I go to a shiur every shabbos afternoon. My high school chumash teacher learns Sichos Mussar of R' Chaim Shmuelevitz with a group of my friends and me. This shiur is the highlight of my week. This week, the sichah was on bitachon. I'd like to share one (among many) interesting point that was made.
Everyone knows the story from gemorah of the rat and the weasel. One day, a young man tells a young woman that he wants to marry her. She asks who will be the witnesses, he says the well and the weasel will bear witness, and they go their merry way. Time passes and the young man forgets his promise to the girl. He marries another and they have two children. Before either of them could grow to adulthood, one falls into a well and dies, while the other is bitten by a weasel and dies. They who bore witness now bring punishment. The question on this story is as follows: the weasel and the well (I love the alliteration ) don't have the ability to hear and understand, how could they possibly have been eidim? Even more so, how could they actually punish the young man?
When a person believes in something, it gets power. Because the man believed in the strength of the weasel and the well to serve as witnesses, not only did they have the ability to bear witness, they were able to go further and kill his children. But their power came only from his belief in them. (He brings many other examples to support this theory, but then this post would be way too long ;P.)
The same goes for Hakadosh Baruch Hu. When we believe in His ability to help us, kaviyachol we're giving Him the power to help us even more. When we trust in our Tatte ShebaShamayim, we give Him the ability to treat us even more like His children.
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How Can This Be?
3 months ago
2 comments:
So if you don't believe in G-d, he has no power over you?!
What I believe you may have meant is that when you believe in Hashem, you recognize that it is him helping you. And when you believe in those other powers, they do gain power.
Interestingly enough, the word EL means power. El Elyon, is the highest power. The reason why avoda zara had a following is because it worked! otherwise its just foolish. Monotheism is the belief that although other things have power, ultimately the power comes from a singular g-d.
Obviously I did not mean that Hashem is chas v'shalom powerless over someone who doesn't believe in Him. The more a person believes in Him, the more intimately Hashem involves himself in that person's life. It's like the pasuk in tehillim ה צלך על יד ימיניך. He acts as our shadow - to the extent that we do __ toward Him, He'll act that way to us
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