Welcome to the Daily Chizuk. Yesterday we spoke about one of the lessons David HaMelech taught his son Shlomo regarding the construction of the first Beit HaMikdash: if you don't have Hashem's help in the building, the builders are toiling in vain. But then he taught him a second lesson. He said, “If Hashem will not guard the city, then the efforts of the guards will be in vain.” You may have the best possible army, the greatest strategies, the top ammunition, but if you don't have Hashem guarding, it will all be for nothing.
Rabbi Falk explained that this lesson goes a step further than the first one. It's natural for a Jew to understand that when I'm starting something new, I need Hashem's help. But people tend to feel secure in maintaining their current situations. David HaMelech is teaching us, “Don't take anything for granted.” Just because you have Hashem's help, you don't have to worry about anything. If you have something, it doesn't mean it's secure. If you don't have Hashem protecting it, there's nothing you can do to maintain it.
We wake up every day and are taught to thank Hashem that we're alive, and not to take for granted that just because we had life yesterday, we will have life today. We are being trained from the moment we wake up to know that we need Hashem's help for maintenance as well. The same is true of the whole Birkot HaShachar. We thank Hashem every day for our sechel (intellect), for our ablution, for our eyesight, and for our clothing. Just because it was here yesterday, we don't take for granted that it will be here today. We thank Hashem that we have a floor to stand on. How many people didn't have a floor to stand on during the hurricane? There were hospitals flooded. The NYU hospital had to evacuate because none of the backup generators worked, even though most were on the high floors. There were 8 million homes without power. We had to wait on line for hours, forgetting... There were shortages; stores were out of food, and we couldn't get deliveries. How could all this happen in modern times, when we have everything at our fingertips? Hashem was showing us: Im Hashem lo yishmor ir (if Hashem will not guard the city). If Hashem doesn't want us to have it now, it's not going to be there. Nothing we have could be taken for granted.
Rabbi Miller used to say, “If you see someone with a handicap or any type of deficiency...” Some people find security in their money. There were many people who converted their money into gold and stored it in the basement of the World Trade Center, and it all got melted. I read an article last year about an elderly couple who spent their lives as teachers and were ready to retire with a life savings of nearly a million dollars when they discovered it was all gone in a Ponzi scheme. We have to realize that everything we have is only there because Hashem is constantly guarding it for us.
Having children. It's a big simcha (joy) to have your first child, but it's not always easy for everyone. Yet having children becomes taken for granted. There's a concept called chazaka. Once something happens three times, it's presumed to happen again. People might tend to get used to a certain blessing and just expect it to continue. But Leah Imeinu didn't make this mistake. When she had her fourth child, she said, “Hapa'am odeh et Hashem”—now I'm going to thank Hashem. Why, after four children, did she thank Hashem? So Chazal (the Sages) told us one thing. But I heard in the name of the Ketav Sofer that Leah wanted to thank Hashem for allowing her to be a mother. Even though she had three children already, she had a chazaka. It's presumed she'll have another one. But Leah didn't want to take anything for granted. Just because something is there already, it's no guarantee that it will continue.
We say every day in the tefillah (prayer), Atah Chonen (You graciously grant), Refa'enu (Heal us), barech aleinu (Bless us). Even though we have money and health, we pray to Hashem to maintain them, because if Hashem doesn't protect the city, Shav, shakad, shomer (then the efforts of the guards will be in vain). Have a great day.