Mishpatim 5783: The Key to Life & Who Does Hashem Answer First
Sponsored
Lilui Neshamat Nissim Ben Sulha
Consider sponsoring a shiur
Visit YTATorah.org
Shiur presented in 5778
Hashem Hears Weak and Oppressed People
In this week’s parshah there is a moradige yesod with an interesting new twist. It’s something that a person can employ in every endeavor that he undertakes in his life. The passuk says, כל אלמנה ויתום לא תענון, “you should not afflict any widow or orphan,”אם ענה תענה אתו, “if you’re going to afflict them,” be careful, כי אם צעק יצעק אלי, “for if they will cry out to Me,” שמע אשמע צעקתו, “I will hear their cry”(Shemos22:21-22).
Now what’s the first chiddush you see in the passuk? You know what the first chiddush I see in this passuk is? I would have said that if you pick on people who are weak, Hashem says, “I’m coming after you.” But that’s not what it says. The passuk says, “If you pick on people that are weak, כי אם צעק יצעק אלי, if they cry out to Me, שמע אשמע צעקתו, I will hear their tza’akah.”
The Ramban (Shemos 22:20) gives us a tremendous insight into understanding the exact directive of this passuk. The previous passuk states וגר לא תונה ולא תלחצנו, don’t pick on a ger, don’t oppress him כי גרים הייתם בארץ מצרים. The Ramban explains that the passuk is telling us, don’t oppress him, ותחשבו and think שאין לו מציל מידך, he doesn’t have anybody who is going to save him from your hand. כי אתה ידעת, because you know you were geirim, and I, Hashem, saw the lachatz that Mitzrayim was oppressing you, and I took revenge against them. You know why, Hashem says? כי אני רואה דמעת העשוקים, because I see the tears of the oppressed ones, אשר אין להם מנחם, they have no one to comfort them, ומיד עושקיהם כח, and when they’re in the hands of their strong oppressors, ואני מציל כל אדם מיד חזק ממנו, and I save all people from someone who is stronger than him. וכן האלמנה והיתום לא תענו כי אשמע צעקתם and the same is with the almanah veyasom – I will listen to their cry. Now listen what he says. שכל אלה, because all of these people, אינם בוטחים בנפשם, they’re not boteach in themselves, ועלי יבטחו, they’re boteach in Me.[i]
You hear what it says over here? You hear what the Ramban says? The Ramban says: I learned from this passuk that if somebody picks on yesomim and almanos and other unfortunate people, and these people are just unhappy about the oppression, Hashem won’t necessarily do anything. The passuk says they have to cry out to Hashem! And the Ramban adds an additional point.Everybody has somebody to rely on. If there’s somebody who picks on you, you have someone to rely on. If I’m picking on you, you’ll go to some other rav. If some other rav is picking on you, you’ll go to your parents. The last resort is Hashem. People rely on other people when they’re in the down matzav, but these people, עלי יבטחו, they trust in Me. You hear that?
Hashem’s Hanhagah of Mercy for the Pursued
What it says over here, is that the power of someone who is a nebach is notsimply becauseאלקים יבקש את הנרדף. Hashem seeks out the one who is being pursued by others, even if he’s a rasha. Hashem has rachmanus on everything, even on cattle, even on cats – ורחמיו על כל מעשיו. But here it’s a bezunderer chiddush, something unique. And that is, if somebody doesn’t have anyone to rely on and they rely on Hashem, עלי יבטחו, they’re going to be saved.
The Ramban explains that Hashem is saying, that’s why I saved you. ויאנחו בני ישראל מן העבודה ויצעקו, they cried out, ותעל שועתם אל האלקים מן העבודה כלומר לא בזכותם רק שרחם עליהם מן העבודה. You hear? They turned to Hashem. And until they cried out to Hashem, Hashem did not help them. They had to cry out to Hashem.
So, there are a number of chiddushim here. Chiddush number one is that these people may not have any zechusim. But they’re boteach. And for relying on Hashem, they get saved. It’s mamash moradig! These nebachs could sometimes be challenging. That’s what all of us have experienced. A lot of these people, the yesomim, the almanos, the geirim or some other kinds of unfortunate people – whatever the reason is – they could sometimes get on your nerves.
