Chizuk for Wartime
Cheshbon Hanefesh:
The Navi states (2 Shmuel 10:12): “Be strong, and let us strengthen ourselves on behalf of our people.”
Klal Yisroel in our holy land finds itself facing a difficult time. While we have many questions, we must remember the words of the verse (Amos 5:13): “At this time, a wise man is silent.” The smartest thing to do at a time like this is to be remain silent.
The first thing we must bear in mind is that Hashem tells us (Devarim 10:12): “And now, Yisroel what does Hashem request of you? Only to fear Him.” He asks each of us to make a cheshbon hanefesh for ourselves, and not for others.
Chazal say (Yoma 86B) that if one person does teshuva, the entire world is forgiven. One man can sweeten the judgment for the entire world. Everyone knows in what areas they are lacking. Everyone can take a pen and paper and write down his daily activities and, in this way, he can see where he needs improvement.
Teshuva Removes Harsh Decrees:
Dovid Hamelech says (Tehillim 76:9): “From Shomayim it was judged, the land was afraid and was silent.” The Yid Hakadosh of Peshischa zy”a (quoted in Meor V’Shemesh, Parshas Kedoshim) explains that when there is a judgment in Shomayim that a terrible decree must be issued against Klal Yisroel, the only purpose is for the Jewish people to be moved to do teshuva. The people on earth are meant to become scared and repent from their aveiros. If they do so, there will be “silence”, and the decree will not affect us. This is also as is stated in the pasuk (Koheles 3:14): “Hashem made it so that you should be afraid before Him.”
Decrees are only made against us in order to bring us to fear Hashem. This is further seen from the Gemara (Brachos 59A) that says that thunder was only created in order to “straighten the crookedness of the heart.” All decrees and challenges are compared to thunder, and are only sent to bring us to fear Hashem and serve Him properly.
Emunah in Troubling Times:
In times of tragedy, people tend to ask questions. The Satan appears at such times and begins to weaken our emunah by persuading us to question Hashem. Therefore, our avodah in times like these is to strengthen our emunah and trust that everything Hashem does is good.
The Imrei Chaim of Vizhnitz zy”a explained in the name of Rav Boruch of Mezhibuzh zy”a the meaning of the words we recite in the piyyut of the 13 Middos: ‘And save us from all harsh and cruel decrees.’ Why are the decrees called both ‘harsh’ and ‘cruel’? Don’t these two words mean the same thing?
The explanation is that when Klal Yisroel is struck with harsh decrees, there are those who are weak in their emunah who ask questions. We daven to Hashem to save us from saying that the decrees are harsh. We ask Hashem to save us from the questions and to protect us from thinking such thoughts.
My grandfather, Rav Tzvi Hirsch of Kretchnif zy”a, related that he once attended the funeral of a man who died suddenly shortly after a tragedy struck his community. One of the family members said during his eulogy at the funeral that this man had demanded that he be informed from Heaven by the 30th day about why Hashem had done this, and he did not make it to the 30th day... and they probably called him from Heaven to show him that everything is precisely calculated!
The pasuk states (Tehillim 119:75): “I know, Hashem, that Your judgments are just, and in emunah You afflicted me.” Rav Mordechai Chaim of Slonim zy”a explains this to mean that even though we know for certain that Hashem is just in all that He does, it is still very hard to have emunah. He afflicts us with emunah, meaning that the hardest thing to do is to retain our emunah in difficult times.
For this reason, our sages decreed that when a person passes away and is escorted to his final resting place, the mourners recite the words: “Yisgadal v’yiskadesh shmei rabbah.” May Hashem’s great name be glorified and sanctified. When a tragedy occurs, the yeitzer hara sees an opportunity to bring down a person’s level of emunah. Even if one believes that the tragedy was sent by Hashem, he still may question why it had to occur. He may be unable to accept that it is for his good. Therefore, we glorify His name and say that He is great and whatever He did is certainly for the good.
Rav Moshe of Lelov zy”a asked why there is a custom to drink a “l’chaim” when one gets up from sitting shiva. He answers that it is common for a mourner to question why a death occurred. To atone for this, we tell him to make a bracha of Shehakol and declare that everything is from Hashem and whatever He does is for a good reason.
