Advertise on podcast: Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear

Chazal tell us in Masechet Kallah Rabati that a Heavenly voice proclaims בית של פלוני לפלוני , which means the house that each person is destined to live in is min haShamayim , just like a person's spouse. Sometimes a person tries very hard to buy a certain house or live in a certain location, but things just don't seem to work out for him. It is because min haShamayim that is not the place he is supposed to live. Sometimes a person discovers suddenly that he has to leave his current residence. That is also min haShamayim . This understanding should make it easier for a person to handle all the ups and downs that come with trying to find a place to live. A woman told me she was informed by her landlord that she would be doing renovations and eventually she would have to move out. A month later, the landlord called her back apologizing that the renovations were going to take place much sooner then she originally planned, and she had until Monday morning to leave. Her immediate response was, must be that Hashem has a better place for me to live. She tried hard to find an apartment over the next few days, but there was nothing available that soon. She remained calm and trusted that Hashem had the perfect place for her to live. She said Tehillim for hours upon hours. Her friends couldn't believe how calm she was. On Sunday, just one day before she had to leave, she was singing to Hashem the most beautiful words, trusting that He was doing what was best for her. When she finished, she got a call from a nephew of hers saying he just saw an ad for an apartment which might be an option for her. She called the number and the owner expressed regret for putting the ad in so soon, being that the current tenants were not ready to leave. The owner then told her she would be the first one to see the apartment when it did become available. Just a few days later, on Wednesday, she got a call back saying the tenants decided to leave and the apartment was available. She went to see it and it was exactly what she wanted. It was just one block from where she had been living, and it was even nicer than her previous apartment. She signed on the spot and moved in that day. She thanked Hashem for the yeshua and then asked Him if He could show her that He is with her in this move. Moments later, the new landlord gave her the combination to the front door. As she dictated the numbers, the woman froze, the new combination was the exact same combination as her old one. She felt a true embrace from Hashem. A newly married couple was hoping to find an apartment in Israel just for a few months until Pesach. They were nervous about having to buy all new dishes and pots, as well as how they were going to earn parnasa during those months, not to mention how difficult it would be to find an apartment for just that amount of time. They began asking around and, lo and behold, an acquaintance of the girl who currently lives in Israel told her that they were going to live elsewhere until right after Pesach and their apartment was available. Since they knew each other, she allowed them to use all her dishes and pots and pans. They were also involved in the exact same field of earning parnasa, so the woman told her, "You can have all of my clients until I return." Hashem found this couple the exact people they needed to find in order to live in the place they were destined to live in. We have to appreciate the apartments or houses that Hashem gives us and thank Him all the time. I read a story of an avrech who said Hashem gave him the opportunity of a lifetime to buy an apartment in his dream location in Israel for a very low price. As hakarat hatov , he wanted to purchase the best mezuzot he could possibly find. This man's father-in-law was an expert in that field and so he asked for his opinion each time he found what he thought were the best mezuzot . His father-in-law kept saying, "No, there are better ones out there." Finally, he found the most mehudar mezuzot which his father-in-law loved. They were very expensive totaling 5600 shekel, but he would pay any price to thank Hashem for giving him this apartment. When the time came to pay, the mezuzah dealer told the man, "Hashem paid for you already," and he explained. He was driving, and a man from America was waiting on the side of the road hoping for a ride. He picked him up and they made conversation. When he told him about his job dealing in mezuzot , the man said he wanted to have a share in the mitzvah of mezuzah . He told him he was on his way to deliver mezuzot to an avrech who spends his days and nights learning Torah. That man said he wanted to pay for them. And indeed he did. Hashem loves when we appreciate His gifts. Wherever we are living, it's a gift from Hashem.

If a person is going through a hard time and his evil inclination is trying to get him to complain and question the way Hashem is dealing with him, he needs to give himself chizuk to accept what Hashem is doing with love. Besides the enormous spiritual value of having emunah during difficult times, this acceptance itself is a great zechut, one that may very well take the place of any further suffering. The Midrash Rabbah in Parashat Vayikra tells a powerful story. The great Tannaim, Rabbi Eliezer, Rabbi Yehoshua, and Rabbi Akiva, once went traveling to collect funds to support talmidei chachamim who were learning Torah. In one of the cities they visited lived a very wealthy philanthropist named Abba Yudin. At that time, however, he had just lost all of his wealth and felt deep shame that he was unable to give anything to the rabbis. His wife said to him that he still owned one field and asked why he did not sell half of it and give the proceeds to support the Torah scholars. Abba Yudin could have responded, "Hashem already took away all my money, and now I should give away half of what is left?" Instead, with joy and Emunah, he sold half the field and gave the money to support talmidei chachamim. The rabbis gave him a berachah for success and continued on their way. Abba Yudin then went out with his cow to plow the remaining half of the field. As he was working, the cow slipped into a hole in the ground, and its leg sank deep into it. It appeared that the leg was certainly broken. Abba Yudin did not complain. He did not say, "After such a heroic act of tzedakah, this is how Hashem repays me?" Instead, he accepted the situation wholeheartedly and began trying to pull the cow out of the ditch. At that moment, he noticed something buried in the ground: a hidden treasure filled with gold and pearls. Through this, he became wealthy once again. The difficulty of his cow's fall actually led him to the treasure, but the true source of the berachah was his acceptance of how Hashem dealt with him. Accepting difficulties with love is extremely hard, especially when a person is genuinely trying to do good and it seems that everything is going wrong. At those moments, we need to use our minds and hearts to look for ways to understand how what Hashem is doing is truly a chesed for us. If we can think of possible reasons and honestly internalize them, the merits that result are enormous. A man told me that about two years ago he had changed jobs after being promised a great opportunity with significant additional pay. After a few months, it became clear that he had been misled, and on top of that, the work environment was extremely hostile. Going to work each day was very painful, yet he continued to go with a smile, accepting that Hashem was doing what was best for him. As an aside, if someone is unhappy at a job for legitimate reasons, there is nothing wrong with trying to find another one. During that period, he and his wife had a child with a very complex medical condition that required two dangerous surgeries. They were warned that serious and unavoidable side effects were going to take place. Baruch Hashem, both surgeries went extremely well, with no side effects at all, something the doctors said they had never seen. Throughout that time, the situation at work only worsened, but for reasons he could not explain, he remained stuck there. He kept telling himself that it was all for the best. Eventually, when he was finally able to leave the job, he sent out his résumé, but no one responded. Around that time, his child needed another medical procedure that usually required a hospital stay. Once again, Baruch Hashem, it went so smoothly that the child was released just two hours after the procedure. That night, he said to his wife, "I think the two years of hardship at work were taking the place of the hardships that were meant to come from our child's condition. Baruch Hashem, we received it at work instead of through the child." They went to sleep filled with gratitude and acceptance. The very next day, he received a phone call out of the blue offering him a new job with more than thirty percent higher pay. Now, he could not be happier. Accepting wholeheartedly and honestly the way Hashem is dealing with a person is an enormous zechut.

