The Word Of Hashem By Rabbi Dovid Goldwasser

The Talmud Yerushalmi (Shevi’is Perek 9 ) tells us that R’ Shimon Bar Yochai wanted to see what was taking place in the outside world. He emerged from the cave where he had been hiding for more than twelve years and observed a hunter spreading out a net in order to capture the bird that was flying overhead. A Heavenly Voice called out: “Dimus – mercy,” and the bird was saved. R’ Shimon Bar Yochai remarked, “Just as anything that happens to the bird must be decreed from Heaven, certainly any experience of the human being is controlled by the Word of Heaven.” And he left the cave.
The Talmud Yerushalmi (Shevi’is Perek 9 ) tells us that R’ Shimon Bar Yochai wanted to see what was taking place in the outside world. He emerged from the cave where he had been hiding for more than twelve years and observed a hunter spreading out a net in order to capture the bird that was flying overhead. A Heavenly Voice called out: “Dimus – mercy,” and the bird was saved. R’ Shimon Bar Yochai remarked, “Just as anything that happens to the bird must be decreed from Heaven, certainly any experience of the human being is controlled by the Word of Heaven.” And he left the cave.
The Medrash states, with regard to maaseh bereishis, (Bereishis Rabbah 10:7) that: "Even things which appear to you to be unnecessary in the world, such as flies, fleas and mosquitoes, are also part of the creation of the world. Each being and creature, even a snake, mosquito, or frog, was put on this earth to serve a unique function, which Hashem specifies in His administration of the world.” R’ Simon says further, “There isn’t a single blade of glass that does not have its own mazal in Heaven that strikes it and tells it to grow.” The Talmud, likewise (Avodah Zarah 3b), testifies that “every creature – from the mammoth animal, the re’eim, to the miniscule louse – is sustained by Hashem.”
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During Israel’s War for Independence, the Brisker Rov lived in Yerushalayim. The city was subjected to heavy shelling, and his children kept pleading with him to go down to the ground floor, where it was more secure. R’ Yitzchok Zev, however, continued to learn in his room which was located in the upper story of his house.
When the bombardment intensified, the people of the house feared for the Rov’s life. His son went up and insisted that, for the family’s sake, the Rov should go downstairs. Soon after he had vacated the room, a shell came through the outer wall of the house and landed right on the Brisker Rov’s bed.
The Brisker Rov turned to his son and said: “You, mazik. I am confident that if it is not decreed from Shamayim that a person should be harmed, then nothing whatsoever will happen to him. If I would have remained upstairs in my room, then in order to ensure my safety Divine Providence would have intervened that no gunfire should break the wall of the house. Now, because of your interference, the wall was damaged.”

