Page 61 - HaMizrachi #29 Yom HaAtzmaut 2021 USA

Rabbi Binny Freedman

one (hair) should not benefit from what
‘belongs’ to another.”

Consider the importance of this Mid-
rash. I can learn to become a more eth-
ical human being simply by studying the
hairs on my forearm! After all, if every
hair on my arm has its place, then how
much more must I consider that every
human being, and every event, however
challenging, has a place in G-d’s plan.
The Baal Shem Tov points out that we G-d to perform miracles – he musters Ultimately, once I have done my bit, then
often make the mistake of missing the an army and saves Lot himself. I have the right to believe that G-d, in
messages sent our way. If you see some- How are we to find this ever-elusive bal- one way or another, will do His.
one desecrating Shabbat, do not assume ance, trusting in G-d and recognizing his Perhaps, like the metzora, we need to
it is because you are meant to exhort master-plan on the one hand, and being take some time for introspection, to
them on the error of their ways. Rather, active partners in building a better world consider how best to find that balance.
assume it is a message to you regarding on the other?
an error of yours. Imagine if we really This question was at the root of a con- It was only after the war they found out
lived life this way, struggling with what troversy that remains a prominent social what had really happened in Tzfat. It
we need to fix in ourselves, instead of issue in Israel even today. If after 2,000 seems the Arabs’ greatest fear was the
spending so much time figuring out years, G-d has decided it is time to fact that most of the people behind
what we need to fix in everybody else. bring us home, who are we to try and the development of America’s atomic
What a different world it would be! take it into our own hands? Maybe the bomb were Jewish (most notably Ein-
stein and Oppenheimer), and the Arabs
On the other hand, if I took the time best thing for a young man or woman had heard a little bit about acid rain. So
to analyze every leaf, twig, insect, and to do is to be immersed in Torah and they assumed the Jews had just set off
sound that came my way, I would never good deeds, and leave the destiny of the an atomic bomb, and the rest is history!
get to shul in the morning. Yet to ignore Jewish people (and the defense of the Every tour guide worth their salt will
the many powerful messages that often Land of Israel) up to G-d? show their tourists this spot and with a
cross our path is to risk living a life of Clearly, we need to be willing to trust in smile, ask the same question: was this
callousness and lose so many opportuni- G-d that life will send us what we need a miracle? Or just a freak of nature? In
ties to grow as a person and as a society. to receive, as well as to be partners with Tzfat, there are no miracles, because all
How does one find the balance? And G-d in making that happen. As the Vilna of nature is miraculous, and miracles
more: if everything is G-d-sent, where Gaon suggests, faith without hishtadlut surround us every day…
is man’s role? is not really faith. It bespeaks a certain
arrogance; who says I have earned the
The Talmud (Sanhedrin 72a) states: אבה right to have faith that G-d will help
וגרוהל םכשה ךגרוהל – If a person comes to me? On the other hand, the assump- Rabbi Binny Friedman is the Rosh Yeshiva
of Orayta.
kill you, arise and kill him first. Indeed, tion that I can do it all, and that it all
when Abraham’s nephew Lot is captured depends on me, stems from this very A member of the Mizrachi Speakers Bureau
by the five kings, he does not wait for same arrogance. mizrachi.org/speakers

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