The New Neighborhood
The same applies to people who think they must purchase a home precisely in the neighborhood where they were raised. They simply can’t leave home. Now, if they can swing it, and remain near their parents and in-laws, it’s a wonderful thing. But if it’s impossible, and the cost is prohibitive, it is no coincidence. The Ribbono Shel Olam priced you out of the neighborhood so you should move elsewhere. Do you know how many positives that other place has? Stop complaining and trapping yourself. If the Ribbono Shel Olam designed it this way, then you must see the good of the new area, speak of its good, and give thanks for it. This is how you illuminate the situation!
Once, there was a family living in a 2.5 room apartment in Yerushalayim, and some real estate agents tried to convince the family to move.
“If you sell your apartment in Yerushalayim, you can buy an apartment in the outlying neighborhoods with seven rooms! Instead, you insist on living here like this?! Don’t be silly. Sell it!”
The owner looked up at these people and said: “I don’t know what you want! I love my apartment! I enjoy living here! I don’t even understand what you’re suggesting to me. I know this neighborhood, and I have everything I need here. You’re trying to convince me that it’s not good?! I am telling you that it is good!”
Even when a person doesn’t feel that it’s good... he must be able to accept that this is the reality, and there are still many benefits to his situation.
The days of Chanukah have the power to illuminate this reality. In fact, there are two elements to Chanukah. There’s חנוכה נר and there’s the הלל והודאה—and these two elements are intertwined: How do we illuminate מעשרה"? "למטה By giving praise and thanks to the Ribbono Shel Olam for every situation!
