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BEGIN WITH A GRIN

Doctor, help me. I don’t have enough self-confidence!

You have nothing to worry about; only fools have absolute self-confidence!

The surprised patient asks, “Are you sure?

“100% sure!”

IT’S DEW TIME

Our Sages say that the haftora is similar to the parsha, as the Alter Rebbe explains in his Shulchan Aruch (284:1), “They once decreed [spiritual] destruction upon the Jews that they should not read in the Torah and they read in the Prophets on the topic of the parsha… Afterward, when the decree was abolished and they went back to reading the Torah, they enacted that one should read from the Navi on the topic of the parsha.” That’s why we need to find the connection between the parsha and the haftora.

The general connection between the haftora and parshas Balak is obvious. The names of Balak and Bilaam are actually mentioned in the haftora. Toward the end of the haftora, the prophet says, “My people, remember now what Balak king of Moab planned, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him.”

However, it is not enough to find a connection between one verse in the haftora to the parsha. The connection between the two needs to be more significant; not just a connection to one verse but a more substantive connection, deeper and more general. What is this connection and what can we learn from it about our avoda in bringing the Geula?

The Rebbe explains this in an enlightening sicha based on the guiding principle that the true content of the haftora is rooted specifically in its beginning. This week’s haftora is taken from Micha. Micha describes the spiritual state of the Jewish people on the eve of the true and complete Geula. In his description, he compares the Jewish people (5:6) “…like dew sent by the L-rd… that does not hope for any man and does not wait in anticipation for the sons of men.”

The haftora is about the start of the Geula, a time when there are still wars with the nations (sounds relevant, right?) and before the period of “Moshiach vadai.” This era is very similar to the period described in parshas Balak. The Jewish people are on the plains of Moav on the other side of the River Yereicho and they are making the final preparations before entering the Promised Land.

What is the right preparation? What do we need to do to bring the Geula? We need to be like dew! And if you ask, what is so special about dew, the prophet answers, “that does not hope for any man and does not wait in anticipation for the sons of men.”

Dew comes from heaven, from G-d. The Jewish people too, on the eve of the Geula, need to look up only at the heaven; only to G-d. That means that we need to behave like dew and not rely on people and not hope for salvation from man. Our future is not dependent on the United States and our salvation will not come from the nations of the world. We must rely solely on G-d, just like… dew!

As the prophet Yirmiyahu says (17:5-7), “So says the Lord, cursed is the man who trusts in man… blessed is the man who trusts in the L-rd.” Some might ask, what else is new? We always need to rely solely on G-d and not on man, so what changed? What is new about trusting in Hashem on the eve of the Geula? What is the prophet Micha adding?

Chassidus says we cannot rely on miracles and we need to make “vessels” in the natural world in order to receive Hashem’s blessing, as every Lubavitcher can quote, “And the L-rd, your G-d, will bless you in everything that you do,” so you need to do!

What’s new about the eve of the Geula is that we won’t need this any longer! So what does that mean, that now we can rely on miracles? Go to sleep instead of going to work? Sit all day in the Beis Medrash and wait for bread to grow from… the sky? No!

The point is not to negate the ways of nature and to shatter the systems of existence. The goal of the Geula is not to negate nature, but to refine it, in such a way that it becomes visible to all that nature is, in essence, G-dliness. It’s not that there is no world, but that the world (which exists) is (utterly one with) G-dliness!

DEW IT RIGHT

The Rebbe explains that there are two manners of proper conduct for a Jew as regards the ways of nature. One, a person knows that nature is only “an ax in the hand of the wood-chopper.” Nature is a means, something that G-d uses to run the world. At the same time, a person might think that since G-d told him to make a vessel, this vessel, i.e. nature, is important. Two, a person understands that nature has no inherent existence aside from fulfilling G-d’s command. The ways of nature are only a means to fulfill G-d’s will. That’s it! In other words, it’s not that there is a world and G-d commanded us to live in the world; rather, there is no world, but G-d wants/decided/commanded, to behave in a certain way, a way called nature.

The Rebbe explains the practical difference between the two ways in a very down to earth manner.

If nature has an existence of its own, there could sometimes be a situation in which there is a contradiction between keeping Torah and mitzvos and conduct in the ways of nature. For example, a person might think that if he spends a long time on prayer, he would be late for an important business meeting and might lose the deal or at least lose his good reputation. Even if the person makes the right choice and spends time on his prayer, that only happens with effort and exertion, with war against the evil inclination and the animal soul.

However, if nature has no existence of its own, there cannot be a contradiction between Torah and nature, just like there cannot be a contradiction between one mitzva and another. Just like tefillin does not conflict with obedience, so too, spending time on prayer does not interfere with doing business!

One might ask, after all, what is the difference? Who cares whether he makes ‘an existence’ out of nature? The truth is that nature has no existence! At this point, the Rebbe shows us the ugly side of the evil inclination. The beginning of a spiritual fall is when the evil inclination acts like a tzaddik, as though he is speaking with the power of Torah and on behalf of Torah. He claims that the Torah is that which says to reckon with nature. G-d is the one who doesn’t want us relying on miracles. Therefore, one needs to give nature its due and reckon with the rules of society. Slowly, he makes the main thing into something secondary, and that which is secondary into the main thing. He makes Torah and mitzvos secondary while making societal rules the main thing, and he accustoms man to behave this way until he leads him to serve idols.

It is through a different sort of reliance on G-d (bitachon), bitachon that is beyond reason, bitachon that is derived from absolute bittul, in a way that man and the world have no existence other than G-d’s will, that one can overcome the evil inclination.

It’s this very idea from which we can, and need to, derive strength at this time, the eve of the Geula. We need to know that dew is from G-d; we cannot hope to man. We cannot ascribe importance to nature. We must give importance only to He who created nature!

If we succeed in relying solely on the Creator, we won’t need to rely on anyone because the true and complete Geula will be here!

TO CONCLUDE WITH A STORY

We will end with a story about someone who trusts in G-d and one who trusts in… horses.

There were two wagon drivers in a certain Jewish town. One was Pinye and one was Mottel. One time, motzoei Chanuka, they were about to leave with some merchants who wanted to go to the annual fair. It was snowing and freezing. Young Mottel arranged with three merchants to leave right after havdala. He davened Maariv in a flash, quickly made havdala, and took off!

The older Pinye had all the time in the world. He davened Maariv slowly and with a minyan, made a proper havdala, lit candles and leisurely sat down to eat melava malka. The merchants with whom he had made an arrangement were losing patience and they tried to urge him on, but he did his thing. “Don’t worry. G-d will provide parnassa for you even if we arrive a half an hour late.”

They set out late and Pinye, along with the merchants, fell asleep at the wheel (or the reins). Dawn broke and they arrived at the outskirts of the town they sought. The surprised Pinye couldn’t understand what happened. According to his calculations, they still had several hours to go.

In the meantime, they went to daven Shacharis at the shul. A few hours later, Mottel and the merchants with him arrived, trembling from the cold.

“What happened? You left a few hours before we did? Why did you come so late?”

The abashed Mottel said, “My horses led me straight to the pond where the ice cracked beneath us and we nearly drowned. Fortunately, it happened close to the banks of the pond.”

So, “One who trusts in G-d, is surrounded by kindness,” and one who trusts in horses…

Good Shabbos!

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