Hashem told the Jewish people at the time of matan Torah, "I have a a precious gift in my treasure house.  I will give it to you on condition that you accept the Torah." The Jews asked what it was and Hashem answered, "Olam habah." They then said, "Show us an example of this," and Hashem replied, "Shabbat." Indeed the Mishna in Avot tells us, Shabbath is 1/60^th of olam habah.  If we observe this day properly we merit entering a world of eternal truth.

"Vayichulu hashamayim..."-Hashem completed the heavens and earth yet there was still something lacking. Just as a wedding without a bride is not a wedding, the world without the Shabbbath queen was incomplete. We honor the day with delicacies, fine clothing and bright candles. However the Zohar says oneg doesn't only mean bodily pleasures, but thinking about the Creator, praising Him and bringing Him into our life. Similarly the Michtav M'Eliyahu writes that Shabbat is olam habah in olam hazeh. It is the heavens touching earth. Hashem's glory is revealed in the world on this day. And indeed the soul of a Jew expresses itself on Shabbat.  If you enter a room and instead of flicking on the switch, you grapple in the dark for what you need, or you come home soaked from the rain because you couldn't carry an umbrella. You've tapped into the kedusha of the day. "Vayishbot Elokim m'kol melachto" Hashem did not physically work. What does the verse mean to say that He rested? The commentators explain that the entire world was concealed and when Hashem created Shabbath He lifted the curtain aside and revealed to us what was hidden.

 "Zachor et yom haShabbat" Remember the Shabbath during the week. The verse tells us to complete all our work during the week so that we won't have to think about it on the holiest day. "V'asita kol melachtecha." It should be in our minds as if all our work was completed. Mundane thoughts of weekday activity shouldn't enter our thoughts for we are in olam habah on this holy day.

 "Vayivarach Elokim"-Hashem blessed the Shabbath. The Michtav M'Eliyahu asks, how could Hashem give an eternal spiritual blessing to a day that is limited by physical time. Indeed we see that Shabbath is really spiritual. Man is created incomplete, our world is a world of falsehood, but Shabbath is perfection. It is completely ruchniyut.

The Gemara states that all mitzvot were given with revelation except Shabbath which was concealed. Weren't the luchot (which contains the mitzvah of Shabbat) given publicly? The Gemara  intended to say that we do not know the reward for the day because it is not physical. We will reap the dividends in olam haba. The Reishet Chochma writes that Shabbat gives us an aura of kedusha, holiness which stays with us throughout the week. When we hold on to the day we can perceive truth. It's not just what we eat or where we go. It's what we think and talk and do on Shabbat which makes it special. Hashem gave us a precious gift.  Let us take the day along with its depth and beauty into the coming week.

What does bitachon really mean and how do we acquire it?

You cannot have trust without faith as it says, "Those who know Your name trust in you." What is Hashem's name? The word Hashem literally means, "the name" but here it refers to the letters, "yud, keh, vuv, keh," which have enormous symbolic value. They are a contraction of the time senses-hayah hoveh, v'yiheh-He is, He was, and He will be. Hashem is reality. He is the source of all being. Unless a person internalizes that, he cannot have bitachon. People tend to take Hashem out of their lives. They'll say, "I trust Hashem but I have to take care of this myself," or "For this I have to be a realist." Knowing Hashem means including Him in every moment.

The Maharal writes that the letters of Hashem's name tell us about Him. The letter yud hints to His creativity. It is above the line which tells us that He is completely one and not a part of this world. His creativity isn't defined by His having created. He is creative wisdom. The letter Hey is meant to suggest that He made a world with the possibility of descent. Hashem from his unknowable unity brought about this world and He is here at the moment in our lives. The letter vav, like a pillar, is a connective letter. A pillar can measure a million feet tall, yet the top and bottom still remain linked. The vav is completely straight which symbolizes Hashem's unwavering constancy. Connecting to the meaning of Hashem's name is what having emunah is about. When you know Hashem's great name and have a sense of His presence, creativity, and unity, you develop sensitivity towards His greatness and power. Then your whole heart will trust Him. Faith will not automatically breed trust. Emunah is knowing Hashem, by opening your heart and mind. It is the source of the whole Torah. Therefore the first commandment is "Ani Hashem"-I am Hashem.

Every so often, I'll meet someone who will say, "I don't believe in Hashem." And I'll answer, "The Hashem you don't believe in, I don't believe in either." People have infantile pictures of the Creator as the big guy in the sky. This is not emunah. Emunah is cultivating an idea of Hashem who is unknowable, who created the world, who is connected and involved in everything that happens to us moment by moment.

When Bilaam set out on his donkey on a mission to curse the Jews, Hashem sent an angel to block the animal's path.  Bilaam struck the donkey three times. The Torah then writes that the animal opened its mouth and complained, "What have I done to you that you have beaten me shalosh regalim-three times?" The commentators ask, why does the Torah use the peculiar expression regalim and not p'eamim? The donkey was warning Bilaam, "You will not be successful, as the nation you are trying to destroy celebrates the shalosh regalim, and it will be impossible to decimate them."  

