One of the well-known songs that we sing on Simchas Torah is the song:כ ה אמר ה׳ זכ רתי לך חסד נעו ריך אהבת כ לול תיך לכתך אחרי במדבר בארץ לא זרוע ה. This song is pasuk from the prophecy of Yirmiyohu HaNavi about the Churban, and he is saying, how even during the churban, Hashem remembers that Klal Yisroel went with great bitochan into the wilderness, into an unsown land, and trusted in the Ribbono Shel Olam. Klal Yisroel had such trust in the Ribbono Shel Olam, Hashem remembers this, and even during the churban He doesn’t punish us, as severely as He should.
Many times, a person is faced with the test, of whether to do the ratzon Hashem or not, as lots of money is at stake. For example, in Eretz Yisroel many people use a private generator as they don’t want to take electricity from the main generator as often the power created comes from chillul Shabbos. The installation and usage of such a generator costs lots of money. One may be faced with a test, that on the one hand it’s very expensive, on the other hand Hashem pays back Shabbos expenses. If one spends money on getting it installed, and trusts that Hashem will pay him back, about such a person we apply the aforementioned pasuk, and there is no doubt, that Hashem will pay him back in full.
Before the current war broke out, the election period in Eretz Yisroel was due to start. Generally, when it comes to the elections, especially in Eretz Yisroel, people start to look at thinks outside the four walls of the beis hamedresh. The truth is, the reason Hashem created us with the desire to find out news, is because, He wants us to use this for Torah. He wants us to have the desire, to hear another Gemara, another Rambam, another R’ Chaim, sadly people misuse this gift, and they use it to find out more news and more garbage, and don’t end up using this gift for Torah. The Chasam Sofer at the beginning of Parshas Re’ah writes, that if a person turns his heart towards news that is not from the Torah, it removes his desire to hear chiddushim [novel ideas] in Torah.
Another issue with listening and reading the news, is, that the people who are behind the content that is shared, are people who hear and see things from treife sources. They glean information from sources that are very distant from Torah and those who learn it. Such places severely lack emunah and bitochan. Moreover, they offer all sorts of interpretations, to explain who caused it, what was the negligence that brought it about etc. etc. and all this is complete vanity, evil spirited and complete lies, as the real truth is, Hashem caused everything, it wasn’t due to negligence on anyone’s part. Hashem wanted it to happen, and so it happened.
Many people argue that they need to check the news, as they need to know what’s going on so that they can stay safe. Such an argument is heavily floored, as Hashem will arrange that one will hear what he needs to hear. Seeking out information, via alternative means, just causes one to be left with a crooked heart. One who doesn’t check the news and relies on Hashem to inform him what he needs to know will remain straight, however, one who constantly checks the news etc. will end up becoming very crooked.
There is a story with the Brisker Rov, that once someone came to speak to him, and the Brisker Rov saw sticking out of this person’s pocket a newspaper, and he caught sight of something written there. Based on what he saw, he realized that it was time to escape, and he managed to escape just in time. Although, the Brisker Rov never checked the news, Hashem arranged that when he needed to know something important, he was notified.
The Rambam in Hilchos Ta’anis (1:1-2) writes: מצות עשה מן התורה לזעוק ולהריע בחצוצרות על כל צרה שתבא על הצבור שנאמר על הצר הצורר אתכם והרעותם כלומר כל דבר שייצר לכם כגון בצורת ודבר וארבה וכ י וצא ב הן ז ע קו ע ל יהן והר יעו – There is positive mitzvah to cry out and sound trumpets in the event of any difficulty that arises which affects the community, as it states: “[When you go out to war... against] an enemy who attacks you and you sound the trumpets....", meaning: Whenever you are distressed by difficulties - e.g., famine, plague, locusts, or the like - cry out [to Hashem] because of them and sound the trumpets. The Rambam continues: ודבר זה מדרכי התשובה הוא שבזמן שתבוא צרה ויזעקו עליה ויריעו ידעו הכל שבגלל מעשיהם הרעים הורע להן ככתוב עונותיכם הטו וגו' וזה הוא שיגרום להם להסיר הצרה - This practice is one of the paths of teshuvah, for when a difficulty arises, and the people cry out [to Hashem] and sound the trumpets, everyone will realize that [the difficulty] occurred because of their evil conduct, as it says: "Your sins have turned away [the rains and the harvest climate]." This [realization] will cause the removal of this difficulty.
