Yesterday we quoted from Rav Wolbe, who described the עומק בטחון -the depth of bitachon, which is to realize that you’re in the loyal hands of the loving Creator, Who does everything just to take care of you.
Today, Hashem sent me a little gift- a nice bitachon thought from a pasuk in Mishleh ( perek יג)
כֹּפֶר נֶפֶשׁ אִישׁ עָשְׁרוֹ
A person’s wealth can be used as a redemption, or kaparah, for his soul
וְרָשׁ לֹא שָׁמַע גְּעָרָה
And the impoverished one will not hear a scream
Shlomo HaMelech, the wisest of men, is telling us something. The first half of the pasuk tells us that a wealthy man uses his wealth in order to bring himself atonement. But what does it mean that “the impoverished one won’t hear a scream?” The Gaon of Vilna, in his sefer Aderet Eliyahu (on Iyov) says that we find something wondrous here. He quotes a Midrash from Parashat Ki Tisa that gives a mashal:
There was a king that was owed $1,000 by one of his subjects. The king’s messengers and judges reminded him that the loan was due, and the person had to pay. In those days, if a person didn’t pay his debt he had to go to jail. But the king was a benevolent king, He had pity on the man, but on the other hand, the rules and regulations of government have to be enforced. Law and order can’t just be ignored.
So, in the the middle of the night, the king went out and slid a wad of bills through the door of that man’s home. Then, the next morning, he sent his messengers to go collect the debt from the man, who was then was able to pay off the debt. Wonderful.
The Vilna Gaon says that this is what Hashem does with us. Sometimes, a person cannot afford to pay off his kaparah/debt. So Hashem sends His Midat Rachamim, His mercy, which sends some wealth to this person. Then, the judgment comes along and removes the wealth, and this way we see the fulfillment of the pasuk כֹּפֶר נֶפֶשׁ אִישׁ עָשְׁרוֹ
The wealth of man brings kaparah.
And now that the person is impoverished,
וְרָשׁ לֹא שָׁמַע גְּעָרָה
The prosecutors are no longer able to scream, because they’ve collected their debt.
This explains a phenomenon that I have experienced in my life more than once.
Somehow, a few extra dollars fall into your account. For whatever reason, some unexpected money comes along. Then, a week or two later, boom! A pipe bursts, the refrigerator breaks, you need a new oven... and you wonder, what’s going on here? I just made the money, and now I lose the money?
The answer is that Hashem could have made the refrigerator break and you could’ve had no money to pay. But instead, he sends you the money first, so it then can be used as a pidyon/ a redemption.
(As we have mentioned in the past, the ultimate Pidyon is to use it for Sedaka, and not just for a loss.)
He explains that when G-d created the world, first He put in Midat HaDin which is justice. That’s why the name of Hashem, Elokim, shows up first in the Torah. Bereshit Bara Elokim...
Because it represents Hashem’s justice.
Then later, at the end , it says Hashem (name of mercy) Elokim. Why does it say the Hashem’s Name of mercy here?
Because Hashem saw that the world can not last solely on justice, so,
שהקדים מדת הרחמים למדת הדין
He put the mercy ahead of the justice.
What does that mean?
The Gaon of Vilna explains that Hashem sends the money, (which is mercy) ahead, then comes the justice.
G-d will only send the justice after He sends the mercy, in order to give us what we need to pay off the justice.
So, we go back to what we said yesterday. Look at our loving caring Creator, Who always takes care of us. When He sees that we need to pay a debt off, He gives us the money ahead of time.
The Pele Yoetz writes that sometimes Hashem even gives us a little bonus. Sometimes He gives us $2,000, and takes away $1,000.
So, the person cries that he lost $1,000. But he could have just had the loss. Instead, Hashem sends $2,000 before He takes the $1,000.
This is a beautiful way of looking at things in life.
B’ezrat Hashem we should only see Hashem’s mercy.