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פרשת חיי שרה • הרב ראובן ששון • עבד אברהם ורבקה - בין ביטול לעשייה — Transcript

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0:08Well, hello and greetings to everyone,
0:10to the rabbis, and to the dear and
0:12beloved public.
0:14Uh,
0:17We are in the Torah portion of Chayei
0:19Sarah, and I would like to touch upon
0:21the observation of two central figures
0:22in the portion that the Torah dwells
0:24upon.
0:30These are Eliezer, the servant of
0:32Abraham, and Rebecca; to try and observe
0:34the differences between them, as each of
0:36them expresses a different aspect of
0:38serving God, and together they represent
0:40the complete level of serving God.
0:47These are very fundamental and important
0:49matters for the life of the people of
0:51Israel, and it is not for nothing that
0:53this portion dwells on them at length,
0:55as Rashi brings on this matter; yes,
0:57describing it at great length.
1:00Rabbi Acha said: "The mundane talk of
1:01the servants of the patriarchs is more
1:03beautiful than the Torah [study] of the
1:05sons, for the passage of Eliezer...
1:06thank you very much, the passage of
1:08Eliezer is doubled in the Torah, and
1:09many fundamental laws of the Torah were
1:11only given by implication." Yes, there
1:13are things that are like mountains
1:14hanging by a hair. Take the Sabbath, all
1:16the forbidden labors are learned from
1:18the analogy to the Tabernacle, yet the
1:20Torah barely detailed the prohibitions
1:22of the Sabbath, even though these are
1:23things that are the life of the people
1:25of Israel, the Sabbath and its laws. But
1:27yes, the Torah dwelt at great length
1:29specifically on this story here, the
1:31talk of the servants of the patriarchs.
1:36It is clear and simple that the meaning
1:38of this, that it is "beautiful," means
1:40it is very, very significant for our
1:42lives, and we must draw from these
1:43foundations that appear here in the
1:45portion a rooted and fundamental way of
1:47life.
1:51Therefore, we must look at these
1:53portions through the lens of: How do we
1:55translate and draw conclusions from them
1:57regarding our own lives?
1:58That is the whole meaning of the Torah,
2:00which is why it is called "Torah" and
2:02not "wisdom" because it is a guide; it
2:04comes to instruct us on the path they
2:06should walk and the deeds they should do
2:07.
2:08This is the deep meaning of the Torah,
2:10and therefore we need to look at all the
2:12portions of the Torah, and if the Torah
2:14dwells on something at length—then
2:16apparently there are even more important
2:17messages here for our lives, which is
2:19why the Torah chose to dwell on it, and
2:21we must look very closely and see what
2:23it teaches us.
2:26So before we enter into these two
2:28figures, I want to just open with a
2:30matter we have already mentioned several
2:32times, but it is very important to
2:33repeat it, and it is always relevant in
2:35the life of the people of Israel, in
2:37every era and also in our current time.
2:41And that is that we see that essentially
2:43Abraham our father sends his servant,
2:45his servant Eliezer. In the Torah, the
2:47name Eliezer is not written. That is how
2:49our Sages taught us.
2:51Eliezer, Abraham sent him to bring a
2:53wife for Isaac.
2:57This mission is a fateful mission like
2:59no other.
3:00Because, in essence, the choice of the
3:02mother of the House of Israel is
3:04something you cannot take lightly. She
3:05is a mother, certainly, she is at home
3:08with the children, she raises them, she
3:10teaches them, she influences them. Such
3:12a deep influence.
3:14So it is clear that we are talking here
3:16...that Abraham our father gives Eliezer
3:19a fateful mission, and this is entirely
3:21a wonder: How can one trust a human
3:23being to do such a thing?
3:26Abraham our father, you see that Eliezer
3:28knows how to "leap the path," so you too
3:30will "leap the path"! "And I came today
3:32to the spring"—he performed a miraculous
3:33leap of the path. Well, so Abraham is
3:35old, advanced in years, alright, later
3:37he added a wife there Keturah, took her
3:39, had children, so why not make a
3:41shortcut and bring her yourself! Why are
3:43you giving this to me, Eliezer? Yes,
3:45this is a mission.
3:47And we see the answer to this in the
3:49words of Abraham our father himself.
3:53When Eliezer asks Abraham, he says to
3:55him: Yes, what if the woman won't follow
3:57me?
4:00I am going to your family, but maybe she
4:02won't agree to go?
4:03What will I do?
4:05So what do I do when something doesn't
4:06work in this system?
4:08You sent me, now I am facing a broken
4:10trough, I don't know what to do here.
4:12The trough was full, not broken, yes, so
4:14what should I do?
4:18So Abraham gives a very deep answer, he
4:20tells him this: He said to him, "The
4:22Lord, before whom I have walked, will
4:24send His angel with you and make your
4:26journey successful, and you shall take a
4:28wife for my son from my family and from
4:30my father's house."
4:33Yes, the Lord will make you successful.
4:37And this is when he tells the story to
4:39Laban and Bethuel, he says this verse.
4:43There is much to observe regarding the
4:45differences between when the Torah
4:47describes the event and how Eliezer
4:48later describes it in his own words.
4:51So perhaps we can touch upon a few
4:53points. I am returning to the event
4:55itself. What does, what does Abraham say
4:57? He said to him, "Abraham said to him,
4:59'Beware that you do not take my son back
5:01there.
5:02The Lord, God of heaven, who took me
5:04from my father's house and from the land
5:06of my birth, and who spoke to me, and
5:08who swore to me, saying," To your seed I
5:10will give this land. "'""He will send
5:12His angel before you, and you shall take
5:14a wife for my son from there." What is
5:15he saying to him here? Why does he need
5:17to tell him "The Lord, God of heaven"?
5:19He could have said, "took me from my
5:20father's house,""swore to me,""spoke to
5:22me": "To your seed I will give this land
5:24."
5:25He will send, simply, because to fulfill
5:27this oath of "to your seed I will give
5:29this land," the wife needs to be worthy
5:31of Isaac, for all the matters of the
5:33patriarchs.
5:34Because the Land of Israel is not just
5:36anything, it is a spiritual, moral,
5:38divine land, where it is impossible for
5:40a nation to be distorted in its root
5:41qualities because it married someone who
5:43doesn't belong and isn't worthy;
5:45otherwise, the nation of Israel could
5:47not fulfill its mission.
5:48So the God who took me and swore to me,
5:50He will continue to be with you.
5:53And here there is a very significant
5:55precision that Rashi points out.
5:57When he says at the beginning, when he
5:59made him swear, he tells him, "And I
6:01will make you swear by the Lord, God of
6:02heaven and God of the earth, that you
6:04will not take."
6:06He added "God of the earth." But when he
6:08describes it to him later, he says, "
6:10The Lord, God of heaven," as if to say I
6:12will omit "God of the earth."
