A man living in the south of Eretz Yisrael was having a hard time marrying off his children. His oldest child was twenty-eight, and he had another four children above the age of twenty. He also had financial difficulties as he had taken a mortgage on his house to help his chavrusah marry off his children. His chavrusah was supposed to pay the monthly fees, but he was unable to, and his house was in foreclosure.
One evening, this man was in Yerushalayim for a chasunah, and he met a relative. He told his relative about his struggles to marry off his children and his financial problems. The relative replied, "There’s a great tzaddik in Yerushalayim – the Beis Yisrael of Gur. Tell him your problems. He will certainly help you."
This man wasn't a chassid, but his relative convinced him to go, and he poured his bitter heart out before the Rebbe. The Beis Yisrael asked him, "Do you ever praise Hashem? Praise should be 60% and requests should be 40%."
This man told his relative the counsel he received. The relative said, "You have a lot to thank Hashem for. You have health, a wife, and children. You always have food on your table... Focus on the good. Get into the practice of praising Hashem as the Rebbe suggested: 60% praises and 40% prayers."
Two months later, his oldest daughter was engaged. Within a half year, three of his children were married, and two more were engaged. Around that time, his chavrusah's mother was niftarah, leaving a large inheritance. The chavrusah immediately paid up the debt, and this man was able to redeem his house from the bank.
This man then realized that the Rebbe's counsel of 60% praises and 40% requests can be found in Hallel. When we say Hallel, we repeat טוב כי 'לה הודו six times, while 'ה אנא is said four times. This is precisely as the Beis Yisrael advised: 60% praises and 40% requests. This ratio brings yeshuos.
How to Focus on the Good
How does one focus on the good? Let's see how Reb Zalman Brizel zt'l (one of the tzaddikim of Yerushalayim) did it.
One day, he said to his son, Reb Nota, "Don’t ask! I had such a hard day today!"
"What happened?"
"I woke up in the morning [at two a.m., as was his daily routine] and I wanted to put on my shoes, but they were without shoelaces. I understood that the grandchildren played with them and hid them somewhere."
"What did you do?" the son asked.
"Don't ask. I looked all over the house for the shoelaces until I found one of them. I thanked Hashem for that, but I still couldn’t go anywhere with just one shoelace. I searched the house for the other one, which isn't an easy feat for an old man like me. I finally found the other one, and I went to the mikveh. But when I came out of the water, my clothes weren't there. Someone took them! I considered asking Reb Kalman [a Rav who would often help Reb Zalman] to bring me another set of clothes from the house, but then I decided against it, because your mother wouldn't remain silent if she heard that someone stole my clothes."
"So what did you do?"
"What did I do? I'll tell you what I did. I woke up this morning and found the shoelaces in my shoes. I went to the mikveh, and no one stole my clothes. Everything was fine and well, Baruch Hashem!"
