Praise Hashem
This week's parashah begins with the mitzvah of bikurim.
The Sefer Chareidim writes, "The mitzvah of bikurim is to remind people to praise Hashem. They shouldn't complain like the unsatisfied people who cry and complain their entire lives, as though they don't have anything. Actually, everything in their life is good." This is why we take the first fruit and praise Hashem for giving us the land. We focus on the good we received, and we praise Hashem. This is the reason for this holy mitzvah.
Kav HaYashar (18) writes, "Everyone experiences miracles. Especially in recent times, when there is so much strife and hardship in the world, things are perpetually becoming worse – evil decrees, war, hunger, people in captivity, distress, and various diseases. When Hashem saves a person from all these tragedies, he should continuously think about Hashem's kindness. Anyone living with peace and security and parnassah must praise Hashem."
Particularly, in Elul, at the end of the year, we should praise Hashem for all the kindness we enjoyed throughout the year. Therefore, we read about bikurim in Elul because Elul is an ideal time to recognize Hashem's kindness and to praise Him.
It states, (1 Divrei HaYamim 29:13) אלקינו ועתה תפרארתך שם ל מהלליםו ךל נחנוא מודים, "And now, Hashem, we give thanks to You and praise Your glorious Name." The roshei teivos spell ל"אלו. And ל"אלו is roshei teivos for (Shemos 15:1) 'הל שירהא אמרל יאמרוו, "They said, 'I will sing to Hashem." These hints indicate that Elul is a time to praise Hashem.
Another hint that Elul is a time for gratitude is (Tehillim 100:3) הוא אלקים הוא 'ה כי דעו מרעיתו וצאן עמו אנחנו ולו עשנו, "Know that Hashem is G-d; He made us, and we are His people and the flock of His pasture." The word is read as לו, but it is written לא. Together, the letters spell ל"אלו. This chapter of Tehillim speaks of praising Hashem, so we have another hint that Elul is an appropriate time to focus on praising Hashem with joy.
We don't only praise Hashem for the wonderful things we receive (like parnassah, refuos, etc.). We also praise Hashem for protecting us from tzaros. We praise Hashem for protecting us from something that could have been so much worse.
The Mishnah (Avos 5:5) lists the ten miracles in the Beis HaMikdash. None of them are for something good that occurred. They are all about being spared from tzaros. For example, among the ten miracles are: "No woman miscarried, the meat of kodshim didn't spoil, there was no fly in the meat room, and rain didn't put out the fire on the mizbeach." These are called miracles, and one should praise Hashem for them. This is hinted in the words (Tehillim 107:1) טוב כי 'לה הודו, "Praise Hashem, for He is good." This means we don't only praise Hashem when there is a problem and we are saved. We praise Hashem when everything is good, too.
Hashem bestows many kindnesses on us that we aren't aware of. We must praise Hashem for those, too. The Ropshitzer Rav zt'l (Zera Kodesh, Toldos, ויעתר ה"ד) writes in the name of his father, Reb Menachem Mendel of Linsk zt'l, "One must praise Hashem for the kindness Hashem bestows on him all the time – and he must praise Hashem for all types of kindness he received, the revealed and concealed." Because Hashem bestows many kindnesses on people, and no one knows about them but Hashem alone.
The Midrash (Tehillim 136) writes, “The pasuk says, ְדּוַֹסח ָםלְעוֹל כִּי ַדּוֹלְב גְּדֹלוֹת ָאוֹתְלנִפ ֵהׂלְעֹש, 'To Him Who performs great wonders alone, for His kindness is eternal' (Tehillim 136:4). What does this pasuk mean? It is obvious that Hashem does wonders alone — Hashem does everything alone! The pasuk means Hashem performs great wonders that are known to Him alone. Only Hashem is aware of the great wonders He performs.”
The Midrash gives an example: “A person is on his bed, and there is a snake [about to bite him] on the ground. The person wants to stand up. The snake senses this and flees. The person continues, completely unaware of the miracle Hakadosh Baruch Hu performed for him!
The Zohar (Balak 200b) teaches, “Hakadosh Baruch Hu does so many kindnesses to people every day; He performs so many miracles for us each day. But no one knows about them other than Hashem. A man wakes up in the morning, and a snake is coming to kill him. He places his foot on the ground, steps on the snake’s head, and kills it. No one knows other than Hakadosh Baruch Hu. This is an example of, ‘To Him Who performs great wonders alone...’
“A person walks down the road, and thieves are crouching in ambush, ready to kill him. But another person comes down the road ahead of him, and the thieves kill that person instead, and his life is spared. This is an example of, ‘To Him Who performs great wonders alone.’ Only Hashem is aware of these miracles and no one else.”
A bachur, a yasom, needed to leave the yeshiva and work to support his mother, an almanah. His Rosh Yeshiva, Reb Yehudah Zev Segal of Manchester zt'l advised him, "Every night when you daven Maariv, and you say the words עמנו יום שבכל נסיך על, I want you to think of a miracle that happened to you that day."
This bachur is today a chashuve Yungerman in London. He says, "For forty years, every night I do what my Rosh Yeshiva recommended, and I can testify with a full mouth that there wasn't one day all these years that I didn't find some miracle to praise Hashem for."
Reb Shlomo Zalman Auerbach zt'l told of a segulah to be saved from all worries. One should write on a paper all the kindness that Hakadosh Baruch Hu does for him, and when he says Modim in Shemonah Esrei, he should think about those points and thank Hashem for them. Reb Shlomo Zalman noted that this is ומנוסה בדוק, a proven and true segulah to free a person from worry.
