In the sefer Chovos Halevavos in the section on teshuvah (Chapter 6), he states that there are four different incentives that we are expected to make use of as a prod to do teshuvah; four madreigos of doing teshuvah. And although there is a hierarchy, each one is a more preferable method than the next, they all have to be utilized when the opportunity comes. Every person is capable of making use of all four incentives at various times throughout his life.
One of them, the Chovos Halevavos tells us, is when misfortunes come upon a person. When tzaros befall a person – whether it’s something big or small – he is expected to use that as an opportunity to run back to Hashem; to do teshuvah for his sins, to do more mitzvos, to correct his character and his behavior, and everything else that is to be included in the word repentance.
In all generations that is how the people of Yisroel reacted:
נוָל יםƒ ֹ̃ל¡‡ הָׂ ָ̆ﬠ ̇‡ֹז הַמ – What is this that Elokim did to us? (Bereishis 42:28) Not ‘What is it that Hitler did to us, or this enemy or that rasha.’ Everything is יםƒ ֹ̃ל¡‡ הָׂ ָ̆ﬠ. And why did He do it? נוָל! He did it for us. It means ‘What do we have to learn from this?’
That’s a standard Jewish attitude:
ינו≈כָר¿„ הָׂ ̆¿ּפ¿חַנ הָרֹ ̃¿חַנ¿ו – Let us search out our ways, ם≈ּׁ ַ̆ה „ַﬠ הָבּוׁ ָ̆נ¿ו – and come back to Hashem (Eichah 3:40). If something happens to us, we attribute it not to anything but our misdeeds. And if you’re not sure – after all, what person doesn’t think he’s a tzaddik? – then הָׂ ̆¿ּפ¿חַנ, you have to search. You have to think a long time and you have to discover the hidden reasons in your life, in your behavior, for why such a thing would happen.
Plead Guilty
That’s the advice our Sages give us. םָ„ָ‡ ה∆‡ֹרו םƒ‡ יוָלָﬠ יםƒ‡ָּב יםƒרּוּסƒּי∆ׁ ̆ – When a man sees that misfortune comes upon him, יוָׂ ֲ̆ﬠַמ¿ּב ׁ ̆≈ּפ¿ׁ ַ̆פ¿י – he shouldn’t look to blame others; instead he should look into his deeds (Mesichta Brachos 5a). And יוָׂ ֲ̆ﬠַמ¿ּב ׁ ̆≈ּפ¿ׁ ַ̆פ¿י doesn’t mean a superficial glance over his biography. He has to examine his ways. He has to try to think back to today, to last night, last week and even further back. Maybe there are things that he did wrong that he never did teshuvah for, or maybe not enough teshuvah. He should blame himself for the yissurim he’s having.
And yissurim means everything; even things which we think to attribute to understandable causes. Even a toothache or a headache or if you lost some money in the street, whatever it is, no matter how small, it should not be a wasted opportunity because nothing happens by accident in this world. And the wise man therefore utilizes all the opportunities that come up; even the smallest thing becomes very important to him.
Shamed on the City Bus
How small? The Gemara in Eirechin (16b) asks that question. יםƒרּוּסƒי ̇יƒל¿כַּ ̇ ןָיכ≈ה „ַﬠ – How far is the limit of yissurim, of suffering? It means, how small of a thing can still be considered suffering to be utilized as a stimulus, a sign from Hashem, that we should mend our ways?
And the Gemara says like this: if you stick your hand in your pocket to take out a quarter and you pull out instead a half dollar, that’s yissurim. All it means now is that you’ll have to make a second trip to your pocket but that’s already enough. You have to know that Hashem is telling you something.
Here you’re standing in the bus and you know that you have the money. It’s a quarter and a dime (in 1975 the bus fare in NYC was 35 cents). But each time you take something out, it’s wrong; it’s a half dollar, it’s a nickel – it doesn’t make the right change. And behind you people are pressing, “Mister, this is a city bus, not a lounge. Get out of the way.” And you’re embarrassed. It’s not an accident. It’s a message from heaven.
Weak Emunah
Now we don’t think so – it seems too extreme – but that’s because we are weak in our emunah. But if we are able to elevate our mind to the realization of the truth that nothing is an accident, then we would think, “Why didn’t we hit the quarter the first time?” It is yissurim that Hashem is sending upon me.
Now the man who utilizes these things, even these seemingly small things, he can gain no end of profit. From such an attitude he can gain even the greatest madreigos of shleimus because he’ll always be inspired to teshuvah. Only what? Most people are stubborn and they’re not willing to listen to the messages being sent to them.
A Stubborn Cold
You know, Reb Yisoel Salanter, zichrono l’vrachah, once had a cold. And he was very much distressed. So somebody said to him, “Rebbe, it’s nothing but a cold.”
“It’s not the cold that’s the problem,” he said, “It’s me. Because Mishlei says ׁ ̆≈ּ ̃ƒע¿ך∆ר∆„¿ּב יםƒחַּפ יםƒּנƒˆ ם∆ה≈מ ַ̃ח¿רƒי ֹוׁ ̆¿פַנ ר≈מֹוׁ ̆ – A cold comes upon a man who makes himself stubborn (22:5).”
That’s why Rav Yisroel was worried. Because a cold means that Hakadosh Baruch Hu is trying to get your attention. “It’s something that is the result of my refusal to listen, my stubbornness, and He’s sending me a message so that I should change my ways.”