6:15Rashi says, until He took me, He was
6:17only God of heaven.
6:19After He took me, He was also recognized
6:21as God of the earth. Well, now this is a
6:23lesson in theology, a bit of
6:25hair-splitting, God of heaven, God of—
6:27what does it matter? So here lies a very
6:29deep matter.
6:32All the nations, the whole world, there
6:35were many perceptions and religions that
6:37, for them, there is a God, but God—His
6:39territory is beyond the natural world.
6:43It is not found here within human
6:45affairs, perhaps as the verse says: Yes
6:47, the heavens belong to the Lord, and He
6:49gave the earth to man.
6:51The Lord is in the heavens; He sits in
6:53heaven, and He can intervene at times by
6:55performing miracles—that is something
6:57heavenly that disrupts nature.
7:01He can take control here with power and
7:03force through some miracle, but nature
7:05itself, which is the matter of the earth
7:07, earthly life, is something emptied of
7:09divine presence.
7:12It is a natural matter, as we know it in
7:14our language.
7:15If you look now through the lens of what
7:17is happening in the world—what is
7:19happening in the world is a product of
7:20people, human thoughts, and human
7:22schemes.
7:23This one wants this, that one wants that
7:25; some president of Iran wants this, and
7:28a president of...that is to say, wants
7:30that. And also within the people of
7:31Israel there are all kinds of forces of
7:33various kinds, if we may compare, where
7:35each one wants something else. You look
7:37, and it all seems to you to be a
7:38language and a human affair. Where is
7:40the Holy One, blessed be He? He is in
7:41heaven, and when does He intervene? When
7:43He performs a miracle, signs and wonders
7:45like the parting of the Red Sea and the
7:47like. This perception empties the
7:48presence of the Divine from this world.
7:50And the entire deep innovation of the
7:52people of Israel is that it was as if
7:54before that, He was the God of the
7:56heavens. Abraham our father says. The
7:58innovation is that since He took me, He
8:00is the God of the earth. Meaning, that
8:02the entire deep purpose for which the
8:03Holy One, blessed be He, created the
8:05world is to show that there is none else
8:06besides Him. And "there is none else
8:07besides Him" means within a reality
8:09where it seemingly appears that there is
8:10someone else besides Him. That is the
8:12innovation of "none else besides Him"—
8:14to see Him within the natural order and
8:16understand that, in the deepest depths
8:18of what occurs in the world, everything
8:19is guided by a supreme divine hand.
8:22As Ramban writes at the end of Parashat
8:24Bo, a person has no share in the Torah
8:26of Moses unless they know that we have
8:28no such thing as "nature"; everything is
8:30hidden miracles clothed in the ways of
8:32nature.
8:33The hand of God rolls everything along
8:35within our actions and our efforts, but
8:37the Holy One, blessed be He, is present
8:39in everything and acts through
8:41everything, and there is none else
8:42besides Him.
8:44This is the main innovation, and this
8:46matter is rooted in very, very deep
8:48concepts in books of mysticism regarding
8:50the purpose of the creation of the world
8:52—that the purpose of creation is the
8:54concept of the Shechinah (Divine
8:56Presence).
8:57Whoever wants to look into the
8:58introduction to "Orot Yisrael HaMevorach
9:00," which we were privileged to publish a
9:02few months ago, will find this issue
9:04slightly expanded in our introduction.
9:07The Shechinah is the revelation of
9:09Divinity that dwells within this world;
9:11that is the meaning of "to dwell," to be
9:13one within the other—that is, the One
9:15who fills all worlds, that the Holy One
9:17, blessed be He, is in the depths of our
9:19lives and, through His providence,
9:21guides everything.
9:23This is the core, the foundational
9:25principle of the faith of Israel: to
9:26know that our very lives are directed by
9:28a divine hand and to walk with God
9:30within the routines of our lives.
9:33This is what Abraham says to Eliezer,
9:34and that is why he tells him there is no
9:36coincidence here.
9:38You think that when I send you, it is
9:40just a matter of Laban and Bethuel and
9:42what this one or that one wants?
9:44It depends on the God of Heaven and the
9:46God of Earth; He is the one who leads
9:47everything.
9:49He will send His angel, and He will lead
9:51you, and He will guide you. Trust in Him
9:53, lean on Him, cleave to Him.
9:55This is the source of strength and the
9:57anchor for the people of Israel
9:59throughout the generations, where we
10:01sometimes see mountains and valleys—
10:02certainly in the period of the harsh
10:04exile when powerful empires rose against
10:06us, and we were truly few, without a
10:08land, without a state, without an army,
10:10without power.
10:12Scattered, not gathered together. And
10:14there were so many who sought our harm,
10:16and we cleaved to the Holy One, blessed
10:18be He—again, we are approaching Hanukkah
10:20—we cleaved to the Holy One, blessed be
10:22He, and He showed us His goodness, His
10:23providence, and His protection over us.
10:25This is the fundamental point. And
10:27therefore, we must always know how to
10:29look at reality with eyes of faith. Not
10:31, God forbid, to remove the Holy One,
10:33blessed be He, from the situation. Not
10:35to think that everything is conducted
10:36here by some kind of roulette. That is
10:38the whims of human beings.
10:40Now, from this, a question arises.
10:43If so, if the Holy One, blessed be He,
10:45leads and guides everything, then why do
10:47we need to act and do things? May the
10:50Almighty, how will it be?
10:52He will send His angel. Why is there a
10:54need to send Eliezer at all?
10:56After all, if the Holy One, blessed be
10:58He, leads everything, then He would also
11:00bring the woman here. Why is it
11:02necessary to put in effort? As, by the
11:04way, we see this thing with Isaac. Isaac
11:06is in the state of self-nullification
11:08before God. He converses in the field,
11:09he prays, as they tell in the Hassidic
11:11tradition about......the Zohar, the
11:13Zohar. God sends him food; that is
11:14nullification to God—I am with the Holy
11:16One, blessed be He, there is none else
11:18besides Him, and God takes care of it.
11:19That is how it was; that is how Isaac
11:21was; he prays, and they send him the
11:23woman. There is one whose match comes to
11:25him—our Sages say this is Isaac—and
11:27there is one who goes to his match—that
11:29is Jacob. Jacob expresses the effort,
11:31effort with all one's might. Isaac
11:33expresses trust. Isaac is
11:34self-nullifying before Hashem, "Hashem,
11:37I pray to You." Therefore, Hashem says
11:39to him: Do not leave the land, you are a
11:41whole offering, you are entirely
11:42attached to Me without any, without any
11:44interruption, and I sustain, provide for
11:46you, include you, and look after all
11:48your needs. That is how Isaac was; Rabbi
11:50Tzvi Yehuda would say: Isaac was one of
11:52being acted upon. Yes, he was passive;
11:54the Holy One, Blessed be He, activates
11:55him, acts, does, and our father Isaac
11:57was one of being acted upon. Abraham and
11:59Jacob were active, they were dominant.
