There is a beautiful Sefer about Rav Yehezkiel Abramsky called Melech B’Yofyo/ The King in his Beauty.
I recently opened it and saw some beautiful concepts on Emuna and Bitachon that I’d like to share.
Rav Abramsky says (page 602) that the Rambam speaks about the importance of getting hizzuk from your mezuza. He say that whenever a person walks out the door, and looks at or touches the mezuza and thinks, “Hashem Elokenu Hashem Echad,” he realizes that nothing stands forever, other than the knowledge of God.
The knowledge of God is the only lasting truth, and the mezuza gives us that message.
When Rav Abramsky would walk out of his door, he would touch the mezuzah and say, “God I am leaving my house now and I am healthy. I ask of You that I should come back healthy as well.”
The mezuza was his reminder and messenger from God, of these truths.
He explained his approach based a pasuk in tehilim where David Hamelech says( 123,2)
הִנֵּ֨ה כְעֵינֵ֪י עֲבָדִ֡ים אֶל־יַ֤ד אֲֽדוֹנֵיהֶ֗ם כְּעֵינֵ֣י שִׁפְחָה֮ אֶל־יַ֢ד גְּבִ֫רְתָּ֥הּ כֵּ֣ן עֵ֭ינֵינוּ אֶל ה׳ אֱלֹהֵ֑ינוּ עַ֝֗ד שֶׁיְּחׇנֵּֽנוּ׃
Like servants look up to their masters, like a maid looks up to her mistress.
A servant looks up to his master for permission before he goes forward on anything.. So too our eyes are to God. He asks why the stress on the word eyes. The eyes of the maid servant, our eyes to God, and he explains that it’s because we see Him with our eyes, for every need and desire, we look forward to talking to Him and asking Him. All that when walking out the front door.
This is a life’s work.
Every day, when we put on our Tefilin ( and even ladies that don’t put on tefilin) we say,
(Hoshea 2,22)
וְאֵרַשְׂתִּ֥יךְ לִ֖י בֶּאֱמוּנָ֑ה וְיָדַ֖עַתְּ אֶת ה׳
I will betroth you with faith and you will know God.
He explained that this betrothal is the first step of marriage, which is Emuna. This means that the first connection that man has with his Creator is through the simple faith that you believe that God exists. In order to make that connection more solid, more lasting and more clear, requires knowing God- and it’s a life’s work to keep working on that.
He further explains that we say in Alenu Leshabeach, “Emet Malkenu/God is true, which means He is a lasting independent existence, as the Rambam says Hashem Elokechem Emet/
God exists. That’s one level, and we are all equal on that belief. But he says that regarding the next two words, Efes Zulato/There is nothing else but Him, there are endless levels.
How much do we truly realize that Efes Zulato/There is nothing else but God?
It was said by his confidants that whenever Rabbi Abramsky was asked about something, such as whether he would be speaking somewhere the next day, his answer was, “If He allows me,” and the He was God. Whenever he referred to someone, he’d use their name, but the standard terms of He and Him were reserved for God. If He helps me, if He gives me strength.
That was his constant connection of having God on his mind.
As we have said, this is a life’s work, but this is a way to make it real, or as it is called, Emuna Hushit/Faith in your senses. You sense God, you talk to Him and you see Him and feel Him in your life.
At the end of his life, Rabbi Abramsky lived near Rabbi Ades in Bayit V’Gan, and they spoke quite often. Rabbi Ades said that Rabbi Abramsky used to show others his hand, and ask what the distance was between the fingernail and the flesh. The people would respond that there was no space between them, to which Rav Abramsky would reply, “My connection to God is even closer, than the fingernail to the finger. ” What does that mean? Rabbi Ades would explain that as close as a nail is to the flesh of the finger, they are still two separate entities. But a person is supposed to be connected to God in such a way that they are not two entities. You are totally connected. That is the connection that we are supposed to reach.