Hashgochah Pratis in Sifrei Kodesh
Excerpts from the popular shiur by Harav Yehuda Mandel shlit”a from Lakewood
A Lesson from Mordechai Hatzaddik
When someone is afraid of other people, especially those he considers “important,” he loses confidence in himself and is unable to truly love others. This fear causes him to fail to appreciate his own worth, and as a result, it is difficult for him to love other Jews.
When a man works on learning about and developing bitachon, he feels whole and fortunate and happy with all that he has, to the point that he pities those who are not zocheh to his peace of mind concerning his lot in life!
When a person reaches this state, he is able to genuinely love others. He is buoyed by the knowledge that his own spiritual and physical states are best for him, since they were chosen meticulously by Hakadosh Baruch Hu. With this feeling of bitachon and joy, he is able to judge others favorably and to see only the good in everyone.
In the beginning of the Megillah we find that Mordechai did not take into account Am Yisrael’s view that one must bow to Haman so as not to incite him. He was not afraid of Haman, and he refused to bow. He also didn’t seem at all impacted upon seeing Haman – he neither stood nor moved when Haman passed by.
At the end of the Megillah we find a completely different Mordechai – he was “favored by the majority of his brethren” (Targum explains that he sought to increase the greatness of his brethren); he “sought what is good for his nation” (meaning, he sought to do good for everyone, even for those who had not asked for it – Ibn Ezra); and “he spoke of peace for all descendants of his nation” (meaning, despite his royal stature, he remained modest and considered every Jew to be his equal – Ibn Ezra).
In truth, this is the result: When a person is not afraid of other people, he loves them. Fear stands in the way of love, while bitachon and being satisfied with what one has enable true love to flourish.
Parnassah Without Pain
Rabi Shimon ben Elazar said: I have never seen a deer that was employed to guard figs drying in the field [although a deer is quick and agile, making it well-suited for such work], or a lion that was employed as a porter to carry heavy loads, or a fox that is a merchant [although it is a clever beast]. On the contrary – these animals receive their sustenance from nature without any pain or toil....
If these animals, which were created to serve mankind, receive their sustenance without toil, wouldn’t it be right for me to receive my sustenance without toil? Yes! In truth, man too should be sustained effortlessly, but it is decreed that he toil for his parnassah due to his sins.
(based on Maseches Kiddushin 82b)
