The parashah of bikkurim concludes with the words (26:11) הַט ּוֹב בְכָל ָּוְשָׂמַחְת, "You shall rejoice with all the good Hashem, your G-d, has granted you and your household..." The Imrei Chaim zy'a (Likutim) teaches that the pasuk is teaching us how we can be happy in every situation. When one believes בְכָל הַט ּוֹב, that everything that happens to him is for his good, he will always be happy.
There is a rule: When things appear to be bad, that is when the good is even greater. The good is so intense, so perfect, that we are unable to appreciate it, and it appears bad to us. An example of this concept is a cup of hot water that has a lot of sugar in it. The water is so sweet, it doesn't taste good. He thinks it is bad, but it is the highest level of sweetness.
Rebbe Moshe Kobriner zt'l said, "Bitachon means to believe with emunah sheleimah that everything Hashem does is all good. Everything is for the good of man. Whatever isn't perceived by the human mind as being good, he should believe that the good is concealed, and that the good is even better." Just as a concealed tzaddik is greater than a revealed tzaddik, so, too, a concealed goodness is higher and greater than revealed kindness.
אריה is gematria 316, the same as גבורה (strength), and the same as three times חסד (kindness). It states (Eichah 3:10) אֲרִי (אריה) לִי הוּא אֹרֵב דֹּב בְּמִסְת ָּרִים, "He is to me a bear lying in waiting, a lion in hiding." It is written אריה, and it is read אֲרִי. The way the pasuk is written represents how it appears to us. The way it is read represents the truth, how it truly is. It appears bad, ארי, like a lion, but know that concealed there is אריה, which is gematria three times חסד, Hashem's kindness.
The tochachah is written twice in the Torah, once in this week's parashah and once in parashas Bechukosai. Parashas Bechukosai has some pesukim that express hope, encouraging us that things will become better and that Hashem will save us. However, in this week's parashah, there aren't any pesukim of comfort and chizuk. The Radvaz (vol.2 siman ט"תשס) explains, "It isn't necessary to write words of chizuk in this week's parashah because Hashem's name is written in every pasuk – the name ה"הוי – and this is the name of Hashem's compassion. (An example is the pasuk 28:20, ָההַמְּאֵר אֶת ָבְּך ה"הוי ׁ ַלַּחיְש, "Hashem will send the curses...") This tells us that everything that occurs is from Hashem's attribute of rachamim, compassion. There is no greater comfort and chizuk than that!"
The explanation is that when a person knows that every tzarah that comes to us is from Hashem, he feels consoled. Hashem is the source of goodness and kindness, and no bad comes from Hashem. Also, the matters that appear to our human eyes as bad are truly Hashem's kindnesses; only our minds are too small to grasp the kindness that is there. Nevertheless, he believes that דעביד כל עביד לטב רחמנא, everything Hashem does is for the good.
When one believes it is good, he will merit seeing that it is good. The emunah that it is for the good turns things around, and he will merit Hashem's salvation.
Chazal say בתוכחה מפסיקין אין. Literally, this means that when we read the tochachah from the Torah, we should read it all during one aliyah. We shouldn't stop in the middle and give part of the tochachah to another person to say the brachos on the Torah.
The Sfas Emes zy'a (5635 ראה) says that "אין בתוכחה מפסיקין" "We don't stop in the tochachah" teaches us an attitude we should have, whenever we are going through tzaros. "It means we shouldn't stop and think about the troubles that happen to us. This is the madreigah of השתוות, which is when one is at peace when it is good for him, and also when it is the opposite. Both situations are the same for him." Thinking about the tzaros doesn't make the tzaros go away. In fact, thinking about the tzaros only keeps them with him longer. As the Sfas Emes writes (in this same piece), הדין מדת בו בפגעו משתנה האדם אין אם כי ממנו ועוברת וחולפת להקללה קיום לה אין, "If a person doesn’t change [and become sad] when he is met with din, the curse won't remain. It will leave him. This is the meaning of מפסקין אין, it means that he shouldn't stop his deveikus and he shouldn't stop his bitachon that he has with Hakadosh Baruch Hu, no matter what he is going through."
This means that he accepts what happens to him with emunah and bitachon and with peace of mind. This destroys and annuls the tzaros entirely. However, if he allows what's happening to bother him and to occupy his mind, he is actually protecting the tzaros, to remain with him.
The purpose of the tzaros is that we should look up to Hashem. When a person...
