We just entered the month of Adar, the happiest month on the calendar. Our rabbis tell us, “When we enter Adar, we’re supposed to increase our happiness.” We’re supposed to get happier and happier and happier until that climactic day of Purim, that great day when our happiness could be manifested in celebrating.
Now, I want to ask a very small question: How can you command somebody to be happy? Imagine I tell a guy who’s down and out, “I want you to be happy.” I’m sure that most people who are sad would love to be happy. They don’t sit there saying, “No, I refuse to be happy. I don’t want to be.” No, no. “I would love to be happy. But if I don’t get this job, if I don’t marry this girl, if I don’t have this amount of money coming in, if this health issue isn’t resolved, I’m not going to be happy.” So how could we say that Adar is a time when we increase our happiness, if happiness seemingly isn’t in our control? I don’t want this person to be sick. “Hashem, you want me to be happy? Make it better.” We see in the Torah that sometimes there’s a commandment to be happy. How can we be commanded to be happy?
Especially this month, over the last couple of weeks, there have been a lot of new challenges, especially for people in the financial world: wholesalers, retailers, people who are investing in the stock market, and real estate people. Everyone has been facing challenges in the last few weeks between coronavirus, tariffs, and new taxes. People are struggling. How can we say to them, “Hey, Adar, be happy”? What do you mean, “Be happy”? I would love to, but it’s just hard right now. How do we do that?
So I want to tell you a beautiful story that I read. There was a rabbi by the name of Rabbi Schreiber. He was walking in the Siberian forest, escaping from the Russian authorities in the 1940s, together with his young son, his 10-year-old son named Pinchas. As they were walking through this forest, Rabbi Schreiber realized that his end was near. He realized he wasn’t going to make it much longer. He was dying, and he was about to leave his 10-year-old son alone in the world. What message could he give his son that would keep him going for the rest of his life as a good Jew? What message could he give him that, when times were tough, when things weren’t going his way, when he faced challenges, would encourage him and give him the fortitude and strength to keep going?
Rabbi Schreiber turned to his son Pinchas and said, “Pinchas, do you remember how, when you were a young child a few years ago, you played hide-and-go-seek with your friends?” Pinchas said, “Yeah, I remember.” He said, “Do you remember what happened? Do you remember how you hid in such a good spot that you sat there for three hours, so excited that nobody could find you? When you came out three hours later, you realized that everyone had stopped looking for you about two and a half hours ago. How did you feel then?” Pinchas said, “I remember I felt terrible. I was crying. Imagine, I’m hiding for three hours and nobody cares. I come out, I think I’m a hero. Where is everyone? Everyone’s been gone for two and a half hours already.” Then Rabbi Schreiber asked, “How did you feel, Pinchas?” He said, “Oh, I felt devastated.”
He said, “I want to tell you something. Sometimes, in this world, we live in a world called ha’olam. Sometimes it’s ha’elem. Sometimes we don't see Hashem open. Hopefully in our lives. Sometimes we’re faced with challenges that are seemingly unexplainable. Why is this happening to me? Why me? What did I do wrong? Am I not learning well? Am I not praying well? Why is Hashem doing this to me?” He says, it’s for one reason. Rabbi Schreiber turned to his son and said, “So Hashem is, so to speak, playing hide-and-go-seek with you.” What does that mean? Hashem is hiding, waiting to see who is going to seek Him out when He isn’t so open in the world. It’s easy when Hashem is openly making miracles; it’s easy to go after Hashem. If every time we do a mitzvah (commandment), all of a sudden we open up our checking account and it says, “A thousand dollars just deposited by God,” okay, let me do another mitzvah. I think I like doing mitzvot. I think I love Hashem. That’s easy. But when Hashem is hiding, who continues to look for Him? Who continues to look for Him? Who continues to do the right thing? Who continues to have emunah (faith)? “And remember that for the rest of your life.” That was the message Rabbi Schreiber gave his son.
And guys, it’s really the same thing today. Sometimes we’re facing challenges. Sometimes we don’t know what’s going on, and it bothers us. But we have to remember: Hashem is with us every single step of the way. Look at the Purim story for a second. What happened on Purim? Haman is doing a lottery. He is hoping that it falls out on a month when there’s nothing good for the Jews. Nisan—not a good month. The Jews got out of Egypt that month. Sivan, they got the Torah, so on and so forth. Every month had something in it that was good for the Jews. Finally, the lottery lands on Adar. What’s Adar? Haman says, “This is perfect. Adar is a month when the Jews have no luck. Nothing good ever happened in Adar. Moshe Rabbeinu died in Adar. This is the perfect month to get the Jewish people annihilated.”
If we look through the story of the Megillah, we’ll notice something very interesting. In the entire Megillah, Hashem’s name is not mentioned once. It does not say God’s name once in the entire Megillah. The span of the Megillah was over 10 years. Does anyone know why Hashem’s name isn’t mentioned in the Megillah? We don’t find any other book in the Tanakh where Hashem’s name is omitted like that. The reason is to teach us a lesson. Megillat Esther. Megillah means to reveal. Esther comes from the word haster astir, the hidden. People living in the time of the Megillah did not see Hashem.
