Beshalach 5782 – Hishtadlus & Parnasah
Sponsored Anonymously l’zchus Refuah Shleimah. Shiur presented in 5778.
Sponsored Anonymously l’zchus Refuah Shleimah. Shiur presented in 5778.
We are in the Three Weeks now, together with the whole world, and we are trying to think about this period. Today’s shiur is going to focus a bit on understanding the three weeks from a psychological standpoint. The Chafetz Chaim, in his sefer Ahavas Yisrael, discusses the reasons why people don’t like each other. Now, the first thing you have to understand is that human psychology is at work overtime whenever we have social interaction. When we encounter people, whether face to face or from a distance, or even through somebody else introducing me to that person, the human being always establishes a platform: do I like that person, or do I not like that person…
The passuk in Parshas Ma’asei says: אלה מסעי בני ישראל אשר יצאו מארץ מצרים לצבאתם ביד משה ואהרן – These were the marches of the Bnei Yisroel who started out from the land of Egypt, troop by troop, in the charge of Moshe and Aaron. One of the subjects of training that the Klal Yisrael experienced in the midbar was the parshah of masaos. It’s very interesting to take note of that.
Tonight’s subject be’eizer Hashem,is to figure out the purpose of our lives in this world, for each one of us. One of the most fundamental principles of Judaism is that there is no creature that exists, that was created for no reason, or by chance. Every single one of the creatures in the universe has a specific purpose. That’s a mind-boggling concept. Every blade of grass, every ant, and every fly has a purpose in Hashem’s creation. That’s principle number one.
Let us take a look at the end of Parshas Emor where the Torah discusses the Yom Tov of Sukkos. The pasuk says: On the 15th day of this 7th month, it is Chag Hasukkos Lahem. A few pesukim later it says: However, on the 15th day of the 7th month, when you gather in your harvest, you should celebrate a chag hashem shivas yamim. The obvious question is why does the Torah repeat these dates twice?
The Torah relates that after Klal Yisrael came out of Mitzrayim, they witnessed the greatest historical event and the greatest revelation up to that point in the history of the world. They saw myriads of makkos, hundreds of makkos. They saw Hashem taking apart Mitzrayim brick by brick. They saw Hashem playing with the Mitzri’im. They saw krias Yam Suf. They were able to point with their finger and say זה קלי ואנוהו, “this is My God, and I will glorify Him” (Shemos 15:2). They saw ananei hakavod, clouds of glory.
We have to learn from our avos, Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov, that we need to develop in every area of our lives. The avos built the future of Klal Yisrael. Their whole outlook and their whole avodah was with an eye on the future. It’s not the pshat that the avos were great Jews, super Yidden, and therefore they got a present, and were blessed with good children. That’s how we may see it. When we see a guy has good kids, what do we say? “Oh, he got a brachah. He went to a rebbe. He went to a tzaddik. He went to some kever. Maybe he did a good deed.” You have to realize the avos were called avos. Do you know what avos means?