Today we will share a Bitachon related thought on Parashat Masei.
First, we will explain the concept of עירי מקלט Cities of Refuge: This were places that a person would flee to, if he killed someone b’shogeg/by mistake
(assuming there was some level of negligence, and not to be confused with an “accident”- in which case he wouldn’t be responsible at all). If this person were to leave the city of refuge, it would be permissible for the next of kin of the deceased to kill him.
The pasuk in this week’s Parasha says that there were a total of six of these cities - 3 in Eretz Yisrael and 3 in the Trans-Jordan area. When Benei Yisrael first entered Israel proper, it took 14 years fight , divide and inherit their land. During those 14 years, the cities of refuge were set up in the TransJordan, but there was no rule yet in place that someone who killed by mistake had to go there . That rule didn’t apply until the other 3 cities of refuge were effective in Israel , 14 years later. The Halacha was that all 6 cities had to work together, so 3 didn’t work without the other 3. Why? Simply ,because that’s what Hashem said.
The Meshech Chochma gives an unbelievable insight to this.
He says that ( in his words),
“An interesting fact. If the Kohen Gadol dies, this man’s sentence is ended.”
That is the only way the man could leave. Whether he was there for 20 years or one day, whether he was 20 or 100, the moment the Kohen Gadol died, he went free. That was the only thing that got him out, and that was his hope. But the Meshech Chochma points out a problem.
“Hashem told Elazar that he is the Kohen that will go into Eretz Yisrael. That means that he wouldn’t die for 14 years. So if that’s the case, then the murderer would have go into the city of refuge for 14years, and feel a stare of yi’ush- despair.
Therefore, In this the situation where he would not have the hope ( of getting out) the Torah didn’t say you can go into Galut.
This is a most fascinating thought.
That means Hashem will not put a person in a situation, unless there is a hope to get out of it. There can be a sword on a person’s neck, and he can still hope. A person always has to have hope.
This man did not deserve to go 14 years without hope.
And who is this man that we are talking about? This man is called a Rasha/ a wicked person. The Torah says, “From the evil comes evil.”
Rashi tells us that one man killed on purpose and another man will fall off a ladder and kill him. So he’s a wicked man. And yet, even this wicked man doesn’t deserve to live without hope.
That is the fundamental of Bitachon. Regardless of the facts or statistics, regardless of the information, we always have to have hope.
Rav Hatzkel Levenstein, in his sefer Or Yehezkel, on Emunah, ( page 127) brings down the Hovot HaLevavot, and tells us that when we rely on Hashem, we don’t rely on the sibbot/ the intermediary steps. We rely on Hashem directly.
Hashem can make things happen in the most wondrous of ways. The Hovot HaLevavot gives examples of “seemingly” miraculous events, such as when Eliyahu HaNavi was fed by ravens. It’s not a miracle- a raven can bring food to a person.
This is what Hashem demands of us in Bitachon. We should not even try to think of how it’s going to happen. Hashem is all powerful. It makes no difference whether you are in a desert or in a regular place eating yogurt or manna. It’s all the same thing. Rav Hatzkel Levenstein says that we look at the Torah as if it is a story book. But it is not a story book. Its purpose is to teach us how Hashem works. Our sustenance, and anything that we get, does not follow regular, standard, normal approaches. It can happen in any which way, however Hashem wants it to happen. There are crazy stories about crazy Yeshuot. But our goal is not to tell stories. We saw it right there in the desert, with the cloud leading us, the manna, the Well of Miriam- it’s still here today- we just don’t see it.
It’s a rule that even when it looks to our physical eye that there is no hope, there is still hope because if there was no hope, Hashem would not put a person in a situation of yi’ush.
Thank you Rabbi Ebstein from Lakewood, who sends out weekly email called “Torat HaBitachon.” He has wonderful thoughts, and I thank him for sharing this wonderful Meshech Chochma with me. It should be a zechut for him.
Have a wonderful day and a Shabbat Shalom.