One of the reasons that we are required to make hishtadlut when trying to accomplish something is because Hashem wants us to camouflage His involvement in it. We are to do as much as needed to make it appear that we are the ones accomplishing, but realize that, actually, our actions are not what bring results. Only Hashem does. This is one of the big recurring tests in life. We must be cautious during our hishtadlut that we don't believe that we are the ones getting it done. One of the ways that we can test ourselves is by seeing how much effort we are putting in. If we already did enough to accomplish the goal, yet we continue to put in more and more effort, that is an indication that we really believe we are the ones producing. If we are able to stop when we feel we did enough, then we are showing that we believe it's Hashem. The Brisker Rav pointed out a beautiful lesson in hishtadlut that we learn from this week's parasha, Chayeh Sara, from Avraham Avinu. Avraham sent his faithful servant Eliezer on a mission to find a wife for Yitzchak, but there were some things that were not going to be in his control. And so Eliezer asked Avraham, what if the girl does not want to come back with me? Now we must know Eliezer was the son of Nimrod, who was able to ensnare the entire world with his ability to persuade. Eliezer must have had some of that ability himself. He was also coming with an exorbitant amount of money. When Eliezer asked Avraham what to do if the girl doesn't agree to come, Avraham could have easily told him, don't give up so easily, be stubborn, use your wits to persuade her. If need be, you could buy them with money and gifts, whatever it takes, make sure that you don't come back without her. This would have been a very understandable and logical hishtadlut, yet that was not the response that Avraham gave. Avraham told him, if the girl doesn't want to come back to you, then you are absolved of your mission. You don't need to persuade or buy anyone. All you need to do is enough hishtadlut to get the job done in a natural way and that's it. Avraham understood we are not the ones who produce results and we never have to take desperate measures to get what we want. This is a vital lesson for life. Of course, we need to make hishtadlut, and we can't be lazy about it. It has to make sense that the effort we are putting forth should be enough to produce the desired results. However, more than that is detrimental. Furthermore, our hishtadlut must be accompanied by genuine tefila which shows that we understand Hashem is producing the results. Making the right hishtadlut with the right intentions is a great zechut which will help bring about more Heavenly assistance. Whenever we make any hishtadlut in any area, we must remind ourselves of these concepts. If we really believe that Hashem is in charge, we'll never do anything shady to bring about results. We'll never make too much effort and we'll never act desperate. Avraham Avinu was confident that Hashem was in charge of the shidduch. In the end, Eliezer did not need to do any persuading. Even though Rivka's father and uncle tried to stop the shidduch from happening, Hashem foiled their plans and brought the shidduch to fruition. Hashem is always in charge. He is always the One bringing the results. We must truly internalize this and have it show in our actions. Shabbat Shalom

A wealthy man told me that although his business is thriving, he understands that he did absolutely nothing to earn his wealth. He then related just one example of how Hashem orchestrated events to bless him with the wealth that he has. He had an average business here in America and was looking to open a similar business overseas. While he was on the flight to go to this other location and see the opportunities there, he made conversation with the man sitting next to him. He mentioned what line of business he was in and how he was looking to expand. The man told him he knows someone with a similar business in the exact location he was looking to open and this person was looking for someone to buy his company. He said his business was doing great, but because he lost a lot of money in other investments, he needed to sell right away. He made the connection and this man bought the business, and it has been thriving ever since. He told me he sees so clearly how Hashem practically put this opportunity right in his lap. He also mentioned that just a few years before that, he was so poor that he was evicted from his apartment for not paying the rent on time. Look how quickly Hashem can take a person from poverty to riches. We know every dollar that a person earns comes from Hashem. Shulchan Aruch writes, it's a good idea to say the parashat Hamann every day and the Mishna Berura explains, by internalizing what it says there, the person will take to heart that his hishtadlut is not what earns him his money. Just like the mann, those who gathered more didn't gain, so too, those who do too much hishtadlut don't gain from it. We constantly need chizuk in this area. Someone told me he bought a stock and after a few weeks sold it with modest gains. A week later, the stock