Welcome to the daily chizuk (encouragement). As we prepare for the Yom Tov (holiday) of Shavuot, it's worthwhile to note how emunah (faith) and bitachon (trust) play a role in this holiday.
We read every day in the tefillah (prayer) and Ahavat Olam that Hashem should grant us understanding of Torah in the merit of our forefathers, who had trust and bitachon in you and to whom you taught Torah. What's the connection between our forefathers' bitachon and Hashem teaching them Torah? Rav Chaim Kanievsky shlita (may he live long) explains: Our ancestors were willing to go into the desert without food and trusted that Hashem would take care of them, and because of that they merited to receive the Torah. The Gemara in Masechet (tractate) Shabbat also says we merited the Torah because we said, “We'll do and we will hear.” First, we accepted without even knowing what's in it. We showed total trust in Hashem.
Practically speaking, a person needs bitachon to be able to learn Torah now, because Torah requires full focus to really understand. A person who worries and doesn't know how to throw his burdens on Hashem will have trouble focusing. So on one hand, emunah and bitachon are necessary for us to merit the Torah. On the other hand, the Torah is the greatest tool to give us more emunah.
The Vilna Gaon writes in his Perush (commentary). He says the main purpose of Torah is—the whole purpose of us getting the Torah and mitzvot (commandments) is in order for us to recognize that Hashem is running the world and only He decides everything that happens. And this knowledge should lead us to always feel at ease, knowing our loving Father is taking care of us. And this recognition is a tremendous service to Hashem. It brings glory to Hashem's name in this world. And the closer we are to Hashem, the more we'll want to fulfill His will.
And Baruch Hashem, with the daily emunah, we're trying to bring more of a recognition of Hashem into our lives. I would like to share with you a few stories that our listeners have sent back, describing how they have come to see Hashem more in their lives.
One man said he started writing a hashgacha pratit (divine providence) journal, and any time he feels a situation arising, he writes it down and leaves space to see how Hashem is going to take him out of it. His most recent issue was that he was running very low on money. He owed money to the credit card companies and was embarrassed to ask for help. He turned to Hashem and said, “Hashem, please help me.” He said that two days later, his father handed him a check for $10,000. It was a gift from his grandmother.
Another man told how, when he was younger, he was kidnapped. He was told to pray to Yeshu or he'd be killed. He refused and said, “I only pray to my God.” He said that ever since that day, he clearly saw how Hashem had saved him over a hundred times. The most recent time was 11 years ago, when the doctors gave him just six months to live.
Another man told how he and his wife used to eat fish and pasta in non-kosher restaurants. They stopped a few years ago. But recently, on vacation, they broke down and went with their friends. At the end of the meal, the waitress accidentally knocked a glass of red wine all over his pants and onto his wife, who was wearing a new silk dress. He said, “Hashem was sending us a message that couldn't be more obvious.”
Many told stories of how, when they needed to find something in a book, Hashem directed them to the right page. They're all seeing Hashem. A man said that he saw a cell phone on the floor. He looked at it as an opportunity Hashem was giving him to get a zechut (merit) that he needed. So he spent a lot of time tracking down the owner and returning it. He said that the next day, his wife lost her phone in a grocery store. It was broken. It was found by a goy (non-Jew), who answered the phone when she called and gladly returned it.
We don't have time to go through all the stories, but the last story I'd like to read to you word for word. Someone said, “A few nights ago, our phone rang at 4 a.m. We were startled awake as I fumbled to answer the phone with my heart pounding. It was the wrong number. As I lay back in bed, my very first thought was to thank Hashem for the yisurim (suffering) of the scare and the disturbed sleep, and to appreciate that what could have been an emergency was just a wrong number. All this went through my head as my heart regained its normal beat and I fell back into my slumber. My emunah was on autopilot. Not bad for 4 a.m.”
Let us try to see Hashem more in our lives and accomplish the main purpose of why the Torah was given, like the Vilna Gaon said: just so that we could place our bitachon in Hashem. Chag Sameach.