We have to understand: We’re growing up with Purim being the happiest time of the year. If I ask you, “How did Achashverosh look?” “Oh, he was probably this fat guy who was kind of funny, with a squeaky voice.” And who was Haman? “Haman was also another loser. You know, these guys were no big deal. One big clown story. The whole Purim, everyone was happy, everything worked out. Let’s sing, let’s dance, let’s drink,” right? No. The time of Purim was literally like the eve of the Holocaust. There was a decree to kill every single Jew. It was one of the darkest times in Jewish history. Man, woman, child—all slated for execution. Where is Hashem? They’re living in the time of Shushan. Nothing is going our way. Esther is kidnapped, taken to the king’s palace. Mordechai happens to overhear a conversation. Everything looks like it’s unrelated. Where is Hashem? Hashem’s name isn’t openly in the Megillah. You don’t see it. They didn’t see it. They were living in a time when they didn’t see it openly.
And that’s the biggest lesson of the Megillah: When we look at the Megillah, finish it, and look back and reread it with new eyes, we realize, “Wow, Hashem was there every single step of the way.” This little coincidence—that was Hashem. That coincidence that looked bad—that was Hashem. Hashem was preparing the salvation for the Jewish people throughout the entire Megillah. But what? Without His name being mentioned. You don’t see it openly.
And guys, we have to remember that when we face challenges in our lives. Remember, Hashem is there with us. Whenever we face a challenge, it’s for one reason. I had a phone call the other day. Somebody called me up and said, “My business right now is in very big trouble. Why is Hashem doing this to me? What did I do wrong? I think I’m being punished because I did ABC.” And I told him he was wrong. Anytime we’re faced with a challenge, be it health, family, Shidduchim (marriage prospects), or Parnassah (livelihood), it’s for one reason: Hashem wants us to get closer to Him. That’s it. And we have to understand that when we get closer to Hashem, the closer we get, the happier we’ll be. We have to remember that Hashem is there for us, and He is going to take care of us. When we look back at our lives, we see, “Wow, this challenge—I couldn’t have done it without Hashem.”
After 120 years, Shamayim (Heaven) gives us a test. They give us a little quiz, a few questions. If we answer the right answers, we go to a very good spot. If not, not as good. One of the questions on this test is a two-word question: “Tzipita l'yeshuah?” Did you anticipate the yeshuah? Did you anticipate the salvation? I heard a beautiful explanation for what that question is. When somebody is going through a difficult time: “Tzipita l'yeshuah?” Did you anticipate—did we anticipate—that Hashem was going to help us through? When we were going through something tough, did we just think, “Maybe I’m just going to be in trouble forever. Maybe my life is going to fall apart”? Or did we say, “I know, I am relying on G-d that He is going to take care of me”? “Tzipita, I am expecting it. I am anticipating it.”
Imagine I just got off the phone with Warren Buffett and he said, “Okay, I am going to send $100,000 to your account.” I’m not worried about whether he’s going to send it or not. I am anticipating. “Did the money come in yet? Oh, did it come in? Okay, so it will probably come in a little later.” Tzipita l'yeshuah? When we are going through something, anticipate the salvation. Understand that no matter what it is, Be'ezrat Hashem (with Hashem's help), Hashem is going to help us. He is going to give us the strength. He is going to help us through it. Tzipita l'yeshuah? We are not only expecting. We are not only hoping for it. We are expecting it. We are anticipating it because we are relying on Him. And when we rely on Hashem and say, “Hashem, I am relying on You to help get me through this,” Hashem always comes through. And He will help us get through it.
Just like we are all standing here today. I am sure many of us thought, two years ago, that the world was coming to an end. And yet we are all here. We are all happy. We are all shalem (whole). Hashem comes through. Hashem takes care of us. Tzipita l'yeshuah? We have to anticipate it. I heard a beautiful line once: Instead of telling Hashem how big our problems are, we have to tell our problems how big Hashem is. Nothing is beyond Hashem’s ability. And Hashem is our Father. Hashem loves us more than our parents love us.
See, sometimes we have this thing in our heads that maybe Hashem doesn’t like me so much, or Hashem is fed up with me. He’s now going to punish me because He’s mad at me. Guys, in the same way we would never ever think our parents would do anything wrong to us, God loves us a million times more than our parents. Everything Hashem does is a loving Father for His child. There’s no such thing as Hashem punishing us: “I’m going to get you. You’re going to keep Shabbat. I’ll show you.” It’s for one reason only: to bring us closer to Him. And when we’re faced with challenges, let’s use them to get closer to Hashem.
Not just, “Everything is going to be okay, and there’s no reason for me to worry.” No, no, no. Everything is going to be okay. You know why? Because I have a Father who loves me. And I have a Father who can do anything. And I have a Father who can take care of me. And Be'ezrat Hashem, if we live with that attitude, when we enter Adar and remember the Purim story—what happened there? They were saved. They didn’t see it coming. We’ll have true happiness. We’ll be able to get through our obstacles. We’ll be able to remain happy. Anticipate that Hashem is going to help us. Let’s rely on Hashem and expect that Hashem is always going to come through for us.