skyrocketed over 100 points, which would have earned him a huge profit. He continues following this stock every day, watching it go higher and higher, regretting the fact that he sold it. He keeps thinking about the money he should have had and it's eating him up. How can we give this man chizuk to stop regretting his actions? I told this man, we believe be'emunah shelema , what the Gemara says, that a person's income is decided on Rosh Hashana, and he will only get exactly what Hashem said he will get. It does not matter if the money comes from a stock or from a business deal or in the form of a gift. It is all included in the number that Hashem had already decreed. If this person would have made all the money he feels he should have from that stock, it would have just meant that he would get less in other areas or have to lose in other areas. We should imagine that our parnasa is like wine in a barrel that has many spigots. If someone empties a lot of wine from one spigot, then there will just be less wine to come out of the others. The amount of wine does not change based on how often the person opens the spigots or which ones he chooses to open. So too our parnasa does not change if we earn a lot in one source. Therefore, this person should not feel bad that he sold the stock. That will not change what he'll earn this year by even one penny. Any money he is supposed to have will come one way or another. The main hishtadlut is for us to realize that the money comes from Hashem and to pray to Him to send it. If there was any way that a person could possibly get an increase on what was decreed on Rosh Hashana, it would only be through a spiritual zechut. Believing that parnasa comes only from Hashem and internalizing that in his heart is an enormous zechut. The best thing this person can do is stop regretting his decision to sell. Rather he should focus on the fact that Hashem has infinite ways of bringing parnasa and the only determinant of how much money he will make is the will of Hashem.

It may happen that when a person sets out to do a mitzva, he runs into obstacles. He then continues trying to do the mitzva, but the obstacles get harder to overcome. He may think to himself, I don't understand, I'm trying to do something for Hashem. Why would He keep trying to stop me? Does He not want me to do the mitzva? The answer is, for sure He wants you to do the mitzva, but He wants you to get the most out of it. The harder a person tries to do a mitzva, the greater the mitzva becomes. If it gets extremely difficult to do, and the person continues to persevere, his rewards for that mitzva will be unimaginable. The Sefer Sas V'Imratecha tells the following story, which took place a number of years ago. Two great Rebbes, who were brothers, arranged a tish on Tu B'shvat, and suddenly, at around midnight, one said to the other that they hadn't done the mitzva of Birkat HaLevana yet. This was the last night to do it, and there were only a few hours left to get it done. The problem was that it was overcast with thick clouds, and there was a very slim chance that the moon would appear in the next few hours. At that time, they were in the Zichron Moshe shul in Yerushalayim. They decided to travel towards Yericho, and hopefully spot the moon there. They figured that the eastern part of Israel was hotter, and maybe had less clouds. They were approaching Yericho, and were stopped at a checkpoint. The sky there was filled with clouds as well. They asked one of the soldiers if they could put out a message asking soldiers in other locations if anyone could see the moon from where they were stationed. The soldier was dumbfounded by the request, and asked the Rebbe why he wanted to know such information. The Rebbe told him about the mitzva of Birkat HaLevana, and how there were only a few hours left to do it. The soldier put out the request, and almost every reply was negative, except for one, who said he was near Me'arat HaMachpela, and he was able to see the moon. The Rebbes became so excited, and urged their driver to go there immediately. The soldier told them by the time they got there, the moon would probably be gone, but they didn't pay any attention to him, and they hurried there at once. When they finally arrived, it was two o'clock in the morning. Baruch Hashem, the moon was still visible, and they recited Birkat HaLevana with great jubilation. Even though it was very late, and they were extremely tired, they wanted to take advantage of the fact that they just did a mitzva with great self-sacrifice. One of the Rebbe's sons was with them, who was married for twenty years without children. They decided to go to Kever Rachel to pray, and there they prayed from the depths of their hearts, and miraculously, that year, the Rebbe's son was zocheh to have his first child. The value of a mitzva done with great difficulty is enormous. If we ever set out to do a mitzva and we run into obstacles, it's a gift from Hashem to enable us to get a much bigger mitzva for the very same deed, but it requires effort and perseverance. Hashem never wants to stop us from getting a mitzva. He only wants to make it better for us.

