Hashgachah Pratis in the Sefarim Hakedoshim
Excerpts from the popular shiur by Harav Hatzaddik R’ Beirish Shneebalg shlit”a
Harvesting the Fruit
Pesach was an exalted Yom Tov, filled with moments of spiritual elation, when we felt the closeness to Hashem. Now that it is over we feel a sense of loss, as though something very precious has come to its conclusion. But this is an illusion. The truth is that the Yom Tov is not over. It is still shining. Throughout the Yom Tov, tremendous kochos were implanted in each of our souls, Heavenly kedushah and lights that shine. Now the time has come to harvest their sweet fruits.
In yeshivos and kollelim, the summer zeman begins on Rosh Chodesh Iyar. It is not coincidental that we return to learning right after Nissan. The timing is precise, set from on High. After holy kochos were implanted in us on the Yom Tov of Pesach, it is the best time to devote ourselves to Torah learning. Our minds are prepared to absorb the learning with new da’as, to acquire new understanding and to be mechadesh chiddushim.
This is brought in the Sefer Ma’or Vashamesh (Parshas Shemini), which explains that people had the practice of learning halachah in extra depth on Rosh Chodesh Iyar and on Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan. This is because we were endowed with an extra measure of Heavenly holiness on Yom Tov, making these months more potent for the absorption of Torah. They used this as a test: If they found that they now understood what they learned on a deeper level, and they succeeded in discovering more chiddushim than they had during the rest of the year, this was a sign that they had absorbed the kedushah of the Yom Tov that passed.
Moreover, we are now in the midst of sefiras ha’omer, a time that completes the Yom Tov of Pesach. On the night of Yom Tov, we were zocheh to receive a gift of tremendous spiritual strengths, but these were taken from us just after we received them. Now, during the days of sefirah, we bring them back to us through our avodah of these days, and in this way we will be zocheh to come to the Yom Tov of Shavuos – to Mattan Torah – holy and pure, and ready to receive the holy Torah.
Bread Is Not for the Wise
Shimon Bar-Va was a skilled craftsman and expert in precious stones and jewels and in many other fields as well, but still he was very poor. In fact, he barely earned enough to buy bread to eat. Rabi Yochanan asserted that the passuk in Koheles (9:11), “And also not to the wise will be bread,” applied to Shimon. (Based on Yerushalmi, Maseches Bikkurim, 3:3)
