Part III. Words Make Man Great
Unnatural Greatness
Now, the subject tonight means I’m going to have to repeat what I once said on a previous tape and that’s as follows: We cannot be natural if we want to succeed. If you want to be aware of Hashem, if you want to trust in Him and love Him and love His Torah you must be artificial. A natural person won’t love anything except food and other things of the body because ‘natural’ means superficial; it means that you never brought forth any wisdom from within. To become something you have to talk yourself into it; that’s how you bring it forth. That’s how you learn to love Hashem. That’s how you learn to love the Torah. That’s how you learn to be aware of Hashem. That’s how you learn to love kindliness and to love your fellow Jews. By means of the koach hadibbur you become a new person.
Hishtadlus in Bitachon
Every day we read the following possuk in our davening: ואמרו הושיענו אלוקי ישענו - Say “Help us, the G-d of our salvation” (Divrei Hayamim 1 16:35). Now the question is why does it have to say “And say”? It should say הושיענו – Help us! That’s where the sentence should begin. Why does the sentence begin with אמרו – And say? What’s that preface for?
And the answer is he wants to teach us how important it is not to keep the thoughts bottled up in your mind. Those words are beautiful! ‘Help us, the One Who brings us salvation’. So noble, so inspiring. But if they remain just a thought, it won’t have the effect it could. If you have a noble idea, let’s say the idea that you should trust in the salvation of Hashem, then be sure to say it. Imru! Say these words! Vocalize them and they’ll change you.
So let's say you are trying now to succeed in a business venture; you’re meeting with a customer and you want him to make an order with you. Or maybe you're going for an examination to pass a test or an interview for a better position; whatever you're trying to do.
And let’s say in your heart you’re intelligent enough to think “It's in the Hand of Hashem. It's all beyad Hashem. Despite my efforts I need Your help Hashem.” So you're thinking that. Very good.
Say It!
But that's not enough. That’s only the first step. So why don't you go one step further and open your lips and actually say it? That's what he's telling us, ואמרו – Say it.