Hashem Saves Those Who Do Avodas HaBitachon
Now there is another chiddush here. This is a chiddush in bitachon that you don’t see anywhere else. Generally if a person wants to be ‘והתענג על ה, he wants to have aza matzav of bitachon, that requires a big avodah. The gemara (Berachos 32b) says ארבעה צריכים חיזוק, and one of the things is bitachon.[ii] קוה אל ה’ חזק. Bitachon is something you work on big time. It’s a madreigah. But you know what it says over here? You have these people who are nebachs. They don’t have any zechusim. They’re not ba’alei bitachon. Did Klal Yisrael work on bitachon in Hashem?? Did they say the following? בטח אל ה’ בכל לבך ואל בינתך אל תשען – “trust in Hashem with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding”(Mishley 3:5) and השלך על ה’ יהבך והוא יכלכלך – “cast on Hashem your your burden and He will sustain you” (Tehillim 55:23)?! The answer is no! But they came to the madreigah and awareness that there was no one else to rely on in their oppression but Hashem. Just putting your reliance on Hashem and saying to Hashem, “I’m counting on You. I have no one else to count on.” It doesn’t say anywhere that you’re feeling יגל ליבי. You’re not feeling ‘והתענג על ה. You’re not saying you’re packing your suitcases and we’re having the geulah. You’re not ordering first-class tickets. These are all peulos habitachon, avodas habitachon.
You may ask, “What is an example of avodas habitachon?” I will give you an example. Shalom Mordechai Rubashkin was in jail. He had bitachon, emese bitachon. So what was his big thing? Alef beis gimmel, emunah bitachon geulah. What did he do? He would tell everybody, “Im yirtzeh Hashem, this week you’re invited to my house for Friday night. I want to see you in my house this Shabbos for kiddush.”That’s what he would tell people who would visit him. “What do you mean? You’re here, in prison!” “No, I’m going to be out! Im yertzeh Hashem, I’m going to see you for kiddush.” He was working on bitachon. There’s no question about it. That was an avodas habitachon. That was called that he worked and worked and worked on bitachon, and it created a matzav where Hashem said, “Bizechus your bitachon, I’m going to save you.”
Here, in our passuk, we are talking about people with no zechus. These are nebachs. It’s not avodas habitachon. This is a person that says, “Hashem I give up. I have no one to rely on.”
Now, I’ll tell you what most people do. Let’s say a person is looking for a shidduch. So the first thing you try to do, is you try to do everything in the world to make that shidduch happen. First, you make a resume. Then you talk to a shidduch coach. They tell you to get new glasses, get a new hat, a new tie, maybe a new hairdo, maybe fix yourself up. This is old shidduch advice.
Then you try and you try and you try and you give up. Then you try segulos. Then you try brachos. Then you try Rav Chaim Palagi’s eitzos, the Ben Ish Chai’s eitzos. You try Amukah. Yonason ben Uziel. Forty days at the Kosel. There are so many eitzos out there! It’s unbelievable! People go to Morocco. I asked one guy, “Morocco? What’s in Morocco?” “Some group from Morocco,” he said, “it’s a segulah to go there to find a shidduch.” The guy is still waiting. I said, “It must be the wrong address.”
People who Give Up and Rely Only on Hashem
But what’s the eitzah to get a yeshuah right away? There’s one eitzah. You’ve got to give up hope. That’s the key. You’ve got to tell yourself, “There’s no one in the world that I could rely on. I’ve exhausted all options. I tried. I’m not a big ba’al bitachon. I tried all my eitzos!”
Now, if you think you have to keep trying, then you’ll tell yourself. “I guess I need to try another segulah, another mitzvah, another zechus.” It doesn’t hurt. But you’re not keying into this. You’ve got to say to yourself, “Hashem I have no one to rely on. Not my mother. Not my father. Not this person. Not that person. Not this shadchan. Not that shadchan.” It’s funny when you go to people and ask, “Do you have an eitzah for me?” They say, “Well, did you try the shadchanim yet? Did you go to a dating coach or a shidduch coach?”
I met a young man recently, a very fine young man. He went to a guy who told him, “You’ve got to go to a shidduch coach.” His father called me up. “Should I send my son to a shidduch coach?” I said, “Yeah, if you want to prolong his misery, send him to a shidduch coach. That will help. First, it will relieve you of some money, a few hundred dollars from your pocket. That’s the first thing it will do. Second, it will definitely make your son feel like he’s doing something. Third, it will prolong his wait.” I said, “I know your son. You know your son. What does he need coaching for? He is what he is and that’s what he’s going to be. He’s a nice boy, a very nice fellow.” I said, “Give up and just put your reliance on Hashem and on nobody else. Don’t think this rosh yeshivah is going to help, or that person is going to help. Nothing.” And then the next girl he went out with, he got engaged to. That’s what happens. This is such an important thing.
