We continue to share lessons from Rav Yehezkiel Abramsky, from the sefer Melech B’Yofyo.
He says (page 606) that Every Jew has to constantly work on keeping his Emuna fresh and allowing it to grow in quality. He says that for some reason, we treat Emuna differently than other qualities. He says that when it comes to middot/character traits, people understand that we constantly have to refine them to become better, as we get older and become more and more complete. However, he says, for some reason, people remain satisfied with the Emuna of their youth. He uses the mashal of a Talet Katan/ small Talet or Sisit. When a boy is three years old, he might get a size small, decorated with the aleph bet and a locomotive on it. Then, as the child gets older and grows, he gets bigger and bigger sized Sisit, until eventually, he’s a size 24.
But when it comes to Emuna, he says that many people are still wearing the ‘Talet katan’ from when they were three years old, assuming that as they grow, their Emuna will grow as well, like a snail whose shell grows with him, or like the miracle for the Jews in the desert, whose clothing grew with them. We assume that somehow, naturally, our Emuna will grow as well.
But that is a mistake. Emuna does not grow naturally. Nothing just happens naturally. You have to work on it. He says that one of the things to think about is the hessed/kindness of Hashem that happens in the lack of things-The lack of challenges, and the lack of problems. That is also a great miracle, and it’s something to be constantly cognizant of. He said that in the Bet HaMikdash there were ten miracles, but if you look at those miracles, most of them were a lack of something. A lady did not have a miscarriage, rain never put out the fire, a fly was never seen in the area of slaughtering… These are all “lack- of” miracles.
He says that every second of our lives is a constant miracle, due to the fact that the Jewish people are like a sheep surrounded by 70 wolves. That is constant miracles. It’s the lack of attacks. Or even just sitting around a table with your family is a miracle. The fact that you can sit around, and nothing is going wrong is a miracle. It’s a Hessed Henam/free gift of Hessed from Hashem.
As we once said from Rabbi Ades, if a person goes to sleep at night and he’s not in the emergency room, he should dance a jig. But why? Nothing happened- and that’s exactly the point. Nothing happened. Everything is the way it is supposed to be. I was recently in the presence of a man who had serious emergency surgery in his neck due a clogged carotid artery. Someone asked him how he was doing, and he said, “If I get up in the morning, it is a great day.“ That’s exactly the way to look at it. If you get up in the morning, it is a great day- nothing went wrong. That is delving into Emuna, and letting it grow with you, and not taking things for granted.
During the Six Day war, when the Arabs surrounded and tried to wipe out the Jewish people, Rabbi Abramsky was living in Bayit V’Gan. He walked the streets in a relaxed and calm manner, with a big smile on his face. A Jew met up with him and asked what would be, as they were in tremendous danger. From where they stood, they were able to look around and see the mountains surrounding Yerushalayim. The Rabbi told the man, “Look at the mountains surrounding Yerushalayim. David Hamelech said (Tehilim 125,2)
יְֽרוּשָׁלַ֗͏ִם הָרִים֮ סָבִ֢יב לָ֥֫הּ וה׳ סָבִ֣יב לְעַמּ֑וֹ מֵ֝עַתָּ֗ה וְעַד־עוֹלָֽם Jerusalem has mountains around it, and God is around His nation from here and forever.
Just like you see, physically with your eyes, a live scenario that Yerushalayim is surrounded by mountains, and you don’t need proofs because it is staring you in the face, that has to be the level that you see with your senses that God is surrounding His people forever. Therefore, one that has Emuna and Bitachon is not concerned.“
This is a man that worked on his Emuna constantly. As we said yesterday, you have to see it, just like the servant looks up to his master. That is the way that he looked at the reality of God‘s protection over us.
B’Ezrat Hashem, we should take his lesson and continue to have our Emuna grow with us, and not just assume it will grow on its own.
Have a wonderful day.