A young man told me how deeply he had been hurt by a close family member, and how difficult it was for him to move on. He wished he could forgive and let it go, but it felt almost impossible. I told him that perhaps Hashem was giving him an opportunity to do something extremely difficult, and through that, to access an abundance of blessing waiting for him in Shamayim. We then opened the אור החיים in this week's parashah, Beshalach, on the pasuk " מה תצעק אלי ". There, he quotes from the זוהר הקדוש that when the Jewish people were trapped at the edge of the ים סוף , there was a מידת הדין upon them. They were considered unworthy of salvation because they too had been involved in idolatry like the Egyptians. The זוהר explains that to access the mercy needed to overcome מידת הדין , a person requires great merits. Since Hashem wanted the Jewish people to be saved, He gave them an opportunity to perform a heroic act. They were commanded by משה to march into the sea and rely on Hashem to split it. They would be entering the water until it reached their nostrils, placing their lives at risk. The great emunah and bitachon they demonstrated enabled them to overcome the דין and merit salvation. Similarly, the זוהר writes in parashat Vayera on the pasuk describing the destruction of Sedom, that " וַיִּזְכֹּר אֱלֹקים אֶת אַבְרָהָם וַיְשַׁלַּח אֶת לוֹט ". The זוהר explains that when Hashem has a special love for a person, He sends him a "present." What is this present? A poor and needy individual who requires help. If מידת הדין would come upon that person, the act of chesed he performs can provide the merit needed to overcome it. When Hashem was bringing דין upon Sedom, He first gave Avraham a present in the form of the three angels who appeared as ordinary guests. Through Avraham's extraordinary hospitality, Lot would later be saved. This is the meaning of "Hashem remembered Avraham"—He remembered the chesed Avraham did for his guests. The mefarshim point out that in both cases—the Jewish people at the ים סוף and Avraham Avinu—the opportunities Hashem gave were extremely difficult. Avraham was on the third day after his brit milah, in intense pain at age ninety-nine, on the hottest day, yet he ran to serve his guests like royalty. The Jewish people were asked to walk into a raging sea, relying purely on Hashem. These were not simple acts; they required going far beyond normal limits. Yet they were gifts from Hashem that brought salvation. A man once told a rabbi about a relative who had to care for a sick patient around the clock, and how overwhelming it had become. The rabbi immediately shared these words of the זוהר and said that apparently Hashem has a special love for this relative, and is giving him a great gift through this opportunity. When a person is given a very difficult task, it is often a sign of Hashem's great love, granting him a chance to earn enormous merit. Shabbat Shalom.

Hashem is involved in every second of everyone's lives. It is a great avodah when we recognize His hashgachah and attribute events and happenings to His Divine Providence. Aside from the fact that recognizing His involvement in our lives brings us closer to Him, it also gives us tremendous chizuk. It allows us to know that Hashem can always help us, no matter what situation we find ourselves in. It is so clear that He is constantly controlling everything. A woman once told me that her father's flight was recently canceled, and he was unable to get a return flight home for another three days. The problem was that he was taking a very important medication that he could not miss, and he had completely run out. He was unable to obtain more of it in the place where he was stranded. Remarkably, around that same time, someone casually mentioned to her that she was traveling to that very location the next morning. The woman immediately called her, and Baruch Hashem, the medication reached her father exactly when he needed to take his next dose. A man whom we will call Yehudah shared another powerful story. The institution where he worked arranged a special Shabbaton to honor its employees. It was meant to be uplifting and inspiring. Yehudah very much wanted to attend, but he had a minhag to go to the mikveh every morning, and he would only go if there would be a mikveh available. When Yehudah told his boss that he might not come if there was no mikveh, his boss was visibly upset. He told him how important it was that Yehudah attend, and he assured him that he would make sure there would be a mikveh nearby. Yehudah trusted him and decided to go. When they arrived at the hotel before Shabbat, they discovered that many things were operated by automatic electricity that could not be adjusted. It became clear that it would be impossible to stay there over Shabbat. The boss was extremely frustrated. He had the phone number of someone who managed a refugee camp that had been established three years earlier for orphans from Ukraine. He called him, and it turned out that the camp had a completely kosher kitchen, a dining hall, guest rooms, and was ready to host them for Shabbat. At that hectic moment, Yehudah was hesitant to approach his boss about the mikveh. But as they were boarding the buses to travel to the new location, Yehudah gathered the courage to ask whether there would be a mikveh there. His boss answered honestly that he had no idea. Yehudah then said that if that was the case, he really could not join, and asked if he could please have the phone number of someone from the nearest Jewish community so he could stay in a private home instead. His boss replied that they would figure it out when they got there and told him to just get on the bus. With no real choice, Yehudah went along. When they arrived, he tried desperately to find out if there was a mikveh within walking distance, but no one knew of one. With just a little more than an hour before Shabbat, Yehudah learned that there was a nearby matzah bakery owned by a Jew who lived in Eretz Yisrael. At one point, the owner had wanted to build a mikveh next to the bakery so that he would have one available whenever he visited. Yehudah managed to obtain the phone number of Daniel, the bakery manager, and called him. When Yehudah asked whether a mikveh had been built near the bakery, Daniel responded with clear excitement in his voice, saying that there was indeed a mikveh. Daniel then offered to come by on Shabbat morning at six o'clock and bring whoever wanted to go. Yehudah was overjoyed. On Shabbat morning, when Daniel arrived, he asked Yehudah if he knew when the mikveh had been completed. Yehudah replied that he did not. Daniel then revealed something astonishing. That past Monday, they had completed everything necessary to finish the mikveh. On Tuesday, they opened the roof so rainwater could enter. And only the night before, there had been such heavy rain that the pit finally filled with enough water. Now, on Shabbat morning, Yehudah would be the first person ever to use this mikveh. Yehudah said that his entire body trembled when he realized the hashgachah of what Hashem had done, orchestrating everything so precisely just so he could have the mikveh he so desperately wanted. Another man related a different story. Someone had given him a gift of seven hundred and ninety dollars to buy a specific product. He already knew the exact price, and the amount he was given matched it perfectly. He then began to wonder whether he should separate ma'aser from the money. On the one hand, it was a gift meant for a specific purpose. On the other hand, it was still money that had come to him. Without asking a rabbi, he decided to act above the letter of the law and gave eighty dollars as ma'aser. When he arrived at the store and went to pay, the owner told him the price was seven hundred dollars. Surprised, he asked if it was not supposed to be seven hundred and ninety. The owner smiled and asked what was wrong with getting a discount. Hashem is even in charge of the price we pay for the merchandise we buy. He is involved in every detail of our lives, and it is a great avodah each time we recognize it.

