Lottery Fever: Bitachon, the Limits of Wealth, and Tefillah as Our True Umnus

Transcript

This Torah class is brought to you by TorahAnytime.com. I'd like to address the current topic. Last week, there was a tremendous, I don't know if I would call it a machlah, a sickness that went around: lottery fever. Yeder mentsh, the lottery, aher, the lottery, ahin, yekeifen, nisht gekoyft, to buy it, to not to buy it. I got so many phone calls about it. I said to myself, I never got the phone call that I want. No, that phone call I didn't get. But I got phone calls. I'd like to discuss lottery al pi hashkafas haTorah, because I see there was a quest from the olam to understand. So let's begin with a chiddush that maybe not everyone knows. Actually, in Shulchan Aruch, it got paskened that you're really not allowed to be involved with lotteries. It's mefurash halachah in Shulchan Aruch, siman kuf nun tes, Yoreh Deah: Ein sho'alin b'chozim b'kochavim. That's the stargazers. V'loi b'goralos. And we're not sure what that means exactly, but there are many definitions in the poskim what this refers to. It's based on the Gemara, on a Sifri, that this is all darkei Emori. Tamim tihyeh im Hashem Elokecha. Requires not to be chozeh b'kochavim v'lo b'goralos. Most Acharonim interpret that this is not referring to a lottery ticket to win something, but it's to know the future, goralos. I goral a gra, I don't have the time. They allotted me only a certain amount of time these days, so I don't have the time to go into goral a gra, but one day we will, we shall. Either way, goralos that the Shulchan Aruch is referring to, pashut means to see the future of what's coming ahead. Reb Chaim Kanievsky shlita writes in a few places, I've seen it many times from him, that the Chazon Ish had a very strict definition of goralos, and that is that you're not supposed to play the lottery. You're not allowed to buy a lottery ticket. Tamim tihyeh im Hashem Elokecha, the Ribono Shel Olam will give you the money when and how He feels you're supposed to get it. Aibishter, maybe that's how He wants me to get it. Al kol panim, this was how, I guess, the Chazon Ish felt about goralos. We all know, Reb Yisrael Salanter used to tell the talmidim, yet to buy a goral, yet to buy a lottery ticket, and if you have emunah and bitachon that you're going to win, you're going to win. Story goes, al sefarim it's already brought, that a talmid went and he gave up his job. The Rebbe gezagt that if I have bitachon I'm going to win, I gave up my job, I'm going to win. Der Eibishter. Emunas chachamim. The Rebbe gezagt. Comes back to the Reb Yisroel Salanter. He didn't win, and he came with complaints. So Reb Yisroel told him, Go out and buy another ticket. He came, he bought another ticket, and he brings it to Reb Yisroel, and he says, Rebbe, yeshua now. He says, You know, let me think a minute, let me think, you know. I'll tell you what. I'll give you, let's say it was 500 ruble that you were supposed to win. I don't know, there wasn't the billions of dollars in today's jackpot, but whatever it is, I'll give you half of it for the ticket. You sell me the ticket, and I'll give you half. And yeder zakn vos zikhert zikh, you know, what's a guarantee is a guarantee. So he did it, and he sold Reb Yisroel Salanter the ticket. Reb Yisroel says, That's your problem. Had you really believed b'emunah that you'd win, why would you sell me the ticket for half? And the Teretz is... ס'נאך נישט הונדערט פראצענט געגלייבט. As they reflect that ... on maaseh. But my zeide used to tell me another very brilliant, beautiful story from Reb Chaim Brisker, the great gaon Reb Chaim Brisker. What was the story? A person once came to ask Reb Chaim if he should play the lottery. Reb Chaim said, Stay in the waiting room. I'll get back to you in a few minutes, I'm a little bit busy. Reb Chaim made him wait.