The midda of קנאה , jealousy, can ruin a person's entire life. It can cause him to always feel lacking and dissatisfied. The Orhchot Tzadikim writes that it could lead a person into doing the worst averot . It is a Midda that everyone is born with, and it is up to us to uproot. One of the things that people are jealous of is other people's material success. There is so much more to life than money and materialism, and it's not worth wasting time and energy agonizing over. I recently heard of a man who spent years planning and then having a yacht built for him which cost over $90,000,000. Lo Aleinu, he got sick and was never able to go on it even once. On his deathbed he repeated over and over, "What is it all worth? What is it all worth?" The only thing that is everlasting in this world is Torah and Mitzvot. The Orhchot Tzadikim writes further that when a person is jealous of other people's looks or wealth or any other strength that they may possess, he is in violation of one of the most basic principles of Emunah, namely, that Hashem runs the world and gives each person exactly what he needs to do his job. When someone complains that he doesn't have what someone else has, he is saying that Hashem is not being just. He is complaining against the One who decided who got what. If someone could give himself the proper chizuk he can turn that potential flaw into a great avodat Hashem. The next time a person sees what someone else has and feels bad that he doesn't have it he should stop himself and say, "Hashem decided who gets what. Hashem decided that I shouldn't have this right now. I am going to believe in His hashgacha and stop desiring it. I am going to trust that Hashem gave me what I need to do my job and I am going to be happy with it." This would be such a great avoda. The Orhchot Tzadikim writes further that jealousy could also lead a person to go off the derech. Sometimes what a person desires is something that a wicked person possesses. So he says to himself it doesn't make sense that the wicked get all the good things while he, who he feels is righteous, doesn't. He causes himself to ask the age old question of why the wicked prosper. It is only because of his jealousy that he decided what the wicked man has is good and that's what causes him to ask this question. He may then say it doesn't pay to be righteous. I might as well also do evil, maybe I'll get that blessing too. Material success does not necessarily mean it's a blessing. There's a concept of materialism being just the opposite. Nobody knows who is truly enjoying blessing and who isn't. Hashem is righteous in all of His ways. He rewards good and punishes evil. The Orhchot Tzadikim adds that jealousy makes a person hate others for no good reason. He is bitter at the people who have what he doesn't have, and he could only be happy when they lose it. One of the greatest antidotes to jealousy is strengthening emunah. The more a person believes that Hashem is the One who decides who gets what and that each person gets based on his purpose in this world, it will be easier to focus on what he has rather than desire what everybody else has. Every time we overcome jealousy and believe in Hashem's hashgacha we turn a potential aveira into a great mitzva.

