I would like to share a beautiful thought from Rav Yerucham Levovitz, which we have mentioned (the basic concept of) in the past, but this year I noticed an added nuance.
He explains the pasuk:
בעבור זה עשה ה׳ לי בצאתי מארץ מצרים
Because of this G-d, did to me, and He took me out of Mitzrayim. Rashi says that this means that it was because of the Mitzvot of Pesach, Matzah and Maror that Hashem took us out of Mitzrayim.
This means that the reason for Yetziat Mitzrayim, and all of the miracles, was in order to create the mitzvot of Pesach, Matzah and Maror, and be able to commemorate the miracles. One would think that it’s really the opposite. One would think that Yetziat Mitzrayim was for its own sake, and then after that, came Pesach Matzah and Maror, to commemorate Yetziat Mitzrayim.
But Rav Yerucham is teaching us a fundamental concept; that the entire history is there in order to bring about the Torah. The Torah came first. The Mitzvah came first. As a pasuk in Mishleh that says, “G-d made me the first of His path.”
The first thing was the Torah. The Torah is the blueprint. History plays out only to enable us to fulfill the Torah.
Kibud Av V’Em, honoring one’s parents works the same way. We don’t respect our parents as an afterthought, just because we happen to have parents. It’s not that since parents are necessary in order to have children, we might as well respect them. That’s not the way it works. First there was the Mitzvah of Kibud Av V’ Em; of course it’s true that without parents we couldn’t fulfill this Mitzvah, so Hashem created parents! But it was for the Mitzvah.
That is how the Hasid Yavetz in Pirkei Avot explains the Mishnah
אם אין תורה אין דרך ארץ
If there’s no Torah, there would be no Derech Eretz.
According to this explanation, Derech Eretz doesn’t mean proper etiquette and middot. It means the way of the world. Without the Torah there would be no world- no planting, no harvesting, no sleeping, no eating. It’s all there because there’s a Torah.
It’s because it says in the Torah not to plow a donkey and cow together that we have different types and species of animals.
Of course, if we don’t have Derech Eretz, we can’t fulfill the Torah.
But what came first?
אם אין תורה אין דרך ארץ
If there was no Torah there would be no Derech Eretz.
What does this have to do with Bitachon?
Rav Yerucham takes this a step further. When it came to the mann, which is this week’s Parasha, the question comes up of why the mann came down. Someone might answer that it was because they were in the desert without any food, so they got the mann. But that’s wrong.
It’s the opposite. Hashem wanted them to have mann. The pasuk says, “It’s to test him to see if he’ll follow the mitzvot of the mann.” Would they leave over? Would they go collect on Shabbat? The mann wasn’t there as an afterthought because get were stuck in the desert. No. It was because G-d had a nisayon/test for them. That’s why the mann was there.
He says that this a rule with every thing in life. Everything in life is that way. We think that we are in a certain situation, such as the pandemic, or any other challenge in life, whether financial or health related, and so, as an after effect, we take out our Emunah and Bitachon tools to handle the challenges. But it’s the opposite. Hashem says, “I need to challenge this person. This person needs this challenge. I am going to create a situation for the purpose of the challenge.” Everything in life is what we call LaHatchila- it’s the way it’s supposed to be from the beginning. It’s not an afterthought because we are stuck. Hashem creates all the situations that we need.
Like, as we have mentioned in the past, there is a concept of Gilgulim- reincarnation, where G-d creates certain situations in life, that are necessary for us in order to fulfill our mission in this world. Every little situation that we go through, and every meeting that we have, every detail is all perfectly planned, in order for us to come to our perfection; in order for us to bring about what we need to bring about. It’s never a bedi’avad situation/an afterthought.
Life is always L’chatchila. Every test is there because that’s what we need in order to get to what we have to get to.
It’s a different way to look at life, with a different perspective.
We shouldn’t feel that, “I’m stuck here, now what?” We should think, “This is exactly what I need.” Everything is tailor made for our tests.
And B’ezrat Hashem, we will all pass our tests and come to perfection.
This is a great Bitachon outlook, it’s what we call a reframe. Let’s reframe the situation and look at it in a different light- and see that it’s the perfect situation for us.
Whether it’s a difficult spouse, a difficult sibling, a difficult child, or whatever the situation is, everyone, in their own lives, know what they need to apply this to.
This is exactly what you need. It’s not, “I’m stuck with it- now what?!” You’re not stuck with anything.
This is exact what you need.
Have a wonderful day.