Today we will discuss a pasuk in Tzefanya (chapter 3, pasuk2). Tzefanya was one of the Neviim that prophesied right before the destruction of the second Temple. There are many famous prophecies in this chapter, which give some background on this pasuk. The prophet says, in the name of God,
הִכְרַתִּי גוֹיִם נָשַׁמּוּ פִּנּוֹתָם הֶחֱרַבְתִּי חוּצוֹתָם מִבְּלִי עוֹבֵר נִצְדּוּ עָרֵיהֶם מִבְּלִי אִישׁ מֵאֵין יוֹשֵׁב:
(ז) אָמַרְתִּי אַךְ תִּירְאִי אוֹתִי תִּקְחִי מוּסָר וְלֹא יִכָּרֵת מְעוֹנָהּ כֹּל אֲשֶׁר פָּקַדְתִּי עָלֶיהָ אָכֵן הִשְׁכִּימוּ הִשְׁחִיתוּ כֹּל עֲלִילוֹתָם:
"I wiped out the goyim. I destroyed their towers. I destroyed their cities. No one's there. And God says, “I said, I was hoping you'd fear Me. Take musar, you'd learn from what's going on around you and things wouldn't happen to you.”
Rashi says in Shemot ז,ג
וכן מדתו של הקב"ה מביא פורענות על האומות עו"א כדי שישמעו ישראל וייראו שנ' (צפניה ג) הכרתי גוים נשמו פנותם וגו' אמרתי אך תיראי אותי תקחי מוסר
This is the way God works. He brings punishment on goyim (of course they deserve it) so that we should hear about it and we should take Musar.
This is an important lesson. When there was an earthquake in China, or a mudslide in some other distant country, the Chafetz Chaim would become concerned when he heard about it, because he said, “If we are hearing about it, God is talking to us.” The mashal is given of a Jewish man walking through an airport, when he hears an announcement on the loud speaker, in Hebrew, that there will be a minyan mincha at a certain gate. He thinks to himself, Who is this announcement for? He’s in Bangladesh! But someone asked permission from the man in charge to make an announcement on the loudspeaker because he needed 10 Jews for minyan, so that he could say Kaddish. The announcement was not meant for the many other people walking in the airport that don't understand the language. It was there for him- he understands the language. And so too, when we hear of these things, it's being broadcasted to us, people who understand God's language.
When we hear about a war in Ukraine, God is talking to us, saying world upheaval is very simple…. Don't be so secure.
So when things happen around us, they're there to talk to us. The Ran, in his Derashot (derush 6) says the same thing-
Things happen in distant places, in distant islands, all to arouse us in Teshuva.
And he quotes the Navi Tzefanya, and says that God always warns people first. He says, when you see things around you, it’s a warning. God is talking to you.
The prophet Tzefanya makes the following complaints against the Jewish people:
Number one-
לֹא שָׁמְעָה בְּקוֹל
You didn’t hear the voice.. Whose voice? The commentaries say the voices of the prophets. They didn't listen to the prophets. That’s the first thing they did wrong.
Number two
לֹא לָקְחָה מוּסָר
You didn't take Musar. Look what's happening around you. Pay attention. That's the musar you should have taken.
Number three
בַּה׳ לֹא בָטָחָה
You didn't have bitachon in Hashem.
Why did you go to other nations to ask for help? Why didn’t you have reliance on Hashem?
When things are going wrong, and you see things going wrong around you, the first thing to do is listen to the prophet. He tells you what to do, how to fix it. Then, see what's going on around you, and have bitachon in Hashem.
Malbim says B’Hashem is always God’s mercy…
And if God’s mercy doesn’t talk to you?
אֶל אֱלֹהֶיהָ לֹא קָרֵבָה:
To your God you didn't come close.
Elohim is Middat Hadin/God's justice.
That means, beware of the justice. God's is watching over you. Everything that's happening, Malbim says, is Hashgacha Pratit for you. It’s being directed towards you. When you see something going on around you, you should follow this checklist:
Number one, take Musar. It's talking to you. Don't think it's just a coincidence that you heard about it. Number two, listen to the rabbis. They tell you what to do.
They give you direction.
Number three, strengthen your bitachon in God's mercy.
And number four, realize that everything's happening from the God who is supervising- with Hashgacha Pratit.
לֹא שָׁמְעָה בְּקוֹל \לֹא לָקְחָה מוּסָר\ בה׳ לֹא בָטָחָה אֶל\ אֱלֹהֶיהָ לֹא קָרֵבָה:
This is a pasuk that was told to the Jewish people before the destruction. And as our rabbis tell us, any prophecy that was written down, was written down for the generations, because there are lessons for us to learn.
We are going through those bitachon lessons that Rabbi Zindel of Salant felt were important in his list of Bitachon pesukim.
B’Ezrat Hashem, we will study them and try to explain them to the best of our abilities.
Have a wonderful day.