There are times when a person feels like he is being pushed to his limits. He already experienced one difficulty, and then another was added, and then another. He feels like Hashem is picking on him, and he's having a very hard time understanding how Hashem could do this to him, especially since he learned about how much Hashem loves him. We must constantly remind ourselves that the only things that are valuable and eternal in this world is our service of Hashem. Everything else in this world is just a distraction. When someone is able to serve Hashem at a time of extreme difficulty, and continue trusting in Him that He's doing the best for him, that could accomplish what would normally take a person ten lifetimes to accomplish. Let us learn from one example in the Torah. The Zohar Hakadosh tells us there is nothing in the world that has the power to nullify a decree of death, plague, or sickness, like the Parasha of Akedat Yitzchak. Of course, this doesn't just mean reading the words, rather, it's understanding and internalizing them. What was so special about Akedat Yitzchak? Let us analyze for a moment some of the difficulties involved in this great test of Avraham Avinu. He was promised at the age of 70 a child that would take over his legacy and continue his life's mission. He then patiently waited for 30 years to have that child. He then invested all of his time and energy building up the child for 37 years, and then Hashem told him to sacrifice the child as a korban. On the surface level, it seems like a very cruel request, something beyond comprehension, coming from a loving and merciful God. Furthermore, Avraham was being asked to do something that he was preaching his whole life against. He would tell all of the idol worshippers that God didn't want them offering their children as sacrifices. Moreover, Hashem seemed to be contradicting what He already told Avraham, that Yitzchak would be the future of Klal Yisrael. It was such a difficult request that made no sense. Avraham could have had many questions here, yet he chose to trust Hashem and do the command with joy and zeal. The Sefat Emmet gives us a beautiful insight into how Avraham was able to overcome this monumental test. He said Avraham was a navi. He was able to see the future, that Moshe Rabbeinu and all of the greats throughout history were destined to come from Yitzchak. We know that every tzaddik brings so much nachat ruach to Hashem with his Torah and good deeds. With the Akedah, Hashem would be losing out on all of those greats. Hillel Hazaken, Rabbi Akiva, Rabbi Yochanan, Rav and Shmuel, Abaye and Rava, the Rambam, Rashi, the Baal Shem Tov, the Gra, the Chafez Chaim, and so on. It must be that this one act of sacrifice was going to be greater than all the deeds of all of the greats throughout history combined. Avraham contemplated how special this was going to be for Hashem, and that's what gave him the chizuk, to do it with joy. And indeed, we are still benefiting today, thousands of years later from that one act. Avraham heroically passed the test and amazingly did not tell one person afterward what he did. He was purely L'Shem Shamayim. We only know about it because the Torah told us. Hashem put Avraham in the most difficult circumstance and asked him to do the incomprehensible. That is where all of Avraham's glory lies. Similarly, when a person finds himself in a very difficult situation in life, and it keeps getting more and more difficult to the point where he can't comprehend how Hashem could put him in such a situation, and he feels like he wants to turn the other way in anger and frustration, that is when he must give himself chizuk and say, if he is able to overcome this and continue serving Hashem with joy now, that could be more valuable than what he does for his entire life. One deed done under extreme difficulty is worth infinitely greater than deeds done under normal conditions. The greatest chesed that Hashem can give a person is the opportunity to earn an eternity of bliss. We are in this world on a mission, and Hashem who wants us to succeed always puts us in the exact circumstances we need to be in to achieve that success

The Gemara says in Masechet Sotah that we have a mitzvah to emulate Hashem. And one of the ways in which we do this is by visiting a person who is sick, just like Hashem did in this week's parasha Vayerah when Avraham was home, healing from his brit milah . Our greatest Rabbis would take away time from their Torah study to go visit sick people. When we do bikur cholim , we are connecting to Hashem. The Gemara says in Masechet Nedarim that when a person visits the sick, he brings life to that person and part of the mitzvah entails praying for the person to be healed. The Gemara says the Shechina rests right above the bed of a sick person and therefore, we are able to pray for the person there without even mentioning their name. If the visitor can give the sick person any words to lift his spirits, it makes the mitzvah infinitely greater. When Hashem came to visit Avraham, He gave him the ultimate chizuk , as explained by the Maharshak. The Rabbi asked, why did Hashem send all three angels to Avraham's house? One of them was just there to go overturn Sedom. Furthermore, why did Hashem leave Avraham in pain for three days? Once He was going to heal him anyway, why didn't he heal him right away? The Rabbi answered,לפום צערא אגרא – according to the pain