We recently quoted some nice thoughts from the sefer about the life of Rav Yehezkiel Abramsky.
At one point, he was going through a certain challenge and somebody asked him how it was that he was able to remain upbeat.
He answered with a quote from a pasuk from Tehilim, 119, 30:
דֶּֽרֶךְ־אֱמוּנָ֥ה בָחָ֑רְתִּי מִשְׁפָּטֶ֥יךָ שִׁוִּֽיתִי
I chose the path of Emunah, and Your mishpatim/ judgments are equal.
This means that when a person chooses the Emuna path as his guiding light, all of God‘s judgments are equal in his eyes. Whether it comes from justice or mercy, he realizes that everything is coming from Hashem. That was Rav Abramsky’s secret to withstanding his challenge.
What does
דֶּֽרֶךְ־אֱמוּנָ֥ה בָחָ֑רְתִּי
I chose the path of Emunah
mean?
It refers to people that live a life of Emunah, and we can learn about this concept from Rav Abramsky.
Rav Abramsky was once walking in Bayit Vegan with another rabbi when they saw a beautiful bird. The rabbi explained to Rav Abramsky that it was a certain bird that was mentioned in the Gemara, but at that time that bird was not that common in Eretz Yisrael and had only started to show up there more recently.
When Rav Abramsky heard this, he responded, “Baruch Hashem,
In Yirmiyah 9,9, it says,
מֵע֤וֹף הַשָּׁמַ֙יִם֙ וְעַד־בְּהֵמָ֔ה נָדְד֖וּ הָלָֽכוּ׃
From the birds of the heaven, until the animals, they went into exile and left.
Which means that at the destruction of the Bet Hamikdash, all the animals also left. And as we know, Israel was desolate for many years.
No one lived there except the Bedouins. It was only when the Jewish people started to come back and the land became more inhabited that the fields developed.
When Rav Abramsky saw that the birds were coming back, he said it was the fulfillment of a prophecy, and that things were turning around. Surely, the Jewish people would come back as well.
Somebody living a life of Emunah can notice a bird, and that can be enough to give him hizuk in his Emunah.
We are now in the three weeks, where there is a concept of looking for signs that Mashiach is coming. Rav Abramsky says that after 120 years, they ask the question of Sipita L’Yeshua/ Did you look forward to the salvation.
He points out that word used Sipita, isn’t translated as “hope.” Sipita comes from the root Sofeh, which means to look from afar (like Har Sofim/Mount Scopus, in Israel), like a look-out man watching for the enemy.
It means standing back and looking from afar, for something to happen. You know it will happen. On the other hand Tikva is just a hope. Sipita means that you are looking for something that is actually coming your way. And that is what they will ask after 120 years. Not just whether we hoped, but did we look?
One year, before Pesach, Rav Abramsky was seen speaking to a Kohen. He explained that it was because he wanted to make sure that the Kohen would be available to slaughter the korban Pesach, which would be coming up in a few weeks. That’s how convinced he was, if the possibility that Mashiach would be coming that year.
One year, on Erev Pesach, he wasn’t feeling well, and he wasn’t able to go to the Mikveh. He was concerned that if Mashiach came the next day, he would be Tameh for the korban Pesach. What would he do?
But then he thought for a minute and realized that because it was such a short amount of time, most people would not have time to become Tahor, and so halachically, if most people aren’t Tahor, they can still bring a korban. Since most of the sibbur would be tameh, he’d be able to bring it as well.
These stories show how people from the days of old lived with constant Emunah, constantly looking forward, and waiting, for Mashiach.
That is what
דֶּֽרֶךְ־אֱמוּנָ֥ה בָחָ֑רְתִּי means
I chose the path of Emunah
We should all be zoche to choose the path of Emunah.
Have a wonderful day.