Now to us it seems like just an anecdote, but that’s really what the possuk is telling us. יםƒחַּפ יםƒּנƒˆ ׁ ̆≈ּ ̃ƒע¿ך∆ר∆„¿ּב – Colds come upon somebody who is stubborn, ם∆ה≈מ ַ̃ח¿רƒי ֹוׁ ̆¿פַנ ר≈מֹוׁ ̆ – and the one who is vigilant will keep away from them.
Cold Remedies
How can you be vigilant against a cold? Two ways. First of all, when somebody has a cold, ask him to please sit someplace else; or you move away from him. If he’s coughing, either have him cover his mouth with his hands or move away from him.
Also, don’t allow your resistance to be lowered. Go to bed on time and get a good night’s rest. If you’re going outside in the cold wear two pairs of socks. That’s good advice, by the way. I’m giving it to you free of charge. Not one thick pair – two thinner pairs are better at protecting you against cold. So that’s one way of yirchak. Take care of your health. Very important.
But there’s another way, a more important way. And that is, don’t be an akshan! Don’t be stubborn. Start thinking that maybe – I say ‘maybe’; there’s no question about it, but start thinking that maybe, just maybe, there is something wrong in my program in life. Spend a little time thinking into that. Every time you cough or you sneeze you’re being reminded, “Were you mifashpeish b’maasav enough? Did you come out with something clear?”
In the Dentist’s Chair
And so when you sit in the dentist’s chair and he is drilling way down and you feel that that drill is going down to your toenails, you shouldn’t say, “It’s because I didn’t brush my teeth,” or “because I ate candy.” Yes, you should brush your teeth from now on, no question. And don’t eat candy – or at least rinse your mouth out well afterwards; do whatever it is you’re supposed to do.
But don’t be stubborn and say that’s all it is, that it’s a mikreh, sugar and bacteria. No, don’t be stubborn! Because יƒר∆ ̃ יּƒמƒעּכו¿לּ≈ ̇ םƒ‡¿ו – if you’ll go with me and say it’s nothing but accident and it’s not Hakadosh Baruch Hu, יƒר∆ ּ̃¿ב ם∆כָּמƒע יƒנֲ‡ ףַ‡ יּƒ ̇¿כַלָה¿ו – then the time will come He’ll yank out all your teeth and there’ll be nothing left to drill. You don’t drill into false teeth, you know.
And so when the dentist says, “Open wide!” and you know he’s not putting some ice-cream into your mouth; he’s holding a drill! So don’t think, “Well, teeth in the course of time tend to deteriorate.” That’s thinking like animals think! You have to think that Hakadosh Baruch Hu is giving you a tip, some insider information. You should be sitting there and thinking, “Why did he tell me that I have to open my mouth and get drilled? Maybe because I opened my mouth recently when I should have kept it closed. Maybe I opened my mouth in the wrong place and now I’m getting it back middah k’neged middah.”
“Maybe I opened my mouth and scolded my wife. Maybe I said something fresh to my mother. Maybe I hurt somebody's feelings. And now the dentist was sent to me, a malach miShomayim, and he says, ‘Open wide!’ Because I opened it wide when I shouldn’t have, now I have to open it for something I don’t want, to admit the drill.”
Thousands of Yissurim
Now, a trip to the dentist’s office is only a small example. There are thousands of things like that, thousands of messages that Hashem might send a person.
If a man was put to shame in public, then he has to consider that he has done that to other people. Maybe it wasn’t today but let him begin looking; he'll find. If his wife yelled at him, if he tripped on a crack on the sidewalk, let him examine his past. If he lost money – let's say he had a hold-up or even if ten dollars dropped out of a hole in his pocket – let him think that maybe that money should have gone to a good cause and now Hakadosh Baruch Hu is collecting from him. Anything that happens to us, it pays to investigate, “Why did this happen?” And if you look very hard, you’re going to discover. If you want to find something, something is bound to turn up.
But let’s say a person searched and he didn’t find - now that’s improbable; what it means is that he wasn’t searching but lets say it happened, he didn’t find. So הָרֹוּ ̇ לּוּטƒבּב ה∆לּ ̇ƒי – he should blame it on neglect of Torah study. Let him attribute it to insufficient study of Torah. That’s something that all of us are guilty of. You can always attribute it to that.
Discovering Gold
And some say a peirush – it’s a frum joke, a play on words – if a man searches and he can’t find any sins, הָרֹוּ ̇ לּוּטƒבּב ה∆לּ ̇ƒי – it means he should say that he can’t discover anything because he’s such an ignoramus in Torah. ”What’s the reason I can’t find any sins?” he should say. “Because I don’t study enough so I think I’m pretty decent.”
When you begin studying Torah suddenly your eyes open up – you become aware of responsibilities and obligations you never even dreamed of. “If I would study more Torah I would discover a lot.” Because there’s plenty to discover!
And so that’s a big lesson, this first incentive that the Chovos Halevavos is teaching us: yissurim are golden opportunities for teshuvah. And a person who trains himself to think that way, every bump in the road becomes valuable. A toothache, a trip to the dentist is not just a dentist appointment; it’s an opportunity for teshuvah. And there are thousands of more things like that; various opportunities to do teshuvah by means of the messages of yissurim, of troubles big and small.