It’s clear from the Rambam, that the mitzvah to cry out and sound trumpets, is to make people realize, that the reason difficulties are occurring is because people aren’t behaving the way they are supposed to. The purpose of all troubles and suffering is to make people realize who is really in charge, to remind people that there is no such thing as nature, and that everything that occurs is because Hashem is pulling the strings, like what we mentioned from the Ramban.
To ensure that we are able to keep up the spiritual elevation we received over Succos, after spending an entire week sitting in the tzela d’meheimnusa, Hashem’s shade, we have to do what we can to stay connected to Hashem. The more we fight the yetzer horah to read and listen to the news, and the more we sacrifice for Hashem Yisborach, and the more we show that we trust in Hashem and in no one else, the more love Hashem will show us. Just like Hashem remembers how Klal Yisroel left Mitzrayim and went into the midbar, and put their trust in Him, and He was kind to them during the churban, similarly, if we put our trust in Hashem and no one else, Hashem will act kindly towards us. After what happened on Simchas Torah, it’s clear that we need lots of mercy from the Ribbono Shel Olam. Each and every one of us knows what we need to improve on, and knows where his yetzer horah fights the hardest - we need to overcome it. The more we fight our yetzer horah, the more chesed Hashem will bestow upon us, and the more trust we have in the Ribbono Shel Olam, the more He will protect us. As we mentioned above, “Hashem created the world in order that we fear Him”, if we do so, then Hashem will look after us.
All the different theories offered by various different news sources of who caused it, and what will be are complete vanity, and they just confuse a person and leave a person with no peace in this world or the next. Like it says in Koheles (10:14): והסכל ירבה דברים לא ידע האדם מה שיהיה ואשר יהיה מאחריו מי יגיד לו – “Yet the fool talks and talks! A man cannot know what will happen; who can tell him what the future holds?”. Rashi explains, that the above pasuk is referring to Bilaam, who took pride in the fact that he knew the way Hashem works, yet he never knew that his end would be by sword. If Bilaam is called a fool for not knowing Hashem’s plans, how much more so the news reporters, who think they know what, why and how everything is going to play out. They don’t even get what has happened right, how much more so they can’t get the future right. All the nonsense that they draw people to, removes a person from this world and the next, and just causes people to become very depressed and unsettled.
The Gaon (siddur HaGra) on the pasuk, טוב לחסות בד' מבטוח באדם טוב לחסות בד' מבטוח בנדיבים, which we say in Hallel explains: That there are two types of bitochan, one is when Hashem says something, i.e., that a person will become rich, and a person trusts in Hashem that he will become rich. Another type is when Hashem doesn’t guarantee anything, yet a person puts his trust in the Ribbono Shel Olam. This second type is referred to as chisoyan (חסיון), like we find in the pasuk: צור חסיו בו – “the stone shall protect him”. A person goes under a rock to protect himself from rain, however, the rock never promised to protect him. The aforementioned pasuk, explains the Gaon, means, it’s better for a person to put his trust in Hashem, even when Hashem doesn’t promise anything, than it is to put one’s trust in a person that has promised to protect him.
The sefer Meir Einay Yisroel quotes the Ponevezh Mashgiach, who said in the name of the Chofetz Chaim, that what happened during the Second World War, will be a joke compared to what happens during the Third World War. They asked the Mashgiach, “why he needs to scare everyone so much”, and he replied, they didn’t understand the Chofetz Chaim. The Chofetz Chaim means, that the darkness and lack of emunah that was present during the Second World War will be a joke, compared to the lack of emunah present during the Third World War, which will primarily be about emunah. The more we work on ourselves, and improve on our emunah in the Ribbono Shel Olam, the more likely we are to be saved from the birth pangs of Moshiach.
