An important lesson in Emunah and Bitachon is that we don’t always see how Hashem is taking care of us. But every once in a while, we merit to have the veil removed and we do get to see how Hashem is watching and taken care of us.
Someone recently told me the following story, which illustrates this point:
A rabbi had his meat stored in a freezer in his basement over the summer, and they didn’t realize that the freezer had shut off. Two racks of meat ended up spoiled and they had to throw it all out. As we say, Kaparat Avonot.
What does Hashem want? We don’t know.
The rabbi’s wife called an organization that distributes meat during holiday time, and asked if they happened to have any meat available for purchase, because this would be a little cheaper than buying from a store. The man replied that they actually had six roasts available for her to come pick up! Wonderful. When the rabbi went to pick up the meat, the man explained that they usually didn’t have any meat to distribute at this time of year, but they had just made a big order because someone called asking to donate a lot of meat for Yetomim and Almanot/orphans and widows. They just happened to end up with six extra roasts, which he was able sell to this rabbi at a discount.
It clicked in this rabbi‘s head that three days prior to this, a congregant of his said that he had a certain challenge in his life, and he wanted a merit, so he decided to give out meat to widows and orphans. He asked the rabbi if he had any ideas about how to go about doing so. The rabbi, (whose freezer went bad), told his congregant that he actually did know someone who had an organization that takes care of widows and orphans, and the rabbi advised his congregant to call the woman in charge, because she could probably help him with his endeavor of supplying meat to widows and orphans.
And that is what the man did. That woman then called this man, the meat distributor who gives out meat to widows and orphans, in the hope that he would be able to arrange something for the congregant. And she did. Ultimately, when this rabbi, gave the congregant the name of the lady to help with the charitable act of giving out meat, he unknowingly was actually preparing the six roasts that he needed, because his freezer defrosted. God opened his eyes and showed him that, yes for some reason he lost the meat in his freezer, “But don’t worry, because I will just as quickly replace it.” His eyes were opened.
The rabbi’s wife said, “Sometimes we see God’s involvement when things go wrong, and we wonder what we’re going to do, and we wonder know why it happened. But we don’t always get to see the things going right, behind the scenes, that fix things.”
This shows us a general rule, that God is always watching and taking care of us. There is always something going on behind the scenes, and sometimes we merit to see it.
When we do see it, we should apply the lesson to the times that we don’t see it, because God is always watching and taking care of us behind the scenes. And sometimes He lifts that veil.
Because really, as the midrash says on the pasuk in Tehilim, “Oseh Niflaot Lvado/God makes miracles alone, Ki L’Olam Hasdo. What does alone mean?
The Midrash says it means that even the man who the miracle happened to doesn’t recognize the miracle. That is why we say, Al Nisecha Shebechol Yom Imanu/ The miracles that happen every single day.
This little story is a miracle. The meat went bad, but it got replaced at a discounted price, with an order that doesn’t normally occur.
These are hidden miracles that we have to notice, at least once in a while, to remind ourselves of what is happening every single day, that we don’t know about.
Have a wonderful day.