Assisting the needy, as the mitzvah of tzedakah is always good. Even if it does with imperfect thoughts, the poor person is still helped, so the giving is always good.
וּבָ אוּ עָ לֶיךָ כָּל הַ בְּ רָ כוֹת הָ אֵ לֶּה וְ הִ שִּׂ יגֻךָ כִּ י תִ שְׁ מַ ע בְּ קוֹל ה' וגו' (כח, ב)
And all these blessings will come upon you and they shall reach you, if you obey Hashem... (28:2)
Davening for Ruchnius is Always Accepted:
The Sar Shalom of Belz zy”a explains the meaning of the word “vihisigucha” (and they will reach you) by stating that every prayer is answered. However, if one davens for physical things, he won’t necessarily be answered immediately. If, however, one davens for spiritual things, he will be answered right away. Accordingly, the pasuk is saying that “hisigucha”, ones prayers will be answered immediately, “if you listen to Hashem”, meaning that you daven solely for matters of ruchnius that relate to Hashem.
Davening for Bitachon:
Sefer M’Zekeinim Esbonen writes that he heard the following from Rav Mordechai Chaim of Slonim zy”a, in the name of Rav Moshe Leib of Sassov zy”a: We recite in davening: “V’sein sachar tov l’chol habotchim b’shimcha b’emes.” (And give good reward to all who truthfully trust in Your name.) The reason we ask for this on their behalf is because those who trust fully in Hashem do not ask for anything, as they simply rely on Him. However, there is a rule that one does not receive something if he doesn’t ask for it. Therefore, we make this request for them.
Saved Through the Power of Tefillah:
Someone once came to the Chofetz Chaim zt”l and complained that he had no source of parnassah. The Chofetz Chaim told him, “When I was young, I was a poor orphan. But Hashem always helped me. Whenever I felt that I needed something, I would take a Sefer Tehillim, stand in the corner and recite the words, and Hashem always answered my prayers. If you do this, you also will be helped by Him.”
Extending Tefillos with Kavanah:
Sefer Ginzei Nistaros relates that the Magid of Mezheritch zy”a would spend a lot of time on his tefillos, taking several hours to daven. In a nearby town, there lived a learned man who davened with all the kavanos of the Arizal, but he did not take that long to daven. This was confusing to many people, who wondered why the Magid’s tefillos took longer than the tefillos of this lamdan.
This scholar was a wealthy businessman who would travel every year to the fair in Leipzig, where he would buy a lot of merchandise to resell. When he was home, he spent most of his time learning and serving Hashem. One year, he passed through Mezheritch on his way home from the fair and decided to see how the Magid davened. He then went over and asked the Magid why it took him so long to daven. He said, “I daven according to the kavanos of the Arizal and it doesn’t take me that long!”
The Magid asked him what he did for a living and he answered, “I purchase merchandise in Leipiz, bring it home and resell it quickly for a profit.” The Magid asked, “How do you know that you made a profit?” The man explained, “I write down my costs and expenses and I then write down how much I sell an item for. I then make a calculation and see how much money I gained.” The Magid then asked, “Why do you have to waste your time traveling to Leipzig? Why don’t you just write down your calculations with going there?” The man began to laugh and said, “I can’t make money just from writing numbers on a piece of paper! I have to first go to get the merchandise.” The Magid then said, “Kavanos are just like your calculations. If you don’t ‘travel’ to the place you need to go to pick up the ‘merchandise’, you can’t make a profit just from the calculations. You must first connect to Hashem, which could take a long time, and then use the kavanos to calculate your tefillos.”
One Avodah With Kavanah Uplifts All Avodos Without Kavanah:
The Gemara (Kiddushin 40B) says that Hashem rewards a person for having good thoughts (metztaref machshavah l’maisoh), just like He rewards a person for good deeds. Rav Yitzchok of Neshchiz zy”a (Sefer Toldos Yitzchok on Purim) explains that the word “metztaref” can mean to purify (tzerufah, as in Tehillim 119:140). This indicates that when someone serves Hashem with good thoughts and intentions, he purifies and uplifts all his deeds from throughout the year. Even those deeds that were done without purity are raised up and brought before Hashem as if they are perfect and pure.
Connecting the Words to Equal One Tefillah:
Alternatively, he explains Chazal to mean that if a person recites even one word with proper kavanah, and, on another occasion, he recites another word with proper kavanah, and so on, Hashem will ultimately combine all those words, turning them into one perfect tefillah. Thus, he is metztaref (combines) all the words into one “maaseh”, i.e., one complete tefillah.