If a person was standing to earn a large amount of money and he was planning how he was going to use that money to help many different organizations and needy people. And then all of a sudden the deal turned sour and he did not earn anything from it, he may start to think to himself: I don't understand, I was going to do so many great things with this money. Why didn't Hashem give it to me? Doesn't He want all the poor people to be supported? The first thing this person needs to realize is that Hashem does not need anyone to support the poor. If someone is a major supporter of any type of organization, he should feel so fortunate that Hashem is giving him the merit to support it. However, he must know if he wasn't supporting it, someone else would. If the organization is worthy of being in existence, then Hashem will ensure that it gets the money it needs to survive. A man told me, he was on the verge of earning a large fortune and he was so excited to begin working on opening a much needed Torah center in his community with the profits, as well as funding much needed renovations in his shul. In the end, he lost the deal and was not able to contribute even minimally to those projects. But, a different person in the community did earn a large amount of money and he ended up doing exactly what this person wanted to do. The Torah center is now built and flourishing and the shul has been renovated. The man told me, "When I was planning out what to do with the money, I honestly thought that these projects would only get done if I made this deal, but I now see Hashem has many ways." If a person thought he was going to get money and in the end he didn't, it's a very big kapara , without the person having to actually lose anything. He should thank Hashem for all of the ups and downs that took place during the ordeal and recognize it was all for his good. If he had been praying, every one of his tefilot brought him closer to Hashem and he'll be rewarded for all of them. Furthermore, just because Hashem determined it would not be good for him to have the money he wanted at this time, it does not mean that it will not be good for him to have it in the future. A person should never say, "That was my one chance to finally have some breathing room in life and now that I lost it, it'll never come again." The same way that Hashem gave him this opportunity out of nowhere, He could just as easily give him another, similar opportunity. A man told me he had what he thought was a once in a lifetime opportunity that if it went according to plan it would allow him to quit his job and spend his days learning Torah and doing avodat Hashem. Everything was going perfectly, but then, at the last minute, it all fell apart. He was back to earning a small salary, scrounging to make ends meet each month. He said to himself, "That was my one opportunity and now it's gone." Less than a year later, a totally different opportunity came his way with very similar potential earnings. In the end, that one also fell through, but he said, "What I thought was impossible, Hashem showed me is possible." The opportunities are endless. If a person's time comes for him to be blessed with money, Hashem knows how to find him. Until that time, a person must know he is living with the exact finances that Hashem knows he needs to live with to do his job properly. Nobody has any say in the amount of money a person earns except for Hashem. He should never feel that a circumstance made him lose out on a certain deal, or a comment made by another individual. Everything is always part of Hashem's plan for him and Hashem knows exactly what is best for everyone all of the time.

Hashem wants us to learn about Him from the way He revealed Himself at Yetziat Mitzrayim. The pesukim tell us again and again how we are meant to see that Hashem is the only One who controls everything that happens in this world. There are people who believe that everything that happens to them is from Hashem, yet when they go through prolonged difficulties, they have complaints, feeling that they are being dealt with unfairly. To know that Hashem controls everything is not enough. We also need to know how loving and merciful He is. When Moshe Rabbeinu asked Hashem, "Why are You dealing so harshly with the Jewish people?" Hashem answered him that He is Hashem. The Targum Yonatan explains that Hashem told him, "I am the Hashem who appeared to you at the burning bush." How do we understand this response? How does this explain why He was dealing with the Jewish people so harshly? The Maharal writes that there are different levels of love between people. When it comes to true friends, each one will participate in the happy occasions of the other. But the greatest expression of love is when one friend is in pain because the other one is hurting. It is much easier to celebrate with a friend than to feel hurt when he is hurt. When a person is in pain because his friend is in pain, that shows that his life is not a life without his friend. He cannot enjoy his own life knowing that his friend is in trouble. When Hashem appeared to Moshe at the burning bush, one of the reasons He came to him in a thorn bush was to show Moshe that He was in pain because of the pain that the Jewish people were experiencing. The Midrash says, look at how much Hashem loves us. He calls us His daughter and His sister and His mother. The Maharal says, if it didn't say it, we wouldn't be allowed to say it ourselves. But everyone knows that a child cannot exist without first having a mother. Although Hashem does not need anyone or anything, He calls us His mother to tell us that because of His great love for us, He makes Himself feel as if He needs us to exist. This love is shown most clearly by Hashem feeling the pain of every single Jew when he is in pain. So when Moshe Rabbeinu asked Hashem, "Why are You treating the Jewish people so harshly in Mitzrayim?" Hashem replied to him by reminding him immediately about the vision he had at the burning bush. If a doctor were operating on a patient and causing the patient pain, a relative of that patient might question the doctor and ask why he was operating in such a painful way when perhaps there was a less painful method. But if the doctor were operating on his own child, no one would ask any questions, because they would know that he is doing the surgery in the best possible way. Hashem was telling Moshe that the question of "Why am I hurting My nation?" is invalid, because I am their loving Father. I am treating them in the best possible way for them. When they are hurting, I am hurting. We must understand how much Hashem loves us. The Midrash asks, why did Hashem appear to Moshe in a thorn bush? One of the answers it gives is because a thorn bush is the lowest of all trees in terms of humility. There is no apparent purpose to it. It does not seem to provide any benefit. So too, that is how the Jewish nation looked in Mitzrayim, like people with nothing going for them. They had fallen almost to the forty-ninth level of tumah. They were idol worshippers. They had no zechuyot to be redeemed. Yet Hashem came and showed Moshe that if He could rest His presence in a thorn bush, He could redeem a nation that looked like a thorn bush. Because Hashem's love for us does not depend on our deeds. He loves us more than a parent could ever love a child. Even though Hashem gave us the mitzvah of Milah and Pesach before we left Mitzrayim, that was after He had already performed nine makkot and had everything set for the geulah. He did not first require us to have zechuyot to be saved. He saved us because He loves us. The Shem mishmuel said on the words "raoh raeety" that Hashem told Moshe, even though I see them after Matan Torah worshipping the Eigel, I am still going to redeem them. Hashem's love for us is unfathomable. If a person asks, "Why is Hashem doing bad to me?" it just means that he has not yet comprehended the love that Hashem has for him. Hashem feels his pain more than he does. He is only doing the best possible thing for him. If we could feel even a small part of the true love that Hashem has for us, we would be able to live more happily no matter what we are going through.

