We are completing the first advantage of the Baal Bitachon over the Alchemist, which is that our needs can be met in the most non-conventional ways. The Hovot HaLevavot brings a proof from a pasuk in tehilim:
כפירים רשו ורעבו ודורשי ה' לא יחסרו כל טוב, (תהלים לד,יא)
The young lions are impoverished and hungry. Those that search out G-d won’t miss all good.
Metaphorically and literally, young lions are sometimes hungry. They are strong and powerful but since they rely on their own abilities, they might go hungry at times. The docile sheep will have food because they rely on their master the shepherd. Those who seek Hashem will not lack all good.
The Hovot HaLevavot uses pesukim to teach us lessons. The lesson here is that one who relies on G-d will get ALL GOOD. We say this in our Bircat Hamazon and from this we see that the one who believes in Hashem will get all good!
How? How will he get it?
Hashem can do anything.
Rav Ezra Hamway, the chief of the Bet Din in Aleppo, was asked by his wife one Motzei Shabbat what he’d like to eat for melave malka.
“I would like a plate of mejedra and leben.”(rice with lentils and yogurt) When his wife replied that she didn’t have mejedra in the house, he said of course he’d eat whatever she served him, but she’d asked what he wanted.
A minute later there was a knock on their door. The maid of a wealthy neighbor entered, clearly upset and explained that she had accidentally cooked mejedra in a meat pot, and then added leben. She asked the rabbi what to do. Hacham Ezra asked her a few detailed questions to determine exactly how she had prepared the food. After some deliberation, he declared that the mejedra was kosher and she had nothing to worry about.
A short while later, the maid returned with a message from her boss. “She didn’t believe me,” said the maid, “She wants you to eat from it, to prove that it is, indeed, kosher.” And so the rabbi got to enjoy a plateful of mejedra and leben, exactly as he had wanted, delivered to his door.
That’s our rule: If you’re a boteach b’Hashem , you will not lack all good!
The Hovot HaLevavot continues to quote:
(תהלים לד י): יראו את ה' קדושיו כי אין מחסור ליראיו
Holy people that fear G-d/ there is no lacking.
This is part of our Bircat Hamazon as well.
If you want Kavana in your Bircat Hamazon, have alchemist rule #1 in mind and think of these stories as you thank Hashem. Declare that we are relying to G-d who gave us this food and we are lacking nothing.
————————————————————————————-
Before we continue onto the next advantage over the alchemist, we will do a quick recap of the first advantage of the Baal Bitachon over the Alchemist:
- No raw materials required. In other words, Hashem can give us something from nothing. Our proof is the manna that was provided to all without effort, and we discussed Popinsanity popcorn and Jus by Julie as modern day examples.
-We discussed how Hashem can take care of us in the oddest of ways: Eliyahu was fed by the ravens. We discussed the modern day story of how I was able to buy my house from a conversation my father had with a man in shul-he made a small investment that grew tremendously into what ultimately became a bankrupt company.
-Regarding the widow who had an idea to feed Eliyahu- we learned that Hashem put the idea in her head, just as He put into our heads the idea to go to Italy, and then to Israel, all in order to help Rav Michel Yehuda Lefkowitz get the right medicine for his beard.
-We discussed how Eliyahu HaNavi’s yeshiva was saved by Ovadia- who was supposed to be working for the wicked Achav.
Our modern example was the story of the Mirrer Yeshiva escape to Shanghai, with Chiune Sugihara, Jan Zwartendijk (both of whom were outside the camp of the Jewish people) and Silas Hardoun all doing their part.
Again, to really elevate your tefillot, keep all this mind when you say bircat hamazon
כפירים רשו ורעבו ודורשי ה' לא יחסרו כל טוב יראו את ה' קדושיו כי אין מחסור ליראיו.
The young lions are impoverished and hungry. Those that search out G-d won’t miss all good. Holy people that fear god/ there is no lacking.