is the reward. If Avraham would have become healed immediately from the brit milah , it would have detracted from the value of that mitzvah. Moreover, every day that a person serves Hashem the way he is supposed to, he creates an angel. The three angels who came to visit Avraham, said the Rabbi, were the three angels that Avraham created by doing the avodah that was expected of him during those three days. By Avraham accepting the pain he was going through, yearning to perform mitzvot despite that pain, he accomplished world changing events. On the first day, Avraham created an angel that was going to save Lot, who was going to be the father of the Mashiach . On the second day, Avraham created an angel that was going to inform him about the birth of Yitzchak Avinu. And on the third day, he created an angel that was going to rid the world of the evil of Sedom and, some say, the angel who came to heal Avraham. When Hashem came to visit Avraham, He gave him the ultimate chizuk. He revealed to him what he was accomplishing by going through the pain of that brit milah and how great it was that he was accepting it with love. Every sick person endures a great deal of yissurin . They have no idea how much they are accomplishing with their suffering. If they are able to do what they can spiritually, while they are sick, and they accept what they are going through with love, they will also be creating angels and those angels may be changing the entire course of history. We don't know how valuable accepting yissurin is, but one day everyone will be able to see how much they accomplished by doing their jobs despite being in a state of affliction. Sometimes all the job entails is not complaining. Everyone has a mitzvah to visit the sick and thereby emulate Hashem. Each visit will add more life to the patient. May Hashem bring רפואה שלמה לכל חולי ישראל. אמן.. Shabbat Shalom.

There are people who have been hurt in the past by others and were never able to get over it. They carry the pain with them and hold a deep-rooted grudge towards the individuals that hurt them. Holding on to pain and carrying around negative energy is very detrimental. It is a very big test to be able to forgive and move on, but the person must know that by doing it, he will be the one who gains the most. We believe, be'munah shelema, that people do not have the ability to harm us. They are only messengers carrying out the will of Hashem. With that emunah, it becomes easier to forgive. Rabbi Braverman told that after a class he gave, a thirty-year-old woman came over to him and was bemoaning the fact that she hadn't even gone on one date in the past ten years. She told the rabbi the reason was because at age nineteen, half a week before her wedding, her chatan called it off. He had already called the hall to cancel a full week before that, but she didn't know about it yet. Other people knew that her wedding was canceled even before she did. It was so humiliating. She would never forgive him for it. The rabbi told her she was missing some details in this story. The woman was taken aback and asked the rabbi if he suspected her of lying about it. The rabbi said, "No, but the way you should tell the story is as follows." "Ten years ago, Hashem saved me from marrying someone who would have been terrible for me. He did a miracle and made the guy back out for no good reason, just to save me." The rabbi continued, for the past ten years, instead of thanking Hashem for saving you from a bitter marriage, you have been punishing yourself instead. The woman never considered looking at it that way. This new perspective enabled her to let go of all the anger she was holding onto. Shortly after that meeting with the rabbi, she met the person that became her husband. By holding onto grudges, we are the ones who lose the most. Rabbi Goel El-Karif told a similar story of a couple that couldn't have children for six years. When the doctor gave them the devastating news that there was no hope, that is when the rosh kollel of the boy told the couple he might know the problem that is preventing them from conceiving. He told the boy, you broke off an engagement, but you never got forgiven from the girl. The boy felt that he was justified in breaking it off and never thought that he needed to ask forgiveness for it. The rosh kollel went to speak to the family of that girl and saw how bitter she was about it. She herself had never gotten married and felt the reason was partly because she was humiliated by having her engagement called off. They then did everything in their power to get forgiven and after a lot of hard effort, the girl finally forgave him. Within that year, the girl got engaged. Her chatan was everything she could have ever wanted. She saw so clearly that Hashem gave her the salvation she had been anticipating for years. But she also saw that the couple she forgave was still not blessed with children. That is when she really worked much harder to truly forgive to the point that she herself was praying for them to have children. Baruch Hashem, a few months later, the good news came. The couple was expecting. Again, we see that the grudge this woman was holding onto was preventing her from moving forward. Hashem runs the world. Nobody could affect another individual if it's not what Hashem wants. If someone understands this, it will make it easier to forgive. And by forgiving, we are helping ourselves the most.