If a person is going through a difficult time, it is very easy for him to blame other people and circumstances for it. It may seem that someone was directly responsible for causing the difficulty. It may seem that if certain things were done differently, it could have been avoided. And so the person thinks about all the "what if's" and how things should have been different. It is during these times that a person has a big opportunity to shine, to see through what meets the eye and recognize that it was Hashem who was behind it all. Although what happened might not seem to be fair, it's up to the person to say, "It must be for my best, I will not blame anyone. I will accept that this is from Hashem. I will do my best to maintain loving and peaceful relationships with all of those around me." This avodah is extremely valuable. It could very well be that one of the reasons the difficulty occurred was specifically to give the person the opportunity to go through it with emunah which will then open the door for Hashem to shower him with blessing. I read a story in the Machon Shaar HaBitachon that a man, who we'll call Shimon, related about how he became extremely wealthy. He said he is the youngest in a large family. His father worked hard to provide for them and managed to marry off all of them. All of his brothers got apartments, but when it was his turn, his father had already gotten sick and a short while later he passed away. After the shiva, his brothers sat together to discuss how to divide up the estate. Shimon was sure he was going to get his father's apartment since he was the only one who didn't get one. But not everybody felt the same way and being that there were a total of ten brothers, there were many different opinions. The majority consensus was to sell the apartment and divide the proceeds equally, but that was going to take time. In the meantime, Shimon had to rent his own apartment with no financial help. He was so upset, he went to his rabbi and asked if he could halachically demand the apartment for himself, after all, everyone else got their own apartment and his father was going to get him one too. The rabbi said, "You have a great case, but I have a piece of advice for you that will gain you much more: Shalom is worth millions. Don't fight with them. Accept your lot in order to gain peace and you'll see you'll only gain from it." Shimon took the rabbi's advice. It was not easy, being that his family was growing and he really needed the money. From then on, each time he passed his childhood home he would think of his brothers, living peacefully in their own homes while he had to work day and night to cover his rent. He wished he was able to accept this inwardly with more happiness, but he wasn't on the level yet. Nonetheless, outwardly he was able to maintain shalom and that avodah elevated him greatly. He decided to learn a profession and started advertising a service that he could provide. In the beginning, the customers came in a slight trickle, but after a while they were coming in droves. He had to hire more workers and open more branches and after a few years he was earning millions. Hashem sent His blessing in a way he could never have imagined. At one point, one of his brothers who had been opposed to giving him that apartment, needed a medical procedure that cost a half a million dollars that he couldn't afford. Shimon heroically stepped up and paid for the entire procedure out of his own pocket. He did not take revenge or bear a grudge. And he testified that after that episode, his business success began to hit new levels. His ability to rise above the difficult circumstance he was put in opened the door for Hashem's blessings to come pouring in. While going through any difficulty, it's very hard to do it with emunah. But with a little chizuk, everyone can find within themselves the strength to persevere.

