The halachos of Shabbos begin with siman 242 in the Shulchan Aruch, and that siman is all about bitachon in Hashem. This is the siman that deals with kavod Shabbos. The halachah informs us that even if someone is needy, he is still required, if he has a bit of his own money, to zealously pursue the honor of Shabbos.
Regarding Shabbos and Yom Tov expenses – awaiting a yeshuah and saying “Hashem will bring it about for me” is not called bitachon; that’s called laziness. A person needs to zealously pursue the honor of Shabbos. He needs to do, to buy and to prepare, as gedolei Yisrael were accustomed to doing throughout the generations. Only someone who did his hishtadlus – the hishtadlus for a mitzvah – can anticipate a yeshuah. If a Jew makes active attempts to honor Shabbos and to make it pleasurable, but it seems to him that he doesn’t have enough money – that is the person we are talking about here: What should he do? Everything connected to making Shabbos pleasurable costs money. It’s also possible that he has money, but he needs it for all sorts of things other than kavod Shabbos. Should he limit his spending on oneg Shabbos or not?
We will bring the words of the Mishnah Berurah here, but it’s important to know that when we set out to do something we need to ask for advice and ask a wise person how to act on a practical level. Emunah and bitachon are inner middos of the nefesh, and one should differentiate between irresponsible spending and lack of foresight, and bitachon that comes from a sense of responsibility and proper understanding of the situation.
Regarding kavod Shabbos, there are clear halachos. This is the only place where it is brought openly in halachah that a person should trust in Hashem. If he doesn’t have money – he should borrow in order to be able to fulfill the mitzvah of oneg Shabbos. He has a loyal Guarantor for this type of loan. The Creator of the world Himself says: My sons, take a loan – it’s on Me! – Believe in me, and I will repay your debt (Beitzah 16). You borrow for My sake, and I am trustworthy – I will return it to you.
We must specify that in order for the Guarantor to do His part, we need strong emunah. The Bach wrote that if one can get someone to lend him the money, he should do so, and trust in Hashem yisbarach to help him return it. This is the only time the Chafetz Chaim brings a practical halachah in the Mishnah Berurah that exhorts us to utilize the middah of bitachon.
In this halachah, he cites Chazal’s words from the Talmud Bavli and Yerushalmi: A person’s sustenance is set aside for him from Rosh Hashanah, except for four things, which are hinted to by the acronym “Tishrei” – Talmud Torah, Shabbos, Rosh Chodesh, and Yom Tov.
Regarding regular expenses, a person should be careful not to spend too much, because if he overspends he’ll find himself with no budget; but regarding expenses related to “Tishrei,” there is a completely different principle. Those expenses are not a part of the yearly budget. They’re beyond it! They are a special entity of their own, an additional budget. And anyone who spends more is granted more from Above.
The Ritva adds the novel thought that this applies to spending money on any mitzvah, meaning that regarding everything a person does for a mitzvah, he should depend on Hashem and trust in Him that He’ll pay for it! (See the Shittah Mekubetzes on Beitzah 16.)
Here one must exercise discernment and have strong emunah. The distinction to be made is: Is this for a mitzvah? Sometimes people simply want to enjoy life, and they manage to find some sort of mitzvah to hinge it on, and sometimes the need is a real one, and the mitzvah is indeed a great and important one. We need to be honest and to know what we’re looking at, but the moment we understand that there is indeed a mitzvah here, such as, for example, the mitzvah of honoring parents, guarding one’s eyes, hachnassas kallah – even if the chassan or kallah is our own child – and many other mitzvos, then we should spend the money happily, because we have a loyal Guarantor, of Whom the passuk testifies, “To me is the silver and to Me is the gold, says Hashem” (Chagai 2).
The holy Rav Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev zy”a, the defender of Am Yisrael, once said: If they squeeze the tefillos of Am Yisrael, what will come out? Money. So many people ask for ample parnassah, so many want peace, serenity, and nachas. But if they squeeze the money of Am Yisrael, what will come out? Mitzvos and ma’asim tovim!
This is why Yidden need ample parnassah – in order to make Hashem yisbarach’s Name greater in this world and to give Him nachas ruach, to build Jewish homes and generations.
May it be Hashem’s will that we merit a good and sweet year, with ample parnassah, brachah, hatzlachah, and good health, to be written and sealed in the book of good life; amen.