12:02But still, seemingly, there is truly
12:04room to come and ask: Why is it
12:05necessary to act? After all, if the Holy
12:07One, Blessed be He, is present within
12:09nature just as He is present in the
12:10heavens, if He is present within the
12:11earth, then everything will be for the
12:12best. The Holy One, Blessed be He,
12:14orchestrates everything. He spoke
12:15goodness for Israel and He wants to
12:17bring us to our land and to our
12:18wholeness. So surely He will orchestrate
12:20it this way, so what for? One must act.
12:23This tension is essentially the tension
12:25that is clarified between the two
12:27figures.
12:28Eliezer and Rebecca.
12:30Eliezer is completely in
12:32self-nullification before Hashem.
12:35Rebecca is completely in dominance and
12:37action, and these are essentially the
12:39two poles that one must learn how to
12:40connect together.
12:43Before we enter into this, I will just
12:45say I asked one question: why exert
12:47effort?
12:48On the other hand, there is also the
12:50opposite point, which is: when a person
12:52exerts effort, and acts, and does
12:54because he sees that Hashem wants us to
12:56act through the ways of nature, then he
12:58can act and do; but to forget the Master
13:00of the Universe and say "what is this?"
13:02What does this have to do with the Holy
13:03One, Blessed be He? What does this have
13:05to do with the Holy One, Blessed be He?
13:06What, what is this...what does it matter
13:08?
13:09There was once a wealthy, important man
13:12who started to become observant, and his
13:14plane, his helicopter, was in the area
13:16of Russia, and his helicopter, his, had
13:18...it had a malfunction in mid-air.
13:21And the pilot, with special
13:23resourcefulness—like the...and recently
13:25there were the stories in Dubai—with
13:27special resourcefulness, they succeeded
13:29, he succeeded in landing the plane. Now
13:31, anyone who looks with natural eyes
13:33says: all the credit goes to...the
13:35dedicated guys who took control of the
13:38plane and managed to land it 100%.
13:40They exerted the strongest effort
13:42possible, thank God.
13:44Is the Holy One, Blessed be He, present
13:46here in the picture? Certainly, He is.
13:51There is such precise timing of events
13:53here that it is nothing but the hand of
13:54Hashem clothing itself within the people
13:56of Israel, within our providence.
14:01So, then the question arises: what is
14:03the relationship between this trust and
14:05this effort?
14:06In doing so, I want to approach the
14:08figures and try to clarify this.
14:10Eliezer, Abraham’s servant; we begin
14:13with him.
14:15We see in him that he is completely
14:17passive.
14:19He arrives, first of all: "And I came
14:20today to the spring." He didn’t even
14:22have the trouble of walking—the way was
14:24shortened for him. He arrives, and then
14:26he arrives and he doesn't check and
14:28investigate and act too much; he speaks
14:30with the Holy One, Blessed be He: "And
14:32he said: Hashem, God of my master
14:34Abraham, grant me good fortune today,
14:36and perform kindness with my master
14:38Abraham." Behold, I stand by the water
14:39spring, and the daughters of the men of
14:41the city come out to draw water. And it
14:43shall be that the young woman to whom I
14:44say, "Please let down your jar that I
14:45may drink," and she says, "Drink, and I
14:46will also water your camels"—let her be
14:48the one whom You have appointed for Your
14:49servant, for Isaac; and by this I will
14:50know that You have shown kindness to my
14:51master. And before I had finished
14:53speaking, behold, Rebecca came out, who
14:54was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the
14:56wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother. And
14:57our Sages said: Behold, this is the good
14:59young woman, and so on. And then the
15:01whole matter of her running and acting,
15:03before he finished speaking—before he
15:04finished speaking, yes? "While I am
15:06speaking and I shall hear," what is this
15:08? Truly wondrous.
15:10Now, if for example, an ordinary person
15:12says about himself: If someone tells me
15:14, "Bless me regarding something," and I
15:16bless him, and in a second I say, "Look
15:18, I got a call, this business is done
15:20immediately!"—What would happen to me?
15:22Getting a bit carried away, ah...
15:24goodness, I start feeling like the Baba
15:26Sali, little by little, on the way, I
15:28start fantasizing all sorts of things
15:30about myself, right? What happens to
15:32Eliezer, Abraham's servant? He is not
15:34the issue at all the whole time; he is
15:36nothing, he is zero! He says: "O Lord,
15:39God of my master Abraham,"
15:43Yes? You, You are the God of my master
15:45Abraham; it is Abraham, it is his merits
15:48. Yes, and "show kindness to my master
15:50Abraham"—not to me! What am I at all? I
15:53am nothing, only my master Abraham. Yes
15:55, that is later: "Let her be the one You
15:57have appointed...and by this I will know
15:59that You have shown kindness to my
16:00master."
16:01Excellent. And truly, the Holy One,
16:03blessed be He, hears his prayer. In a
16:05moment we will see this point, this
16:06great value of his true, absolute
16:07self-nullification. He is nothing in
16:09himself, zero, he does not credit
16:11himself; he has the trait of humility,
16:13he is completely nullified before his
16:15master.
16:16But his real test is not here, it is
16:18after the success—what story does he
16:20tell now?
16:21He could say: "I stood and performed
16:23various unifications and focused on
16:25several intentions of the AriZal, I
16:27studied the Tree of Life, and like this
16:29and here and there, and I said it, and
16:31it arrived."
16:32Where did Abraham disappear to? Does he
16:35take the credit for himself? Does that
16:36happen to him? What does he say? When he
16:38tells the story, he stands and says—
16:43Ah, at the beginning he describes, yes?
16:45First of all, the very first thing,
16:47before he opens his mouth to speak: "I
16:49am Abraham's servant."
16:52I am a servant; that is who I am. A
16:54servant is essentially someone who is in
16:56absolute nullification, he has no ego,
16:58nothing at all. Ah, he is the long arm.
17:00Of his master, I am nothing. "I am
17:02Abraham's servant, and the Lord has
17:04blessed my master and he has become
17:06great and He has given him..." and so on
17:08. "And my master made me swear: Do not
17:10take..." and so on. And then he says: "
17:12Perhaps the woman will not follow me."
17:14So he says: "The Lord, before whom I
17:15have walked, will send His angel with
17:17you and prosper your way." Yes, because
17:18I walked before Him, He will prosper
17:20your way. And then he states it. Like
17:22that, he said: When he describes his
17:24prayer, "O Lord, God of my master
17:26Abraham," he repeats it word for word.