In this week's parashah, Bo, we learn about the final three makkot. Chazal tell us that a large number of Jews passed away during the makkah of Choshech. Rav Shlomo Kluger writes that the people who died in Choshech were those who did not have enough emunah to follow Hashem into the desert. They wanted the others to first go and conquer the land, and only then would they be willing to follow later. The Rav adds that all of those neshamot were destined to come back into the world in the final generation before Mashiach, and their job would be to overcome very difficult tests in the area of emunah. If they succeed, they will make their tikkun and live on for all eternity. One of the most difficult parts of emunah is when a person is harmed by another individual. The natural reaction is to think that the other person used his free will to do wrong and that it was not from Hashem, chas v'shalom. The Sefer HaChinuch, in the mitzvah of lo tikom v'lo titor, as well as other sources, teach us that even though the person who caused the harm did use his free will and is fully accountable for his actions, it was only able to happen because it was the will of Hashem for the person to be affected that way. Nothing can ever happen to a person through a baal bechirah unless Hashem wants it to happen to him first, and always for his best. The Yitev Lev writes that one of the lessons we learn from Yetziat Mitzrayim is that when a person causes harm to another, the one who received the harm must take to heart that it was Hashem who was giving life to the one who harmed him, and that person was only His messenger. The Maggid of Mezritch writes that when a person is causing harm to another and the one who is being harmed fully believes that it is only coming from Hashem and that it is for his absolute best, that belief nullifies all the judgments against him. The Passu says כִּי הִנֵּה אֹיְבֶיךָ ה', כִּי הִנֵּה אֹיְבֶיךָ יֹאבֵדוּ. The Yitev Lev explains that when a person knows that his enemies are being sent by Hashem כִּי הִנֵּה אֹיְבֶיךָ-- ה, then הִנֵּה אֹיְבֶיךָ יֹאבֵדוּ, those enemies will stop bothering him. All of the stress and heartache caused by other people is simply Hashem giving a person what he needs in order to fulfill his mission in this world. When a person fully believes that it is really Hashem and not the one who appears to be doing it, that itself can accomplish the tikkun that he needs. It is extremely hard to take the person out of the picture and honestly feel that he is not responsible for the harm. When Yosef HaTzaddik revealed himself to his brothers, he said to them, "I am Yosef, your brother, whom you sold to Egypt." The Or HaChaim HaKadosh explains that Yosef was telling them that even while they were selling him, he still felt close to them like a brother. How could Yosef possibly have felt that way? Because when Shimon and Levi were lowering him into the pit with snakes and scorpions, all he saw was Hashem in control. As he later said, "It was not you who sent me here, but only Hashem." With the proper outlook, we too can live our lives with this emunah, seeing only Hashem in everything that happens. Rabbi Menashe Reizman said to imagine how the newspaper articles would read if the Chafetz Chaim were writing them. Of course, HaKadosh Baruch Hu would be in every headline. It would say: Hashem made it that this person was attacked. Hashem made it that this person was arrested. Hashem made it that this person won the lottery. We hope that we are living in the generation of Mashiach, and if our tikkun is to pass the test of emunah, we must take this message to heart and understand that people cannot harm us or give us anything. Everything happens only by the word of Hashem, and it is always for our best. Shabbat Shalom.

A rabbi was once trying to give chizuk to his student to be mevater regarding an argument he was having with someone else. The student said, "But Rabbi, I'm right on this one." The rabbi answered him, "Vatranut is not when you're ninety-nine percent right and the other person is one percent right. Vatranut is when you're one hundred percent right — and you still give in." Rav Steinman zt"l used to say, "My whole life, I never saw anyone give in and lose as a result." When a person does give in and it appears that he lost, he must know that he has a golden opportunity to capitalize on. When a person maintains his emunah in Hashem at a time when things seem so off, he can rise to great levels and earn endless reward. We need chizuk to be able to hold on and continue trusting in Hashem, especially when it seems that the good person loses while the one who did wrong is gaining. But if we are able to do it, we will gain so much. A man named Yaakov told me that about five years ago, his wife told him it was time for them and their six children to move from an apartment into a house. In the area where they lived, houses were very expensive. He called a real estate agent and said he could afford a total of $1.8 million. If he found something that needed fixing, he would pay $1.2 million and use $600,000 to renovate. Yaakov mentioned to people that he was looking, and one man he knew told him he was planning to sell his home, which was close to where Yaakov was living. Yaakov knew that house well. It was a house he wished he could afford, but he knew it would be far beyond his budget. The man invited him to come see it anyway. The house was spectacular, and the owner told Yaakov that whoever offered closest to three million dollars would get it. Yaakov discussed it with his wife, and they thought of a plan that would enable them to offer more than they originally thought they could afford. He offered $2.675 million, and the man accepted. They closed the deal, signed the contract, and Yaakov made the first payment and placed it in escrow. All that was left was for the lawyer to release the money to the owner. Yaakov assumed he would be moving in very shortly. But when he called the owner to discuss it, he did not answer. Yaakov called every day for four days, with no response. Finally, he received a voicemail from the owner saying that he realized he could get much more for the house and wanted Yaakov to pay $300,000 more. Yaakov called him back and said the deal was already closed. The owner refused to back down, and they ended up in beit din. In Yaakov's mind, it was an open-and-shut case. But the owner's lawyer told Yaakov's lawyer that he knew how to avoid reaching a conclusion in beit din and would never let them win. Yaakov was shocked. He called his rabbi, who said that under those circumstances they would be allowed to go to secular court. As they moved to the next stage of the dispute, Yaakov's wife told him that she no longer wanted that house. She said she did not want to live in a house that came through machloket, even though it was their dream home and even though she desperately wanted to move. Yaakov called his rabbi again, and the rabbi told him that he would definitely see blessing by giving in and avoiding machloket. Yaakov then called the owner, dropped the case, and asked only for his money back. He expected that in the next few weeks the heavens would open and shower him with blessing. But nothing happened. A year and a half went by, and they were still living in the same apartment. One day, a real estate agent called and offered him that same house which was now selling for $3.5 million. Eventually, it sold for $3.8 million. Yaakov called his rabbi again, asking where the blessing was. The man who had backed out had made more than a million dollars, and he was still stuck in his apartment. The rabbi told him, "No Jew was ever mevater and regretted it. You will see blessing." Another year and a half went by. Then a real estate agent called him to see a very nice house for sale. When Yaakov heard which house it was, he immediately said it would be far beyond his budget. The agent encouraged him to look anyway. The house was beyond anything he had ever imagined. He recognized the owner as a cousin of his, and after touring the house, they spoke together. Because they were family, the owner made him a generous offer. The house was selling for five million dollars, but he told Yaakov he would sell it to him for $3.8 million, and allow him to pay the remaining $1.2 million in eighteen months with no interest. They shook hands, overwhelmed with gratitude to Hashem. A few hours later, Yaakov received a call from the owner of the house, who quoted to him a line from the Gemara that when someone gives another person a present, he is obligated to inform him of it. He explained that he had originally been dealing with someone else who wanted to buy the house, but that person wanted to move in before Pesach, and he himself did not want to leave until after Pesach. That buyer had just called back and said he was willing to wait until after Pesach and was now offering six million dollars upfront. The owner told that man, "It looks like Hashem doesn't want you to have this house, because He just sent me someone else a couple of hours ago." Then he said to Yaakov, "The house is yours, because I already agreed to sell it to you, and I will not back out. If you want, you could flip it right now, sell it for six million dollars, and make a profit." Yaakov was floored. He stood there frozen, not believing the words he had just heard. When he told his wife, she had the same reaction. Here Hashem showed him so clearly how giving in was being rewarded. He received the house of his dreams in a wondrous way, and today he is living there happily, Baruch Hashem. In the end, that first house he had been going to buy is still having problems, and the sale was never even completed. A person who is mevater will never regret it. It may take years to see the blessing, but eventually it will come.

