We have been discussing the power of fear, both positive and negative.
The Sefer Arvei Nachal, on Parashat Veyetzeh says something very interesting:
The trait of fear is like a magnet. Just like a magnet can draw steel, the same is true with fear. Whatever you fear creates a negative force that is then drawn toward you. So on the negative end, you fear something and it comes to you.
Our favorite Mashal about this is about Yosef Mokir Shabbat: (Yosef who respected Shabbat)
A goy had a bad dream that Yosef Mokir Shabbat was going to get all of his money. All he thought about after that was protecting his money from Yosef Mokir Shabbat. So he put his all his assets together and purchased a large, expensive jewel. He placed it in his turban and felt that his assets were now safe from Yosef.
Sure enough, as he was walking across a bridge one day, a powerful wind came and swept his turban off his head and into the water below! A big fish came along and swallowed the jewel.
That Friday afternoon, the fish was caught and brought to the dock. It was late and they weren’t sure what to do with it, but they knew that Yosef Moker Shabbat would buy any item l’chvod Shabbat. They took it to his house and offered to sell it to him. Of course he bought it, and when he opened it he found the jewel. That became his wealth.
So the fear that that this man had, actually brought about the very thing that he was afraid of. Fear attracts like a magnet.
That’s the negative side. But, the Hiddush is
that if you’re afraid of G-d, you bring G-d close to you.
If you’re afraid of many different things, put all your fears together and place them towards Hashem.
Mashal: You have several credit cards in your wallet- Amex, Brooks Brothers, Visa, JCrew etc. Every month you have to pay all of these bills separately. So you decide to consolidate all your debts into one. One bill a month! Great!
Nimshal. A man had the following fears: First it was: how am I going to get my goods from China.
Then he feared that the stock market was crashing and his portfolio was gone.
Then, when the goods shipped, he feared that he would not be able to sell his goods.
Then he started worrying about getting sick himself Has V’Shalom.
So many worries!! And the worries draw the problem towards you. So what can you do?
Consolidate your worries and fears and Fear Hashem.
That brings Hashem into your life, and then you’re protected by Hashem. What can be better than that? So that’s the positive power of fear.
Fear draws things towards you- positive or negative.
We continue with a quote from the Baal Shem Tov who says,
בכל מקום שאדם חושב, שם הוא מדבק
Wherever your thoughts are whatever you’re thinking, that’s what you stick to.
Similarly, the famous commentary from the Lev Eliyahu says that on Kal Nidre we are stuffed with food, but we are thinking about the next 25 hours of fasting and prayer, so we shout out the tefillot like angels.
Then after the whole day of Kippur, after we’ve prayed and we’ve fasted, we are weak and we whisper our tefillot? Why?
It should be the opposite. After we’ve prayed and fasted we should feel holy. But at that point, we are thinking all about the sambusak and lasagna. So we go from feeling like angels, because we were thinking about the holy day, to pizza pies, because that’s where our minds were.
Therefore, he says if you always think about G-d’s judgement, you’ll connect yourself to judgmental forces. but if you always rely on Hashem’s hessed, and that’s what you’re thinking about, you’re cleaving to G-d’s hessed so you are surrounding yourself with hessed.
You are totally engulfed in G-dliness and protection.
So we have to work on the concept of connecting to Hashem and having Hashem on our minds now. We need to have salvation and good news on our minds.
I got a beautiful email about all the positive things that are happening- the numbers are going down, people are getting better, there are better ways to treat patients, a lady who is 103 recovered in China....
Don’t just sit there and read all the bad things that are happening, as if the whole world is only bad.
Focus on all the good things that are happening and that will turn everything around
Have a wonderful day.