Originally, the Jewish people were decreed to be strangers in a foreign land for four hundred years. The midrash tells us that the tribe of Efraim mistakenly tried to leave before that time was up and many of them were killed. What did they do wrong? They miscalculated the starting point for the years that Hashem had told Avraham His children would be slaves. Although they counted the correct number of years, they counted from the time of the conversation rather than from the birth of Yitzchok, thirty years later, which was the correct starting point for the count. The פרקי דרבי אליעזר writes that the men of Efraim were great warriors so they took their families and tried to leave Egypt relying on their own strength.
This teaches us, says the אוצרות התורה, that we can’t rely on our own strength, but, rather we must rely on Yad Hashem, the hand of Hashem. Although the Jews had been waiting for years and years to be redeemed, waiting for Hashem to come take them out, the time had not yet come. When the time did come, the redemption occurred immediately, not leaving the Jews there for even an extra second. Had the tribe of Efraim not made its own calculation and just waited another thirty years, it, too, would have gone out with Hashem's strong arm and have seen all the miracles that Hashem did for us as we left Egypt.
We must learn not to try too hard to change our fate out of the realm of normal hishtadlus. If we do our part and see that nothing has changed yet, we must wait for Hashem to fix things for us. A person with emunah will let go of control instead of trying to manipulate the situation, and must wait for Hashem to come to his aid, for we never really know what's best for us or what Hashem has planned.
There was a wealthy chasid of the חידושי הרי”ם whose wheel of fortune had turned and he became a poor man. He went to his Rebbi to ask whether he should go ask his wealthy brother, who lived far away, for help. However, the Rebbi didn't want him to go. After a few more months of even tougher times, he again went to the Rebbi to request permission to go out of the country to his brother to get help but yet again the Rebbi said no. A few more months went by and his situation worsened; there was literally no food to put on the table. The man couldn’t take it anymore and wrote his brother a letter explaining his situation. The brother felt terrible and sent him everything that he needed to get back on his feet whereupon the merchant rebuilt his business and was back among the wealthy.
One day, the same man became very sick. The doctor who was called told him that this is a very bad, usually terminal, disease. The chasid immediately sent a letter to his Rebbi asking for a bracha for a complete recovery. When the messenger came to the Rebbi with the letter, the Rebbi said, “Why did he ask his brother for help? Why didn't he trust me? Did he think I was being cruel? Didn't he know I would help him if I could?” Sometimes there is a decree on a person that he must leave this world. Poverty sweetens the decree, for a pauper is considered like one who is dead. Had he just waited the allotted time, he would have regained his wealth on his own. Unfortunately, he had to try to manipulate the situation. “Now,” cried the Rebbi, “he sealed his own fate.”
Sometimes, when we're in a tough spot we must trust that Hashem knows what He is doing and when it's time for the challenge to pass, it will in an instant. This does not mean that we do not need to put in our effort first, but we need to trust that when all else fails, Hashem is always able to change it. When the Jews were at the sea with the Egyptians chasing them, it seemed like all was lost. They put their trust in Hashem and jumped in causing the sea to split. It was their trust in Hashem that made it happen, so, no matter what’s going on in our lives, we must put our full trust in Hashem knowing it will work out for the best!
This teaches us, says the אוצרות התורה, that we can’t rely on our own strength, but, rather we must rely on Yad Hashem, the hand of Hashem. Although the Jews had been waiting for years and years to be redeemed, waiting for Hashem to come take them out, the time had not yet come. When the time did come, the redemption occurred immediately, not leaving the Jews there for even an extra second. Had the tribe of Efraim not made its own calculation and just waited another thirty years, it, too, would have gone out with Hashem's strong arm and have seen all the miracles that Hashem did for us as we left Egypt.
We must learn not to try too hard to change our fate out of the realm of normal hishtadlus. If we do our part and see that nothing has changed yet, we must wait for Hashem to fix things for us. A person with emunah will let go of control instead of trying to manipulate the situation, and must wait for Hashem to come to his aid, for we never really know what's best for us or what Hashem has planned.
There was a wealthy chasid of the חידושי הרי”ם whose wheel of fortune had turned and he became a poor man. He went to his Rebbi to ask whether he should go ask his wealthy brother, who lived far away, for help. However, the Rebbi didn't want him to go. After a few more months of even tougher times, he again went to the Rebbi to request permission to go out of the country to his brother to get help but yet again the Rebbi said no. A few more months went by and his situation worsened; there was literally no food to put on the table. The man couldn’t take it anymore and wrote his brother a letter explaining his situation. The brother felt terrible and sent him everything that he needed to get back on his feet whereupon the merchant rebuilt his business and was back among the wealthy.
One day, the same man became very sick. The doctor who was called told him that this is a very bad, usually terminal, disease. The chasid immediately sent a letter to his Rebbi asking for a bracha for a complete recovery. When the messenger came to the Rebbi with the letter, the Rebbi said, “Why did he ask his brother for help? Why didn't he trust me? Did he think I was being cruel? Didn't he know I would help him if I could?” Sometimes there is a decree on a person that he must leave this world. Poverty sweetens the decree, for a pauper is considered like one who is dead. Had he just waited the allotted time, he would have regained his wealth on his own. Unfortunately, he had to try to manipulate the situation. “Now,” cried the Rebbi, “he sealed his own fate.”
Sometimes, when we're in a tough spot we must trust that Hashem knows what He is doing and when it's time for the challenge to pass, it will in an instant. This does not mean that we do not need to put in our effort first, but we need to trust that when all else fails, Hashem is always able to change it. When the Jews were at the sea with the Egyptians chasing them, it seemed like all was lost. They put their trust in Hashem and jumped in causing the sea to split. It was their trust in Hashem that made it happen, so, no matter what’s going on in our lives, we must put our full trust in Hashem knowing it will work out for the best!
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