Open the Pipeline

Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear

One of the reasons that Hashem wants us to make a hishtadlut for our physical needs in this world is because of the spiritual elevation we are able to achieve as a result. A person is obligated to put in an effort and then believe whole heartedly that the results had nothing to do with his effort. The Chovot HaLevavot writes in the Shaar HaBitachon ( perek 3) that all a person's hishtadlut does is reveal what Hashem already decreed for him to have. And when a person worries or puts in too much effort, it is because he doesn't fully believe that it is Hashem bringing the results. Therefore, each time we make an effort in something, it is a great opportunity for us to grow in emunah. We could feel calm that we have made a reasonable effort and then hold ourselves back from going overboard. And when the results do come, we can completely attribute them to Hashem and not our efforts. We are only obligated to do what we are capable of. And if we are limited in our capabilities, that just means Hashem will do more, but it does not mean that we shouldn't try at all. When the miracles of Chanukah occurred, the Jews didn't say, "We are outnumbered militarily, so we might as well just not fight." They did not say, "We only have enough oil for one day, so why bother." They did what they were capable of doing, and that's all that was required of them. That is what opened the pipeline for Hashem to send His beracha. If we try a certain hishtadlut and it doesn't produce the results we are hoping for, it doesn't necessarily mean we aren't meant to get those results. It just means Hashem did not want them to come that way. Once we have put in our effort, Hashem can bring the result in any way He sees fit. Rabbi Schwartz, a Rosh Kollel in Elad finally received the call he had been waiting for. It was from the office of a wealthy man who lives in Chicago. The rabbi had requested a meeting with him to discuss the possibility of this man donating $36,000 that the rabbi was in need of to support his kollel. Now, months later, the secretary called him saying the man would see him on Wednesday at 6:00 pm. The rabbi quickly called his travel agent to get a flight. The travel agent was able to get him a ticket with a stopover in Paris at a reasonable price. The flight was due to land early Wednesday morning in Paris and then, a few hours later, take off for Chicago. When the plane landed, the rabbi took a taxi to a shul to pray with a minyan, however, due to delays in the minyan, as well as unexpected heavy traffic on the way back to the airport, the rabbi missed his connecting flight by minutes. Initially, he was very distraught. He went to the ticketing desk to try to find another flight to Chicago that day, but there weren't any. His only option was to return to Israel. He was able to get a flight back that was scheduled for eight hours later. He decided to go back to the shul and use his time to learn, pray Mincha and perhaps go to the mikveh. When he arrived at the shul, he went upstairs in search of a tea room, as he hadn't eaten anything that day yet. Walking up the steps, he saw a distinguished looking gentleman whom he recognized as one of the biggest supporters of Torah in the world. This man was almost impossible to get on the phone and even harder to get a meeting with. Now was the rabbi's chance. He introduced himself and asked if he could please speak with him for just a couple of minutes about his kollel. To his relief, the man happily agreed. The rabbi did not need to schedule any appointments with any secretaries or wait months to get in, they sat down right then and there. After the rabbi's presentation, the wealthy man said he had just arrived in Paris to attend the berit milah of his grandson, scheduled for the following morning. Since he was to be honored as the sandak, he was looking for a special gift to give the infant. "I think a donation to your kollel on his behalf as a zechut would be the best gift I could possibly give him." He then took out an elegantly bound leather checkbook and wrote a check and handed it to the Rabbi. The Rabbi couldn't believe his eyes. It was double what he was hoping to get in Chicago. When he finally landed back in Israel that night, he checked his phone and saw a message that was left by the office in Chicago. It was the secretary apologizing that the wealthy man wouldn't be able to make the meeting, but she assured him they would send a check without the meeting. A week later, a check arrived for $36,000. This rabbi made his hishtadlut to get that donation, but clearly his hishtadlut had nothing to do with the results he got. Hashem is in charge and the more we internalize this, the greater spiritual elevations we get.