Ezras Avoseinu #1: Crossing the Sea into Olam HaBa
ברוך...גאל ישראל …Who redeemed Yisrael.
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Rabbi Yochanan says (B’rachos 4b) that one who juxtaposes the brachah of Ga’al Yisrael to Shemoneh Esrei is a “ben olam ha’ba.” The simple understanding is that he merits olam ha’ba. Many years ago, I saw a commentary that explained that a “ben olam ha’ba” means that even while in this world, the person is considered a piece of olam ha’ba, as if he is actually living already in olam ha’ba. It implies an extremely high level.
The obvious question is: What is so special about connecting the brachah of Ga’al Yisrael to Shemoneh Esrei that a person is deemed to be a ben olam ha’ba already now, in this world? Anyone who davens Shacharis or Maariv does that daily, as part of the normal order of tefilah.
Rabbeinu Yonah, on that gemara, asks this question and presents two answers. We will focus on the second answer. If a person needs to borrow $100,000, he will not ask a poor person. He will seek out a wealthy person who has the financial ability to make the loan without any difficulty. When we daven Shemoneh Esrei, we make many requests. If we are mindful, that has to mean that we truly and absolutely believe that Hashem can provide us with all we are asking for. The splitting of the Yam Suf happened in the merit of our bitachon – our trust in, and reliance on, Hashem.
When even tefilah was not sufficient to help us, bitachon was. When Nachshon jumped in, and the rest of klal Yisrael followed, they demonstrated their complete trust and reliance on Hashem.
Who merits being a ben olam ha’ba? One who says the brachah of Ga’al Yisrael with kavanah, thinking that just as our ancestors had bitachon in Hashem, so do we, right now, as we approach Shemoneh Esrei. We trust and rely upon Hashem, Who can grant any and all requests. There is nothing He cannot do for us. We trust that He will answer us the way that He answered our forefathers at the Yam Suf, when they had bitachon in Him.
We will begin our focus on the brachah of Ga’al Yisrael, which is recited in the morning with the words “Ezras Avoseinu” in the next segment, b’ezras Hashem.
Integrating Mitzvos into Our Daily Lives
It is bitachon that merits a person to be called a ben olam ha’ba. Having bitachon is a mitzvah. It is not possible to even begin to properly discuss bitachon in this segment. On a very basic level, it means trusting that Hashem loves us more than anyone else does, knows what is truly best for us, wants us to succeed in life, to fulfill our unique purpose, to develop and realize our potential completely, is constantly and continuously involved in every detail of our lives, and is All Powerful and All Capable so that nothing is outside of His abilities and nobody can stop Him from doing what He wants. It means trusting that all that Hashem does is for our benefit and growth, so that we may succeed in accomplishing our mission in life – the mission He assigned to us.
Many Rishonim say that the power of absolute and total bitachon actually facilitates Hashem granting our requests. What type of requests? Of course, a person who is on this exalted, extremely high level would not be asking for a Rolls-Royce. His requests would be spiritual in nature, for the sole purpose of serving Hashem; in the merit of complete bitachon, those requests are answered.
B’ezras Hashem, we will continue to discuss the mitzvah of bitachon as we continue in future segments of this brachah of Ga’al Yisrael.