Today’s class has been sponsored by Marilyn & Donny Farah for a Refuah Shelemah for Susie Bibi - Shefiah Shoshana Bat Sarah
We recently mentioned the Yerushalmi in Berachot that explains what it means when it says
קרוב ה׳ לכל קראיו
G-d is close to those that call out to Him
Or
מי גוי גדול
Who is a great nation like the Jewish people,
אשר לו אלקים קרובים אליו
That have G-d close to them
The question was, Why does it say קרובים,
(Plural for close) as if there were many gods?
The answer the Yerushalmi gives is that,
Of course there is one G-d, but G-d is everywhere.
The word אלהים )Elohim-G-d) is plural, says the Nefesh HaChaim, because Elohim means force, or power, or energy. And G-d is in charge of all energies. There are many energies in the world. The sun is an energy, light is an energy, and G-d is in charge of all energies. He is all energies. Therefore, those multiple energies, which are charged and infused by G-d, really is G-d being everywhere.
This is important because it means that in any situation that a person is in, G-d is in the situation, and He can save that person. The Yerushalmi goes on to give four cases to illustrate this point.
A person can have a “patron,” (a Latin word); someone who takes care of a person, like a big brother. If the patron was told, “Your friend has been taken captive!” The patron would say he’d be there for him. If his friend was being taken out to be judged, he would again say, “I will be there for him.” But sometimes the patron gets there too late. With all his talk, he wasn’t able save his friend. But Hashem can save a person, even at the last moment.
As the pasuk says,
ויציליני מחרב פרעה.
הציל את משה מחרב פרעה
G-d saved Moshe from the sword of Pharoah.
After Moshe was caught for killing the Egyptian who was beating a Jew, they took him to be judged. He was then placed on the executioner’s stand, where they were ready to behead him. And like the pasuk says, he was saved from the sword of Pharoah.
At what point did this occur?
Did he run away as he was being led out of the cell? No.
The sword actually hit Moshe Rabbenu’s neck. The Yerushalmi says that Moshe Rabbenu’s neck became hard, and the sword could not penetrate it. The pasuk from Shir Hashirim is quoted, “
צוארך כמגדל השן Your neck was like a marble tower”referring to Moshe Rabbenu’s neck.
How does this work?
The answer is, Hashem is the neck. There is nothing else but G-d. This is a very high level, that we can’t really fathom here in this world. It’s called En Od Milevado. There is nothing else but G-d. G-d created the world something- from-nothing. There isn’t anything but G-d. We can’t fathom what that means. It looks like everything is here, but everything is really nothing more than a manifestation of G-d, in a physical sense.
Therefore, G-d is everywhere, and without G-d willing it to be, it won’t be.
G-d can will a person’s neck to be made out of flesh, and He can will a person’s neck to be made out of marble. Therefore, G-d is closer than close.
I once heard Rabbi Ades quote another great Rabbi that said, “I feel G-d is closer to me than my fingernail to my finger.”
What does that mean? What could be closer than a fingernail to a finger?
It means, He’s inside my finger. He’s driving me at all times. That’s what it means that
G-d is closer than close.
There is nothing else but G-d.
This is a very hard thing to conceptualize. We have all heard before, of the great Segula, that when a person is in trouble, he should focus on this belief that there is nothing else but G-d, and G-d makes things and can change things. That can help protect the person.
The Yerushalmi gives other examples:
-A person has a friend who says, “I’ll take care of you.” And when the person is in trouble, he says he’ll be there for him. But then what happens if the friend is thrown into the depths of the ocean? Now what?
But G-d saved Yonah when he was thrown into the depths of the ocean. G-d was there too. He even had a fish down there, waiting to swallow Yonah.
G-d has the ability, in all situations, to save a person.
Last week, we mentioned that one of the lessons of Yonah is the lesson of Bitachon.
The Yerushalmi says it here, clearly. We see from Yonah the lesson that you can be thrown into the ocean, and G-d can pull you out.
Another example is a man who has a protector that says he’ll be there for him no matter what. But then the man gets thrown into a furnace. Now what?
G-d isn’t like that.
Hashem saved Chananya, Mishael and Azaryah, when they were thrown into a furnace, as it says in the Navi.
G-d controls everything.
The last example given is when a man is thrown into a cage, and the lions are attacking. And again, we see that only G-d can save him, as He saved Daniel when he was thrown into the lion’s den.
G-d says, “I am everywhere, in every situation -even in the oceans wherever it may be.”
When someone, lo Alenu, is in a difficult situation, we have to believe that G-d is there, and that G-d can turn things around.
Be’Ezrat Hashem, for all those people that are sick, and all those people that are struggling, Hashem should reveal Himself, and we should see great yeshuot and refuot bimherah beyamenu.