”And Yaakov Avinu left Beer Sheva to go towards Charan“
The words of Rashi ring in our ears. “When a tzaddik leaves a town, its shine, beauty and wonder cease and diminish” ...if only momentarily.
We are all designed for greatness, but how many of us fulfill our destiny. Somewhere along the way, we lose the fascination we had as a child. Maybe it’s our own inner voice, maybe it’s the voice of others- but we learn, unfortunately, to give up on our dreams at some point. Settling for the safe and sure, we set up goals below our capabilities.
Each one of us has in our spiritual DNA, the strength to save a city. Even after they are niftar, Tzaddikim can still save a city; as they did on October 7 in Netivot, the home of the Baba Sali. It was told that when the terrorists came to the gates of the city, there were three tzaddikim guarding its gates; from this fear, the terrorists moved on to the next town.
We must learn to be concerned for others as well as ourselves, to think globally as well as domestically. We are a nation of leaders, and our talents; creative and otherwise must never be wasted. If we allow the “tzaddik” in our soul to diminish, if we allow our dreams of creativity (emulating our Creator), to fall by the wayside, then we will have forsaken the very power that G-d has vested in us to change the world. One who saves even one soul (his own) is as if he has saved an entire world. The road to self-actualization may have some bumps but it is the only journey with complete satisfaction.
We are going through difficult times as a nation, but as a people we are becoming more and more aware of the greatness in our souls and are rising to the challenge daily. That’s why the word for challenge is nisayon (lit. something that is raised). Oftentimes it is not an ordinary challenge, but one that to our eyes seems insurmountable, but to the Master of the World, who knows all that is destined to happen to us til the end of time -- it is custom made. We climb the steps to greatness by rising to our challenges with a positive attitude, as little anger as possible and the understanding that the challenge itself is what we need to achieve greatness and eternity in our lives.
The Nefesh Hachaim says that if we wish to realign ourselves with our destiny, we must internalize the words “Ein od milvado” – there is absolutely no one but You, Hashem, who determines our future! Once we make peace with the fact that what we have is all that was meant for us, disappointment and jealousy will fall away and we will have cleared a path for our tefillos to achieve miracles.
In this month of Kislev (lit. the covering of the heart), if we open our hearts to Hashem, inviting Him into our lives, then He will open His heart, as it were, to us and hear our prayers. May this month bring miraculous yeshuos for all of Klal Yisroel!
Unlocking our Destiny
Written by R’ Avrohom Hillel Reich based on a lesson and story by Harav Ben Tziyon Sneh Shlita