17:28He doesn’t change, he doesn't tell
17:30stories about himself of...miracles of
17:32what he did. "God of my master Abraham,
17:34if you would only make my way successful
17:35, which I am walking on, I will go out,
17:37" and so on, and she says: "Drink, I
17:39will also draw for your camels." To my
17:41heart, and behold Rebekah comes out, and
17:43so on, and he bows and prostrates: "
17:45Blessed be the Lord, God of my master
17:47Abraham, who has guided me in the way of
17:49truth to take the daughter of my
17:51master’s brother for his son."
17:55Yes, once again he emphasizes, it is the
17:57"God of my master Abraham," I am nothing
17:59, and this is the great and important
18:01point that is connected to the whole
18:03attribute of self-nullification, the
18:05entire foundation of prayer. After all,
18:07a person is standing now in prayer
18:09before the Holy One, blessed be He. We
18:11are standing in the Mincha prayer now.
18:13We are praying for things that are
18:14important to us.
18:16Many times, our prayer is weak.
18:19There are several reasons for the
18:20weakness of prayer.
18:22But one of the reasons, I think, is a
18:24very deep reason, it is internal, and we
18:26don't always recognize it. It is the
18:28fact that we absolutely do not believe
18:30that, who am I at all that the Holy One
18:32, blessed be He, should keep my prayer?
18:34I am nothing. Me? That the Holy One,
18:36blessed be He, should...my prayer is a
18:37joke? Me? I will pray? The Holy One,
18:39blessed be He, will listen to me? What?
18:40Why? Who am I, anyway? I am nothing, I
18:43am nobody.
18:44And this feeling, that we are small in
18:46our own eyes, causes us to lack faith in
18:48prayer—because I am nothing.
18:51Really, where is the problem?
18:54That we think we are praying because of
18:56our own merits.
18:58I think that I am praying because of my
19:00stature, and since my stature is
19:02terrible (begging the pardon of all the
19:04righteous people here), then there is no
19:06reason for the Holy One, blessed be He,
19:08to hear my prayer.
19:11That is to say, even with that thought
19:13of supposedly humility, "Who am I that
19:15the Holy One should hear my prayer," in
19:17that, an incorrect thought creeps in:
19:19that the Holy One hears prayer because
19:21of my merits.
19:24The Holy One...why do we simply conclude
19:26the precious and important blessing, the
19:28blessing of "He who hears prayer"?
19:30Because You hear the prayer of every
19:32mouth!
19:33Every mouth.
19:34It doesn’t matter—you are righteous, you
19:37are pious...you, the main thing is that
19:39you call to God in truth. So actually,
19:41at what point does the calling to God
19:42come? In humility. Master of the
19:45Universe, You are good and do good.
19:48Even Moses our teacher, whose merits are
19:50so great and whose power is so great in
19:52heaven and on earth.
19:54When he stood before the Holy One,
19:55blessed be He, in prayer, and he pleaded
19:57. The Sages say he asked for a gift of
19:59grace, not based on merits. And in
20:01contrast, Hezekiah who hung his hope on
20:03his merits: "Remember me." So the Holy
20:05One, blessed be He, told him: "I will
20:07remember for David's sake," and so on.
20:09Not your merits! Whoever relies on his
20:11own merit—relies on someone else's, on
20:13the merits of the forefathers. Moses our
20:14teacher did not ask based on his merits
20:16, he came for a gift of grace. It is
20:18like what is written there in the Gemara
20:19: "Sustain me like the raven and like
20:20the dog"—Master of the Universe, You
20:22give to the ravens, You give to the dogs
20:23, give to me too! What, am I also a
20:25creature in Your world?
20:26So you...I am nothing, I am also a
20:29creature in Your world, so give also. I
20:31have no merits, nothing at all, but You
20:33provide grace. Certainly, certainly,
20:35certainly, the love of the Holy One,
20:37blessed be He, for the people of Israel
20:39is boundless and endless. So when a son
20:41approaches his father, the Almighty
20:43loves him; so if he behaves like a child
20:45—as it is written about Honi the Circle
20:47Maker—then you are like a son acting
20:48like a child before his father. Honi the
20:50Circle Maker—he was at that level, where
20:53he was entirely a son of the Holy One,
20:55blessed be He. One must understand, this
20:57is a very deep point: we constantly talk
20:59about being the children of Hashem, we
21:01repeat it, but these are words, they are
21:03mere mutterings. To feel like a son of
21:05the Holy One, blessed be He—that is when
21:08it enters deep inside you, into the
21:10heart, into the soul, into your core,
21:12into your insights, into your perception
21:14of life, into your operating system. You
21:17walk around with a tremendous feeling:
21:19you are a child of the Holy One, blessed
21:21be He!
21:23So I speak with my Father, I call out to
21:25Him, I ask of Him—not because of my
21:27merits, but because He is my Father.
21:30This is self-nullification; I annul my "
21:32self," I do not make myself into an
21:34entity. Prayer comes—prayer to the "I."
21:36The holy Zohar says something astounding
21:39: the Zohar writes that we find four
21:41prayers in the Bible (it mentions three
21:43, and there is one more it says isn't
21:45really a prayer): A prayer of David (
21:47Psalm) 86, a prayer of Moses (Psalm) 90
21:49, and a prayer of the poor (Psalm) 102.
21:51There is one more prayer in Habakkuk:
21:53the prayer of Habakkuk the prophet
21:54concerning sins, and the Zohar says—it
21:56is not really a prayer, it was more of a
21:58statement.
21:59And then the holy Zohar asks: Whose
22:01prayer is the greatest? Mine, Moses ',
22:04or David's?
22:05Amazing! The holy Zohar says: The prayer
22:08of the poor is greater than all others
22:09...because he prays with a broken heart
22:11. Well, there is also a deep, terrible
22:13secret there, he writes that "the poor"
22:14is the Messiah, quite a subject...but in
22:16any case, this point that you come—you
22:18are nothing. Hashem is near to those
22:19with a broken heart—someone who has a
22:21broken heart does not ask because he has
22:23such and such merits. He comes—I annul
22:25myself, Master of the Universe! I am
22:26nothing, I am nobody, who am I, what is
22:29my life? But You are complete, good and
22:31benevolent, You are a gracious and
22:32merciful God, You are compassionate,
22:34full of mercy, You are full of kindness
22:36, You are our Father, You love us, You
22:37created the world to do good. So please
22:39, grant us the ability to make this
22:41request! This is prayer, this is the
22:43prayer of the poor, this is the prayer
22:45to pour out one's soul before the Holy
22:46One, blessed be He. This is that
22:48self-nullification. Eliezer, servant of
22:50Abraham, does not think much of himself
22:52—I am a servant of Abraham. He thinks
22:54very highly of Abraham. Obviously!
22:57Hashem chose Abraham, swore to him,
22:59spoke to him, so to ask for the sake of
23:01Abraham our father and all this Divine
23:03purpose—certainly, yes.