A Deeper Look By Rabbi Dovid Goldwasser

The gemara recounts that R’ Yehoshua Ben Chananya once traveled to the great city of Rome, where he was told that a child, with a beautiful face and eyes, whose locks were arranged in curls, was in prison. R’ Yehoshua went to stand at the door of the prison and cried out (Yeshayah 42:24): -- “Who gave Yaakov for spoil and Bnai Yisroel to the robbers?”
The gemara recounts that R’ Yehoshua Ben Chananya once traveled to the great city of Rome, where he was told that a child, with a beautiful face and eyes, whose locks were arranged in curls, was in prison. R’ Yehoshua went to stand at the door of the prison and cried out (Yeshayah 42:24): -- “Who gave Yaakov for spoil and Bnai Yisroel to the robbers?”
The child answered, “Is it not Hashem. It is He against Whom we have sinned,and in whose ways they would not walk; they did not heed His Torah.”
R’ Yehoshua Ben Chananya was swept away by his response and said, “I am sure that this young man will be a leader in Klal Yisroel. I swear that I will not move from here until I ransom him, for whatever price is demanded.”
Not long passed before this child became a leader in Klal Yisroel; his name was Rabbi Yishmoel ben Elisha (Gittin 58a).
The Brisker Rav asks: What greatness did R’ Yehoshua observe in the answer of this boy? After all, he merely answered R’ Yehoshua with the conclusion of the pasuk from Yeshayah.
The Brisker Rav explains that it was the child’s insight that astonished R’ Yehoshua. This young boy who was sitting in prison understood there is no happenstance in our lives. Earlier the gemara had described the events that led up to the fall of Yerushalayim and the destruction of the Bais HaMikdash. The Romans lay siege to Yerushalayim, but sufficient grain had been stored by the inhabitants of the city to sustain them for a long time. The Biryonim, though, were ready to fight and burned down all the granaries, creating an acute famine in the city. Following the churban, the Biryonim argued that the tragedy was attributable to the fact that they didn’t fight; others claimed it was because there was no food; and all ascribed it to the natural course of events.
The young boy, though, immediately answered that everything is from Hashem; there is no affliction in life without reason. Yishmoel ben Elisha understood that the destruction of the Bais HaMikdash was directed by Hashem because of the sins of Am Yisroel.
When R’ Yehoshua saw that this child, even in the most difficult situation, was able to identify the hashgacha of Hashem, he realized that this young boy was destined to be a leader of Klal Yisroel in the future.
From this we see, says the Brisker Rov, that an individual who does not recognize that all that comes about in the world is from Divine Providence, and he believes that they are coincidental occurrences, could never achieve daas Torah and be superior in Klal Yisroel.
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A granddaughter of Rav Mordechai Schwab related that her grandfather once had the zechus of personally meeting the Chofetz Chaim. When he was ready to take leave of the tzaddik, Rav Schwab took the hand of the Chofetz Chaim to shake it, waiting for a bracha. However, the Chofetz Chaim fell asleep while holding Rav Schwab’s hand. Rav Schwab did not want to awaken the Chofetz Chaim, so he waited until the Chofetz Chaim awoke, and he then let go of his hand.
This incident delayed Rav Schwab’s departure, and he missed his scheduled train. He had to wait at the station for the next train to arrive. A short time later Rav Schwab found out that the train he had been scheduled to take had been in a terrible accident and many people on the train had been killed.
From that time on, Rav Schwab accepted upon himself not to hear or speak lashon hora.

Wondrous Creation By Rabbi Dovid Goldwasser

R’ Yeruchem Levovitz expounds on the first pasuk in the Torah, “ Bereishis bara elokim.” He states that as soon as one learns this pasuk he is made aware of the existence of a Creator and a King of the universe. This knowledge is life-transforming, for it makes possible the realization that all that takes place in the world is replete with meaning and purpose, and nothing is insignificant.
R’ Yeruchem Levovitz expounds on the first pasuk in the Torah, “ Bereishis bara elokim.” He states that as soon as one learns this pasuk he is made aware of the existence of a Creator and a King of the universe. This knowledge is life-transforming, for it makes possible the realization that all that takes place in the world is replete with meaning and purpose, and nothing is insignificant.
Maran HaRav Avigdor Miller ztl. often said that one can gain a true appreciation for the providence of Hashem by observing nature. A rose, for example, is formed with perfect symmetry, and its basic chemistry prevents it from producing any unpleasant odor. Yet its stem is covered with prickly thorns which grow irregularly along its length, at random. If the flower of the rose is so visually perfect, why is the stem not as flawless?
HaRav Miller explains that the rose was created this way for a precise reason. Many insects crawl up from the ground and feed on the growing blossoms, often destroying them in the process. Hashem wanted to protect the rose in bloom, so He placed the thorns in a haphazard way, with no pattern or symmetry, which prevents the insects from finding a direct path up to the flower.
HaRav Miller explained the beauty of an apple in a comparable manner. The apple seeds are hard, with a very plain-looking covering which discourages their consumption. They are therefore thrown on the ground and discarded, allowing the seed to continue thrive again and produce many more fruits. As the apples begin to grow, they are green, camouflaged and hidden from the human eye amid the leafy growth of the tree and are hardly visible, ensuring that they remain on the tree until they are fully developed and ready to eat. When the fruit is ready to be picked and eaten, the apples begin to ripen and turn beautiful shades of bright red and yellow.
R’ Yisroel Salanter, the founder of the mussar movement, strongly emphasized that a person’s emunah should be based on the steadfast belief that everything is from Shamayim. Even when a person is struck with illness, there are often many ruchniyus’dik reasons for its occurrence.
R’ Yisroel was once very ill, and his family sent him to Germany to seek the advice of some top physicians. The family also hired an attendant to accompany R’ Yisroel so that his needs could be tended to on the long journey. On the road, the aide himself got sick, and he became the patient. R’ Yisroel took on the task of caring for the man, feeding him, giving him to drink and nursing him back to health.
The attendant who was a great yerei shamayim felt terrible that the gaon and tzaddik, R’ Yisroel, had to wait on him, in addition to his own failure to carry out the task for which he had been hired.
R’ Yisroel explained, “The ways of Hashem are hidden from us. Who knows whether the restoration of my health will be an outcome of my helping you?” Based on his faith in hashgacha pratis, he argued that it was very possible that initial decree from shamayim was that the attendant should become ill. However, since he had no family who would be concerned about him, R’ Yisroel became ill. Since he did have family who was anxious about his well-being, they hired the attendant. In this way, when the attendant was unwell, R’ Yisroel was there to care for him. “Subsequently, it may be,” concluded R’ Yisroel, “that I too will be cured.”

