Good morning, everyone. Good to see everybody again. Wishing you all a beautiful day. Today we’re going back to our study of Avraham Avinu. We’re going to read a little bit inside. If you remember, a while back we asked: What did Avraham do for 70 years? After he understood that there was a creator, only 70 years later was he able to merit having Hashem speak to him. What was he doing his whole life?
As we’ve already been learning, Avraham Avinu studied the details of this world and learned from them. From these details he saw that there is a Mesader, a creator who is able to make order in this world. He saw the amazing wisdom, the great Chokhmah (wisdom) of the creator. He saw his power. By studying his creations, Avraham came to a certain emotional feeling of love and awe of the creator. He saw his endless kindness. He understood that the purpose of creation is mankind. He also understood that a person is created for a higher purpose than this world, that he has an eternity, and that he’s here to earn. He understood the value of serving the creator and of appreciation. He understood from the creator and the creation that he needs to sing to the creator, thank the creator, and be Mekadesh Shem Shamayim (sanctifying the Name of Heaven). He needs to teach others about their creator as well. He understood the value of Tikkun, fixing his character—the character he was born with, which was not yet refined. He understood that he’s here in this world to make himself a godly person, to fulfill his purpose, and to follow the example of the creator. He was able to learn all these things by studying creation in detail.
As I mentioned before, a person might simply say, “Oh, is there a creator of this world? Oh, I know that. It’s obvious. Next. Let’s move on. Next subject.” A person needs to know that he has not fulfilled his obligation by saying those words, as beautiful as they are. Those words have not yet reached where a person needs to reach. Just giving a generality—that yes, the creator is great and awesome and powerful and kind—is not enough. Again, it’s true, and it’s a very inspiring type of statement, but it’s not going to do the job. What does the job? It is 70 years of work: taking every detail in creation, focusing on it for a short period, recognizing the creator through that creation, and learning about the creator from it. It’s not enough to speak in generalities; we must be specific, focus on everything around us, and study it.
We’re going to give a few examples of how our rabbis have done this. From their wisdom, and from the Gemarot, we see how Chachamim (Sages) set an example for us of how one is supposed to do this. For example, we see in Masechet Shabbat, Daf Ayin Zayin Amud Bet, the Gemara asks, “Mai ta’ama?” What is the reason? “Gamla?” The camel. “Zutra genubteih?” Why is his tail short? You have this big camel with a short tail. The Gemara wants to know: Why is this tail short? Why does Hashem make it like that?
Now, I remind you that the people asking this question are holy humans who spend their entire day learning Torah on the highest levels. They’re involved in the secrets of the Torah. If we looked at them, we would see men who look like angels because of their purity. They’re involved in all the intricate details of Hilchot Shabbat (laws of Shabbat), and all the details of every single mitzvah (commandment) in the Torah. And what are they involving themselves in? What kind of question is that? Why is the camel’s tail short? That’s a question for a three-year-old who visits the zoo and says, “Dad, I notice the tail is short. Why is that?” The father looks at the three-year-old and says, “Ah, that’s a question for a three-year-old. Silly question. Interesting question, but I wouldn’t ask that question. Adults don’t ask questions like that.”
But yet you see these great men asking this question, and many like it in the Gemara. It means they found an interest in the smallest details of the Torah, the smallest details of creation, and they wanted to draw from them any wisdom they could. If you see a short tail on a camel, that’s a reason to stop and think. You see, we adults have gotten into the habit of not asking questions, so we don’t do this anymore. Only little children are interested; they’re inquisitive. In our world, that’s a sign of childhood: when somebody asks so many questions. But in reality, it’s a bad habit we’ve become accustomed to, not asking questions and not looking at things with a fresh eye. Yes, we need to ask: Why does an animal as large as the camel have a short tail? It’s a good question. What can we learn from that? What wisdom can we see from that? Because if we can learn from it, every time we see a camel, it will be another reminder of Hashem’s wisdom.
