Today we will study the fifth and sixth pasuk in Zichronot:
The fifth is,
טֶרֶף נָתַן לִירֵאָיו יִזְכֹּר לְעוֹלָם בְּרִיתוֹ
God gave food and sustenance to those that fear Him
He forever remembers His covenant
The Radak explains that this refers to the fact that when the Jewish people left Egypt, they left with a lot of money, because Hashem remembered the Covenant that He made with Avraham at the Brit Ben HaBetarim/the Covenant between the Parts, where He told Avraham,
ואחרי כן יצאו ברכוש גדול
After (working all those years), They will go out with a large amount of money
This pasuk invokes two concepts:
The first is that God keeps His promises.
Secondly, sometimes it takes time. It can be hundreds of years later, but God remembers His promise- and this promise specifically refers to parnasa.
Another explanation of this pasuk, which many commentaries give, is that it refers to the manna. For forty years, we were able to survive in the desert because of the manna, because Hashem remembered the promise that He gave to Avraham Avinu.
The Mesudot David adds,
Even though they rebelled against Him, Hashem did not cause them to lack anything.
Throughout the time in the desert, we upset Hashem, and yet Hashem continued to give us our sustenance and take care of us.
This is a lesson for us. We don’t always do the right thing, but we ask Hashem to invoke His covenant and continue to take care of us anyway.
Rabbenu Bachye, in his sefer Kad HaKemach brings down this concept of
טֶרֶף נָתַן לִירֵאָיו
God gave food and sustenance to those that feared Him, to show that God can give sustenance to those that fear Him, at any time. In this case, “those that fear him,” refers to those who have Bitachon.
So this is an important Bitachon pasuk. While reading this on Rosh Hashanah, we have to stop and think to ourselves, “If I am someone who fears God, if I rely on Hashem, He can give me sustenance in the most wondrous ways.”
Rabbenu Bachye uses the example of how ravens brought sustenance to Eliyahu Hanavi. And just as the Jewish people got the manna in the desert, we can receive our sustenance, in any situation, when we look to Hashem and rely on Him.
We have to be thinking this every single day; Hashem is giving us our food.
This all comes from this pasuk
טֶרֶף נָתַן לִירֵאָיו
God gives sustenance to those that fear Him.
But the Midrash adds a nuance: The word used here for sustenance טרף Teref, can also be read as Tiruf which means confused or scrambled, which is to say that sometimes, Hashem gives us our sustenance in challenging or difficult ways.
We get our food, but sometimes we wonder why we had to wait so long for it, or why it had to come in such a convoluted fashion.
Rav Yehezkiel Levenstein gives an important lesson, which has to do with Akedat Yitzhak
(another one of our Zichronot) Why do we have to read about Akedat Yitzhak, and remember it, every single day?
In order to teach an important lesson, which is that life is about challenges and withstanding tests.
Avraham Avinu’s life was constant tests- Ten tests.
In Rav Levenstein’s words,
מטרת וחיי היהודי לעמוד בנסיונות קשים ורבים
Our job as Jews is to withstand many hard tests. But don’t get broken. Just accept the tests.
This is an added depth: It’s not always just teref/sustenance. Sometimes, it comes with tiruf/ challenges.
Our job is to withstand the challenges, and realize that יִזְכֹּר לְעוֹלָם בְּרִיתוֹ
Hashem is always remembering us, even in the times of challenge.
The sixth pasuk of Zichronot is,
וַיִּזְכֹּר לָהֶם בְּרִיתוֹ וַיִּנָּחֵם כְּרֹב חֲסָדָו
He remembered His deal with them, and He changed His mind because of His great kindness.
Hashem remembers the deal, even though we might not be worthy. He made a deal with Avraham, Yitzhak and Yaakov, and He always remembers His covenant.
We have to keep in mind that Hashem is good to His word. He makes promises, and a Berit is more than a promise. A Berit is stronger than just a merit. It is a covenant, and God always remembers it. That is what brings us our sustenance, although sometimes in challenging ways. B’ezrat Hashem, we should see it in an easy way.
Have a wonderful day