Master Of The World By Rabbi Dovid Goldwasser

The Medrash Rabbah (39:1) relates a parable with reference to the greatness of Avraham Avinu. A person traveling down an unfamiliar road noticed a magnificent palace in flames. He looked around, expecting to see the owner running with buckets of water to extinguish the fire. The palace appeared abandoned, however, and he wondered aloud, “Is it possible that a palace like this has no owner?” At that moment the owner of the palace looked out and declared, “I am the owner of the palace.”
The Medrash Rabbah (39:1) relates a parable with reference to the greatness of Avraham Avinu. A person traveling down an unfamiliar road noticed a magnificent palace in flames. He looked around, expecting to see the owner running with buckets of water to extinguish the fire. The palace appeared abandoned, however, and he wondered aloud, “Is it possible that a palace like this has no owner?” At that moment the owner of the palace looked out and declared, “I am the owner of the palace.”
The Maharzav comments, that upon looking at the world and seeing the fiery destruction of humanity during the Mabul and the Dor Haflogoh, Avrohom wondered, “Is it possible that the world has no leader?” In response to this, Hashem appeared to him and said , “I am the Creator of the world,” and Hashgacha Pratis governed all the events that Avrohom Avinu had witnessed.
We, unfortunately, are not on the spiritual level of Avraham Avinu and Hashem does not reveal Himself or His ways to us personally. However, with a little acuity and a bit of perception the obvious manifestations of His hand are presented daily in our lives.
The Talmud Yerushalmi (Horayos) relates a story about a very charitable person named Abba Yuhuda who contributed generously to the support of Torah study. He was a major benefactor whenever R’ Eliezer, R’ Yehoshua and R’ Akiva would need to raise money to support those who were learning Torah.
Once he suffered a reversal in his fortunes, and he was no longer able to proffer his generous support. He used to hide from the great chachamim because he had nothing to offer them. His wife, who was a great tzadekes, noted his deep distress and questioned him about it. When he explained the situation to her, she suggested that Abba Yuhuda should give the chachamim half of the field which remained in his possession. Abba Yuhuda proceeded to follow his wife’s advice.
With the single cow he still owned, Abba Yuhuda went out to plow the half of the field that still belonged to him. The animal, however, stumbled into a pit and broke her leg. Things seemed to have gone from bad to worse, and Abba Yuhuda climbed into the pit in order to pull out the cow. As he descended into the pit, Abba Yuhuda was amazed to discover a treasure of gold.
He then understood the operative Hashgacha Pratis that enabled him to come across this cache. This ostensible disaster with the cow was actually managed min hashamayim so that he could regain his wealth and once again become a great supporter of Torah.
We have to understand, similarly, that often Hashem’s blessings are hidden from our view, and we have to be able to discern the covert Hashgacha Pratis.