Imagine we did this with everything around us. Everything you looked at would make it impossible to miss the Creator. You would see Him in the camel, in the tail, in everything you focused on. So what is the answer? What does the Gemara say? “Mishum”—because the camel spends time in areas where there are thorns. That’s where he lives. If he had a long tail, the tail would get stuck in the thorns, and that would not be easy for him. Therefore, the Creator, knowing that the camel’s habitat is in the desert where there are thorns, made him a short tail. That’s good for him. It’s appropriate for him. A tail doesn’t just grow on the camel; it doesn’t just happen that way. There’s a reason why it’s there, and there’s a reason why its measurement is what it is. Nothing is something that just happened.
The Gemara continues and says, “What’s the reason? Why does the ox have a long tail?” See a cow: long tail. Why? The Gemara says, “Because the cow, the cattle, hang out by the swamps.” And by the swamps, as you know, there are a lot of animals. There are a lot of flies. How is the ox going to get rid of the flies sitting on his back? What happens when you have a fly on your head? You put your hand there; you move it. You have a fly on your ankle; you move it. You bend down. But what is an ox going to do when he has flies all over his back? How will he get rid of them? The Creator thought about that. When He created the ox, He already thought about the ox’s life, where he’s going to be, and what issues he’s going to have. Therefore, He made him a long tail. Now that he has a long tail, he’s able to whip it over his back and get rid of all the flies that may be annoying him.
Now, let me tell you a little something here. Hashem could have created an ox that flies wouldn’t go on. He wouldn’t need a tail. He didn’t have to live in the swamps. But the reason why He made him this way is so that we can see the wisdom of the Creator in this world. Hashem put us in a world where He didn’t allow us to be in a world where we wouldn’t be able to find Him. He left His fingerprints all over. He designed the world in a way that you could see His signature all over the place. You just have to open your eyes.
Here’s another example. When He made the camel, He said, “Okay, let me leave my signature, so that every human could open his eye and see: Wait, this tail is short. This tail is long. Why? The camel is very large. Why is this tail short? It doesn’t make sense.” And a person would say, “Ah, look where he lives. Look what would happen to him if his tail were long. It wouldn’t be so good for him.” Oh, who thought of that? Who knew the camel would live in this habitat? Who already understood the issue the camel might have, and therefore made him that tail? Ah, he’s a creator of this world. Signature. That’s one signature.
You see the cow, you see the ox, you see the long tail. What’s going on here? Why is it so long? And all of a sudden, you see those flies on him, and he whips that tail. Ah, wow. Look at that. Who did that? Oh, the creator thought about the ox. He thought about where he’s going to live. He understood already that he’s going to live in this area. He knew there would be flies on him. He knew he needed a way to help him, so He did it this way. Ah, another stamp, another signature. Hashem could have made a very simple world, but He made a very complicated world with very many details so that we would be able to see Him through the creation.
A person cannot walk out of this world and say, “I couldn’t see anything. How would I know there’s a creator?” You don’t know there’s a creator? Did you open your eyes? Yes, if you walk around with blindfolds, you could say, “I didn’t see.” But that’s not to your credit. You can’t excuse yourself by saying, “I didn’t see,” if you close your eyes. If you weren’t created with eyes, God forbid, then you could say, “I don’t see.” We have a rule, “Ones Rachmana patrei.” If a person has no choice, then he’s exempt. If you have no eyes and you don’t see, it’s fine. But you have your eyes and you close them. Imagine you’re driving on the road, you close your eyes, and you hear people say, “I didn’t see Him.” Of course you didn’t see Him; you closed your eyes. That’s not an excuse. No court in the world will excuse you for closing your eyes, saying, “I didn’t see,” and hitting somebody. If you have eyes, you have to open them. It’s no different in this world. If we open our eyes, a person with a healthy mind and eyes that can see will never finish his tenure in this world and be able to say, “I didn’t see the creator.” Did you open your eyes? Did you look? Did you see anything? Did you see the cow’s tail? Did you see the camel’s tail? You didn’t notice it? You didn’t notice one was short and one was long? You didn’t ask the question? It didn’t bother you? You didn’t put things together? You don’t have to be a scientist for this. These are simple things we see all the time. But very often we choose to walk around with blindfolds.