Rav Yosef Albo writes that our tradition rests on three principal beliefs- the existence of Hashem, the divine origin of the Torah, and reward and punishment. Sukkot is recognizing Hashem's existence and his involvement in our lives, Shavuot is the divinity of the Torah, and Pesach is  reward and punishment-i.e. the punishment of the Egyptians and the reward of the Jews. The donkey wasn't referring to practical observance, but the acceptance of the three fundamental principles implicit in these festivals.

If we look deeper we find that these three holidays teach us emunah and bitachon. The Taam v'daat says that when a Jew would make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem he was not afraid to leave his property unguarded. He relied on Hashem. Emunah is knowledge in theory, bitachon is faith in practice. The shalosh regalim were not only a manifestation of emunah but demonstrated belief in Hashem in a very practical way. Shem Mishmuel says this is the difference between the Jews and non-Jews. While non-Jews may want a relationship with Hashem, they will forgo it in favor of their own pleasures. For Jews, closeness to Hashem is more precious than anything.

The real test of measuring how pure your motivation is when you perform a mitzva, is how much simcha you have when you do it. The Jewish people went up to Yerushalayim with passion and joy. Bilaam blessed the Jews, "Hen am k'lavi"-They are like a lion. Rav Rice explains that the Jewish people pounce upon mitzvoth like a lion hungry for its prey.  Napoleon's war campaign was successful because he made sure that his soldiers were well dressed and fed. But his real secret was that he placed a klezmer band within each unit so that his troops would fight with electric energy.  Any war or struggle, even against the evil inclination, can be vanquished through simcha. Happiness opens the pathways inside of us to be ourselves. If we work on taking away the sadness, simcha will automatically enter.

 The second leg is middot. The Beer Moshe says Bilaam had three evil traits-a bad eye, a haughty spirit, and a wide soul. Corresponding to this, the Jewish people have three positive character traits, mercifulness, bashfulness, and kindness. The three avot, forefathers, represent these middot.  Avraham is chesed, Yitzchak is bashfulness, and Yaakov is merciful. If you are kind you cannot have a negative eye, if you are bashful, you cannot be desirous, and if you are merciful you cannot be haughty. Sukkot celebrates a time of mercy. Pesach negates desire which leads to bashfulness. Shavuot is chesed. When the Jewish people went up to Yerushalayim and left their fortunes behind they were saying, life is not about our material world. When a person has his priorities in order, his negative middot fall by the wayside.

The third leg is kedusha (holiness). The Shivielie Pinchas writes that Bilaam lifted his face towards the desert where the Jews had sinned with the Golden Calf. He hoped this gesture would help him destroy them. The influence of chait ha'egel is found in every generation, but Hashem in His chesed gives us a means of annulment through batel b'shishim. The sin took six hours. The moadim total fifteen days, 15x24=360, 60x6=360 hours of kedusha.  The three festivals of sanctity nullify the six hours of distance. Fifteen days of total connection to Hashem and of living life enveloped in sanctity gave us the invincible strength to overcome Bilaam's evil designs. 

Question:

I've learned that Hashem gives nisyonot to those who can grow from them and to those whose prayers he longs for. B"H my life is running smoothly. Does this mean that Hashem doesn't want to hear from me?  I thank Hashem all the time but I also can't help constantly feeling that something bad may be looming on the horizon. Does this fear stem from a lack of emunah or from an inaccurate view of Hashem as a loving Father or from a low self-esteem not conducive to spiritual growth?

Answer:

The Rambam tells us that we are all in the midst of a nisayon (test). Even people who are living seemingly easy lives have the test of not attributing anything to themselves. Continue thanking Hashem for all the good He's provided you with. Give Him the nachat of serving Him with simcha, joy. When you wake up in the morning, say Modeh Ani with passion and real joy. Call out to Hashem with the same kind of force and emotion as a poverty stricken person cries out to Him for his basic needs. Your joy should be infectious. When people would ask Rav Noach Weinberg, "What is the most important kiruv tool," he'd answer, "Happiness." You can save countless lives just by teaching people the art of appreciation and thankfulness.

The Rambam says, as you feel intuitively, that our life spans are like circles that go around and around. A person may be up today and down tomorrow. We should all expect that life will present us with different challenges. Few of us will stay with the same nisayon forever. But the same loving, caring, Father who gives us nisyonot that are visibly good, also gives us nisyonot that may appear bad.  Even if Hashem decides to test you with a daunting trial, hold on to your sense of gratitude and love for Him. Despair stems from a lack of emunah. It comes from failing to believe that whatever Hashem does is good and compassionate, and that something painful may in fact be for tikun. Your flaw in emunah is that though it is real, it is not broad enough. Work on strengthening that and then any challenge Hashem sends your way will only be a catalyst for growth.

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