23:07It goes without saying! Today we are
23:09fighting for the Land of Israel. Our
23:10enemies, those who seek our harm,
23:12surround us. We ask: Holy One, Blessed
23:14be He, Master of...grant us rest so we
23:16may sit in peace, so we may have a quiet
23:18life. God, Master of the Universe, why
23:20did we come here? Why are we here?
23:21Because You wanted it, You commanded us
23:23. It’s not us, it is You, Master, it is
23:26Your will. You want us to sit here, You
23:28want us to anchor our lives here, You
23:30commanded us: "And you shall possess it
23:32and dwell therein." We devote ourselves
23:34to this with all our strength, Master of
23:36the Universe, it is Your concern, not
23:37ours.
23:38"What will You do for Your great name?"
23:40says the prophet; what does that have to
23:42do with us? It only relates to You.
23:44This is self-nullification before the
23:46Master of the Universe. What of my life
23:48? What do I care about my life? But You
23:50, Master of the Universe, my life is
23:52part of Your kingdom, part of Your
23:54palace, part of Your glory. The honor of
23:56Israel is the honor of God; "In Israel
23:58He is glorified." So if, heaven forbid,
24:00Israel's honor is defiled among the
24:02nations, it is a desecration of God's
24:04name, so we don't ask for ourselves. We
24:06ask for You; for my sake, for my sake—
24:08not in defiance, but in humility, this
24:11is nullification.
24:12It is nullification, and it comes from a
24:15deep realization of my behavior toward
24:17Him.
24:18You see it: I pray, I will do nothing. I
24:21will come, I stand at the spring, I will
24:23pray, and I trust in the Holy One,
24:25Blessed be He, that He will fulfill my
24:27request. Why? Because I know it is not
24:29my affair, it is a divine affair. Just
24:31as Abraham our father told me, he said
24:33to me: "God will send His angel," and he
24:35said it, so I trust in Him. Master of
24:37the Universe, You, You manage everything
24:39here, You lead everything here, show us
24:41kindness and bring this to pass.
24:43Eliezer is an expression of the ultimate
24:46self-nullification before God and
24:47reliance on the Holy One, Blessed be He
24:49, which comes from great and deep
24:51humility. Not merits— "I am such a
24:53righteous person, so I can nullify
24:55myself before God and pray"—no! There
24:57are no merits. You nullify yourself. "I
24:58am the servant of Abraham," not to
25:00depend on your own merit. Come, I will
25:01come, because I am asking at the opening
25:03, with a request and supplication.
25:05Prayer, the trust: "Please, open the
25:07gates of mercy for us, forgive us, yes,
25:09hear our prayer." It is this humility,
25:11this modesty, when a person stands
25:13before God. How about King David, his
25:14prayer after he was told he would be
25:16king: "Who am I, and what is my house?"
25:18I sit before God, before the Holy One,
25:20and I speak to the Holy One, Blessed be
25:22He. The entire book of Psalms is like
25:23this, it is this deep matter. This is
25:25the power of prayer, this is the power
25:27of self-nullification, trust in God.
25:28Prayer and self-nullification belong to
25:30the same branch; it is knowing how to
25:32recite Psalms, knowing how to pour out
25:34your soul before God.
25:37But it doesn't end there, and the one
25:39who is truly greater, the higher one,
25:41who is certainly greater than Eliezer,
25:43is Rebecca.
25:48Rebecca expresses something entirely
25:50different: she expresses action and
25:52effort with all her strength; she
25:54strives and she does.
25:58In this context, I want to take a deep
25:59look at what she is doing.
26:02Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of
26:04the universe, by Whose word all things
26:05came to be.
26:06>> Amen.
26:09To understand this, I want to ask a
26:11question, a simple, fundamental question
26:13.
26:16Eliezer: Abraham's servant arrives with
26:18a group of men, each of them a giant
26:20compared to Rebecca, who was quite young
26:22(some say she was three).
26:27And he stands there and says to her: "
26:29Please give me a drink."
26:32With all these men right there! She
26:34tells him: "Drink, my lord," and he goes
26:36and sits—no, he’s there as if to drink.
26:40On the surface, forgive me for saying it
26:42, using not-so-nice words—she’s a bit of
26:44a pushover, isn't she?
26:46Because, honestly, why are you making
26:48her run around, a little girl? You...
26:50you’re just running, sitting there with
26:52your legs crossed, and she gives you to
26:54drink—even that, as if to say, "I'll
26:55open my mouth, will you put it in for me
26:57?" What is this thing?
26:59Like, what, what, what? Where is the
27:02normalcy?
27:03Does she have to run, get tired, and
27:05exert herself for men who could draw
27:06water much better than her, and there
27:08are so many of them?
27:10On the face of it, it’s incomprehensible
27:12.
27:14This point opens a window for us to
27:16understand Rebecca’s deep motivation.
27:23Now, there are two levels here that are
27:25both true, and one must know that one
27:27does not cancel out the other.
27:33The first level is the level of humanity
27:35to the power of humanity—a kindness of
27:37heart like no other in the world, which
27:39are deep, wonderful natural traits we
27:41inherited from our forefathers and
27:43foremothers.
27:46Traits of kindness, deep traits of love
27:48, a love of justice. Our father Abraham
27:51loves to do kindness for others; he
27:52feels it with his whole heart and soul,
27:55to the point that he feels his life's
27:56purpose is to do kindness. It is not an
27:59extra or a side thing; he doesn't just
28:00have his own life and do kindnesses on
28:02the side. Abraham lived in this world to
28:05do kindness.
28:06That is why I came into the world.
28:08The same goes for Rebecca. That is why
28:10she came into the world. So she will do
28:12a kindness. So, he doesn't want to draw
28:14water for himself right now. That’s fine
28:16. That is not my concern. I want to do a
28:18kindness. I love doing kindness. I am
28:20kind-hearted. That is not in the
28:22equation. If a person doesn't love
28:23kindness, they look at it and ask, "
28:25What is this?""Why is he taking
28:26advantage of me?" But a person who loves
28:28to do kindness—let's use an example, a
28:31bit clumsy and not exactly the same, but
28:33say: there's a group of carpenters who
28:35have all the equipment, and they come to
28:37make tables and chairs.
28:40They sit with their legs crossed, and
28:42someone else comes along, a young guy
28:44who really loves to do woodwork.
28:47And they say: "Here, maybe you can do
28:49our work for the week?"
28:51and he does it. He enjoys it, he is
28:53happy with it. Why should he care that
28:55they don't want to? He enjoys it, it’s,
28:57it’s not looking at what you get out of
28:59it, he’s thrilled by it, he loves it.
29:01Rebecca loves to do kindness, a love of
29:03kindness, as it is written: To do
29:05justice and to love kindness and to walk
29:07humbly with your God.