Imagine all of the signatures. I once visited somebody; it’s a true story. I went to visit an older person whom I respected very much. He passed on now. I spent maybe an hour in his apartment. His wife had passed away maybe five years before that visit. I’m talking to him, and we sat in the living room, then we ended up going to the kitchen, and then he showed me around the house. It was an amazing visit for many reasons. But I would say the one thing that stood out in my mind was that visiting this man and talking to him made me feel as if his wife were still living with him. Every step in the house, he pointed out to me: “Oh, that’s where my wife sat when she had coffee. Oh, that’s the spot where we sat when we were eating lunch.” Everything in the house, as he walked through it with me, reminded him of his wife. Every light bulb, every piece of furniture, every rug, the kitchen, the pot, the oven—everything was like his wife had left her signature on every part of that apartment. She had passed away five years before, but when he saw his apartment, he spoke about her as if she were living with him. That was a very, very beautiful, powerful visit.
But guess what? That is the way the Creator expects us to live with Him in this world. Everywhere we go, everything we touch, everything we see, everything we eat, everything we smell: He gave us senses. These senses enable us to see Him every step of the way, as long as our eyes are open and our mind is functioning. Therefore, our Rabbis did not think it was a small thing to ask about the camel’s tail. We might look at that and say that’s for children, for inquisitive kids. No, no, it’s not. This is for regular people, for great people. You see something, you have to ask, and from it you will draw. If Hashem left a signature, you must look to see what He’s signing.
The Gemara continues. It doesn’t stop. It says, “What’s the reason?” Interesting question. Why are the grasshopper’s horns soft? When you have a horn on a cow, the horn is hard. It comes out of the head; it’s a hard piece, like a bone. But the horn that comes out of the grasshopper is soft. The Gemara wants to know how come. How come their horns are soft? They have things coming out of their heads, but they’re soft. Why are they not hard? I bet you never thought about that. Neither did I. But these great people are sitting in the Beit Midrash (study hall) and thinking, “Hmm, interesting. Look at that locust over there. Why is the horn like that? Why is it soft? Why is that hard? What can we learn from that? Is there another signature over there?” Ah, yeah, yeah, it makes sense.
The Gemara says the locusts live in areas with reeds and fly around among them. If their horns were hard, when they hit something, they would become blind. In other words, they’re flying at fast speeds and constantly hitting things because that’s the habitat they’re in. The cow, the ox, is fine. He lives in the open, in a big area. He’s not bumping his head anywhere, so he’s okay. He has these hard horns and lives life peacefully with them. They’re hard for whatever reason, which is not for now. But the grasshopper’s horns are a problem: if they were hard, the grasshoppers would keep bumping their heads into things, and that would blind them.
Ah, wow, look at the Chokhmah of the Creator. He already knew how to make the horns of this little animal. He already knew where she would live and what challenges she would have. He understood the tools she needs in order to be able to rise above the challenges. What wisdom of the Creator! By the way, the wisdom is not just saying, “Wow, look how He thought about everything.” It also gives you a lesson in emunah (faith) in your life. Hashem thought about the camel and would not put the camel in a position it couldn’t handle itself. Hashem took this grasshopper and made sure it had its tools to survive. Hashem would not give an animal something it couldn’t handle. What a great lesson in life. Hashem will not give you and me a challenge we can’t handle. He won’t put me in a position where I don’t have the tools to survive.
Like I’ve told you many times before, I mentioned this derasha. We say in the morning, “Hanoten sheleg katzemer.” Hashem gives snow according to how much wool there is in the world. Before He makes it cold, He first makes sure there’s enough fuel in the world. There’s enough wool in the world to keep people warm. Only then will He send the cold. A person should never feel that a challenge is beyond him. Yes, sometimes things are very difficult. Sometimes a person wants to give up. But what gives a person strength is when he realizes that there’s a creator in this world who thinks about him, who knows what he will be able to handle, and who gives him the tools to handle it. Where did he learn that from? You can learn it from a camel’s tail. You can look at a camel’s tail and get emunah. Hashem gave the camel’s tail specifically for the camel. Am I less than a camel? Hashem wouldn’t give me what I need to be able to rise to my challenge in life.
Part of the reason why many people fold in difficult situations is that they feel it’s beyond them. “I can’t do it. It’s too hard.” People give up in many different ways. There’s giving up through suicide, which is the worst kind of giving up. But there are other types of giving up, where people sleep through life and sleep through their problems, and don’t gather themselves to stand up and figure out how to solve the issue. Why do people fold? Why do they do that? Because they feel this is beyond them. It’s too hard. Each person has their own difficulties. Guess what? Just looking at and studying a grasshopper, an ox, or a camel gives a person relief. Besides that, a person is able to see the wisdom of the Creator. He sees the kindness of the Creator, and he sees that He is preparing His creations for what they need.