He kept on knocking on Reb Chaim's door. The rebbe, דו's vergessen, you forgot, I'm waiting, you told me to wait. Reb Chaim says, Vat, vat, vat, noch nisht. I'm not ready to entertain your question. Kid says, goes on, two, three hours like this. So he knocks on the door and he says, Rebbe, forgotten about me? You forgot about me? He says, No, let me explain to you something. It's raining outside. L'shitascha that you might win the lottery. What are the chances? So we all know a person gets struck by lightning, they say, is a lot more chance than winning the lottery, right? So l'shitascha, I didn't want to let you go home. It's raining outside. You might get struck by lightning. U'meila, I kept you here like this. According to your understanding of odds, you're playing the odds. I don't want you to play the odds. You might get struck by lightning, which is more chance than you winning the lottery. Okay. Al kol panim, we could talk hinen tzarich, ya nisht, ya lottery, nisht lottery. I want to talk about a little bit of something that's a little more guaranteed than the lottery, okay? If a person wants to have hatzlacha in life, and hatzlacha in business, and hatzlacha in everything, there's something a lot more guaranteed, l'fi unzer hashkafa, l'fi unzer Torah, than playing the lottery. And let me begin with the Rashi. In this week's parsha, the pasuk says that when Klal Yisrael came to Yam Suf, Vayitzaku Bnei Yisrael el Hashem, they were lost. What's going to be? Mitzrayim l'sei achreihem, says Rashi, Vayitzaku. And we all know Vayitzaku is one of the leshonos of tefillah. Rashi uses an interesting lashon. I think it's even from Chazal already. Tovsu umnus avosayhem. Umnus. What does the word umnus mean? Umnus means a craft. Yiddish, a facht. The business. This is Klal Yisrael's business. Their umnus, their profession. This is their profession. Mashgiach, Rav Nosson, tzaddik livrachah, used to say a lot of shmuzen about this Rashi. Why did Rashi use the lashon umnus? To teach a person that just like in his business, he learns his business before he does it, and he becomes perfect at it, and he knows every notch of his business and how to be matzliach and how to further his business, azoi darf zayn tefillah. That's how one has to approach davening. And he gave a mashal. Imagine a guy in the middle of the work. What does he do? He starts to fardremel. The customer is talking to him, yeah? How much? And he's bargaining, and all of a sudden the guy is wandering, and he's somewhere in the Bahamas, wherever he is. Mashgiach didn't use the Bahamas, bring it down to modern-day terms, as they say. Imagine, he says, in the middle of the workday, a guy says, Gotta go out for a break in the middle, you know, farshteys? I'll be back, you know, or if I come late. Imagine a guy every day comes late to his business. A yene business vet es. That's azoi vet es zayn, right? Sogt the Mashgiach, that's where the yesod of tefillah is. Naflernen tefillah is an umnus, and we need to learn, and we need to adopt all the zehirus and zerizus that we have for our business, that it should be perfect, that we should be matzliach. Put it into tefillah as well. Umnus. This is your profession. This is your craft, umnus avodah. Azoy hot der Mashgiach gezogt. I want to tell you a beautiful story. My grandfather used to say it over, and they started to print it now in all the sifrei of the Chofetz Chaim, that Reb Hirsch Levenson was the son-in-law of the Mashgiach of the Chofetz Chaim—excuse me, he was the son-in-law of the Chofetz Chaim—and when he davened, he would daven loud, you know, and he would shake. Today we would say, a daven b'slahavus, mamash b'slahavus. So someone went over to Reb Hirsch and said, I don't understand. Look how the Chofetz Chaim davens. It's quiet. You don't hear any noise. He's not shaking, not moving around. It's—shtil.

