chok (decree) of the Torah." The Torah refers to parah adumah as a chok because it is a mitzvah that lacks a logical explanation.
Rashi (19:2) writes, "The Satan and the nations of the world mock the Jewish nation and say, 'What is this mitzvah [of parah adumah]? What logic does it have?' Therefore, it states חקה. It is My decree. You don't have permission to question it."
The Rambam (Hilchos Mikvaos 11:12) writes, "It is certain and known that the laws of tumah and taharah are concepts that mortals cannot perceive. They are חוקים. Similarly, that a mikvah purifies is a chok. Because tumah isn't tar or dirt that can be removed with water, these are gezeiros hakasuv (laws of the Torah that can't be explained with rationale)."
The Midrash (Bamidbar Rabba 19:8) states: A non-Jew said to Reb Yochanan ben Zakai, "Your deeds resemble witchcraft. You take a cow, burn it, grind it, and gather its ashes. If someone becomes tamei through a human corpse, you sprinkle two or three drops on him, and you tell him, 'You have become pure.'"
Reb Yochanan Ben Zakai responded, "Have you ever suffered from an impure spirit?" "No, I have not." "Did you ever see a person afflicted by a spirit?" "Yes, I did." "And what was done to cure him." "They produced smoke from certain roots near him and tossed some water on him, and the bad spirit left."
Reb Yochanan Ben Zakai replied, "Listen to what you just said. This is what we do with the spirit of tumah. We throw water on him [water mixed with ashes from the parah adumah], and the tumah flees." The goy was satisfied with this explanation and left.
After the goy left the room, the students turned to Reb Yochanan and told him, "You pushed him away with reeds. [You gave him a flimsy answer so that he should be satisfied and leave you alone.] But what can you tell us? Why indeed do we perform these unusual rituals to banish tumah?"
Reb Yochanan Ben Zakai replied, "I swear: A corpse doesn't cause tumah, and water doesn't purify. Hakadosh Baruch Hu tells us חקה, I made a decree, and you can't transgress it. This is חקת התורה. It is the rule that Hashem established. There are things that cause tumah and methods how to bring purity. Don't try to understand it logically because this is Hashem's decree and will. All we can do is believe in these laws and try to be pure before Hashem."
There are life experiences that are like a חק because we don't understand them. It doesn't make sense to our minds. But we rely on Hashem Who knows what's best for us. When we have this belief, we are satisfied with our portion and aren't jealous of others.
The Gemara (Taanis 25.) writes, "Every day a bas kol came forth and proclaims, 'Everyone in the world earns their parnassah in the merit of my son, Chanina, and my son Chanina suffices with a kav (small measure) of carobs the entire week." His wife was embarrassed by their poverty. Erev Shabbos, she would heat her empty oven so that people should think she was baking something. Once, Reb Chanina ben Dosa's wife asked, "For how long will we suffer in this world?" Reb Chanina replied, "What can we do?" She replied, "Pray to Hashem." He davened, and a hand came forth from heaven and handed them a gold leg.
Later, Reb Chanina told his wife, "I saw in my dream that in the future, tzaddikim will be eating at tables with four legs, while we will eat at a three-legged table." She asked him, "Does it bother you that everyone will have a complete table and we will have a broken one?" He asked, "So what should we do?" She replied, "Daven that heaven should take back the gold leg we received." He did so, and Heaven took back the gold leg. Chazal say that the second miracle was greater than the first because the general rule is that Heaven gives and doesn't take back.
The Chasam Sofer zt'l explains that the four-legged table in Gan Eden represents the four mitzvos tzaddikim excel in: (1) Torah, (2) Avodah, (3) Gemilas Chasadim, (4) and savlanus (to be patient and satisfied with your portion). Initially, Reb Chanina ben Dosa's wife wasn't satisfied with her portion, which is why they lost that leg in Gan Eden. But eventually, she acquired the attribute of savlanus, to be happy with her lot, and now was worthy of a four-legged gold table in Gan Eden.
The lesson is that we must be satisfied with our portion. Some people may have more than you but be happy with what you have. You have the amount that's best for you.
