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Home > Daily Emunah Podcast - Daily Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear > Who’s in Control?
Podcast: Daily Emunah Podcast - Daily Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear
Episode:

Who’s in Control?
Category: Religion & Spirituality
Duration: 00:00:00
Publish Date: 2020-01-13 07:00:00
Description: The sefer Hineni Biyadecha writes, the way of the world is when two countries are at battle with each other and one of them wants to surrender, they raise a white flag. There is a lesson we can learn from this. When a person is young and vibrant and all of his hair is still black, he’s sure that success is all in his hands. He’s ready to conquer the world and make a name for himself. But as the years go by and his hair start turning white, he becomes wiser and realizes that not everything is really in his hands. By the time his hair turns completely white, he finally recognizes that nothing is in his control. That is when he raises those white hairs and surrenders himself to Hashem. We don’t have to wait that long to understand who is really in control. We can train our children to understand this from early ages. It is that understanding which actually brings a person's success. The same sefer brings a story of a man who had a business deal on the table which guaranteed him a huge return. He spent his days working out all the details so he could go ahead with it. There was no question, he was going to become wealthy from that deal. When he told his rabbi about it, the rabbi told him he shouldn’t go through with it. He then thought twice about it, but he couldn’t contain himself and he made the deal. And sure enough, it turned sour. Afterward, he asked the rabbi, “How did you know this deal wouldn’t work out?” The rabbi said, “I’m not a prophet, but I saw that you left Hashem totally out of the equation. You were relying on the hishtadlut too much, and I knew that meant trouble.” Just the fact that we realize that Hashem is the One behind our business dealings brings blessing to those dealings. The same applies in all areas of life. Rabbi Yisrael Brog said when he moved into a new neighborhood in Cleveland, he enjoyed the peace and tranquility of that neighborhood. Everyone left their doors unlocked, the keys were left in the car and there was never any crime. One day, as the rabbi was walking in the street, a car passed by him, someone rolled down the window and yelled, “Heil Hitler.” This incident was very out of the ordinary for that neighborhood. The rabbi called his grandfather, Rabbi Avigdor Miller z”l, and asked him, “What’s the message from Hashem from this?” The rabbi replied, “You’re getting too comfortable in galut . You are forgetting that it is really Hashem who’s protecting you, not the safe neighborhood that you live in. Every time that you walk out of the house, think ‘Hashem is my guardian,’ and it’ll never happen again.” And the rabbi testified, he followed the advice and, baruch Hashem, it has been decades and that incident never occurred again.The more we rely on Hashem, the more blessing we’ll have. An interesting case was once brought in front of the Megaleh Amukot to be judged. There was a talmid chacham who was selling bread to earn a livelihood. A wealthy man approached him and said, “You belong in the study hall. Please allow me to have the merit of supporting you so that you can go back to learning.” The chacham agreed. Three months later, this chacham wanted to back out of the deal and start selling the bread again, at least part-time. The wealthy man didn’t want to hear it. He said, “We have a deal, I’m supporting you.” And they brought the case in front of the Megaleh Amukot . The Megaleh Amukot asked the chacham why he wanted to go back to selling bread. He replied, “Baruch Hashem, now I’m able to learn with no worries of parnasa, but I’m missing something very important in my life. When I had to earn a livelihood, I would grind the wheat and beg Hashem that the flour should come out clean with no worms. When I kneaded the dough, I prayed to Hashem that it should come out just right. When I searched for wood to light the oven, I prayed to Hashem to find me dry wood that’s good for baking that wouldn’t give off any smoke. When I put the bread in the oven, I prayed to Hashem that it would bake properly and, when I took it out, I begged Hashem to send me customers. At all times I was depending on Hashem. I lost that and feel bad about it.” The Megaleh Amukot was so impressed with the case. Here you have one man wanting to support a talmid chacham , the other man wanting to depend on Hashem. I don’t know what the ruling was, but the lesson is clear. The job of a Jew is to constantly feel dependency on Hashem. That feeling is what will give the person benefits both in this world and the Next.
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