Acceptance Due to Love
We know that on Purim, Klal Yisrael experienced a קבלת התורה מאהבת הנס—a reacceptance of the Torah that far overshadowed their acceptance at Har Sinai. The love that they experienced, as illustrated by the miracle of Purim, infused their avodas Hashem with so much more potency, and made their acceptance of the Torah and its mitzvos so much more real.
We know of our obligation to praise Hashem and give thanks to Him—especially for the miracles that we witness and experience. All aspects of Yiddishkeit are based on this. Tefillah is, obviously, rooted in praise (according to some authorities, one must repeat Modim if he didn’t have proper kavannah). Shabbos has strong aspects of praise—as we say, מזמור שיר ליום השבת, להודות לה׳, the song of Shabbos is that it’s good to praise Hashem. The entire essence of a Yid is based in praise—as it says, עם זו יצרתי לי תהלתי יספרו, I have created this nation, they will say My praises. There are many reasons for the importance of praise—gratitude being a most important one.
When Hashem Shows Us His Love
But the Kedushas Levi asks on the pasuk נורא תהלות עושה פלא, awe-t some for praise, Doer of wonders: what is so amazing about the Ribbono shel Olam shattering the bounds of nature? We know that “He who has said that oil should burn can say that vinegar should burn” (Ta’anis 25a).
For His part, there is no difference between miracles and nature—and if so, why do we make such a big deal out of miracles?
Explains the holy Berdichever a major yesod in the entire sugya: The wonder is in the very fact that Hashem shatters the order of nature. There’s a set order of nature by which the world operates, and for the Yid who is in need, the Ribbono shel Olam shatters all that due to His incredible love for the Yid. Our awe, amazement, and praise are for this! For this revelation of the love of HaKadosh Baruch Hu! The main thing is that with these miracles He illustrated that he loves the Yidden, and it is indeed a great wonder that the greatly exalted G-d would love the material beings.
How the Window Opens
We can witness this revelation of love—this deviation from the order of nature—every day. One Yid related: It is known what the Ohr LaShamayim of Apta related that when a person marries off a child, a window of shefa opens before him. Because I work as a rebbi, and I don’t have money put aside for weddings, I am accustomed to the shefa coming to me through generous family and friends. But I am always curious to see how the window opens for those who have businesses and aren’t stretching out their hands to others. In what way does the shefa reach them? After doing some research, I discovered two incredible stories in this regard.
One friend, a grocery store owner related that he generally gets seventy delivery orders every Thursday—but on the Thursday before he was about to marry off his child, an astounding 125 orders came in!
The second story is that of a Yid who didn’t have much money; he reserved the less-expensive wedding hall in town. However, he received a phone call from a Yid who asked him to take the fancier hall because he wanted to host a conference at the cheaper hall—due to its location. For the headache, he will pay him 15,000 to take the nicer hall—a transaction that left him with a nice few thousand dollars in his pocket for other wedding expenses!
Why does the Ribbono shel Olam do all this?
Because He is your Father, and this is what a Father does! Ask anyone who made a wedding, and you will hear the stories...
Awed by His Love
Generally, we become amazed by the confluence of events, the orchestration of events.... This happened... and this person happened to be there... and so forth. But the Berdichever Rov asks: Why are you so amazed by this? Are you shocked that the Ribbono shel Olam can do whatever He wants in His world? You know what you should become emotional about? The fact that He decided to express His love to you!
There are dozens of weddings every night... and the Ribbono shel Olam made the time to express His love to you! He treats you like an only child! That is something to be amazed by!
Saturated with Gratitude
Can we imagine how much love lies in this? Do you know why it’s important to meditate upon this love, and to give praise and thanks for it? For if not, you will become tripped up by the yetzer hara, which is hard like a rock! This is incredible. A person must give thanks because he must feel the love from Hashem. He must be joyful as he praises. He must speak about the wonders in such a way that he will begin to feel Hashem’s love. And he must constantly reiterate it, for a person naturally cools off. If a person isn’t constantly consumed with praise and thanks, he may say that he gives praise... but he isn’t living with praise.
The great tzaddik Rav Avigdor Miller lived on praise. He didn’t simply give praise for this and that; he felt saturated and consumed by praise. This is what we must understand. It isn’t merely a matter of gratitude to Hashem. Rather, a person declares that he is consumed with the pleasure of praise and gratitude—he has no interest in anything else. This, indeed, takes work. One must toil and work, until the love gushes forth.