Rav Yitzchak Zilberstein told a story in his Sefer בך בטחנו about a great Admor who appeared to his son in a dream a year after he passed away to give him a message. The son asked his father to tell him what it's like in the upper world. His father was not able to reveal too much, but he did tell him that the reward for every little deed that we do is tremendous, even for little things like getting a chair for someone to sit on, serving a cup of water or giving someone directions. We have no comprehension of how great the reward for these minor deeds are, all the more so for deeds that are more difficult to do. He said further, if someone sings a song of praise to Hashem, even if he's sitting at a Shabbat table all alone, it is as precious to Hashem as the Leviyim singing to Him in the Beit Hamikdash. We can't imagine how great even one Amen is. A man by the name of Mati had to deliver an envelope to someone who worked in a bank in Tel Aviv. When he arrived he was told the person he needed was in a meeting. In the meantime he sat down to eat an apple. He was accustomed to always saying all of his berachot slow and loud, so right there in the bank he made the beracha out loud. One of the bankers there went over to him and said, "What are you yelling? This is not Bnei Brak, please talk quietly." A few days later he returned to that bank with another letter to deliver and once again he had to wait. This time he said his beracha quietly. The same banker saw him and said, "Why did you say the beracha so low? I wanted to hear it." Mati told him he was only following orders. The banker then told him he used to be religious but he lost everything. Last week when he berated him for saying the beracha out loud, his mother came to him in a dream very angry saying how much suffering he was causing her in the upper world. She then said, "If you would have answered Amen to that beracha, it would have elevated my soul so much. But instead, you yelled at the person for doing it." The banker then told Mati he couldn't believe that even an amen from someone like him would be meaningful. The banker then apologized and gave Mati something else to make a beracha on so he could answer Amen. Hashem appreciates every little deed that a person does and will reward him greatly for every one of them. How much more so if the deeds are difficult to do. A rosh kollel in Lakewood recently told the following story about one of the students who learned in his kollel who we'll call Yehuda. Lo aleinu, Yehuda's wife had a miscarriage at a late stage. The rosh kollel told Yehuda to take off as much time as needed to be with his wife and give her support. This was on a Friday. On Sunday morning Yehuda was back in the kollel learning the full day. The rosh kollel asked him about it. Yehuda told him they were inspired by a statement from the Zohar: " חזו בני חביבי דמשכחין בצערא דילהון ועסקין בחדוותא דילי - Hashem says, "Look at my precious children. They forget about their own sorrows and they take delight in my Torah." They wanted to fulfill that precept and bring pleasure to HaKadosh Baruch Hu. So the man's wife encouraged him to go learn. The very next day Yehuda received a call from a cousin of his asking if he could borrow his violin. The cousin came to pick it up. Before leaving, he wanted to test it out. This cousin had no idea what was going on in Yehuda's life with the miscarriage. He then started playing a song and the words were " חזו חזו בני חביבי "- the very same words that had just inspired Yehuda and his wife to go learn. They felt Hashem was talking to them directly telling them how much He appreciated that sacrifice. Our deeds are so valuable, and therefore we should do every one of them happily and enthusiastically.