People look for jobs. They try hard. They market themselves. They network. They look in magazines, in papers. They try. There’s nothing wrong with that. There’s nothing wrong with a person making hishtadlus. The truth is that very few people are on the madreigah of emese bitachon, of being boteach in Hashem and saying, “Hashem, I don’t need hishtadlus. I trust in You.” No. But you know what happens? A lot of times after all of your well-intentioned hishtadlus you hit a brick wall. You don’t know what to do. You try this. You try that. What do you do then? Then you have to say, “I’m boteach in Hashem.”
Are You “At the End of the Road”?
During the last few weeks, I’ve gotten many calls from people trying to get their children into Lakewood high schools. There are, kein ayin hara, many, many children. I spoke to a rosh yeshivah today. He told me he’s been giving forty bechinos a day for two weeks straight. You know what that is? I can’t imagine! He said it was mamash very tiring. And he’s taking from each school no more than two kids. Parents are calling me up. “How do I get in? How do I push? How do I do this?” I say, “You know what you do? Give up. Say, ‘Hashem, I have no one to help me whatsoever. I’m putting my trust in You. You’re the only one who knows what’s best for my kid. You’re the only one who knows how to get me into a yeshivah. Which yeshivah is best for me? You’re the only one who is going to get me in.’ That will get you in. That’s the key.”
Now the Ramban says another shtickel. If a person could get himself into this mode, his bitachon has a very unique ma’alah. When you get to the edge and you realize that you can’t do anything anymore, you have no way out and no way to be spared, this kind of bitachon gets you answered miyad. In other words, when a person realizes that he’s at the “end of the road” and in that state, he cries out to Hashem as his only source of yeshuah, the Ramban says – he gets answered asap!
The Ramban says in the next passuk (Shemos 22:22) that if you afflict one of these people, כי אם צעק יצעק אלי בלבד, if they just cry out to Me, יצעק אלי – it does not say cry out, but cry out to Me – מיד אשמע צעקתו איננו צריך לדבר אחר כלל – I will immediately heed his cry, and he doesn’t need another resolution.[iii] I don’t need any trips to Amukah. I don’t need trips to Meiron. I don’t need them. Hashem says כי אני אושיענו ואנקום אותו ממך, “I’m going to save him and I’m going to take vengeance from you for his sake.” You know why? Since he has no way to save himself from your hand, he gets pushed to the front of the line. כי שאר האנשים, Other people, יטרחו, will exert themselves, אחרי מושיעים. They’re going to find people who are going to bring them the yeshuah. They have connections. They have protektzia. They have an uncle, an aunt, or a shver, שיושיעם who can save them or assist them. ואולי לא יועילו והצל לא יצילו, but those people might not be able to help. But this nebach, בצעקתו בלבד נושע בה’ וינקם ממך, he cries out alone and Hashem saves him.
So the eitzah is Rabosai, you’ve got to make yourself an absolute ‘nebach,’ right away when you are in a real pickle. That’s what you’ve got to do. You’ve got to make yourself a ‘nebach,’ in order for Hashem to help you.
