Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear

The Chovot HaLevavot , in Sha'ar Cheshbon HaNefesh (Chapter 3), teaches that no one in this world can give us anything unless Hashem wills it. Even if a person was the only one in the world, he would not possess a single thing more than what Hashem decreed for him. And even if the world's population doubled, he would not have one possession less than what was meant for him. Rabbi Menashe Reizman gives a mashal : A father with 19 children had to make the simplest wedding for his youngest child, cutting out all possible extras. The child may have thought, "If only I were an only child, my father would have made me the grandest wedding." But this is entirely false. That child would have received the same wedding regardless of how many siblings he had. Hashem provides for each person individually, and no one else has any impact on what we receive. A hundred years ago, people worried that if the world's population continued growing at its current rate, food would become scarce—some even predicted that one apple would have to be divided among four people, based on the ratio of apples to people, at that time. At that time, there were 2 billion people in the world. Today, the population has quadrupled to over 8 billion, yet there is no shortage of apples—there are enough for every person to have more than four apples. Some now worry that, with the increasing population, the world will run out of oxygen. But we laugh at this notion because we understand that Hashem provides for every person individually, and no one is affected by the presence of others. A person can live in isolation, surrounded by abundance, yet be unable to benefit from it. Conversely, someone with little means, surrounded by many others, may still have everything he needs. It all depends on Hashem's will. Rabbi Yaakov Meir Schechter related a story from a time of famine in Yerushalayim when there wasn't enough bread for everyone. Bread had to be rationed based on family size. Ironically, the baker—who had access to all the bread he could ever want—contracted a rare illness that prevented him from eating any of it. No one could believe that the one person with unlimited access to bread was unable to enjoy it. Only Hashem determines who benefits from what. Rabbi Schechter also shared an account from Rabbi Shaul Sharabani about his experience living in the Old City of Yerushalayim when it was under Turkish rule. He and a friend received draft notices for the Turkish army. At the time, being drafted was considered a terrible fate, as both a person's spiritual and physical well-being were at great risk. Rabbi Shaul and his friend accepted upon themselves that if Hashem saved them from the draft, they would travel to the kever of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai in Meron and spend the day thanking and praising Hashem for their salvation. In those days, traveling to Meron was extremely difficult, but they believed that their mesirut nefesh in fulfilling their promise would be a great zechut for them. B'chasdei Hashem , both of them were miraculously exempted from military service. Rabbi Shaul immediately fulfilled his pledge. He made the difficult journey to Meron and spent the entire day crying tears of gratitude and praise to Hashem. His friend, however, did not join him. Since their exemption had occurred through seemingly natural means—connections and assistance from others—he did not fully attribute it to Hashem. Unfortunately, just a few months later, this friend received another draft notice. This time, there was no way for him to get out of it. Our hishtadlut does not accomplish anything—only Hashem does. It is up to us to recognize this and internalize that Hashem provides for each person individually, and no one else has any effect on our lives.