Hashem Never Forgets:
The Alter of Novardhok zt”l compares this to a man who learns a sugya of Gemara and sees that the Rambam seems to pasken in a manner that is the opposite of what the Gemara says. Either he rules that something the Gemara forbids is permitted or he rules that something the Gemara permits is forbidden – or he omits the sugya entirely.
This leads him to wonder why the Rambam would do this. Since he knows there must be an explanation, he sits back down to study the sugya again. Sometimes, he discovers that there is another version of the Gemara’s text or he realizes that this Gemara is disputed by a sugya elsewhere. He also may come up with a complex pilpul to explain how the Rambam understood the Gemara differently.
There are, in fact, quite a few complicated sefarim that offer in-depth explanations for difficult passages in the Rambam. However, no intelligent person would say that the explanation is that the Rambam forgot the Gemara. If anyone would suggest such a preposterous thing, he would be thrown out of the bais medrash immediately. Of course, we know that the Rambam did not forget sugyos, and all his rulings are based on truth. If so, how could we suspect Hashem Himself of “forgetting”? How could we think that He doesn’t have a precise reason for everything that occurs.
It is obvious that the Rambam had a reason for everything he wrote, and it is even much more obvious that Hashem has a good reason for everything He does!
The Neshamos Agree to be Born:
It is also important to point out that before a soul is sent to this world, it is revealed to it everything it will have to endure in its lifetime. It knows all of this and agrees to be born and to go through those travails. However, after the soul is born, it forgets all this for the remainder of its life on this world. After 120 years of life, it returns to its original place, and it clearly sees that its life was exactly as had been foretold.
The pasuk states (Devarim 22:8) that “the one who fell, will fall” if one does not build a railing for his roof. Chazal (Shabbos 32A) explain that it was decreed since the beginning of time that this person will fall, but one should still make a railing so that he should not be the cause of this.
Rabenu Bechaya explains that, as we have stated, before a soul is sent to this world, Hashem informs it of everything that will occur in its lifetime, and every soul agrees to what it is told. Thus, it was previously decreed that this person would fall from the roof. Still and all, one must ensure that he is not the cause of the fall by building a railing on his roof.
We thus see that the souls of the victims of terror knew before they were born that they would be killed in this horrific manner, but they still agreed to be born and to receive their tikkun in this way. Of course, this does not excuse the murderers and they will be punished for their brutal actions.
The Chofetz Chaim zt”l would relate a parable that depicts how we have no idea of Hashem’s true calculations:
There once lived a Jew who was both a talmid chochom and yarei shomayim. He spent his entire life learning Torah and doing mitzvos. However, he had one flaw. He had a bad temper and he would get angry often. When he got mad, he would strike others.
After his death, he was brought before the Heavenly court. All his mitzvos were placed on the scale and it was ruled that he deserved to go to Gan Eden. When he arrived at gates, however, a prosecuting angel ran over and screamed, “How can you let in a man who hit his friends?”
It was then ruled that he would need to return to earth to rectify his sins. When he heard this, he broke out in tears and begged not to go. He cried that he didn’t know what would happen to him in a new life, and he might mess up even more.
It was ruled that he could serve his punishment in gehenim instead. However, as soon as he began to feel the terrible heat, he screamed that he changed his mind and wanted to go back to Olam Hazeh. He was taken back to the Heavenly court, and he asked if he could be born without a hand so that he would not be in danger of doing many aveiros.
He was told that this request could not be granted. In Olam Hazeh, there is a concept of free will. If he would be sent down without a hand, he would not have free will, so this request could not be accommodated.
The man said, “I am willing to give up my Gan Eden and my reward for all of my Torah and mitzvos if you allow me to return to Olam Hazeh without a hand!”
The Heavenly court agreed to this and he was born as a baby without a hand. As the child grew up, he would cry to Hashem and say, “Ribono Shel Olam! Every other boy has two hands. Why am I the only one with only one hand?”
