Don't Lose Hope – Try Your Best
The Radak (Yonah 2:2) teaches that two miracles happened to Yonah HaNavi: One is that he was saved after being tossed into the sea. The second miracle is that when he was in the fish's stomach, he didn’t lose hope. He prayed to Hashem from within the fish's stomach and was saved. The Radak writes that the second miracle, that he didn’t lose hope, is greater than the other miracle.
About twenty years ago, one of the talmidei chachamim of Yerushalayim fell ill, and his friends and students prayed a lot for him. Hashem answered their tefillos, and he overcame the illness. He said, "The greatest miracle isn't that Hashem answered the tefillos because that is obvious: Hashem listens to the tefillos of the Jewish nation. The primary miracle is that despite the doctor's discouraging predictions, people didn’t lose hope and davened for me."
We must never lose hope. Moshe Rabbeinu, the savior of the Jewish nation, was put in a casket in the Nile River. What were the chances of his survival? But Hashem prepared all the details so that Moshe should live:
Basya became ill with tzaraas and bathed in the Nile. She saved Moshe Rabbeinu and raised him right under Pharaoh's eyes. Hashem prepared every stage needed for Moshe to live and for the yetzias Mitzrayim to take place. The same is happening today. At times, things seem frightening, like there is no hope. But Hashem has a plan for the redemption, and all steps are set and will transpire (Sifsei Tzaddik of Piltz zt'l).
It states (2:5), "[Basya] stretched out her arm, and she took [Moshe's teivah]." אמתה means arm, and it also means cubits. Rashi writes, ונשתרבבה אמתה אמות הרבה, "Her arm grew many amos long." Moshe was out of her reach, nevertheless, she stretched out her arm, and miraculously, she was able to grab onto the teivah.
The Rebbe of Kotzk zt'l asks, why did Basya try to reach Moshe? Didn’t she realize that it was impossible? The answer is that one must try, even when the odds are against him. And when one tries, Hashem will enable him to succeed.
Moshe didn’t want to go and speak to Pharaoh because he had a speech impediment. Hashem told him (4:12) לך ואנכי אהיה עם פיך והוריתיך אשר תדבר, "Go, and I shall be with your mouth and teach you what you should say." The Or HaChaim explains that Hashem was telling Moshe that he doesn’t have to be concerned about his speech deficiency because if he carries out Hashem's mission, Hashem will heal him.
The Or HaChaim writes, "Hashem said, 'Until you start doing the mitzvah of going to Pharaoh, there's no reason to remove your speech impediment. לך, go and do the shlichus, and when you speak, you will see that your speech impediment is cured. This is the meaning of והוריתיך אשר תדבר, 'I will show you that you can speak.' It doesn’t state, 'I will teach you the words you should speak.' It states והוריתיך אשר תדבר, 'I will show you that you can speak.' The explanation is, I will show you that you can speak very fluently."
Moshe's speech problem would disappear because all barriers and obstacles are removed when one tries his best to do Hashem's will.
The Gemara (Yoma 38.) says:
"Nikanor went to Alexandria, Egypt, to bring copper doors [for the Eastern gate of the azarah in the Beis HaMikdash]. When he was returning from Alexandria, a storm threatened to drown them. The passengers took one of the doors and threw it into the sea, but the ship still threatened to capsize. They wanted to throw the other door into the water, but Nikanor stood up, wrapped his arms around it, and said, 'Throw me in the water with it.' Immediately, the sea calmed. Nikanor was upset that one door was thrown into the sea. When they docked in Acco, Eretz Yisrael, the other door was right there, bobbing up and down beneath the ship…"
This story is another reminder that you should do whatever you can, even when the odds are against your success. One of the doors was tossed into the sea. Logic dictates that the Beis HaMikdash couldn’t use one door without its pair. So why was Nikanor moser nefesh to bring one door to the Beis HaMikdash? The answer is that he did what he could, and indeed, Hashem helped him.