Chazal tell us, "Ein adam shome'a leey u'mafsid" — no one ever listens to Hashem and loses. When a person acts according to the will of Hashem, he always gains. He may not see the gain immediately. He may not see any result right away. But in the end, he always wins. Sometimes Hashem gives a person a very difficult test. If he acts honestly, he may lose money. If he speaks truthfully, he may lose an opportunity. If he refuses to cut corners, he may lose a deal, a job, or a position. And then the thought creeps in, "If I had just been a little less careful, I would have gained so much." But that thought is a mistake. It may look like he lost in the short term, but in the end he will only gain from doing what was right. Rarely do we see the reward immediately. Most of the time, the benefit comes later, in a way we never could have imagined. But when we do merit to see the reward right away, it gives us tremendous chizuk. An avreich from New York told the following story. His parents live in London, and from time to time he travels there with his family to visit them. One winter day, he traveled with his wife and children — five people altogether. There were many delays at the airport. When boarding finally began, he realized there were only a few minutes left to pray Mincha. As soon as he started the Amidah, an announcement was made: the flight was overbooked, and they were looking for volunteers to get off the plane. Anyone who agreed would receive a ticket for the next day and compensation of one thousand dollars. A thought flashed through his mind. Five people. Five thousand dollars. Money he could certainly use. He was about to raise his hand, but then he stopped himself. He was standing before Melech Malchei HaMelachim. It is forbidden to interrupt the Amidah, even with a gesture. The yetzer hara whispered, "You already lost your concentration. Make the sign quickly, and then you'll go back to praying properly." But he strengthened himself and said, "If this money is meant for me, Hashem will give it to me without my doing something forbidden." He continued praying with all his heart. A few moments after he finished, another announcement was made. Since no volunteers had come forward, the compensation was now raised to two thousand five hundred dollars per passenger. He went to the counter and accepted the offer. Later, he calculated. Five thousand dollars for changing the flight. And seven thousand five hundred dollars for not interrupting his prayer. Another woman told me her story. Her family had grown, several children were already married, and she no longer had room to host them. She and her husband were looking to buy a bigger home, but they did not want to leave their neighborhood. One day, a real estate agent called with an unbelievable opportunity. A huge lot with a small house in the exact area they wanted, at a price that almost never exists. They could buy it cheaply and use the extra money to build their dream home. Then they discovered that buying this property would seriously harm someone else. Without hesitation, she said no. People told them they were foolish. "Opportunities like this don't come twice," they said. But she refused. Less than two weeks later, the agent called again. Just one block away, an even better property was about to go on the market. Same size lot, similar house — and one hundred twenty-five thousand dollars cheaper. They bought it, built exactly what they needed, and saw clearly how Hashem had rewarded them for doing what was right. Most of the time, we do not see immediately how much we gain by choosing Hashem. But the rule never changes. No one ever lost by doing the will of Hashem. No one ever sacrificed for Hashem and came out the loser. In the end — always — the one who chooses what is right is the one who wins.

There are times when a person is faced with illness, and suddenly the entire world seems to revolve around doctors, tests, scans, diagnoses, and treatments. The more complicated the condition, the more the person tends to feel that everything is dependent on the doctor's words and the medications that he prescribes. If a person believes that the power to heal is in the hands of flesh and blood, then when the doctors say, "There is nothing more we can do," his hopes will collapse. Fortunately for us, we know the truth. The pasuk says,אני ה' רפאך- "I am Hashem, your Healer." Not the doctor is your healer, and not the medication is your healer. Rather, Hashem — and only Hashem — is our Healer. The more a person believes that, the more zechuyot he will gain, and the more likely it will be that he will be healed. Hashem is called the Borei Refuot, the One who creates the medications that we use to heal ourselves. Sometimes He creates a cure before we need it, and sometimes He creates a cure precisely when we need it. How many times has it happened that it seemed there was no hope, and suddenly a new treatment was discovered, a new approach was tried, and a recovery took place just in time. The treatment was discovered not because the medical world suddenly became wiser, but because Hashem decided that the time of healing had arrived. There is no illness for which Hashem lacks a cure. There is no condition for which He cannot create a new path of healing. The limitation is never in Hashem. It all depends on how much we are ready to trust in Him. We must go to doctors, and we must take medication, but we cannot put too much emphasis on them. We can never feel that without a specific doctor we cannot be healed, or without a certain medication we cannot be cured. A man told how he was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. It was recommended that he go to the biggest expert in the country in that particular field. The doctor, however, did not take insurance, and he needed to fill out forms to try to get approval for financial coverage. They refused his request, saying they had their own doctors who dealt with his issue. He tried every possible way to get approval — going to special committees, appealing to managers, explaining that it was a matter of life and death — but nothing helped. So he went to a doctor who was not recommended. That doctor told him that for his specific illness there was no standard medication, but this doctor knew something that others did not. At that very time, a new medication was being developed for precisely this type of sickness. That doctor was part of the development team, and when they reached the stage of trying the medication on patients, he included him in the trial — even though, according to the rules, he should not have been eligible. Baruch Hashem, he received the medication, and his life was saved. Six months later, the medication was approved for public use — but by then it would have been too late for him. Hashem led this man to the exact messenger through whom He wanted to give him the cure that He Himself had created. We are always in Hashem's hands. The more we know that, the more we trust that only He can heal, and the more heavenly help we will receive.