It states (Shmuel 1, 2:7) ה' מוריש ומעשיר, "Hashem makes poor and rich." The Chozeh of Lublin zt'l explained that this can happen in a moment. One second, a person can be poor, and the next, he can become wealthy. And the opposite can also occur. A rich person can become poor in a moment if that is Hashem's will.
One of his chasidim replied, "I am extremely wealthy. I have millions of gold coins and properties in various areas. Is it possible that I can become poor in a second? It doesn't make sense!" The Chozeh replied, "You will see it can be so." On his way home, the chasid passed the home of a priest he knew. The yetzer hara grabbed him, and he ran over to the priest and told him that he wanted to convert to Christianity, r'l. The priest replied, "I have known you for years. You are a G-d-fearing Jew. You are surely joking." "No, I am very serious," the chasid replied. "I can't believe it," the priest said. "You are planning some plot to make fun of us." "No, it is real," the chasid replied. And indeed, it was so. The yetzer hara had taken complete control of his mind.
The priest said, "You need to prove to me that you are sincere. This is the test: Write a document stating that if you don't convert in the end, and this is just a joke, then all your wealth will go to me." The chasid wrote up the document and handed it to the priest. But a moment later, he regretted what he did. He ran out of the priest's home. Better to lose all his money than to convert to Christianity, chalilah. He chose poverty over abandoning Yiddishkeit. He rushed back to the Chozeh and said, "I didn't believe that Hashem could make me poor in a second, and I know this is why this happened to me." The Chozeh replied, "You now know that Hashem can make someone poor in a moment. Now, I want you to know that Hashem can also make a person wealthy in one moment." The chasid traveled home. Before he got home, a fire broke out in the priest's home. The document was burnt, and he was wealthy once again.
Everything is in Hashem's hands – He gives each person what's best for them. It states (Rus 1:21) אני מלאה הלכתי וריקם השיבני ה'. The Shevet Mussar zt'l explains that when one is successful, he says אני מלאה, I did it. I deserve credit for the wealth that I earned. וריקם השיבני ה', when one loses money, he says that it was from Hashem. We must know that just as the problems we endure are from Hashem, all the good we have in our lives are also from Hashem.
When people go through hard times, they say, "Everything is from Heaven" (הכל מן השמים). How often do we hear people say that when things are good? We must know that also the good we have is from Hashem.
Reb Moshe Aharon Stern zt'l was in Switzerland to raise funds for Yeshivas Kamenitz. He was planning to daven shacharis in a particular shul where wealthy people daven, but when Reb Moshe Aharon heard that this minyan davens after the zman tefillah, he decided to daven elsewhere. Later that day, Reb Moshe Aharon met with another meshulach who told him, "It's a shame you weren't with us for shacharis. One wealthy person in the beis medresh was giving a hundred francs to anyone who went over to him." Reb Moshe Aharon went to that beis medresh for minchah, and that wealthy man gave him a hundred francs. After minchah, the wealthy man asked the gabbai, "Who is the person with the impressive appearance? He looks like a talmid chacham." "He's an exceptional talmid chacham," the gabbai replied. The wealthy man gave Reb Moshe Aharon an additional three hundred francs. After maariv, this wealthy man approached Reb Moshe Aharon and gave him a thousand francs left over from his tzedakah bag. So, Reb Moshe Aharon profited greatly by being careful to daven shacharis at the right time. Had Reb Moshe Aharon been in the shul in the morning, he would receive one hundred francs like everyone else. Reb Moshe Aharon received fourteen times more by being careful with the halachah of zman tefillah.
Let this be a reminder that parnassah comes from Hashem, so keeping halachos and being devoted to studying Torah will never take away from your parnassah.
The German government offers reparations to people who suffered during the holocaust. One person was eligible to receive a lot of money, but he would have to lie on a minor detail. He asked the Brisker Rav zt'l whether he may tell this lie. The Brisker Rav sent him to the Tchebiner Rav zt'l who replied, "In my opinion, there is no mitzvah of hishtadlus with falsehood. Because hishtadlus doesn't give us the parnassah, Hashem does. Therefore, the more carefully we observe halachah, the greater the likelihood we will earn parnassah."
When one knows everything is from Hashem, he will succeed in all his endeavors. The Akeidah (Shaar 74) writes, "One becomes successful when he realizes that all goodness and successes are from Hashem, not by chance and not by the strength of his hands."
