When Smarter Isn’t Smart
A person who walks around with the feeling that he is smarter than the whole world has cut off his brain from receiving da’as. He has placed a lid on it. And if he goes around talking about it to the whole world, he has now tightened and tied down the lid: The da’as can’t get into his brain!
A person who is searching for wisdom and da’as and pushes down others in an effort to be smarter can be likened to a person who blames others when things go wrong in his life: He grabs a scapegoat and blames him because his coffee spilled. It’s a rachmanus on such a person. We understand that you’re upset, but what does it have to do with this other person?
Often, a person refuses to work on himself and become accustomed to thinking thoughts of emunah and bitachon... to think that this came from Hashem, and this is the way it had to be. And so, he feels the need to embarrass another person and thus let out his frustration. This is a shame, because he could have used this as an opportunity to become closer to Hashem. A treasure of gold and silver was open before him, and instead of stretching out his hand to take it, he slammed the door shut! But if a person contemplates his situation and says, “I need to work on myself now, and if I will truly work on myself, the Ribbono shel Olam will help me and I will receive hashpa’os that I never dreamed of.” This person will certainly receive tremendous oros from Above.
Rejoice with HaKadosh Baruch Hu Alone
Sometimes, a Yom Tov comes and a person finds himself in different circumstances than he would have desired... he is unhappy about certain things. He feels, “I can’t properly feel the joy of Yom Tov in such a situation. I thought that things would be different, and l’maiseh, things went to ground. I can’t go into Yom Tov this way.” However, a person in such a situation can say, “If so, I have nothing to rejoice with oth-
