This is our final pre-Shavuot class related to Bitachon.The connection between Shavuot, which is the day of Maran Torah, and Bitachon, is quite obvious. The opening words that Hashem said at Har Sinai were
אנכי השם אלוקיך אשר הוצאתיך מארץ מצרים
I am Hashem Your G-d, that took you out of Egypt. According to the Rambam, this is the source for our Emunah. The positive commandment to believe in the Torah comes from this. This means that the first thing Hashem said at Har Sinai was, “Believe in me.” That is the first Mitzvah- Emunah. Furthermore, it says in Devarim ד,לה,
אתה הראת לדעת כה׳ אלוקים אין עוד מלבדו
G-d, You showed us that Hashem is Elokim, (meaning that there is no other force)- there is nothing else but G-d.
Rashi says this happened when Hashem gave us the Torah; He opened up the seven heavens and opened the world above and the world below. And they saw that He is Yehidi- One, Singular.
That’s what אתה הראת לדעת means: You showed it to us. That clarity of Emunah continues every time we learn Torah. That’s why we open up the Hechal on Shabbat and say this same pasuk: אתה הראת לדעת because the Emunah is continued through Limud Torah, learning Torah.
The Torah was given to us to connect us with Hashem, and give us our Emunah.
There’s a disagreement, about whether we have to remember Har Sinai every single day. The Ramban says it’s one of 613 mitzvot. If you look in the back of the siddurim, you’ll see it listed there as one of the Ten Daily Remembrances. But the Rambam, on the other hand, doesn’t list it.
Rav Aharon Kotler explains that he doesn’t list it because you only have to list something that’s a commemoration of something that was. But Har Sinai is something that’s every single day. Every time you take out a Gemara and start to learn, or anytime you learn any Dvrei Torah, it’s Har Sinai. Therefore, he says, we don’t have to remember Har Sinai, because we still have it.
The Torah was given to us to strengthen our Emunah. You feel more connected, and see G-d more, when you learn Torah.
Furthermore, the Orchot HaChaim LaRosh (one of the Rishonim) explains אנכי השם אלוקיך אשר הוצאתיך מארץ מצרים
I am Hashem Your G-d, that took you out of Egypt.
Why does it mention Egypt? Why not say, “I am Hashem Your G-d that created the world?” He says that a person has to rely on Hashem with his whole heart, and believe in G-d’s supervision. He calls this The Yehud Hashalem- The complete Oneness of belief in G-d:
When you believe in G-d, that
G-d’s Eyes are watching everything, and that He checks our hearts, and He Knows everything we’re thinking- this came out of Yetziat Mitzrayim; that’s where we saw and got all these fundamentals of Emunah. He says that if someone doesn’t believe in Yetziat Mitzrayim, then he doesn’t believe in, “I am Hashem Your G-d,” because the same Hashem that spoke to us at Har Sinai was speaking to us with those understandings at Yetziat Mitzrayim. And he says this is the foundation of the whole Torah. The first words of the Ten Commandments are these words.
Because the foundation of our whole Torah is our Emunah and Bitachon in Hashem.
As we’ve said in the past, the Sefer Mitzvot Katzar, known as the S’MaK, says the source for bitachon is this Mitzvah of Anochi Hashem. Hashem says, I took you out of Egypt, I can take you out of any problem in the future.”
That’s the fundamental of Emunah that we see in Matan Torah.
Finally, The Hatam Sofer tells a beautiful thought about Emunah, that relates to Megilat Ruth. Naomi left the fields of Moav poverty stricken. And she said, “Don’t call me Naomi/ sweet, call me Marah /bitter, because G-d made my life very difficult.” Her children died, her husband died she was all alone, and her only hope was Boaz, her relative.
In those days, people were very modest. It wasn’t common for a lady to speak to a man. So, her hope was not to speak Boaz directly. (When a woman goes to a Gadol, she doesn’t plan on seeing the rabbi; she expects to meet with his Rebbitzen) Naomi planned to speak with his wife, and hoped she’d somehow take care of her. But as Naomi was entering Eretz Yisrael, she encountered a big to-do. Boaz’s wife had passed away. She was greeted by the funeral. She couldn’t believe it! She had been expecting Boaz’s wife to take care of her! Now what? That was her last hope!
She said, “ המר ש-די לי מאד
״G-d made it very bitter for me” but the Hatam Sofer says that she didn’t realize the good that was there. The only reason Boaz married Ruth was that his wife had died. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have. Ruth’s child, which would be the continuation of Naomi’s legacy, and eventually brought about David HaMelech, only occurred because Boaz’s wife passed away.
Look how Hashem can take away something that looked to Naomi like her final hope, her last straw, and that would turn out to be her final salvation.
The Hatam Sofer says we take the initial letters of the phrase
המר ש-די לי מאד
״G-d made it very bitter for me”
And we get ה,ש,ל,מ - these letters, when rearranged, spell שלמה- Shelomo
Hidden in that difficult time was the seed of Shelomo HaMelech, the Bet Hamikdash, and Ruth’s glory as Em Hamalchut.
Be’Ezrat Hashem we will take these lessons of Emunah and Bitachon in Shavuot, while remembering that the main thing is to recommit ourselves to learning.
Attached to this lesson is special Shavuot learning pamphlet, prepared for the Torah Center. People can’t learn in shul, but may be learning at home with their children or with a havruta, and hopefully you can print this out and learn it, and it will give you the ability to have a special Limud on the night of Shavuot.
Have a Hag Sameach.