Elevating Ourselves to Believe

Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear

https://www.artscroll.com/ Books/lemynh.html Living Emunah on Yamim Noraim Gaining faith from the Days of Awe Sometimes it appears at face value that good people lose out and wicked people prosper. This is because Hashem hides Himself so well and does not let it be obvious that those who follow Him always win and those who don't always lose. Because if that would be obvious, we would lose our free will. Hashem's ways are beyond our comprehension. There's a story told which took place in the days of the Ibn Ezra. There were two people traveling and they sat down on the road to eat. One of them had three loaves of bread while the other had two. A third man was passing by and asked them if he could eat together with them, and he would pay for the meal. They sat together and ate all five loaves. Afterward, the third man paid the other two five gold coins. They then argued about how to divide the money. The man with the three loaves said he should get three coins while the other one should get two. The man with two loaves argued that the guest ate from both of them and they don't know who he ate more from so they should just split the money equally. They brought the question to the rabbi of the city and he ruled that the man who had three loaves gets four coins while the man with two loaves gets just one. When people heard the ruling they started mocking the rabbi and the Torah saying it made absolutely no sense. When the Ibn Ezra heard about the case, he bemoaned the fact that people have a hard time understanding the ruling of a human being made of flesh and blood, and yet they think they're capable of understanding the ways of Hashem. The Ibn Ezra explained the ruling simply to the people as follows: Each loaf can be divided into three parts so five loaves makes a total of 15 parts, which means most probably each person consumed five parts so the man who had two loaves had a total of six parts which means he ate five of his own and shared just one with the other men. The man with three loaves had nine parts; he ate five of his own and shared four with the other men. That is why he got four and the other person got one. We have a mitzvah to trust that what Hashem does is always just and upright and is the absolute best thing for us. The pasuk says תמים תהיה עם ה' אלוקיך , which Rashi explains to mean כל מה שיבא אליך קבל בתמימות - anything that happens to you accept wholeheartedly. Rabbi Menashe Reizman said he visited a talmid chacham who has the dreaded disease known as ALS, he can't even move one limb in his body. The only thing that he has is his wisdom, his ability to think and comprehend. This particular talmid chacham had the disease for over 20 years and he is as happy as ever. He learns Torah with chavrutot from morning until night. Rabbi Reizman compared him to Nachum Ish Gamzu, someone who lost his hands and his feet and his eyes yet always managed to say " Gam zu l'tovah." This man has even less, because Nachum Ish Gamzu at least was able to talk while this man cannot, yet his face seems to be shining from the joy he has in his life. The natural response from someone in this position would be bitterness and agony, but someone who knows he has a mitzvah of תמים תהיה , someone who knows that Hashem is always doing best for him can shine despite his very difficult life. There are many people in this world who have very hard lives and they can't possibly fathom how what they are going through could be good. Yet, if they could say, "I don't have the ability to comprehend the ways of Hashem, but I trust that what He is doing is best for me," they can soar to the greatest heights. The harder that is to do, the more valuable it becomes. One day Hashem will enlighten us to see the goodness in everything He ever did, but before that happens, we can elevate ourselves by believing it and trusting in Him.