Smooth. Do ... mitn davenen. Look at the ... Chofetz Chaim, the Rebbe, Reb Hirsch Levinson. And I want to tell you something, rabboisai. If you learn the halachos of tefillah, you'll realize that the Mishnah Berurah is against almost all the tenuous that we do today. Mishnah Berurah siman tzadi hei, se'if katan hei, brings down that those people who lift their eyes up—you see when people daven, they lift their eyes up, ke'ilu they're davening—and you think it's a good thing. He says those that lift their heads and their eyes l'maalah, k'mabit al hagag, like they're looking up to the ceiling, hamalachim mal'igim aleihem. The malachim are laughing at you. This, this, this. It's Mishnah Berurah. It's a Mishnah Berurah, rabboisai. Then he brings from the Pri Megadim that you're not allowed to do any tenuious, any movements. Talks about maybe if you're in private, efshar, but in public, if I'm vadai, for sure not. U'bifrat l'harim kol to make loud noises during davening. Okay, let's learn. Listen, we have to learn. So the Chofetz Chaim used to keep what it says. He mamash davened quietly. By Reb Hirsch Levinson davened, there was ... it was unbelievable, huh? So Reb Hirsch Levinson answered, the Chofetz Chaim is different than I. Why? Take a guy who doesn't know how to swim. Throw him into the pool. The guy who knew how to swim got thrown into the pool, he swam quietly. No, no, he's nothing. And he got out of the— because he knows how to swim. But the guy who doesn't know how to swim, he's making patch with his hands as he's flapping, and he's making noise and he's yelling and he's screaming, right? The Chafetz Chaim knew how to daven. The Chafetz Chaim was a professional in tefillah, so he was smooth. He davened. We are not so professional in tefillah, and therefore we got to make noise, and we got to this, yeah? Okay. I who says it's— now you want a halacha shiur, and then the oilam's going to say, Well, the 25 minutes are up. I'll give you a halacha shiur in tefillah a different time. The point was, the point was that there's a way on becoming a professional. It's not so— throw up the tefillah. Your business, you do that way. Your business, you learn how to be good and smooth in business. Same thing, says the Mashgiach, is the Rashi umnus. You have to know on how to daven. Now, there's a Chasam Sofer in this week's parsha that I want to share with you. It's mamash hafla vefela. Let's begin with an introduction. We all always learned that whenever we have a patzara, a zach,keit men un medaven. It says that kapitel Tehillim, yeah? Who doesn't know, right? Davnen a kapitel Tehillim. The Netziv, in two places, in Chumash Bereishis, says a chidush nifla, mamash a chidush in harchav davar. It is emek dover on the bottom, the harkhav davar, perek yud ches, pasuk chav gimmel. Vayageish Avram. Avraham Avinu went to daven for Sdom. We know gisha is a lashon of tefillah. Says the Netziv here, hispalel al Sdom, vayigash. We all know this. So he says on the bottom, a chiddush nifla, that if someone wants to daven for personal needs, tzrachim, he's not allowed to do it unless he does it in the context of Shemoneh Esrei. Are you looking at this? It says it clearly. Hakasuv ba lamedeinu, she'ein la'adam lispalel על איזה דבר רק בתוך תפילה קבועה, שהוא עת רצון. And he brings raayos, midrayos, and later on in parshas Vayechi, vayita, he says, I said this yesod already, and he brings raayos and raayos. We don't have the time. And I want to tell you that I saw that the Chazon Ish was already me'orer on this Netziv. In one of his igros he writes, I thought it was a very interesting thing.

In Igros Chazon Ish, chelek gimmel, siman chaf gimmel, ka'avetz Igros, he argues and he says, Adam rashai lenaaseh tefillah tzarech litzchachav. A person is allowed to make his own language when he needs something, v'af laazkir shem, needn't to mention the Ribono Shel Olam's name. U'vechol zman hayom. Ve'eino tzarich lecholelah b'tefillah Shemoneh Esrei. You don't need to say it in the middle of Shemoneh Esrei. U'mazkir b'lashon, Yehi ratzon milfanecha. What's he saying, the Chazon Ish? Nitvedar nitziv. Netziv says that a person is supposed to be kolel his tefillas prati, whatever he needs, not in davening alone. It's only in the Shemoneh Esrei. You ever see parnassah? A lot of people, the kavanah only shifts when it talks about parnassah. I don't know if you know, a lot of—the person has a certain need that becomes the focus of the whole Shemoneh Esrei. I told you, oh, a lot of times, Reb Ruchmi used to say that when a guy has a certain need, for example, parnassah, every brachah in the Shemoneh Esrei is about parnassah. Magen Avraham, mechayeh hameisim—Avraham Avinu, Avraham Avinu gave people to eat. Chayei meisim, I have to live. Chonen hadaas, give me seichel so I can make good business. He said the whole Shemoneh Esrei, when a guy is—when he