29:09She loves doing kindness, so she enjoys
29:11it, she’s happy from it, in the simple
29:13sense of the word. Now, by the way, this
29:15doesn’t mean that...there is a
29:17possibility, there is a possibility of
29:18taking advantage of her. A person must
29:20be clever and wise, as the Rav writes in
29:22Orot Yisrael, Chapter 1, Paragraph 4:
29:24The very essence of the desire to be
29:26good to all is the internal core of the
29:28essence of the soul of the Congregation
29:30of Israel, the depth of our soul, the
29:32depth of our being, is the will to do,
29:34to be good to all.
29:35But the Rav says: Certainly, this thing
29:37requires great wisdom and mighty courage
29:39in order to know how to carry it out in
29:41the correct way. Yes, you need to know,
29:43sometimes someone takes advantage or
29:45things like that, you have to be careful
29:47, because maybe if you do kindness with
29:48someone who is not...not in place, then
29:50there is also such a thing as kindness,
29:52where it is written that if a man takes
29:53his sister, that is a corruption. So on
29:55this point, you need to know.
29:57So I say, there is, it’s not that you
29:59lose the perspective and the vision here
30:01.
30:02In this context, Rebecca didn’t see it
30:04that way, so...so she did kindness
30:06within her love.
30:08But there is something even deeper here
30:10, and this point is very internal.
30:14It is written in the Sages: In the
30:16measure that a person measures—so it is
30:18measured to him from Heaven.
30:22What does that mean? Rabbi Nachman says
30:24, for example, in Likutei Moharan.
30:27Sometimes a person needs mercy to be
30:28shown to him from Heaven. He has some
30:31difficulty, he has some challenge, he
30:33needs mercy.
30:35And then they orchestrate a situation
30:37for him of someone that he will show
30:39mercy to and help.
30:43And this thing is actually them setting
30:45up the opportunity for him to open the
30:46tap of mercy for himself.
30:49Because in the measure that a person
30:51measures, so it is measured to him.
30:53Meaning, it’s not just in this sense of
30:55conditioning.
30:56You will do this, so you will receive
30:58that.
30:59It is much deeper than that.
31:02The person of Israel is a ladder set on
31:03the ground and its top reaches the
31:05heavens.
31:07In a way that his actions below ascend
31:09to the heights of the heavens up to the
31:11supernal Divine attributes.
31:13And this is the depth of the secret of "
31:15in the image of God He made man." That
31:17man was created in the pattern of the
31:19supernal attributes.
31:21Look, the book Tomer Devorah is entirely
31:23built on this thing, and when a person
31:25below behaves with kindness and mercy,
31:26he awakens the supernal attributes and
31:28causes them to be drawn down and
31:30illuminate the entire world through the
31:32power of his actions.
31:34Because his soul, he performs here in
31:36his body an act of kindness, this thing
31:38is like a rope that is shaken from below
31:40and ascends to above, and his soul above
31:42cleaves to the supernal attributes and
31:44grows in its purity and draws down to
31:46earth all the abundance and light of the
31:48supernal attributes.
31:52And this is the depth of the depths of
31:53the matter of good character traits and
31:55acts of kindness and charity, that it’s
31:57not just good and essential social
31:59actions here; that it’s not just that—
32:01which is very important—it is far beyond
32:03that, it draws light and blessing to the
32:05entire existence as a whole.
32:08Therefore, charity saves from death, and
32:09through kindness and truth iniquity is
32:11atoned; through charity you shall be
32:13established, charity exalts a nation.
32:15When we perform charity, when we do acts
32:17of kindness, the people of Israel are
32:19elevated by it,
32:20and this is also a blessed thing. Thank
32:22God,
32:27there is an entity that I believe
32:29performs the most charity among Jews,
32:30and this entity is called the State of
32:32Israel, as Rabbi Hananel wonderfully
32:34collected in his book*Ahavat Olam*—it
32:36takes a good eye to see all the kindness
32:38and blessing that the people of Israel
32:40do.
32:44These taxes, what we call taxes, go to
32:46so many good things: kindness and help
32:48for people in need, for those with
32:50disabilities, for the elderly, and for
32:52the sick. The people of Israel, we are
32:54constantly doing charity, as a nation we
32:56are constantly doing charity. This is a
32:58very great thing. How blessed this thing
33:00is, how much this protects and guards
33:01the people of Israel. Charity shall
33:03establish you, charity exalts a nation.
33:05This is the power of the people of
33:06Israel, to observe justice and do
33:08charity, for My salvation is near to
33:09come, and My righteousness to be
33:11revealed. We are the entire people of
33:12Israel. Therefore, after the blessing of
33:15the righteous—which is charity—we bless
33:17: Jerusalem and the shoot of David, Your
33:20servant.
33:21Everything is elevated by the power of
33:23performing charity. Thank God, how much
33:25one should speak good and kindness about
33:26the people of Israel! We do charity all
33:29the time, 24 hours a day, seven days a
33:31week.
33:32The people of Israel do charity as a
33:34nation; as a nation, all of us, there is
33:36a general fund that does charity all the
33:39time for the sick, for the needy, for
33:41those in want, all the time, all the
33:43time. This is a very great thing, one
33:45only needs to open their eyes and see it
33:47.
33:48In any case, this value of charity has
33:50great power in the higher realms.
33:53Charity awakens the supreme kindness and
33:55nullifies the attribute of judgment. So
33:57much so that the power of the gifts for
33:59the poor is great, as we say in the
34:00Torah portion of*Ki Tavo*: "Look down
34:02from Your holy habitation, from heaven,
34:04and bless Your people Israel," after a
34:05person has given gifts to the poor. Yes
34:07. When you finish tithing at the end of
34:09the third and sixth year, which are the
34:10gifts for the poor. Then it says: "Look
34:12down from Your holy habitation, from
34:14heaven, and bless Your people Israel."
34:16Rashi says: Everywhere "looking down"(*
34:18hashkafa*) appears in the Bible, it is
34:20for evil—like the Lord looking down on
34:23the camp of the Egyptians, and so on—
34:25except for here. What does that mean?
34:28That looking down is an expression of
34:30the attribute of judgment, and here you
34:31come and say to the attribute of
34:33judgment: Look down from Your holy
34:35habitation from heaven, and bless Your
34:37people Israel. Even the attribute of
34:38judgment is forced to agree with the
34:40attribute of mercy, because the people
34:41of Israel perform acts of kindness. The
34:43attribute of judgment cannot prosecute
34:45the people of Israel. Just as charity
34:46saves from death in the personal sense,
34:48so it does in the national sense. And
34:50therefore, Israel is worthy—and this is
34:52the absolute truth—Israel is worthy of
34:54great kindness and blessing even from
34:55the attribute of judgment, not only from
34:57the attribute of kindness. Certainly,
34:59all the holy ones who sacrificed their
35:01lives for the sanctification of God’s
35:02name join in this. As Rabbi Eliyahu, of
35:04blessed memory, used to write—I have a
35:07photocopy of his handwriting—that a
35:09court of law brings light.
