A Thought on Bitachon
From the shiurim on Kav Hashgachah Pratis
cause many miracles and supernatural wonders to take place, since he has established this pure faith firmly in his heart so that it will never falter. [He relies] only on Hashem yisbarach Alone, and to Him everything is the same. He can act at all times as He wishes, either following the laws of nature that He established, or disregarding the laws of nature.
This was the case with Rabi Chanina ben Dosa, who could decree things at will and supernatural things would occur. As he said: “He Who told oil to burn can tell vinegar to burn,” meaning that for Hashem it is all the same, and that is why Hashem indeed enabled the vinegar to burn, and such things occurred many times with him, as is recorded in Shas.
(Based on Nefesh Hachaim 3:12)
The Power of Deveikus
If someone develops his love and longing for Hashem enough, he himself becomes a seat for the Shechinah, and with every breath he takes, he brings down the sweet light of Hashem and unifies all the worlds. To the extent that he develops his deveikus with the One Above and disregards all thoughts of physical things, the Shechinah rests upon him. He then has the power to nullify all Heavenly decrees, and he can see from one end of the world to the other and can hear the announcements made in Shamayim. This was the level of the heiligeh Baal Shem Tov....
A tzaddik who was a disciple of the Baal Shem related to my father-in-law, the tzaddik Reb Avraham Mordeche of Pintshev, that he once accompanied the Baal Shem Tov to the mikveh on a freezing winter day, when icicles hung down from the rooftops, but the mikveh room quickly became warm through [the Baal Shem Tov’s] yichudim. And this was something that the Baal Shem Tov could do at any time. He remained in the mikveh for several hours, until the candle wax started dripping and the fire was about to go out. The Baal Shem Tov told his companion, “Simpleton! Bring an icicle from the roof and kindle it, for He Who told oil to burn will tell this to burn as well.” The icicle continued to burn until they left an hour or two later, and when they got home there was a bit of water left in his hand.
Likewise, he performed numerous wonders that had not been seen or heard of since the days of the Tanna’im Rabi Shimon bar Yochai and Rabi Chanina ben Dosa and their colleagues. And all this he did though his deveikus each moment with Hashem.
(Based on Notzer Chessed, ch. 6)
Miracles and Nature
Our Sages teach that if a miracle is wrought for someone, it uses up his merits, and the greater the miracle, the more merits are used up.
It is known that Hashem’s Shem Havayah functions over and above nature; and as far as the Shem Havayah is concerned, there is no difference between something natural and something supernatural. This is how Binah La’ittim explains the passuk (Tehillim 118:23), “This was from Hashem,” meaning that it was something commonplace, even though it opposed the laws of nature. To people, however, “it is wondrous in our eyes” – since we dwell in the natural world. On the other hand, the Name Elokim functions within nature, and therefore the numerical value of Elokim is the same as that of the word hateva, as many mefarshim point out.
Rabi Chanina’s daughter was depressed because she realized that a miracle was taking place and the vinegar was burning [as if it was oil]. She thought, “Who knows how many of my merits are being used up because of this wondrous miracle?” So her father told her, “What do you care? In our family, no merits are used up, for we function within the level of Shem Havayah, where there is no difference between nature and miracle. As far as we are concerned, He Who told oil to burn will tell the vinegar to burn. The burning of the vinegar is no more miraculous than the burning of oil, but what do you care if a miracle takes place? Everything is the same.”
(Based on Ben Yehoyada on Taanis)
A Wondrous Segulah
The truth is that this important concept is a wondrous segulah to protect a person from all judgments and from the desires of others [to harm him]. They will not be able to control him or do anything to him. When someone firmly establishes his belief in his heart that Hashem is the true Master, and no power but He exists in the world or in any of the worlds, that the entire universe is filled with the absolute oneness of Hashem, blessed be His Name, and in his heart he completely negates the existence of any other power and anyone else’s desires, so that he subjugates his thoughts purely to the One Master, blessed is He, alone – then Hashem yisbarach will make it that all powers and others’ desires will be automatically nullified so that they will not be able to affect him at all.
Not only that, but whatever he decrees will take place. He will cause many miracles and supernatural wonders to take place, since he has established this pure faith firmly in his heart so that it will never falter. [He relies] only on Hashem yisbarach Alone, and to Him everything is the same. He can act at all times as He wishes, either following the laws of nature that He established, or disregarding the laws of nature.
