What's the Difference?

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Daily Emunah Podcast - Daily Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear

Religion & Spirituality


The Pasuk says in Tehilim: " והבוטח בה' חסד יסובבנו "-which is normally interpreted to mean that if a person has Bitachon in Hashem, then Hashem will reward him by surrounding him with kindness. But, it could also mean that if someone trusts in Hashem and lives with Hashem, he will always feel the kindness of Hashem, no matter what is happening in his life. There are many things that can disturb a person's happiness. People find themselves in different places and situations; they are scared about what the future holds. We have a lot of needs: Health, money, children and Shalom Bayit. We beg Hashem for mercy to help us with those needs. We sometimes feel that if we don't get what we want, we can't be happy. But there is one thing that if we had more of, we would never get depressed or complain. That one thing is Bitachon in Hashem. Besides for asking Hashem for all our needs, we need to ask Him to help us have more Bitachon in Him. If we would have that, we'd have everything. Rabbi Lugassi gave a parable of a son begging his father for help. He said, "Dad, please, I'm cold outside. I need a coat; I need shoes; I need money." The father responded, "My son, why are you staying outside? Come in the house and live with me. Then you won't be missing anything." We ask Hashem, "Please give me this, give me that." But we can all enter the house of Hashem, as it were, and live with Him. Then we would realize that we don't need as much as we thought we did. We could be happy even now, when we don't have what we want. Rabbi Avraham Ya'akov, known as the Sadigura Rebbe, was renowned for his wisdom and witty speech. He was a Torah Giant who influenced hundreds of thousands of Jews in his lifetime. He was constantly surrounded by students and lived like a king in a palatial home in Sadigura. He was also the rabbi of an enormous synagogue and was admired by the greatest rabbis of his generation. But at one point in his life, in the mid 1800's, he was incarcerated for fifteen months, in a damp, cold cell in Russia, with little to eat. On one occasion, his father in law, the great Rav Aharon of Karlin, came to visit him in jail. He asked him how he was doing, and Rabbi Avraham responded, " מה לי הכא, ומה לי התם -What's the difference where I am, as long as I'm doing the will of Hashem, everything is great. I'm where Hashem wants me to be right now." For someone who was accustomed to royalty to make that statement in such conditions means that he lived with Hashem. The rabbi understood that we are in this world to do what Hashem wants us to do, not what we want to do. As long as we are accomplishing that, life is great. What does Hashem want from us? To do His will the best we can in the exact situation he puts us in. If that means being in jail, the rabbi said, "Let it be." If it means having less money, that's also fine. If that's what we're here for, then we're never missing anything, because Hashem is always giving us exactly what we need to do our jobs. David Hamelech said, " ואני קרבת אלוקים לי טוב "-For me, as long as I am close to Hashem, everything is always good.