It's Not a History Lesson

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The stories of the Torah are not there to teach us history. They are meant to teach us lessons to apply to our own lives. When we read about the Imahot who were barren for so long and were then blessed after praying so many tefilot, we learn that no matter how long it's been, or what the doctors have said, a woman could still be helped to have a child through Tefila. The Torah tells us about Yosef HaTzadik in prison for so long with what seemed like no hope of getting out. All of the sudden he was pulled from jail and became the second in command. This teaches us that when we are in a situation that seems hopeless, Hashem can also send our salvation from nowhere, and we can go from having nothing to having everything.

The Tanach is filled with stories where Hashem is מקדים רפואה למכה-prepares the salvation before the problem even started. That is to teach us that our salvations are also prepared, we just have to access them. There are so many stories even today of Hashem preparing people's help before they need it.

Rabbi Biderman told a story that took place this past year on the third day of the month of Iyar, the Yahrzeit of Reb Yeshaya of Kerestir. A man from Monroe, who was a member of Hatzalah there, decided on a Friday afternoon, out of the blue, that he wanted to go pray at the grave of the Rebbe on his Yahrzeit. He had never done anything like this. He called the airline after Shabbat to book a ticket to Hungary, but the only available flights were leaving on the Yahrzeit itself. There would be enough time to land and reach the grave before the end of the day, if everything went smoothly, so he made the reservation and ordered a driver to pick him up at the airport to quickly take him there. But when he arrived, it took him a full hour to find the driver. Then, on the road, they witnessed a terrible car accident right in front of them. They stopped the car and the Hatzalah member found two Jewish boys unconscious. He performed CPR back and forth to both of them for fifteen minutes until an ambulance arrived. He ended up saving both of their lives. Hashem sent this man to travel over 4000 miles to be at that exact location the moment the accident took place. The odds of this man from Monroe being on a highway in Hungary at that exact second to save their lives are too high to calculate. Just a few days before it wasn't even a thought in his brain, but Hashem was preparing and had the salvation ready and waiting before the accident even happened.

Everything happens through Divine Providence. Hashem knows the future. He knows how to bring salvations. And He moves people accordingly. Sometimes a salvation is awaiting, but we first have to do our part to attain it. The Midrash says that Hashem made a condition with the Red Sea when He created it, that it would split for the Jews when they would arrive there, being pursued by the Egyptian army. But when they got there, it didn't split until the Jews jumped in with Emunah. It was prepared to split. The salvation was in place, but it was the Emunah that brought it to fruition.

A man called me from Israel and said he was in the grocery store last Friday shopping for Shabbat. It was a grocery store that he doesn't commonly frequent. The last time he was there was three months before. While there, he saw a Talmid Chacham who he considered to be a hidden Tzadik. He knew that man struggled financially, so as a kindness, he handed that Tzadik his credit card and said, "Please, let me have the merit of purchasing your Shabbat food this week. When you're finished, I will be waiting in my car, I want to take you home." He accepted and on the way home, he thanked the man for his kindness and said he had to share with him an unbelievable Hashgachat Hashem that just happened. He said that he did not have the money to buy the food for his family for that Shabbat. He didn't know of any way to get it. He doesn't like asking for handouts. So that morning he took out the Gemara which says that it is Hashem who pays for all of our Shabbat expenses. When he had built up his Emunah to really believe it, he decided to go to the grocery store, relying that Hashem will pay for his food. When a friend asked how he could do such a thing, he replied, "If we have Emunah in what the Gemara says, we should go to the grocery and fill up our carts for Shabbat, as though someone handed us their credit card and said that it's on him" The Tzadik concluded, "I came to the store, and here you were, handing me your credit card." Both were in awe.

Most people are not on that level of Emunah, but there are many ways for us to get what Hashem has already prepared for us. We need to talk to Hashem. We need to get closer to Him, and we have to know that He can always help us-no matter what. B'ezrat Hashem, that merit will enable us to find all of our Yeshuot. Amen.

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