Do Powerless Actions, Then Stop and Hope
I found this yesod in Rabeinu Yonah in Mishlei as well.[iv]There’s a famous passuk in Mishlei (3:6) that everybody knows. בכל דרכיך דעהו, in all of your ways know Him. In all your ways, know Hashem. והוא יישר ארחתיך, and He will smooth out your road. Zugt the heilegeh Rabeinu Yonah, בכל פועל, in any action that you take, זכור את ה’ יתברך, remember Hashem and put your hope in Him for your hatzlachah. ותלה בו בטחנך, hang your bitachon on Him. והשב אליך, and put into your heart the following thing: כי אין הפועל בידו, you don’t have any power in your hand. Now, the passuk before this one says בטח אל ה’ בכל לבך, trust Hashem with all your heart. So what is this passuk adding? Explains Rabeinu Yonah, כי יש שבוטח בה’ יתברך בכלל, because there are some people who are boteach in Hashem Yisbarach generally, ומאמין, and they believe, כי הכל בידי שמים ובוטח בו ולא יבטח באדם, they don’t trust in a person, ולא בכוחו, not in a person’s koach and not in a person’s seichel. But you know what happens? They don’t have any hopes, because they still don’t really get it. לא ישיב ענין הבטחון אל ליבו בפרט, they don’t put their heart and mind to having bitachon in the details of their actions. רוצה לומר בכל מעשה אשר יעשה that means to say, there are some people who say: “I’m boteach 100% that my shidduch is coming from Hashem. I’m boteach 100% that a human being can’t bring me a shidduch. But you know what? I’ve got to help myself. I have to start sending out resumes, start calling shadchanim, start doing all kinds of peulos.”They don’t have bitachon in Hashem in the pratim,in the details. So that’s why the posuk teaches us: בכל דרכיך דעהו פירוש בכל פרטי מעשיך, meaning to say, in every detail of your actions, בכל דרך ופעולה, whatever it is you’re doing, זכרהו. And listen to this. והשב אל ליבך, put it in your heart and your mind כי אין לך כח ויכלת בפועל ההוא, that you have no koach and no abilities with that action. Writing the resume is not going to do a thing for you. Going to a shadchan is not going to do a thing for you. ואננו בידך רק ביד השם, you have no power within your hand, it’s all in the hands of Hashem. ותלה בו תקוותך וצפייתך לחסדי השם יתברך, hang on Him and His chesed your hopes and expectations. And that’s what Dovid Hamelech said, קויתי ה’ קותה נפשי – I put my confidence in Hashem, my soul put confidence (Tehillim 130:5).
You hear this amazing shtickel? It’s some amazing stuff! What it says over here is that you always have to do a necessary action – that’s why it says בכל דרכיך – “in every single prat detail.” The second you do this, you’re going to be helped immediately! But the necessary prerequisite for that, is that you have to believe that you’ve done what you have to do. You have to believe, “I’m finished. I’ve done what I had to do.” But if you believe that you could still do five or ten things to bring about the result, but you’re not doing them because you’re lazy, and you think that Hashem will do it anyway – because your attitude is: “whatever I do, doesn’t make a difference” – then it won’t work. You’ve got to exhaust your koach. And then, you’ve got to come to the realization that: “Hashem, I have nothing more to do besides relying on You.” You have to believe that your mother cannot get you a shidduch. As much as she’s told you, “I’m going to find you a shidduch. I’m working on a shidduch.” Do you know how many bachurim and girls call their parents when they go through that stage, “Ma, what’s new? What have you done, Ma? Who have you called? Who did you reach out to? What did you say? Who did you speak to?” That means they believe in their parents. That’s not going to help you. You know how many people believe in their uncles for jobs? Or their friends for jobs? And they get disappointed.
Helpless Bachur Got a Dirah
Now, this is such an important thing, I can’t overstress this enough. This was the first lesson of bitachon my rebbi taught me. That’s why it’s not about avodas habitachon. It’s a whole new chiddush, a whole new twist. “Hashem, I have no one to rely on. Only You. What can I do? I’m not a tzaddik. I didn’t work on bitachon. I didn’t learn Sefer HaIkrim. I didn’t learn Chazon Ish. I didn’t learn Chovos Halevavos. I didn’t learn anything. I’m an am ha’aretz gamur. The only thing I know – I’m helpless. Hashem the one thing I know is that the only one I have to rely on is You.” If you do that, you’ll have your yeshuah.
I needed an apartment when I came to Eretz Yisrael. I was looking for an apartment near my rebbi, not far from his house. I was told, “You’re not going to find apartments near his house. There are no bachurim apartments for rent near his house. Forget about it.” I put signs up in the shuls. Someone told me that’s what you do. You put up signs in the shuls and hope that somebody will contact you. That’s how to go about looking for an apartment. In those days they didn’t have phones, so you had to hang signs like this: “I’m looking for an apartment. If you have an apartment, please leave a note on the bulletin board for yud beis my initials.” There was a big bulletin board. You had to go looking if there was any note left for you.
Anyway, I couldn’t find an apartment. A couple of days went by, and I asked everybody I met, “Nu, did you hear about an apartment?” Finally I decided, okay, I just came to Eretz Yisrael. I’m going to go ask my rebbi what to do. So I knocked on his door. “Rebbi, I have a problem. I need a dirah.” He said, “Vus hust du geton – what did you do?” I told him everything I did. “Did you speak to people?Did you put up tzetlach (ads)?” I said, “Yes! I did everything.” He said, “Is there anything left that you can do?” I said, “No. Everybody I meet I’m asking. I’m checking the notes. Checking the papers.” He says, “Luz up, give up! You have no eitzos anymore.” That’s all. I said, “How is it going to come if I don’t take action and I don’t make it come?! It’s going to come from the sky?!” He said, “Let it go. Leave it in the hands of the One who arranges things. Leave it alone.”