In Shomayim, they laughed at him. After all, he had requested this himself!
The Chofetz Chaim concluded, “This story should teach us that one cannot have any complaints against Hashem. It is probable that whatever problems you have are your own request!”
This explains the pasuk in Tehillim (19:10) that says that Hashem’s judgments are both true and just. Once one is able to see the past and the future, he will recognize how Hashem’s ways are truly just.
The Vilna Gaon zy”a would say, “To answer the question of why tzadikim seem to suffer and wicked people live good lives, we would have to live on this world for 300 years. But people want to understand it all in just 70 years on this world.”
The Rema M’Pano writes similarly that before neshamos are sent down to this world, they are taken to a special chamber and given a choice of bodies they can be born into. The bodies are hung before them like suits in a closet, and each body has a note attached to it that details all that it will go through in this world. Each soul chooses the body that will be the best fit for it to receive the tikkun it needs.
Once the neshama is born in this world, it does not remember that it made this choice, which leads it to question why it has to endure its specific challenges. However, once it returns to the World of Truth, it remembers that it chose its own life and all its questions are answered.
Having said all this, it is evident that our current job is to strengthen our emunah and to believe that all the tragedies that have befallen us over the past year were not “coincidental”. Rather, they were sent by Hashem for our benefit, even though we cannot understand it. The difficult occurrences are a means to provide us with the tikkun we need to ultimately find eternal peace, and their purpose will be revealed to us in the World to Come.
Still and all, in Birchas Hamazon, we say: “M’kol tuv l’olam al yechasreinu.” (May He never cause us to lack any good.) Tzadikim explain that even though we believe that everything Hashem does is for our benefit, we ask Him to allow us to see His wonders and to open our eyes to see His goodness and understand His ways.
How He Acts With Those Close to Him:
The Mashgiach Rav Eliyahu Lopian zt”l related that when he was a young boy, he once wasn’t careful and he knocked over a cup of milk that was sitting on the table. When his mother saw what he had done, she gave him a slap on the cheek in order to be mechanech him and told him to be more careful in the future.
Suddenly, a cat ran into the room and dragged the tablecloth off the table, knocking over several cups of milk and other items. He thought that his mother would slap the cat in the face a few times. After all, he had gotten one slap for spilling one cup of milk, so the cat deserved a few slaps for spilling a few cups.
However, he saw that she simply pushed the cat out the door with her foot. He thought to himself: It isn’t fair! She is showing favoritism to the cat!
After a few minutes, however, he realized that it is better to be his mother’s son and to get a potch once in a while than to be a cat that gets nothing!
This is a metaphor for how Hashem treats Klal Yisroel. We are the closest people to Him, which is why He treats us differently than all others. Just like a father punishes his son when he needs to, Hashem punishes us to ensure that we follow his ways and are as good as we can be.
How Hashem Appears:
Rav Mordechai Chaim of Slonim zy”a related that a group of men once met with Rav Yitzchok Meir of Zinkov zy”a, the son of the Apta Rov zy”a, at a time when numerous decrees had been issued against the Jews and they asked him, “Your father said that he would refuse to enter Gan Eden until the Jews are saved from the decrees. Why didn’t he fulfill his promise?”
Rav Yitzchok Meir rested his head on his hands for a while and then said, “My father just revealed himself to me and told me as follows: The pasuk says (Tehillim 48:10): ‘Diminu Elokim chasdecha b’kerev heichalecha.’ This means that when we are in this world, it seems to us (diminu) that He is using His attribute of strict judgement (Elokim), but, in truth, ‘there is kindness in His chamber’ (chasdecha b’kerev heichalecha). Once one passes on to His chamber in the World to Come, it is clear that everything is for our good and is part of His great kindness.”
Rav Yitzchok Meir concluded, “Therefore, I cannot ask my father to request that this kindness should be taken away from us.”
I will conclude with a blessing for our brethren in Eretz Yisroel, who are facing severe challenges and are being assailed from all sides. May Hashem have mercy upon them and transform their darkness to light, send His salvation, and swiftly provide all of Klal Yisroel with the ultimate redemption.