תַּ חַ ת אֲ שֶׁ ר ל ֹא עָ בַ דְ תָּ אֶ ת ה' אֱ לֹקֶ יךָ בְּ שִׂ מְ חָ ה וּבְ טוּב לֵבָ ב וגו' (כח, מז)
Because you did not serve Hashem with joy and with a good heart... (28:47)
The Punishment for Undue Levity:
The Kotzker Rebbe zt”l explains this pasuk to be speaking about who people whose “not serving Hashem” is with simcha. In other words, they have “geshmak” in doing aveiros. This is considered a terrible sin, which is why it is subject to the klalos.
The Punishment for Putting a Stop to Simcha Shel Mitzvah:
Sefarim Hakedoshim ask why the punishment for not serving Hashem with joy is so severe. Rav Henoch of Alexander zy”a (Sefer Chasbah L’Tova) answers with the following story:
A villager had a son who refused to learn Torah. The boy was growing up and he still didn’t even know the Aleph Bais. The father once traveled to the big city, where he hired a tutor. He promised the man a large sum of money if he could teach his son how to read. The melamed came to the village and spent many hours trying to teach the boy. Finally, he succeeded in teaching him the Aleph Bais and the nekudos.
One day, the father came to see what his son had learned. The tutor pointed to each letter, and the boy said: “Aleph, bais, gimmel...” The tutor than pointed to the nekudos and asked, “What is that under the Aleph? What’s under the Bais?” The boy answered, “Kamatz... pasach...etc.” When they got to the Hei, the teacher asked, “What’s that under the Hei?” but the boy remained silent. The father and tutor tried to prompt him to answer but he wouldn’t say anything. The father then got angry. He picked up a stick and was about to strike the boy. When the child saw this, he said, “Okay, I will reveal the secret. Under the ‘hay’ is the stolen calf.” It then became known that the father had stolen a calf and hid it under a pile of hay. He had ordered his family not to say anything, which is why boy didn’t want to answer the question of what was “under the hay.”
Rav Henoch explains that if a person is unable to serve Hashem with joy, it is certain that there is a cause for this. It is a sign that he must have done some sin that is obstructing his ability to be happy while serving Hashem. The pasuk uses the words: “Tachas asher lo avadeta es Hashem b’simcha.” The word “tachas” literally mean “under”. Thus, the pasuk is saying that there is a hidden cause lying under the surface that is causing the person to be unable to serve Hashem with joy. The person is, therefore, punished for this underlying cause. While a lack of joy in and of itself may not be a severe enough transgression to warrant such a big punishment, the sin that created the lack of joy is deserving of it.
Whose Heart Can Fail to Tremble?
The Alter of Kelm zt”l related the following parable that describes how much we need to arouse ourselves for the Day of Judgment:
A merchant once bought a lot of goods and wanted to smuggle them across the border. He hired a wagon driver who knew the roads near the border and the smuggling routes, so that he could safely transport his goods across the border. From that moment on, the merchant was fearful. He worried for his life, knowing that his fate hung in the balance. If he succeeded, he would make a big profit, but if he was caught, all his goods would be confiscated and he would have to face trial, possibly ending up in prison along with thieves and criminals.
The wagon driver, on the other hand, was calm. He was used to smuggling goods across the border. That was his job and he was not afraid. On the day they set out on their journey, however, the wagon driver also began to fear for his life. Even though he had been successfully crossing the border for decades, there was no guarantee that his journey would be successful this time. If they were caught, he too would stand trial too, and he too could go to prison. The only ones who were not afraid at all were the horses. Even during the journey over the border, they remained calm and relaxed because they were totally unaware of the danger they were in.
The nimshol is that intelligent people understand that, when the Day of Judgment draws near, their entire future hangs in the balance. They know they have good reason to be afraid. Others are not as concerned. Although they don’t feel the depth of the issue in advance, and they don’t get afraid when Elul begins, when the actual day of Rosh Hashanah arrives, they do start to worry. They finally realize that they are in danger and they have reason to fear. There are, however, some people who are just like the horses. They have no clue what is going on and they remain calm, unaware that they are currently being judged.
Nothing Stands in the Way of Teshuva:
The Gemara in Yoma (86B) states: “What is teshuva? In that place, with that woman and in that time.” (Teshuva means that one is faced with the same challenge that he previously failed and, this time, he passes.) Sefer Divrei Yitzchok quotes the Bnei Yissochor zy”a as explaining that the yeitzer hara has many ways to convince people not to do teshuva. It tells one person that “the place” he finds himself in is not a good place for him to do teshuva. To him, one should answer that “in that place”, he can do teshuva. To another person, it says that he cannot do teshuva as long as he is married to his current wife. For him, the answer is “with that woman”, he can do teshuva. To a third person, it says that it is not the right time to do teshuva. For him, the answer is that “in that time”, he can do teshuva.
Hashem bless us all with a kesiva v’chasima tova, a sweet new year, and a year of geulah v’yeshua.