I was thinking, “This is a little wild advice. I had never heard such advice in my life.” He didn’t give me a bitachon shmooze. He just said, “Luz up.” You did what you had to do. Now luz up. He didn’t tell me to go to the Kosel. He didn’t tell me to go to Kever Rochel. What kind of nonsense is this? Why didn’t he tell me to go daven? Tell me a zechus? Give money to Rabbi Meir Ba’al Ness. Go to Amukah. But he was telling me this yesod: “You tried everything? Leave it in the hands of Hashem.”
Within a very short time, within twenty four hours for sure, somebody came to me, “Are you still looking for an apartment?” I said, “Yeah. Why?” He said, “I have one for you.” I said, “Where? Where is it?” He said, “It’s on Rechov Bnei Bris.” “Rechov Bnei Bris? Where is that?” He said, “It’s by the taxis. You know, up there.” I said, “You’re joking. What condition is it in?” He said, “It’s a brand-new place.” There was not one dirah in all the boys’ apartments that was brand-new. There’s no such a metziah. Everyone is a bigger churvah than the next. “This is a brand-new dirah. And there’s another thing. They actually clean it for you.” I said, “Nah.” “And one more thing. They do your shirts.” I said, “Who owns this dirah?” He said, “The rosh yeshivah of Kol Torah.” “And who does the shirts?” “His rebbetzin cleans the place and does the shirts.” And kach havah! That was the most beautiful stay in Eretz Yisrael. The best apartment I’ve ever had in Eretz Yisrael! L’chatchilah shebel’chatchilos. I put it in Hashem’s hands. Everybody said, “How did you get an apartment?” I said, “Not through my doing.” I gave up. That’s what you’ve got to do.
You’re looking for a job? You tried? Give up. Here is a guy who is trying to make a deal go through. I get a lot of calls from people like this. “I just had this deal. It was ready to go through. At the last minute, boom! It fell through. What should I do?” You know what you do? I’ll tell you what you do. The next time the deal is going through, say, “Hashem, I did as much as I can. Now I give up. From here on in it’s Your thing.” A lot of people say, “Hashem, I know You’re going to make it happen but I’m going to try my best.” And you help Hashem out to the end. No. Don’t help Hashem out. At some point, say, “Hashem I did what I can do. The rest is up to You. Now make it happen.” Don’t call this guy. Don’t call that guy, and ask him to push it, nudge him along to do the deal. No. Don’t do that. The same thing if you want a house, you need an apartment, or you need a car.
Someone With No Person to Rely On, Relies on Hashem
You have to remember this famous yesod. Today we’re seeing it from the Rishonim, from the Ramban and Rabbeinu Yonah. Now, let’s see it from one of gedolei achronim as well. I mentioned to you once before this idea from the Netziv (Rav Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin, 1816-1893). The Netziv says (Haamek Davar) in Parshas Behar on the passuk ואיש כי לא יהיה לו גאל והשיגה ידו ומצא כדי גאלתו – If any party has no one to be redeemer but prospers and acquires enough to redeem with (Vayikra 25:26). The background on this is as follows: there’s a fellow who sold his house, and he needs money to redeem the house back from the buyer. It says, if he doesn’t have a goel and then he acquires the money, then he can redeem it himself. Fregt the Netziv, I don’t understand such an eitzah. Why does it say, ואיש כי לא יהיה לו גאל? There areextra words. It should have said, if a person sold his house and then he got money to redeem it, he can buy it back. What’s this idea of ואיש כי לא יהיה לו גאל?[v]
The Netziv says, it comes to teach us a tremendous lesson. When the guy has no one to rely on, he has no one to give him the money to buy his house back, that is the sibah that he’s going to get the money! Someone who has a goel and he’s boteach in somebody else, he removes his bitachon from Hashem. You know how many people are in this pickle? I tell them, “Have bitachon.” They say, “Why don’t you do it for me?” You can make it happen.” I say, “Me? I can make nothing happen. How can I make something happen? Hashem can make something happen.”
