Thank you to my good friend Mrs. Roseberger for pointing this one out to me: https://emunahchannel.com/make-god-your-best-friend-amazing-advice-on-how-to-connect/
And a particularly awesome shiur from Rabbi Cassouto: https://emunahchannel.com/be-yourself-find-who-you-are/ I had such hashgacha pratis listening to this - I had paused it, and then something happened. Someone questioned me strongly on someting I had said standing on the side of kedusha and I was confused. Then my son said - turn the shiur back on. And there was Rabbi Cassouto - so what if the world is against you! Believe in yourself! If the whole world is against you then you are on the side of kedusha!
Now onto some world news: http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/us-officials-warn-of-isis-attacks-on-july-4/2015/06/27/ US Officials are warning that ISIS may be planning terror attacks this coming Shabbos July 4 – even though we fast on Sunday because of Shabbos, this Shabbos is still the infamous day of mourning called the 17th of Tammuz when the walls of Jerusalem were breached, among other major terrible things that happened to the Jewish people on that date. The situation is Europe doesn’t look much better, what with a major anti-semitic rally being planned for this Shabbos as well in the religious community of Golders Green – the posters on Facebook for it look like something straight out of the Holocaust. Outright ghastly. I can’t bear to copy it but if you want to see it head over here: http://palmtreeofdeborah.blogspot.co.il/2015/06/the-one-week-countdown-to-17th-of-tamuz.html. Who can forget the Freedom Flotilla III happening as we speak and the death of Bar Kappara Erev Shabbos Hashem should avenge his blood – he was a 70 year old farmer beaten to death by Muslim “Palestinians” (amazingly his name means “son of / being an atonement) and a sweep of terrorism around the world including Tunisia and France.
What does this all have to do with emuna? Well Rabbi Arush always says forget the news, the news is everything is for the very best! Let’s go deeper though. It is so easy and common to throw your hands up and say “We need Moshiach now! There is so much suffering in Klal Yisrael! Sicknesses, terrorism, anti-semitism, everyone is suffering! Dai! Enough!” In fact, I feel like I hear this all the time – “There are so many tzaros in Klal Yisrael.” Rabbi Arush had harsh words for such talk in the weekly newsletter for the Yeshiva for this past Shabbos Parshas Chukat – “To speak like this is Lashon Hara against Hashem and it is kefira gemura – total heresy.” I gasped – what harsh words! But it is true! Total heresy! Speaking against Hashem as if He is doing something bad, so to speak! Gasp! And I think like this all the time…
Hashem loves us and does EVERYTHING for the best – EVERYTHING bar none. He explains that we aren’t continuing to be punished for the crying we did in the desert at the Sin of the Spies, when Hashem said we will “cry for generations.” We are still being punished because even today, we are still crying and complaining – just like this. “There are so much tzaros in Klal Yisrael.” Wait, is Hashem evil G-d forbid? Is he doing something unjust to the Jewish people? Such statements bring on harsh judgments because then Shamayim opens up the records – is something wrong happening, something unjust? And they find only that Hashem is actually being too lenient with us! Just the opposite is true – Rabbi Arush stated emphatically twice “Everything is just fine with Klal Yisrael. The only singular lacking and problem that we have is that we lack daat – holy knowledge.” That is the daat to thank Hashem for everything. That is the daat to have the emuna to know that ein od milvado – there is only Hashem – no anti-Semites, no ISIS, no Supreme Court, no mother, no father, no husband, no wife, no kids, no mother in law – only Hashem who uses various sticks to prod someone to return to Him. And that since He does everything, and everything He does is good, with no exceptions – this is also good. But in order for it to be truly good for eternity, we have to use these sticks to get closer to Him, to repent from our sins, to change our lives, to yearn to serve Him better.
And I am afraid to say this, but here goes. Rabbi Arush mentioned also in the parsha sheet that someone who recognizes that everything is from Hashem, and uses everything in His life to do teshuva and improve Himself, then everything is really good for him and he feels no suffering at all. Since the purpose is to get closer to Hashem, and all his suffering is fulfilling this purpose, then really everything is for his eternal good and he actually feels no suffering in it at all, since He is enjoying the closeness to Hashem! There is no evil in the world at all! But in The Garden of Emuna Rabbi Arush mentions something else that brings this point even farther – he says that such a person cannot be touched by anything evil at all, since he relies completely on Hashem. But G-d forbid if a person lacks this emuna, and thinks that things are random G-d forbid, or thinks that there is evil in the world and does not see Hashem and His goodness – then G-d forbid, something evil can befall such a person. This is because of the spiritual rule that whoever you fear, that thing rules over you. So if you see Hashem and fear Hashem, and know Hashem has complete control over your life - then Hashem really does have complete control over your life, and truly no evil can befall you. But if you fear anything else, and think something else has power, then Hashem c”v hands the control over that person to the object that he fears!!! Since that person has chosen to see X in place of Hashem, then that X will be made to look like it has power, since Hashem has to continue to give the person the free choice to see Him – or not. It is truly terrifying, Hashem should save us all!!!
We must go into these Three Weeks of Mourning only with thanking and praising Hashem for everything. If we could truly do that, then we would completely correct the sin of crying and complaining for no reason, and instead of needing a reason to cry since we are crying anyway Hashem yishmor, and instead of more tears coming to correct the sin of tears of complaints against Hashem, we can correct those tears of complaining with songs and praises to Hashem – and then these weeks will be weeks of joyous celebration, the coming of Moshiach b’rachamim, and the rebuilding of our holy Temple in Jerusalem, speedily and in our days AMEN.
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