The Pnei Yehoshua writes in the introduction to his sefer, (Tehillim 109:30) אודה אהללנו רבים ובתוך בפי מאד 'ה, "I shall thank Hashem exceedingly with my mouth, and among many people I shall praise Him.' I praise Hashem for all the kindness and goodness that Hashem has done for me my entire life. It would be impossible to count them all. How can I express gratitude for even a millionth of them? But a drop I wrote to serve as a memory...
"I made a neder when I had a tzarah, on the day of Hashem's wrath, the third of Kislev, 5463, in Levov. It began as a peaceful day. I was at home with my students who listened to my shiurim. Suddenly, everything turned around. Many large barrels of gunpowder caught on fire, causing a massive explosion. Large, fortified houses fell. Thirty-six holy Jewish souls died. Among them were my first wife, her mother, and her grandfather. Also, my young and only daughter, whom I loved so much, was niftarah.
"I fell from a high floor down below. The weight of the walls of our house was upon me... I couldn't move my arms or limbs... I feared that my home would become my grave. I was being punished with the four deaths of beis din, sekilah, sereifah, hereg and chenek (stoning, burning, beheading, and strangulation)... But with Hashem's compassion, they couldn’t harm me. Fifteen or twenty minutes after things calmed down, we didn't hear the sound of the collapsing, but we heard the many people moving about on the roof... They killed more with their moving about than who died from the explosion. Their intensions were good; trying to save those trapped beneath the ruins. At that time, I realized there was still hope for me to survive. I said, "If Hashem will save me and once again grant me a home where I can teach students, then I make a kabbalah to always be in the beis medresh, and to learn Shas and poskim in-depth, and to study even one subject for many nights. For this is my desire, to go in the ways of my grandfather, the renowned genius, the light of the exile, Reb Yehoshua, after whom I am named, who was the Rav and rosh yeshiva of Krakow, author of Meginei Shlomo... At that time, the sefer wasn't printed yet, but we heard about it, and I wanted to go in his ways. As I was thinking these thoughts, Hashem heard my voice, and then I saw a pathway, literally, and I was able to escape unscathed. I knew this was a miracle, and then I decided that my primary study would be sugyos of Shas and poskim.
"And now I bow and praise Hashem, the G-d of heaven, Who brought me to where I am today. May Hashem still show me wonders from His Torah, and I should merit to do good for Klal Yisrael with other sefarim that I hope to print. May I see children and grandchildren...all learning Torah l'shma who fear Hashem, and may Hashem return Klal Yisrael to Yerushalayim...amen."
I quoted a large portion of the introduction because of its many lessons. Primarily for our purposes, his discussion tells us that when one makes a kabbalah, Hashem grants him salvation. The Pnei Yehoshua made a kabbalah tovah to be devoted to the Torah, and then Hashem enabled him to leave the ruins.
The Chasam Sofer zt'l teaches that a benefit of a kabbalah tovah is that when one makes a kabbalah to do a good deed, it’s mesugal that he will merit to fulfill that good deed. Let's say a person makes a kabbalah to learn a masechta; in the merit of his kabbalah, he will have siyata d'Shmaya and succeed in finishing the masechta. If he makes a kabbalah to do a chesed, the kabbalah itself will grant him strength and siyata d'Shmaya to succeed in doing the chesed.
It states (Shemos 15:26) לקול תשמע שמוע אם ויאמר עליך אשים לא במצרים שמתי אשר המחלה כל ....אלקיך 'ה, "He said, If you hearken to the voice of Hashem...all the sicknesses that I have visited upon Mitzrayim I will not place upon you, for I, Hashem, heal you."
The Chasam Sofer zt'l explains that the pasuk is saying that שמוע אם, if you will make a kabbalah to serve Hashem, 'ה לקול תשמע אלקיך, Hashem guarantees that you will succeed to perform His mitzvos. In the merit of your kabbalah tovah, תשמע, Hashem will help you succeed. Furthermore, לא ...המחלה כל עליך אשים, Hashem will remove all illnesses from you and all matters that prevent you from success in serving Hashem. Hashem will remove all barriers so you can succeed.
The children gathered to see what kabbalah they could take on as a merit for their father. They decided to work on having an טובה עין, good eye, and prayed that in the merit of their טובה עין, their father’s eyes should be healed, and his vision restored.
The children said, "For example, if a neighbor is building an addition to his apartment, have a good eye and be happy for him. Don’t be jealous. Another example: If someone gets engaged, be happy for them. Don’t be jealous just because someone in our family has difficulty finding their bashert."
They began this kabbalah shortly after Purim, and after Pesach, their father’s vision returned and he was able to see well from one eye. The family decided to continue their kabbalah. A few weeks afterwards, the father's other eye, which hadn't functioned for twelve years, was healed.
They were doubly rewarded for their good eye.
People wonder, "How can I possibly succeed in Torah? When do I have time for it?" And they wonder the same regarding tefillah, chesed, or other good deeds that they want to do, and they think it is impossible. The answer is, make a kabbalah, try your best, and Hashem will help you succeed, and Hashem will remove all matters that prevent you from achieving. You can make the kabbalah bli neder, but be sincere about it, and Hashem will help you succeed.