The Netziv says, someone who has no one to be somech on, to depend on, so memeilah he relies on Hashem, and Hakadosh Baruch Hu knows who relies on Him. But you have people who lose their heads, after making all their hishtadlus and not seeing the results. They lose their minds. They go nuts. They go berserk. They act very unsettled. But Hashem knows those who are relying on Him, וממציא לפניו, He gives them the money. That’s what it says.
So be boteach baHashem. At the very least, you have to know your Creator, and you have to say to Him:“Hashem, I’m turning to You and being mevakesh from You because I have no one else to be mevakesh from.”
But many people say the following: “Hashem please make that shadchan send me that shidduch. Hashem, make this principal from the school take me in. Hashem, make this rosh yeshivah change his mind. Hashem, make Pharaoh change his mind.” Why don’t you say to Hashem, “Hashem, I’m relying on You. I have no one else to rely on.” That’s what you’re supposed to say. You’re supposed to say, “Hashem, I’m helpless in every prat,” and then Hashem is going to help you. Hashem is going to cure you, give you a refuah. He’s going to give you hatzlachah. He’s going to give you brachah.
This is the secret and the key to life. We learned big chiddushim in bitachon today. Bitachon without the avodah of bitachon. Hashem has a hanhagah just for those who are relying on Him. You rely on Him, Hashem doesn’t disappoint you and the outcome? It’s just out of this world.
Hakadosh Baruch Hu should help us be zocheh to בכל דרכיך דעהו. In every prat and every detail of our lives we should remember that, “I’m just going through the motions, Hashem. Hashem, I’m putting myself in Your hands. I’m relying on You.” And then you’re going to be zocheh and you’re going to be matzliach.
[i] לא תונה גר ולא תלחצנו ותחשבו שאין לו מציל מידך, כי אתה ידעת שהייתם גרים בארץ מצרים וראיתי את הלחץ אשר מצרים לוחצים אתכם ועשיתי בהם נקמה, כי אני רואה דמעת העשוקים אשר אין להם מנחם ומיד עושקיהם כח, ואני מציל כל אדם מיד חזק ממנו וכן האלמנה והיתום לא תענו כי אשמע צעקתם, שכל אלה אינם בוטחים בנפשם, ועלי יבטחו: ובפסוק האחר הוסיף טעם ואתם ידעתם את נפש הגר כי גרים הייתם בארץ מצרים (שמות כ״ג:ט׳) כלומר, ידעתם כי כל גר נפשו שפלה עליו והוא נאנח וצועק ועיניו תמיד אל ה’ וירחם עליו כאשר רחם עליכם, כמו שכתוב (שמות ב׳:כ״ג) ויאנחו בני ישראל מן העבודה ויצעקו ותעל שועתם אל האלקים מן העבודה. כלומר לא בזכותם רק שרחם עליהם מן העבודה.
[ii] Ed. note: although bitachon is not one of the four areas listed in the above gemora (i.e. Torah, ma’asim tovim, tefillah, and derech eretz), Rav Brog, Shlit”a, explained elsewhere (see Parshas Vaeira 5783), that the underlying principle linking the fouris, in fact, bitachon – because if a person doesn’t see results in these areas – after his ameilus and tefillah – he should not despair or give up, but instead, he should be meschazek himself and “stay the course.” The ability not to give up and be meschazek himself demonstrates the level of his bitachon.
[iii] אם ענה תענה אותו הרי זה מקרא קצר, גיזם ולא פירש ענשו, כמו לכן כל הורג קין (בראשית ד טו), ולא פירש העונש. אף כאן, אם ענה תענה אותו, לשון גיזום, סופך ליטול את שלך, למה, כי יצעק אלי אשמענו ואנקמנו. לשון רש”י. (רש”י על שמות כ״ב:כ״ב) ואיננו נכון, וגם העד שהביא לא העיד כן, אבל יתכן שיהיה ”כי” במקום הזה כמו אם”, שהוא אחד משמושין שלו, יאמר, אם יצעק אלי שמוע אשמע צעקתו, והכפל לנחוץ הענין וחזוקו, כדרך המבלי אין קברים (שמות י״ד:א׳), הרק אך במשה (במדבר יב ב). והנכון בעיני כי יאמר אם ענה תענה אותו רק צעוק יצעק אלי בלבד מיד אשמע צעקתו, איננו צריך לדבר אחר כלל, כי אני אושיענו ואנקום אותו ממך והטעם, כי אתה לוחץ אותו מפני שאין לו מושיע מידך, והנה הוא נעזר יותר מכל אדם, כי שאר האנשים יטרחו אחרי מושיעים שיושיעום ואחרי עוזרים לנקום נקמתם, ואולי לא יועילו והצל לא יצילו, וזה בצעקתו בלבד נושע בה’ וינקם ממך, כי נוקם ה’ ובעל חמה (נחום א ב), וכו’.