As we know, the miracles that Hashem performed at Yetziat Mitzrayim were not only to take revenge on the Egyptians. They were also to teach us lessons that we would need for all generations. Rabbi Menashe Reizman quoted Rabbeinu Chaim Paltiel, who explained one of those lessons. The Egyptians believed in numerous gods, and every one of them was connected to their source of parnassah. They worshipped the sheep that gave them parnassah. They worshipped the Nile River that gave them parnassah. They worshipped Pharaoh, who they believed gave them parnassah. And Hashem made a mockery of all those gods, including the Baal Tzafon. Baal Tzafon was the place where Yosef hid all of the treasures that he accumulated during the years of famine. As long as Baal Tzafon stood, the Egyptians felt secure. It was their insurance policy. Even if the Nile failed, even if their livestock died, even if everything else collapsed, they still had mountains of gold hidden away there. Pharaoh emptied that treasure house and gave everything to the Egyptians in order to convince them to chase the Jews into the Yam Suf. That is what caused them to ultimately drown there, and that is how all of that wealth was transferred to Am Yisrael. Hashem was showing us that all of the things the Egyptians believed in were nothing. It was only Him who controlled everything. Sometimes a person becomes so wrapped up in his parnassah that he begins to trust in it. And if there is an issue with the product, or the customer, or the boss, he begins to tremble in fear that his parnassah is in jeopardy. Believing in the cause of parnassah is very similar to believing in the Egyptian deities. The Gemara says that whoever is somech geulah l'tefillah, no harm will befall him that day. Rabbeinu Yonah explains that if a person truly absorbs the message of the geulah from Mitzrayim, he will nullify all other imagined sources of help and rely fully on HaKadosh Baruch Hu. Only then can he truly pray. So long as a person believes that his refuah is in the hands of the doctor, and his future is in the hands of a diagnosis, how can he truly mean the words כי אל רופא רחמן ונאמן אתה that he says in tefilah? The more emotional involvement a person has in his hishtadlut, the weaker his emunah becomes. When it comes to parnassah, when a person truly believes that only Hashem is giving it to him, that only Hashem is marrying off his children, and that only Hashem is giving each person the house he needs to live in, then his kavanah in prayer becomes deep and real. First a person must nullify all other sources of support in the berachah of Ga'al Yisrael, and only then can he begin the Amidah properly. The Arugat HaBosem explains that the main essence of every berachah in the amidah is in its conclusion: כי אל גואל חזק אתה כי אל טוב וסלח אתה כי אל טוב ומטיב אתה Even though we must make hishtadlut, the Chazon Ish warns that we must not have emotional attachment to it. We must not lose our composure when hearing bad news about the industry we work in. Rather, we should remain calm, with the serenity of one who trusts that the same Hashem who helped him yesterday in one way can help him today in another way. The Gemara says that someone whose mind is preoccupied with worry in the performance of a mitzvah can be exempt from Keriat Shema. Then the Gemara asks: what about someone whose mind is preoccupied with worry because his merchandise sank at sea? Should he also be exempt? The Gemara answers no. He must remove the worry from his heart, because Hashem can provide his livelihood from somewhere else instantly. In fact, sometimes it is precisely through the sinking of the ship that his livelihood will come. Like the story of Rav Huna, who had four hundred barrels of wine turn sour into vinegar. One opinion in the Gemara says that afterward the emperor's daughter became ill and needed vinegar for healing. Suddenly vinegar was in great demand, and Rav Huna sold all of his vinegar at a great profit. He did not need wine in order to succeed. Hashem gave him even greater blessing through vinegar. Part of the purpose of Yetziat Mitzrayim is to bring us to one clear conclusion: כי אין כמוני בכל הארץ-there is no one like Hashem. Everything we could ever want or need comes only from Him. And the more deeply we believe that, the greater our tefillot and our avodat Hashem will become.

In this week's parasha, Va'era , we read about seven of the makot which Hashem brought upon the Mitzrim . The Ramban says one of the lessons we are supposed to learn from the makot is that in the same way it was obvious that Hashem was behind those open miracles, it's also supposed to be obvious that Hashem is controlling the world through nature as well. If a person's roof is leaking, it is Hashem who caused it to happen. If a person's car got dented, it was Hashem who made it happen. If a person made money through a business deal, it was Hashem who made the deal for him. And whenever a person receives any type of help from another individual, it was Hashem who brought it about. Each time a person experiences any situation in life and he attributes what happens to the workings of Hashem, that is included in the mitzvah of אנכי ה' אלוקיך אשר הוצאתיך מארץ מצרים. A woman told, she was going through a lot of hardships. When Chanukah came, she managed to put them out of her mind and was looking forward to spending one of the evenings at her parents' house who were hosting a Chanukah party. That night when her son came home from school, he was very upset about his basketball practice. He made everyone in the house miserable because of it and, in the end, things got so bad, they didn't end up going to her parents' party. This made matters much worse. The next day, she did not want to talk to anyone, especially her son. That evening, her husband reminded her they had a Bar Mitzvah to attend. She wasn't feeling well, she was in a terrible mood and did not want to go, but she forced herself to go because it was the Bar Mitzvah of a close friend of theirs. She sat at a table there feeling sorry for herself, not wanting to talk to anyone. But then, a friend came over to say hello and that friend began talking to her about how difficult it has been raising her children. And then she mentioned, her eldest son, who was a senior in high school, just spent the whole night crying because his basketball team lost the game and it has been a strain on the house. This woman couldn't believe the hashgacha that was taking place. Here, she felt her son's attitude which ruined the previous night was so silly and now a friend, who she hadn't spoken to in a very long time, comes over to tell her the same thing happened in her house. This gave the woman so much chizuk . She felt Hashem talking to her and was able to move on happily, despite all the problems she was having. Her belief that it was Hashem who orchestrated that, and sent that friend to talk to her, is a mitzvah in its own right. So in addition to all of the other benefits that she received from that meeting, she also got a spiritual elevation by fulfilling a mitzvah. A relative of mine told me that for whatever reason, she hadn't made chulent in the past three months. This past Shabbat, she prepared it and, as usual, was planning to plug in the crock pot right before she lit the candles, but it completely slipped her mind. Her housekeeper had polished the tray that her candles are set upon this past week and therefore the tray was a little out of place so she moved the tray back into place and, all of a sudden, a small folded yellow piece of paper came out from underneath and fell right into her hands. She opened the paper and it had just one word on it. " Chulent ." She had written that note three months before to remind herself not to forget to plug in the crock pot. And on this day, it "accidentally" fell into her hands. She was so excited seeing how Hashem reminded her to plug in her crock pot. Although one could look at this and say, "Yeah, that just happened to be," she is fulfilling a mitzvah by believing it was all done by hashgacha peratit . The more we accustom ourselves to seeing the yad Hashem in everything that happens, the more we will be fulfilling the main purposes of Hashem's performances of the makot in Mitzrayim . Shabbat Shalom.

