Every Wednesday, a merchant from Ashdod comes to Bnei Brak to sell gluten-free pastries. His clientele consists of people who are either allergic to gluten or cannot eat gluten for some other reason. His prices are much lower than those of local bakeries that sell gluten-free foods.
Just a couple of weeks ago (Wednesday parashas וארא), someone came to the merchant to buy a specific type of gluten-free cookie, but the merchant told him that that item had sold out. The customer said that he traveled a long distance to buy this item for his wife, who needs gluten-free products. The merchant replied that he understood his disappointment, but there was nothing he could do about it.
As they were still speaking, another person came in, carrying two boxes of cookies. He said to the merchant that he bought these a week ago, but they weren't what he wanted. He thought he was buying regular cookies; he didn't realize that they were gluten-free. He demanded the right to return the boxes and get a refund. The merchant showed him that the box stated in large letters that they were gluten-free pastries, and that the brachah is Shehakol. There was no deceit; it wasn't a טעות מקח, and therefore, he wasn’t required to take them back.
Just then, the disappointed customer jumped forward and said, "Hashem had you make this mistake last week for my sake; to help me. These are the exact cookies my wife asked me to buy. Give them to me, and I will pay you."
This story is an example of how Hashem leads the world with hashgachah pratis. The person who needed to buy the pastries was able to buy them, and the person who wanted to return the cookies got his money back. If one of them had come to the store at a slightly different time, this wonder wouldn’t have occurred.
A wealthy merchant from Volozhin earned his wealth selling wood. He would put the wood on a ship, which sailed down the Neman River, which passes through Kovno. The ship stopped at every city along the route, and he sold wood. Every time he did this route, he had to get permission from the governor of Kovno to allow him to pass the river that went through Kovno. One year, the governor didn't give permission, and the ship with the cargo stood at the entrance of Kovno, as they waited for the permit. During this time, the wealthy person had immense tzaar and worry.
Finally, after a long wait, the bureaucracy was cleared up, and permission was granted for the ship to pass through. While this occurred, the price of wood had gone up. The wealthy merchant was very happy. Not only could he go on his route to sell wood, but he would also make a lot more money, because the price of lumber went up. He went to Reb Chaim Volozhiner zt'l to tell him the hashgachah pratis that happened to him. Reb Chaim Volozhiner told him, "You are a wealthy person, and therefore, you don't experience Hashem's hashgachah so often. The poor recognize Hashem's hashgachah every day, and sometimes a few times each day. They don't know how they will feed their children, and Hashem always helps them, and often, every day in a different manner."
Reb Chaim Volozhiner said that this is alluded to in the pasuk (Tehillim 138:6) 'ה רָם כִּי יְיֵדָע מִמ ֶּרְחָק ַּוְגָבֹה יִרְאֶה ָׁפָלוְש, "For though Hashem is exalted, He sees the lowly; and the High one makes Himself known from afar." Reb Chaim Volozhiner explained that tall people can see things that are at a high place, better than someone small. For example, if an item is placed on a high shelf, tall people can see it more easily than short people. However, when it comes to seeing Hashem, it is the opposite. This is the meaning of the pasuk (Tehillim 138:6) יִרְאֶה ָׁפָלוְש 'ה רָם כִּי, Hashem is high, and those who are small recognize Him. They see Hashem better than those who are high. יְיֵדָע מִמ ֶּרְחָק ַּוְגָבֹה, this means those who are wealthy and high, they see Hashem solely from a distance. They don't have as much awareness of Hashem as those who are small.
Stories of Hashgachah Pratis
1. Once, a person in Communist Russia was on his way to his job where he polished diamonds. Someone stopped him in front of a Beis HaKnesses and pleaded that he come inside. "It is my parents' yahrtzeit today, and we need your help to complete a minyan." The man wanted to help a fellow Yid, and agreed to stay for a few moments. He explained that he couldn't stay long because he couldn’t be late for work. It was dangerous to arrive late for work in Communist Russia. He entered the Beis HaKnesses, only to discover that he wasn't the tenth man. Several others needed to be recruited. By the time a minyan gathered, the diamond polisher realized that if he stayed for the tefillah, he might be late for work. But he wanted to help, so he chose to take the risk. He didn’t have the heart to leave and break the minyan. When they finished davening, everyone was invited to enjoy some cake and vodka l'iluy nishmas, but at this point, the diamond polisher hastily excused himself and dashed out the door and raced to the diamond center. As he neared the entrance, he was met by an acquaintance. "Run away! Everyone inside was arrested!" He escaped and managed to come to Eretz Yisrael with his diamonds. This is a story of hashgachah pratis and shows how chesed and mitzvos protect a person from all evil.
Once, Reb Zalman Brizel zt'l was contemplating whether to go to a particular place and was weighing the pros and cons of going. In the end, he went, and he broke his foot on the way. He commented, "Now I know that I had to come here. It was destined that I break my foot, so I had to be here so that it could occur." Instead of telling himself, "I shouldn't have gone. Look at what happened to me," he recognized that everything happens with hashgachah pratis.
2. The Midrash (Shemos Rabba 7:4) states, "In the future, Gan Eden will shout and say, 'Give me tzaddikim. I have no interest in the reshaim, as it states (Tehillim 31:7) שׁ ָוְא ה ַבְלֵי הַשֹּׁמ ְרִים שָׂנֵאתִי, "I hated those who await worthless vanities". Who do I want? Those who have bitachon, as it states (ibid.) בטחתי 'ה אל ואני, "I trust in Hashem." We see from here that those who trust in Hashem are called Tzaddikim.
Orchos HaRosh (ו"כ 'א יום) writes, "Trust in Hashem with a full heart, and believe in His hashgachah pratis... Believe that Hashem's eyes see the entire earth and His eyes see all the ways of man, and he checks the hearts of man." Then the Rosh elaborates on the pasuk, written at the beginning of the Aseres HaDibros (20:2): מֵאֶרֶץ הוֹצ ֵאתִיךָ ֶׁראֲש א ֱלֹק ֶיךָ 'ה א ָנֹכִי עֲב ָדִים מִבֵּית מ ִצְר ַיִם, "I am Hashem, your G-d, who has taken you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery." The Rosh explains that two emunos are discussed in this pasuk. One is the emunah in Hashem, as it states 'ה א ָנֹכִי א ֱלֹק ֶיךָ, and the second is emunah in hashgachah pratis, as it states מִבֵּית מ ִצְר ַיִם מֵאֶרֶץ הוֹצ ֵאתִיךָ ֶׁראֲש עֲב ָדִים. He writes, "Whoever doesn't believe in עֲב ָדִים מִבֵּית מ ִצְר ַיִם מֵאֶרֶץ הוֹצ ֵאתִיךָ ֶׁראֲש (that Hashem took us out of Mitzrayim with hashgachah pratis) also doesn't believe in א ֱלֹק ֶיךָ 'ה א ָנֹכִי".
Kad HaKemach (Bitachon) from Rabbeinu b'Chayei writes, "An aspect of mesirus nefesh is to think in one's mind that everything Hashem does is for the good, as Chazal say, 'Everything Hashem does is for the good,' and he should accept everything that occurs to him with love, and he should trust in Hashem, at all times."