The Gemara continues. The Gemara says, “What’s the reason?” Why do chickens have their eyelids go from the bottom to the top? Why not from the top to the bottom? Interesting question again. We would never ask this question; we wouldn’t care about it. But again, Chazal (the Sages) understood that we should look at everything in creation and learn from it if we can. The Gemara says, “I’ll tell you why.” In those days, houses often had flat roofs, and the chickens would stay on the roof. Smoke would often come out of the house, and if the chicken were there, the smoke would go into its eyes. All the smoke would go into the chicken’s eyes and hurt them, maybe even blind the chicken. That’s why Hashem made its eyelids go from the bottom to the top.
Again, this is the direction in life: to open one’s eyes and study the details of creation, and not let the simplest thing we see evade our knowledge and be ignored. Hashem gave us the tools to be able to see Him, see His kindness, and see the faith He has in us. That’s what we say: “Lehagid baboker chasdecha ve'emunatcha baleilot” (To declare Your kindness in the morning and Your faithfulness at night). We all have difficulties. There isn’t a person in life who doesn’t deal with challenges.
What does a person need baleilot? What do you need when you have nighttime in your life? Nighttime could be half an hour this afternoon. It could be tomorrow morning. Nighttime could be next week. It could go on for a week, for a minute. It could go on for a month. Difficulties, challenges in life. Life’s not easy. What do you need at night? Says David HaMelech, you need emunah at night. When you have difficulties in life, you need emunah. Emunah will give you the strength, the power, and the ability to climb and be even better than before. But you need emunah. When it comes to leilot, when it comes to challenges in life, you need emunah.
But look at the word he says. He doesn’t say, “ve’emunah baleilot” (and faith at night). He doesn’t say, “Oh, when I have difficulties, I need emunah.” He doesn’t say that. He says, “ve'emunatcha baleilot.” Your emunah at night. What does that mean, your emunah? You’re talking to Hashem, you’re telling Him, “Your emunah at night”? What does that mean? It means something very simple: it means when Hashem believes in us. Emunatcha, your emunah. You believe in me. When you believe in me, that gives me strength. When you believe that I can do it, it gives me strength.
Just like a little child who’s walking and keeps falling. What keeps him motivated to go? His father tells him, “Keep going. You can do it.” Imagine his father told him, “No, forget it. You’re right, you can’t walk. It’s not for you. You already fell ten times, and it happened. Forget it.” He tries to ride his bike, and he can’t do it. After three minutes his father says, “You know something? It’s not for you. You’re not the kind of guy who can ride bikes.” The kid would say, “Okay, forget it. You’re right. If my father says I can’t do it, I can’t do it.”
What gives a child strength to walk, even after he fell a hundred times? His father tells him, “I know you can do it. You can do it, you can do it, you can do it.” You know how hard, how unimaginable it is for a child to think of himself walking? He looks at all the people walking and says, “How do these people do it? How do they do it? They’re walking on two legs. They’re keeping balance. How do they do it? I don’t understand how they do it.” That’s what a child is thinking. These guys are like, “Wow, impossible.” Then the father says to the son, “You come, let’s try. Come, let’s take a walk. Let me hold your hand. Try it now.” Where does a child get the strength to walk, to ride a bike? Because somebody believes in him. When somebody believes in him, he now realizes he can do it.
What do we say when we have challenges? When we have a leilot in our life, we say, “Hashem, emunatcha. Thank you for believing in me. Because you believe in me, I can do it.” Now, how do you know Hashem believes in you? Who told you Hashem believes in you? Who says? When you start with the camel’s tail and study the ox’s tail, the grasshopper’s horn, and the chicken’s eyelids, then you start understanding emunatcha. You understand that not only does Hashem believe in me, not only does He believe in you, but He believes in every single one of His creations. He created them, He gave them the tools, and He believes in them. So not only do you see Hashem through His creations, you learn so much more. Be'ezrat Hashem (with God's help), tomorrow we’ll continue on a very important subject along this area.