Welcome to the Daily Chizuk (encouragement). Chazal (the Sages) tell us that prayer, charity, and repentance can annul a harsh decree. It could have been decided that a person deserves a certain onesh (punishment), but that could still be changed right now. We know repentance erases our sins as if they never happened. We know charity gives us unbelievable merits, and if it is hard to give, the merits are even greater.
Rabbi Falk told the story of a very wealthy man who moved from Toronto to Beit Shemesh, but ever since he relocated, his business took a turn for the worse. Not only wasn’t he making money, but he was even losing money. The man wanted to know if he was still obligated to give tzedakah (charity), since he didn’t have an income. So he sent a question to two of the Gedolei HaDor (great sages of the generation), Rav Chaim Kanievsky and Rav Aharon Leib Shteinman, zichronam livracha (may their memories be for a blessing). They both said the same thing: According to the law, you don’t have to give anything, but the merit of charity in your situation can bring you blessings. They told him to give as much as he could afford. They said that, of course, all charities are worthy and good, but he should primarily give to Torah institutions to get the additional merit of Torah study.
He pledged to give $50,000 a month for the upcoming year. Two weeks later, he received a phone call from a place where he had invested 10 years earlier. That investment was a flop. He invested $20 million there, and he lost it all. The person on the phone said they were going through their records and found that they never invested $16 of his $20 million, so they were going to send him a check back for $16 million now. The merit of tzedakah is unbelievable. It could overturn a decree.
But the Sefer Otzrot HaTorah asks: How does prayer overturn a decree? If you deserve something, why should just asking to change it help? The rabbi explained with a story that took place 150 years ago. Rabbi Yeshayah Bardaki decided to make aliyah (immigration to Israel) with his wife and two small children. His wife preceded him to Israel to establish living arrangements, while he stayed back in Europe with the children. When he received word that everything was ready, he booked a voyage on a small boat. Two weeks into the journey, they encountered a violent storm, and the boat cracked in half. The children clung to their father for dear life as he started to swim against the raging river. After swimming for hours, he began to lose his strength. He couldn’t go on like this anymore. He thought, “Maybe if one child would ride on the center of my back, I still might be able to make it. But who could I possibly tell to let go?” His daughter’s grip began to loosen, and as she started falling away, she yelled, “Daddy, Daddy, please don’t let me drown in the river.” This heart-rending cry from his precious little girl gave him a burst of new strength. He put her on his back, and he swam all the way back to shore, using every ounce of energy he had. His daughter said afterwards, “Thank you, Daddy, for saving me.” And the rabbi said back, “I didn’t save you; you saved yourself. I was at the end of my strength, but your cry of ‘Daddy, Daddy’ infused me with a strength that I didn’t have.”
When the rabbi finally reached Eretz Yisrael (Israel), he related the story and applied a lesson. He said, “Sometimes a person can find himself in a situation where, according to the rules and regulations that Hashem set up, a certain fate has to happen. But when a person cries out to Hashem and says, ‘Daddy, Daddy, please help,’ and realizes that only Hashem can help, it gives Hashem, so to speak, a new strength to override the regular rules and change the outcome.” Let us take advantage of these wonderful gifts that Hashem made available to us, and may we experience the glorious feeling of Yeshu'at Hashem (Hashem’s salvation). Have a great day.