Today’s class has been sponsored as a Refuah Shelemah for Susie Bibi - Shefiah Shoshana Bat Sarah
We continue with our Yerushalmi Berachot lessons, about how close Hashem is. The Yerushalmi describes a person with a patron( protector), who is grabbed by his enemies right outside the door of his patron, but before he has a chance to cry out for help to his patron, the sword is already on his neck.
Hashem doesn’t work that way. A story is quoted about Yehoshefat, the king who was saved from the sword of Aram, the enemy. It says
לא היה חסר אלא חיתוך הראש
He was literally so close to death that his head was almost chopped off, and yet Hashem took the enemy away.
So, we see yet another lesson, that it’s never too late. Hashem is always there. In the case of Yehoshefat, Hashem made the enemy think that they had the wrong man, and they let him go. At the last second, they had a change of heart.
This is an important principle called:
אפילו חרב חדה מונחת על צווארו של אדם אל ימנע עצמו מן הרחמים
Even if a sword is on someone’s neck, you should not give up hope on Hashem’s mercy.
There’s an important concept, that we have mentioned previously, based on a story in Masechet Taanit:
Nachdimon Ben Goryon, a great man, wanted to give water to the Jewish people as they made their way up to Eretz Yisrael, to the Bet Hamikdash, but there was a drought, so he asked a certain gentile minister if he could borrow water from him. He offered to either pay the man back either with water (when it rained in the future), or if not, with silver bars. They agreed upon a time the next year by which, if it hadn’t yet rained, Nakdimon would pay him in silver.
On the morning of very last day before this agreement end and the silver would be due, the minister told Nakdimon that he wanted his silver. Nakdimon told him he still had time. Afternoon came and again the minister asked for his payment, but Nakdimon said he still had time for it to rain. Later, as the sun began to set, Nakdimon went into the Bet Hamikdash, cried to Hashem, and it rained!
Rabbi Moshe Malka asked a question: Why did it happen this way, that it didn’t rain until the very last minute?
His answer is that it’s because Hashem wants to show His control. Hashem is not like anyone else, who might be afraid they’d get there “too late”. There is no such thing as “too late” with G-d.
With Yehoshefat, He was able to wait until the last second.
If a plane is taking off, we can take a chance and get there right as they’re closing the gate, but we’d be concerned on the way to the airport, that we may miss the flight. The only one who is not concerned that the plane will leave without him, is the pilot. He’s flying the plane, so he’s not worried.
Well, Hashem is the Pilot. He’s flying the plane, and He’s not worried that it will be too late, because He’s the One making everything happen anyway.
The same thing happened with Yetziat Mitzrayim. We were at the 49th level of impurity. Another minute, it says, and it would have been all over. So why did Hashem wait? Because Hashem is not worried about missing the plane. He’s flying the plane. He IS the plane. There is nothing to worry about. There is no such thing as “last minute.” Sometimes we hear stories about a Hatzalah driver who pulls up and saves a person, but if he would’ve gotten there 10 minutes later, it would’ve been all over. People worry and wonder what’s going on? Why only ten minutes? Why not another hour? Why cut it so close?
Because Hashem is not under pressure to do things at the split second. It says that when it came to creation, G-d finished on the seventh day. The Gemarah asks: On the seventh day? Wasn’t the world created in six days?
One answer is that Menucha, rest, was also a creation, created on the seventh day. Another answer, brought down by Chazal, is that Hashem finished His work at the last second, and therefore it looked like He was working on Shabbat. But He did something a human being can’t do, because Hashem is able to wait until the last second and not “worry” that He’s going to miss something.
That’s another important principle about our Patron, our Savior, Hashem.
He’s closer than close, He’s watching the situation, and it’s never too late for Him.
We must believe that. When a situation looks grim, as long as there is hope, we have to believe it’s not too late. Hashem can turn things around at the last minute.
He’s All-Powerful,
He’s always there,
And He’s never too late.