In Reb Chaim Kanievsky's zt'l younger years, he asked someone whether he wanted to learn with him b'chavrusah. The other replied, "It would be a great honor, but I get ill often, forcing me to lie in bed for weeks at a time. Why should you have a learning partner who will hold you back? You would be better off with a healthy learning partner."
Reb Chaim replied, "If you make this kabbalah to learn together, how do you know you will become ill? Perhaps in the merit of the kabbalah, you will be healthy?" Indeed, they learned together for a very long time and the partner didn't become ill. But then the chavrusah took a day off for what he claimed was an important reason. Soon after that, he became ill, and the chavrusahshaft ended.
The lesson is that when you make a kabbalah, Hashem helps you perform your kabbalah. You will be saved from illness and all troubles, so you can keep the kabbalah that you accepted on yourself. But you must be sincere and try your best, and then you will succeed.
Rebbe Yehoshua of Belz zt'l explained that there is a rule that beginnings are hard. When the yetzer hara sees you turning over a new leaf, he immediately tries to stop you. The counsel is to begin with a kabbalah tovah. A kabbalah tovah is in the mind, and the yetzer hara can't read your thoughts. He doesn't know that you have begun your process of improvement. And then, when you actually perform good deeds, it isn't the beginning anymore.
This is implied in Rashi (Shemos 19:5), אם קשות התחלות שכל ואילך מכאן לכם יערב עליכם תקבלו עתה, "If you make a kabbalah, it will become sweet for you from now on, because all beginnings are hard."
The Gemara (Avodah Zarah 3.) discusses the jealousy the goyim will have toward Bnei Yisrael when they see the great reward the Jewish nation will receive in the future. The goyim will say, "It is true that the Jewish nation received the Torah, but what is the proof that they kept the Torah?" Hakadosh Baruch Hu will say, "I say testimony that they kept the Torah!" The goyim will not accept that. They will say, "Bnei Yisrael are Hashem's children as it states, it states (Shmos 4:22) ישראל בכורי בני, 'My firstborn son is Yisrael.' How can a father give testimony on his children?"
Hashem will then say, "Heaven and earth will testify." Once again, the goyim will argue that the testimony is invalid. (They will say that heaven and earth are בעדותן נוגעין, they have reason to say testimony for the Jewish nation because their creation was dependent on the Jewish people keeping the Torah.) After that, Hashem will say, "You will say testimony." The goyim themselves saw the Jewish nation's mesirus nefesh to keep the Torah through the generations. They will come forward and testify that we kept the Torah!"
Tosfos asks that isn’t the world's existence itself a testimony that we kept the Torah? Hashem made a condition with creation that their existence depends on the Jewish people keeping the Torah. Hashem said that if we wouldn’t keep the Torah, the world will return to ובהו תהו, nothingness. The very existence of creation proves that Klal Yisrael kept the Torah! How else does the world exist?
Tosfos replies (in one answer) that the world exists because the Jewish nation accepted the Torah. The condition wasn't that the Jewish nation performs what’s written in the Torah. The condition was that they should accept the Torah.
This is indeed how it appears from the words of the Gemara (Avodah Zarah 3.) ישראל אם ובוהו לתוהו אתכם אחזיר אני לאו ואם מוטב תורתי את מקבלין, "If Yisrael accept the Torah, it is good. Otherwise, I will return you into void and nothingness." The key word is מקבלין, to accept the Torah, even if they don't practice it after receiving it.
This shows us the greatness of accepting the Torah and the value of a kabbalah tovah, regardless, if in the end we do the good deed. The entire world exists on the Jewish nation's decision to accept the Torah.
The Gemara (Taanis 8:) says that in Reb Zeira's days, the goyim made a decree forbidding the Jewish nation to fast. Rashi explains that they didn't want bounty to come to the world in the merit of the Jewish nation. The Maharsha explains that the goyim were forcing the Yidden to transgress the Torah, and they didn't want the nation to fast and annul the gezeirah.
Reb Zeira found a solution. He told the Jewish nation to make a kabbalah that they would fast as soon as they could. That kabbalah was sufficient to bring salvations. Reb Zeira said that he learned the strength of a kabbalah tovah from the pasuk (Daniel 10:12) להבין לבך נתת אשר הראשן היום מן כי דניאל תירא אל דבריך נשמעו אלוקים לפני ולהתענות, "Fear not, Daniel, for since the first day that you set your heart to contemplate and to fast before your God, your words were heard..." The salvation didn't come from actually fasting, but from when Daniel made a kabbalah that he would fast.
The Mabit (Beis Elokim, Shaar HaTefillah, ch.13) explains, "This is because even before trouble and pain occur, a person's nature is to have tzaar and to worry about the distress that is arriving. Therefore, as soon as Daniel made a kabbalah to fast, his tefillos were answered."
In other words, when a person makes a kabbalah that he will fast, he already has tzaar, even before the fast begins. He is worried that tomorrow, or whenever the fast day will be, he will suffer discomfort due to the fast. That feeling of distress (that a fast day is approaching) is also an affliction, and that is what brought salvations in Reb Zeira's and in Daniel's era.