35:12Joseph, to whom the righteous and pious
35:14gathered, established a court to write
35:16that the decree of judgment must agree
35:18with mercy for the redemption of Israel
35:20, because the people of Israel are
35:22worthy of redemption by law, not just by
35:24grace. The Rabbi writes this again and
35:26again. It was written; I once spoke
35:27about this with a sage of blessed memory
35:29, how he was entirely of the view: the
35:31people of Israel are worthy of
35:33redemption by law, not just by grace.
35:34How much grace, righteousness,
35:36dedication, and goodness there is in the
35:38people of Israel! We must be careful not
35:39to look only at things that stir up
35:41anger; there are tensions, there are
35:42challenges, that is true, but in their
35:44essence—the people of Israel are good,
35:46the people of Israel are blessed, the
35:47people of Israel are God's chosen...for
35:49those who are good, the people of Israel
35:50. And it is important to cultivate a
35:52good eye, especially in times of
35:54internal tension, to cultivate a good
35:55eye, to know how to speak in defense of
35:57the people of Israel. The Ben Ish Hai
35:59composed a special prayer that is
36:00entirely a defense of the people of
36:01Israel, entirely a defense of the people
36:03of Israel! How much defense, how much
36:04blessing, how much light there is, how
36:06much strengthening, how much drawing
36:07closer to God. All these things—a good
36:09eye. Our role: we, who are great people
36:11, public figures managing the public
36:13affairs of Israel—we are simple people
36:15who can pray, strengthen ourselves, and
36:17do as much as lies in our power in
36:19prayer and action for the sake of Israel
36:21, for the sake of redemption.
36:25In any case, let us return to our matter
36:27here, at this point of the power of
36:29righteousness and grace, the power of
36:31good deeds.
36:36It is not just a social matter; here
36:38Rebecca knows that when she performs an
36:40act of grace, she becomes a chariot for
36:42the supernal attributes and draws the
36:44light of Divinity into the world.
36:48So she will do it more and more and more
36:50, with all her strength, even more grace
36:52because—that is the influence of
36:53goodness upon the world.
36:55It brings blessing to all of existence.
36:57Therefore she is dedicated. Yes, as we
37:00said, it is two levels: one level is her
37:02love of performing acts of kindness, but
37:04the inner level is her knowledge of God
37:06; she is connected to the Holy One,
37:07blessed be He, in holiness, and knows
37:09His ways, His guidance, and the manner
37:11in which He appears in the world. By
37:13being clothed in grace, the kingdom of
37:15God, His holiness, and His help appear
37:17in the world, and everything is blessed
37:19; and that is what she does.
37:22From here we learn the second aspect:
37:24the Holy One, blessed be He, did not
37:26create the world just so that we would
37:28be passive.
37:30It is true that it is important work; we
37:32descended into the world, and the
37:34physical world causes one to deny the
37:35reality of God, and when you look at it
37:37, it seems to you that everything
37:39happening here depends on human beings.
37:41And here comes the strength that our
37:43father Abraham teaches us, to be in
37:44submission to God: you will intend, you
37:46will act, but from God the matter will
37:48emerge. I trust in Him; I come to
37:50Abraham our father, who connected me to
37:52such a great mission, I pray, I pray, I
37:53know that the Holy One, blessed be He,
37:55manages the world, not human beings. I
37:57know that the Holy One, blessed be He,
37:59is the One who acts and leads; I only
38:01need a sign, an illumination, to tell me
38:03of it. That is the proof—this is the
38:05complete reliance on the Holy One,
38:06blessed be He, that we mentioned. Like
38:08this, it comes from humility and
38:10complete self-nullification before the
38:11Master of the Universe— "I am Abraham’s
38:14servant," I am nothing. That is one
38:16aspect, and it is very important, but
38:18from this trust and this
38:19self-nullification, the people of Israel
38:21do not remain passive, because the Holy
38:23One, blessed be He, wanted us to be
38:25partners with Him. And this is the
38:27difference between the God of the land
38:29and the God of the heavens: the God of
38:30the heavens does everything alone, but
38:32the God of the land—He acts through us
38:33and from within us. "And the Lord will
38:35bless all your handiwork"—could it mean
38:36sitting idle? Since it is written, "
38:38that the Lord your God may bless you,"
38:39the Sifrei asks: Could it be that one
38:40remains sitting idle? It comes to say, "
38:42in all your handiwork that you shall do
38:44." You shall act and you shall be a
38:46vessel for the revelation of His kingdom
38:48, and you shall act according to His
38:50attributes within and inwardly: with
38:52kindness, with justice, with integrity,
38:54with love, and toward those who seek our
38:56harm—with strength and might, to cut off
38:58the enemy, to uproot the thorns
39:00surrounding the supreme rose. All the
39:01enemies seeking our harm—we must fight
39:03with the power He commanded us: "When
39:05you go out to war"—He didn't just tell
39:06us to recite Psalms there, He told us
39:08when you come to the land, you shall
39:09fight; He tells us, it is a commandment
39:11for us to fight, "you shall drive them
39:12out and dwell in it." The portion of
39:14Shoftim discusses how you go out to war
39:16, what you do, and so on. Certainly, one
39:18must act and do, and one cannot rely on
39:20a miracle, as it is written: "The horse
39:22is prepared for the day of battle, but
39:24the salvation is from the Lord." So
39:25Rabbeinu Bahya brings there, from the
39:27beginning of Parshat Shelach, that a
39:29person must have a horse. Prepared for
39:30the day of battle, and one must fight,
39:32but know that the salvation is from the
39:34Lord. Rabbeinu Yonah infers the same
39:35thing from the verse: "If the Lord does
39:37not guard the city, in vain does the
39:38watchman stay awake." Meaning that if He
39:40does guard it, then the watchman does
39:41not stay awake in vain. He does not say
39:43: "The watchman is irrelevant anyway,
39:44because the Lord is the guardian, so
39:45what does it matter that you are
39:46guarding?" He says: "No, no." You must
39:49guard with the knowledge that the Lord
39:50is with you. And if not—that if the Lord
39:52does not guard, the watchman stays awake
39:54in vain. But if the Lord does guard,
39:56surely the watchman does not stay awake
39:58in vain, because His protection passes
40:00through you.