Our parnasa is only b'yad Hashem, nobody can take away money that Hashem wants us to have. הרבה שלוחים למקום – Hashem has many ways of giving us parnasa . Our job is to deal in business the way Hashem wants us to – honestly, keeping our word, and being upright. He decides how much we make and where it comes from and we do our part by doing business according to halacha . A man we'll call Yosef told me, he started listening to emunah classes a couple of years ago and he has become a completely different person when it comes to money. He knows now, he only works for Hashem and his main concern is doing what Hashem wants him to do. This past year, he did a job for a customer and the customer began nitpicking every step of the way. The customer mentioned to him that someone stole a lot of money from him and, when the job was completed, the customer said he was not paying the balance due - $30,000. He seemed to think that because someone wronged him, he was allowed to wrong someone else to get his money back. Yosef told him that he did everything he was supposed and deserved to be paid, but the customer was adamant about not paying. They went to a rabbi for advice to resolve the matter and the rabbi told the customer, "You owe the $30,000." The customer nodded his head, but later on refused to pay. Yosef said to himself, I worked honestly, I did my hishtadlut, Hashem is my boss, He will pay me the way He wants to . He mentioned that he sits next to that customer in the same shul, his children play with his children, but he did not tell anybody about what happened. He doesn't hold a grudge against that man and he would never speak lashon hara about him. The day after he decided to let the money go and not cause a machloket over it, he received a phone call for a very easy job that earned him $75,000. He works for Hashem and Hashem is the only One who matters to him. What an inspiring attitude to live by! It is so clear that our parnasa comes only from Hashem. A Rabbi told me, he was once learning with a very wealthy man and, after they finished, another man walked up to them and he told the wealthy man he had a tip on a stock and told him to buy it right away. On the spot, the wealthy man called his broker to place the order. It was a cheap stock and he told the broker to buy one million shares. A few days later, once again while the wealthy man was learning with the rabbi, the other man came over to them and apologized that the stock went down. The wealthy man said, "What do you mean went down? I made millions on it, thank you!" "Are we talking about the same stock?" said the other man. They looked into it and saw that the wealthy man accidentally told the broker the wrong symbol of the stock. The stock he bought went up while the other one went down. In fact, he said, the president of that company called him asking him why he bought so many shares. He thanked him because he was the cause of the stock rising. If Hashem wants someone to make money, that person's going to make the money. He is the only One we need to impress and He wants honesty and integrity. When people see us acting the way Hashem wants us to act, it also brings about a great kiddush Hashem.

For a 20% discount on Rabbi Ashear's new book on Parnassah click the link below and enter Promo Code - Emunah20 https://www.artscroll.com/ Books/9781422640708.html Some people say they can't pick up a siddur to pray with. They feel betrayed. They had invested hundreds of tefillot, day and night, crying out to Hashem for help, but never got what they were asking for. They weren't asking for luxuries, and they knew it was so easy for Hashem to give it to them. They don't think that they are so bad that they shouldn't deserve what they were asking for. The only conclusion they have is that prayer doesn't really work, at least not for them, so why should they bother continuing with it. It is certainly not easy to deal with disappointment, but we must know this is one of our main jobs in this world. For someone like this to say, “I trust you, Hashem. I know You hear every word that I say, and I know You love my prayers,” and he continues to pray, it would elevate him so much. The prayers from a person who has so many reasons to turn away are so valuable. Every tefila is a mitzvah in its own right, and will earn a person eternal life, especially when it's so hard for him to do. Every tefila is heard, and every tefila counts. A businessman in Yerushalayim needed $300,000 to take his business to the next level, and went to the bank to apply for a loan. The bank dragged their feet and did not give him an answer for two months. During that time, he prayed so hard for heavenly help. He went to Meron to pray by the kever of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai. He went to the Kotel numerous times. The day they finally called back, he was in the car, and immediately recognized the number of the bank manager lighting up on his phone. The first words he heard was, “I'm sorry, I hate to disappoint you, but we can't approve your loan.” To him, this loan was his entire future. His head started to ache, and he felt dizzy. He couldn't continue driving, so he pulled over to the side of the road. He thought of all the heartfelt tefilot that he had made. He said to himself, “ Ribono Shel Olam , what happened to all my prayers? Weren't they worth anything?” He was ready to give up on prayer altogether, but then he stopped himself, and he reminded himself of the basic principles of emunah. He said to himself, if Hashem decided not to give me this loan, that means it was the best possible outcome. He sat there for ten minutes, giving himself chizuk in emunah, and then he was ready to continue driving. As he was going to pull away, an elderly man knocked on his window, asking him for a ride. When the man got in the car, he asked if he could relate a short devar Torah . He then went on to give a mashal of how every tefila we make is heard by Hashem and connects us to Hashem. The man was floored. Exactly when he needed that chizuk , a man came into his car and asked him if he could relate that chiddush to him. That evening, he went back to the Kotel to pray, this time with deep-rooted emunah. He accepted Hashem's decision about the bank, and then he asked Hashem to give him the money in a different way. The very next morning, his accountant called and told him, he just found out that the government is giving financial backing to small businesses, but there are two conditions to get it. Number one, he had to have all the papers ready in two days. And number two, only someone with no outside financial backing qualified for the offer. Since he had just applied for the loan, he had all the papers ready, and because he was denied for that loan, he qualified for this much better offer. Nobody knows what we need better than Hashem. Sometimes all we need is just to keep praying more.