So many people have said they can't believe how much learning Emunah has changed their lives for the better. They feel bad that they didn't start learning about it earlier. They now live every day of life together with Hashem and there is so much more meaning behind everything they do. A young woman recently shared with me how she discovered Emunah and how her life has improved in so many ways because of it. About five months ago, she met a girl who she is now proud to call her good friend. They met at work and over many long and deep conversations, they forged a strong bond. She has an elderly grandfather who is very sick and she is watching as her beloved grandfather turned from a sweet little man who woke up at five every morning to pray and learn to a shriveled old man confined to his bed with an oxygen machine. She has been praying and crying so much. Her grandfather barely speaks but whenever she comes, he does, and the only thing he tells her about is that he wants to meet her chatan and dance at her wedding. She is currently 20 years old and has been in shiduchim for two years. She's enjoying her days as a single girl and not feeling at all pressured to get married. However, every time she steps foot through her grandfather's door, things suddenly shift and she feels desperate to get engaged. She really wants to fulfill the wishes of her grandfather to meet her chatan and come to her wedding. Every time she goes to him, he looks at her beseechingly as though begging her and blessing her all at the same time. And every time she leaves, she feels so bad, crying herself to sleep. One night, she described all of this to her new friend. She had been to her grandfather that day and he didn't look so good. He motioned to all the machinery he was hooked up to and he rasped, "You've got to hurry up." She left and cried for hours. She wanted to give her grandfather what he was asking for, but it wasn't in her control. So when she cried to her friend that night, the friend came up with a great idea. Since they both know everything is only in Hashem's control, they should work on strengthening their Emunah. They decided to start learning a book on Emunah every night. The first night, the friend read while she continued to cry. She didn't even have the book yet. The next day, she went to get the book with anticipation of the inspiration that it was going to bring. They read together two lessons each day and although they were from such different backgrounds, the timeless words connected them in a way they can't describe. They grew very quickly and she no longer felt that helplessness when she went to her grandfather. She felt much more confident and secure knowing that everything was in Hashem's hands. Her prayers took on a new dimension. She prayed with newfound energy and fervor knowing who the real Boss is. As they approached the end of the first book, they agreed to continue with the second volume. On October 30th, just a few weeks ago, they read the final chapter of the first book. The very next day, she got engaged. Baruch Hashem, her grandfather is alive and breathing, and with Hashem's help, was able to meet her chatan. The l'chaim was celebrated at her grandfather's house with just a few people. She watched as her dream came true, as her grandfather drank l'chaim and blessed them both. Emunah has changed her life in every way. She's so much happier, calmer and most importantly, more connected to Hashem. Everyone can experience these same feelings with Emunah. It is very doable and available to all.

Parnasa comes from Hashem. Those who know that are much calmer when it comes to earning a livelihood. A man said he contacted a well-known photographer regarding the possibility of having him take the pictures at his daughter's wedding. At the end of the conversation, the man said he would think about it and get back to him. The photographer replied with the following words, "No problem. I'll wait until I get a final answer from you. But at this point, I won't be able to reserve the date. But you should know, it doesn't make a difference. If Hashem decided I should be your photographer, it'll work out. And if not, it won't." The man then said to the photographer, "It sounds like you have a lot of emunah. That must be why you're so successful." The photographer proceeded to tell him stories that showed how clear it was that Hashem decided his parnasa. Another man said he attended a siyum and was very inspired to want to finish a masechet himself. He was very busy at work and didn't know how he would fit it in. He spoke to a couple of people and they found a rabbi who wanted to teach them every day in the office from 2 to 2:45. He started the class but was a little concerned that it may affect his earnings. A very short time later, someone called him with a business offer that would enable him to earn a much higher salary with less hours. He saw how quickly Hashem could give him parnasa, and he felt that his push to learn was what gave him the zechut for it. A woman said her husband works for a certain yeshiva and last year he was offered a similar position at a different yeshiva. This yeshiva was offering a higher salary but required him to travel a little more. They were not sure if he should accept it. They said to each other, Hashem is in charge of parnasa, and they prayed that He should lead them in the path that He wanted them to take. They prayed very hard and then asked their rabbi what to do. He told them they should take the new job. This year, unfortunately, that first yeshiva had to close down. The woman said, "Hashem didn't want my husband to be out of a job even for one day. He arranged for him to get that other job and take it before anything happened with the first yeshiva." She was so thankful, especially, to see the loving hand of Hashem in their lives. Another man from Israel said he was experiencing real financial difficulty. He didn't know where he would get the next shekel. He prayed everyday for a yeshuah. He had heard stories of people suddenly getting repaid just when they needed it for things they had done years before. But he knew he wasn't owed any money from anyone. But he also knew Hashem could bring his salvation in a way he could never imagine. One day, he got a call from an organization for tutors saying that last year his brother was learning with one of their tutors and this year they mistakenly kept taking money from his parents' account, even though his brother was no longer there. They just realized the error and were calling to see if his parents perhaps wanted to donate the money or whether they wanted it back. He asked them why they were calling him, and they said his was the only number they had on file. He called his parents to tell them, and that gave him the opening to tell them that he could really use the money. They had no idea about his financial situation and told him to tell the organization to give him the money. It was exactly what he currently needed. A couple of weeks later his parents told him their neighbors wanted to sponsor tuition for the children of a family who needed assistance. She told them about him and they were happy to pay. Just like that Hashem took him out of his financial crisis. Hashem can bring parnasa in unlimited ways. If we could internalize this, we'll be calmer and we'll pray with the proper emunah.

