In this week's parashat Toledot, the Torah tells us, "וַיִּזְרַע יִצְחָק בָּאָרֶץ הַהִוא וַיִּמְצָא בַּשָּׁנָה הַהִוא מֵאָה שְׁעָרִים וַיְבָרֲכֵהוּ ה׳." Yitzchak planted in that land, and in that year, he produced a hundred times more than normal because Hashem blessed him.
Rashi points out that the Torah here is emphasizing two things. First, it says בָּאָרֶץ הַהִוא — in that land, because the land itself was not particularly good. It was difficult to cultivate. And then it says בַּשָּׁנָה הַהִוא — in that year, because it was a year of famine, when the land was not producing as it normally would.
Yet, despite the poor quality of the land and the difficult conditions, Yitzchak's crops produced a hundred times more than usual. Because when Hashem wants to give a person success, the circumstances don't matter. Even when it looks like everything is working against a person, Hashem can bring him berachah beyond anything he could ever imagine.
Rav Chaim Malin, who was learning in Yeshivat Beit Midrash Elyon in Bnei Brak, related a beautiful story about himself. He spent a very long time working on a sefer, gathering material from the Rishonim and Acharonim on a certain halachic topic regarding eating. After tremendous effort, he finally completed the sefer and received haskamot from gedolim.
But he didn't have the money to print it. He approached generous individuals, explaining the importance of his sefer and asking for their help. But despite all his efforts, he hadn't even raised half the money he needed.
Around that time, his father was traveling to America to raise funds for different organizations. Before leaving, he told his son that while he was there, he would also try to find a sponsor for his sefer. There was one particular person he had in mind, a wealthy relative.
Rav Chaim had already tried contacting that relative himself, but he never responded. Still, his father said he would give it his best effort.
On the day of the meeting, Rav Chaim kept calling his father to find out what was happening. Each time, his father told him, "I'm still waiting."
His father had been sitting in the man's office in Manhattan for hours, waiting for an opportunity to speak with him. Eventually, the employees began leaving for the day. One by one, everyone went home, until his father was the only one left in the office waiting.
By that time, he had almost given up hope of having a regular meeting with him. He was just hoping that maybe on the way to his car, he could speak to him for a few moments.
Meanwhile, it was already very late at night in Israel, and his father told him, "Go to sleep. It doesn't look like I'm going to have any good news for you tonight. If anything happens, I'll leave you a voicemail."
Rav Chaim was so disappointed. He had really been hoping that this meeting would provide the funds he needed.
Before going to sleep, he called one of his friends and told him what was going on. He explained how his father had been waiting all day, how late it was, and how it didn't seem like anything would work out now.
His friend told him, "Just because things don't look good doesn't mean there's no hope. Hashem can always help. Let me tell you a story that happened with my father. Actually, you can read it yourself. It was printed in the Pesach edition of Peninei Parashat HaShavua. It's a story about how, even when everything seemed hopeless, there was still hope."
Rav Chaim replied, "I have those bulletins. I save them. I'll go look for it."
But when he went to look, he couldn't find that edition. Instead, he came across a different issue, from Parashat Behar, and decided to read the story in that edition.
It was a story about a Rosh Yeshiva who had traveled to raise money for his yeshiva, and the fundraising wasn't going well. As the end of his trip approached, it seemed impossible that he would get the money he needed.
But then the Rosh Yeshiva strengthened himself in bitachon, reminding himself that Hashem cared about his needs even more than he did, and that Hashem could still provide everything he needed, regardless of how little time remained.
Once he strengthened his bitachon, everything started to change. The money began coming in, and in the end, he accomplished his goal.
When Rav Chaim finished reading that story, he was amazed.
He said to himself, "This is from Shamayim. I was about to give up hope. My friend gives me chizuk not to give up. He sends me to read one story, and instead I find a different story with the exact message I need to hear."
So before going to sleep, he began strengthening himself. He told himself, "Hashem runs the world. All the money in the world belongs to Him. It's nothing for Him to give me what I need. He can help me in a second, and it doesn't matter which person the money comes from. Hashem has unlimited ways of bringing it."
He continued giving himself chizuk until he felt a true sense of calm. He had done his hishtadlut, and now he was placing the matter in Hashem's hands. He actually went to sleep peacefully.
The next morning, when he woke up, he saw that his father had left him a voicemail. And he was overjoyed when he listened to it.
His father told him that despite how late it had become, the wealthy relative had finally come out and greeted him with tremendous honor, giving him all the time he needed. His father told him about the needs of all the institutions he had come to collect for, and the man generously agreed to everything he asked for.
And then his father mentioned his son's sefer.
The wealthy relative, who had never returned any of Rav Chaim's calls, agreed to sponsor the entire remaining balance needed to print the sefer.
In one meeting, everything changed. It was a complete success.
We should all take chizuk from this story. Hashem has the ability to give us everything we need, whether it's health, wisdom, nachat, parnasah, or any other yeshuah.
Sometimes we look at our situation and can't imagine how things could still work out. We've tried everything, and all the doors seem to be closed. But that's only what we can see. Hashem is never limited by circumstances.
Sometimes He's waiting for us to strengthen our emunah and bitachon and recognize that only He is in control. Not just to say the words, but to truly believe them. No matter how impossible things may seem, we have to believe that the yeshuah can still come.
The more we strengthen ourselves in that belief, the greater the zechut we have to receive His unlimited chesed.
Shabbat Shalom.