[iv] “בכל דרכיך דעהו” וגו’ בכל פועל אשר תבקש לעשות זכור את השם יתברך וקוה אליו להצליחך בו ותלה בו בטחונך ותשב אליו לבך, כי אין הפועל בידך. והוסיף המקרא הזה על מה שאמר תחלה “בטח אל ד’ בכל לבך”, כי יש מי שבוטח בשם יתברך בכלל ומאמין כי הכל בידי שמים ובוטח בו ולא יבטח באדם ולא בכחו ושכלו ואך לא ישוב ענין הבטחון אל לבו בפרטים, ר”ל בכל מעשה אשר יעשה. על כן אמר בכל דרכיך דעהו, פירוש בכל פרטי מעשיך בכל דרך ופעולה זכרהו והשב אל לבך כי אין לך כח ויכולת בפועל ההוא ואיננו בידך רק ביד השם ותלה בו תקותך וצפייתך לחסד השם יתברך. ובענין הזה אמר דוד ע”ה “קויתי ד’ קותה נפשי” (תהלים קל, ה) “נפשי לד'”. וזה הענין נכבד מאוד וע”י ההרגל הזה תקבל הנפש המתאוה אל הבטחון. ודע כי יש אנשים שעיניהם אל ד’ במעשה גדול, כמו אם יבקשו לפרוש בים לסחורה או לצאת בשיירה ובמעשה קטן לא יזכרו את השם מפני שהפועל קל בעיניהם וברור לדעתם כי יעלה בידם או מפני שלא יגיעם הפסד מרובה אם יבטל המעשה ההוא ולא יעלה בידם. על כן אמר “בכל דרכך דעהו”, בדבר גדול או קטן, כי אחר שכל הפעולות תלויות ביד השם וכל ההצלחות בחסדו, חייב אדם לזכרו בכל מעשיו, כי אם יצלח המעשה בידו והוא לא זכר בו את השם ולא נשא עיניו בו אל השם הנה קצר בחוק העבודה. גם יתן אל לבו כי שכר הבטחון ותקוה אל השם להצלחת הפועל גדול יותר מאוד מתועלת הפועל עצמו. וכן יכלול במה שאמר בכל דרכיך דעהו בין מלאכת רשות בין מלאכת מצוה כאשר אמרו ז”ל מחשבה מועלת אפילו לדברי תורה (סנהדרין כו:) והוא יישר אורחותיך. זולתי שכר הבטחון אשר הוא גדול מעל השמים, תצליח במעשה ההוא אשר זכרת בו את השם וכי אין הפועל ברשותך. והנה ענין הפירוש הזה אשר ביארנו עולה ביד מדבריהם ז”ל שאמרו בפרק הרואה ברכות (סג.) דרש בר קפרא איזו היא פרשה קטנה שכל גופי תורה תלויין בה הוי אומר בכל דרכיך דעהו וגו’ “.
[v] והשיגה ידו. הכי מיבעי או השיגה ידו. ואיש כי לא יהיה לו גואל מיותר. ובא להורות לנו דרך מוסר כי זה שלא יהיה לו גואל יבא לידי כך שתשיג ידו. דמי שיש לו גואל והוא בוטח עליו מסיר בטחונו מה׳ משא״כ אם אין לו על מי לסמוך ה״ה חוסה בו ית׳ והקב״ה יודע חוסי בו וממציא לפניו כדי גאולתו. (ואח״כ ראיתי שהקדימני בזה בס׳ מלאכת מחשבת) וכתיב ואיש. ולא ואם לא יהיה לו גואל. ללמדנו דגם הבוטח בה׳ מכ״מ צריך להיו׳ איש היודע את בוראו ומשתדל בתפלה ובקשה ממנו ית׳. וכמבואר בויקרא רבה פ׳ י״ז טוב ה׳ לקויו יכול לכל תלמוד לומר לנפש תדרשנו. פי׳ גם יבקש בתפלה.