The pasuk says in this week's parasha, Lech Lecha , ויוצא אותו החוצה . Avraham Avinu, who knew how to read the stars, told Hashem that he saw he was not going to have children. Hashem told him to go outside of his astrology, because אין מזל לישראל . It doesn't matter what the stars say, because we are above the stars, and things can always change. These words have given so much hope to people who have been told throughout the generations that in the natural way of the world they would be unable to have children, or unable to accomplish something they hoped to accomplish. Our tefillot and our emunah can transcend nature. Sometimes people get their hopes up and pray hard, but then they get let down, and they want to give up. The emunah that a person portrays after a letdown is such a great zechut. It could be that the entire letdown was created just for the person to have emunah at that time, because that emunah can be the catalyst for his ultimate yeshua. We never know which tefila or which avoda will change a mazal. Every one of them is valuable, and we should never underestimate any of them. A young man who learns in kollel told me he had been married for two years without children and things were not looking good for them. Last year before Sukkot, they felt uneasy about spending time with their families, with all of their other siblings already having children, and perhaps pitying them for not having. They had wanted to go for a long time to Eretz Yisrael, to pray by the kotel, and pray by kivrei tzaddikim and get berachot from gedolim. They decided this would be the perfect time to go. It was expensive, and they didn't have that much money, but they knew they needed a lot of רחמי שמים , and heartfelt tefilot in מקומות הקדושים was a great way of getting it. The first couple of days there, they went to the Kotel, kever Rachel, Ma'arat Hamachpela, and prayed for a long time at each place. They went to a couple of more places during chol ha-moed, and they had their main full schedule planned for after the holiday. But then came Shemini Atzeret, October 7th, and the tragic news began to spread. Their prayers changed from focusing on themselves to focusing on Klal Yisrael. Their plans were canceled. They spent the rest of the time there, indoors, including a few bomb shelters. Of course, their hearts were with all of those people who were suffering so much, but they couldn't help but also feel that their chance of having children was also getting ruined. This was their one chance in Eretz Yisrael to get the yeshua they had been desperately seeking. They decided to strengthen their emunah and accept that now Hashem wanted them to pray for others rather than themselves. They fully accepted the situation Hashem put them in and were happy with it. The very next night, at the house of the people they were staying by, their child who has Down syndrome turned to this couple and said, "You're going to have a baby." They were awestruck. Baruch Hashem, just two weeks later, they discovered that they were indeed expecting a child. There were many scares during the pregnancy, but Baruch Hashem, she gave birth to a healthy baby girl. Things don't always happen the way we want or plan or hope, but our job is to always embrace the will of Hashem and do the job that He wants us to do. We never know what Avodah will bring our yeshua, but we do know that no matter what, we can always be helped, and we need to hope and pray with that attitude. Shabbat Shalom.