40:01Look at Rabbeinu Bahya, there in his
40:03introduction to Parshat Shelach,
40:05Rabbeinu Bahya (son of Rabbi Asher)
40:06writes very, very fundamental things,
40:08and this is how the Rishonim recognize
40:10this matter: a person must strive. For a
40:12person, and of course with God, we have
40:14striven to the best of our ability—from
40:15that moment we have striven to the best
40:17of our ability, that is it, now we are
40:18surrendered into the hands of the Holy
40:20One, blessed be He, and He will decide
40:21and He will act. "And trust in Him, and
40:23He will act." You, like this: "Trust in
40:25the Lord and do good." Yes, by the way,
40:27it is interesting—it is not written "do
40:28good and trust in the Lord," first of
40:30all, trust in the Lord. Therefore, first
40:32of all, trust is primary, then "and do
40:34good." That is Rivka; act out of trust.
40:36No, meaning: don't think that your
40:38action–you and the Holy One, blessed be
40:40He, is 50%the Holy One, blessed be He,
40:43and 50%me. No, the Holy One, blessed be
40:45He, is responsible for 100%, but He is
40:47revealed through you. Trust in Him and
40:49from that place, act and do. Rabbi Kook
40:51writes in the introduction to "Orot
40:52HaDor," that one of the mistakes that
40:54caused people to move away from Judaism
40:56is the incorrect thought that trust in
40:57God means a person should be passive.
40:59And he says the opposite: Trust in God
41:01means that you can dare, act, and do,
41:03because I am with you. Do not fear for I
41:05am with you, do not be dismayed for I am
41:07your God. If I found you, I helped you,
41:09if I didn't find you...in the Midrash,
41:11yes? If you don't have to do anything,
41:12why would it say "if I found you, I
41:13helped you"? Does it mean you don't have
41:15to do anything? No, because you are the
41:17channel, and through you, He is revealed
41:18. We need to do our part, and the Holy
41:20One, blessed be He, does His, and that
41:22is what the Parsha teaches. And this is
41:24truly the depth of the purpose that the
41:26Holy One, blessed be He, desired. In
41:27this sense, what is higher–
41:29self-nullification before God or
41:31becoming like God? And letting His hand
41:33be active through your activity. The
41:35answer is: becoming like God. These
41:37things are explained by the Maharal in
41:38the "Netiv HaAnava"(Path of Humility).
41:40Look there, the Maharal explains that
41:42fear (of God) is nullification, and
41:43humility is becoming like Him. Becoming
41:45like Him means you act from His strength
41:47, you operate from His power, and the
41:49Maharal says explicitly that humility is
41:51...Chazal said: "What humility did,
41:53wisdom did as a crown to its head." It
41:55did what it did, wisdom was a crown for
41:57its head. Yes, that fear of God is the
41:59heel of humility.
42:01The heel of humility is the fear of God
42:03; this is underneath, above it is
42:05humility. Humility is being the hand of
42:08God, Master of the Universe, to act and
42:10do from His strength. Fear is to nullify
42:12oneself before God. The Holy One,
42:13blessed be He, does it, and that is
42:15actually the greater virtue, because the
42:16Holy One, blessed be He, wanted our
42:18partnership. And therefore it is greater
42:20, because when a person thinks he is
42:22human, to connect to God he must nullify
42:24himself, but later he can rise to an
42:25even higher level and understand that
42:27through that nullification to God, you
42:29are also part of Him and you must act
42:31and do.
42:32And this is a greater recognition of
42:34God's kingdom, that not only am I
42:36nullified, but the opposite, even the
42:37human territory within is where God's
42:39hand is revealed. And this is the virtue
42:41of Rebecca, of the activity, more than
42:43the nullification of Eliezer; this is
42:45what we learn in these Torah portions.
42:47The connection between these things is
42:49essentially that important recipe: that
42:51on one hand we are reliant and trust in
42:53the Holy One, blessed be He. And one
42:55must know that trust in God must always
42:57be there, and this is a rule that
42:59emerges from the words of Rabbeinu
43:01Bachya—the result is in the hands of the
43:03Holy One, blessed be He, we do our
43:05effort.
43:06This is also what Abraham our father
43:07tells Eliezer: God, you do, He will send
43:09His angel, and if the woman will not be
43:11willing, then you are cleared of this
43:13oath of mine.
43:15So, what will happen then?
43:17The Holy One, Blessed be He, is present
43:19; you have done your part, and if the
43:21woman does not agree to follow you, you
43:23are released.
43:25What have we learned from this verse?
43:29That you do as much as is in your power
43:30; once you have finished doing what is
43:32in your power, let go. The Master of the
43:34Universe is present, He is over me, He
43:36has not retired, He has not abandoned
43:38the world; He is present, leading and
43:40doing everything. And we must always
43:42cling to the Holy One, Blessed be He,
43:44with all our might and know that the
43:46Almighty, who brought us back here after
43:472,000 years and leads us with miracles
43:49and wonders, we have seen His marvelous
43:51miracles just now, wonders upon wonders
43:53, over the last three years. So, as the
43:55wife of Manoah said, she said to him:
43:56Had the Lord desired to kill us, He
43:58would not have shown us all these things
44:00. Yes, and He would not have bestowed
44:01such things upon us. You see the Lord
44:03perform such miracles, it tells you
44:05something—it says, "I am with you." So
44:07trust in Me, lean on Me, and expect
44:09goodness and blessing. Because of this,
44:11should you be passive? No, act and do
44:13everything that is in your power.
44:16Act, proceed, and do what you can, but
44:18do not let this action enter your mind
44:20to think that this action determines the
44:23outcome, and if you did not succeed or
44:25otherwise, then everything is over,
44:26heaven forbid. No, the Holy One, Blessed
44:29be He, leads, and you do not know what
44:31He is doing. Sometimes a miracle comes
44:32from everything. From where, how will
44:34the miracle come? From every place, and
44:36there are many messengers for the
44:37Almighty, all kinds of things, scenarios
44:38. Yes, people created many dramas in
44:40their imaginations, and in the end, the
44:41Holy One, Blessed be He, led things
44:43quite differently. So we need to trust
44:44in the Holy One, Blessed be He, lean on
44:46Him, and know that we are in good and
44:48faithful hands. He loves us, leads us;
44:50trust in Him, fill yourselves with
44:52strength, holiness, purity, love for
44:53Israel, a good eye, strengthen
44:55yourselves in prayer and in standing
44:56firm when it is necessary to stand firm
44:58. And from this, with the help of the
45:00Almighty, we shall merit eternal
45:01redemption, the complete presence of the
45:02Divine resting upon us, all the people
45:04of Israel together, with the Kingdom of
45:06God appearing upon us soon in the Holy
45:07Temple. Amen, may it be His will.

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This page contains the full transcript of פרשת חיי שרה • הרב ראובן ששון • עבד אברהם ורבקה - בין ביטול לעשייה by מלאה הארץ דעה - המרכז להפצת דעת ה' ואורו, generated from the public captions YouTube serves with the video. The transcript has 9,468 words across 1,382 segments, with the original timestamps preserved so you can click any line to jump to that moment in the embedded player.

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