needs—I'll say, flicker Reb Rucham zagen, this, this. Okay, so everybody knows that there's a little piyut, Yehi ratzon, that you say, a nusach, in the middle of Shemoneh Esrei. According to Netziv, that is not allowed to be said out of Shemoneh Esrei. It can only be in the Shemoneh Esrei, because during Shemoneh Esrei it's eis ratzon, achidush nifla. When the Chazon Ish is coming to say that it's not that way. He does mention the Netziv, that sometimes where it's not in the time of davening and the tzorech is mamish, it's a sakana, and you need to mamish daven right now, all right, so that itself becomes an eis ratzon, and the sicha becomes. But general tefillos, you got to wait for Shemoneh Esrei, and the Chazon Ish is being cholek on it. I want to tell you a little more chiddush, and this is all in the hakdamah to get to a perek in sefer. There's a teshuvas HaRivash. He brings a tzavah, the tzavah of the Rivash it's called, okay? In the tzavah of the Rivash he writes that a person should never ask for anything particular, because he never knows if that's really good for him. What do you ask? You ask, you should be matzliach. He wants to win the lottery. You know, people daven, meheredike davening, if I win the lottery, it's going to... I'll be able to... Who said it's good for you? Who decided it's good for you? The Rivash straight klal, that a person is not supposed to daven like this, because it might be not good for you. In Kedushas Levi, Bereishis, he speaks about this over and over again, that you can't daven; ישתבח כללי, the Ribono Shel Olam, You do what's good for me. You do what's... because You know, I don't know what's good for me. The Tzaddik HaKohen goes back and forth on this topic, yes, no, it's a big topic. How does one daven for something meyuchad, particular? How do you know it's for your good? It's... that that's pshat in the pasuk, Retzonei rehav Yaaseh. Veshavosom yishmav yeshiem. If it's retzoni, re'eh of Yaaseh. So what's veshavosom yishmav yeshiem? Shteit shein, retzoni, re'eh of Yaaseh. The Torah is doing what the person needs. A kriktach, retzoni, re'eh. So what's veshavosom yishmav yeshiem? That gebracht, that the pshat is sometimes retzoni, re'eh of Yaaseh. But then the tzaddik realizes, all right, the tzaddik realizes that's not good for him. He made a mistake. Retzoni ichuv is gevalt. So now he davens to the Eibishter to take it away. Veshavosom yishmav yeshiem. So the Ribbono Shel Olam comes and says, Okay, vayter, noch amal, heaven. Retzoni, re'eh. I give it to you, dos gebeten, okay. You asked me for it. How many times do we ask, and then we say to ourselves, Oy vavoy, who needed it? Who needed this whole headache? So the Ribbono Shel Olam says, Okay. Now, according to Netziv, you have to wait for Shmoneh Esrei for that, okay. Somewhere in Shmoneh Esrei you have to say, Who needed the whole headache, Ribono Shel Olam, and please get me out of it. But al kol panim, unless it's a neis tzarich veis mamash, so for a minute, al kol panim. Azoi is a machlokes, okay. Havei say, let me share with you a Chasam Sofer, half-laugher.

Half l'vafela, hev. Ich hob sefer vet gebracht. Becheira, the world fractured in the kasha. Moshe Rabbeinu is sitting and davening. Mitzrayim is coming, v'os tut men? Mah titzak eilai? V'shaiste daber bnei Yisrael v'yisau. Zogt Rashi, stop the time to daven. What's wrong with this? Bothers you to daven? Usually it's, there's no time to daven. People find that they don't have time to daven. Don't forget, not the time to daven. What's wrong when one has a davening? Vos iz schlecht? You ready, ravei sei, ich hob some sefer? Nu, you ready? Abeisa, you ready for beautiful some sefer. Zogt der Chasam Sofer, shteit in pasuk, Vayitzaku Bnei Yisrael el Hashem. And then the pasuk continues, Vayomru el Moshe, hamibli ein kvarim b'Mitzrayim. Which one was it? Did they daven to the Eibishter? Huh? Hamibli ein kvarim... something is... So what happened? Vayitzaku el Hashem. Chovah tzaakah, we all know, is a loshon tefillah. So what are they davening to the Eibishter? Hamibli ein kvarim b'Mitzrayim? Hashem, how dare you take us out of Mitzrayim? Zogt the Ramban, it's beis kitos. There were two groups. Some were Vayitzaku Bnei Yisrael el Hashem, and then there was a different group that were not, what? Vayomru, hamibli ein kvarim b'Mitzrayim. Zogt der Chasam Sofer, now Moshe Rabbeinu is davening, and the Ribbono Shel Olam says to him, why are you davening? What's the kasha? Why not? Ale freg. And then he says even shtarker a beisai. You want to hear? It's klar in Rashi in Shir HaShirim that that is exactly what Moshe was supposed to do. It's exactly what Klal Yisrael was supposed to do. And not only that, the Ribono Shel Olam made it that it should be that they should daven on Yam Suf, because He wanted they should daven on Yam Suf. I'll read you the Rashi. I'm sorry if it brings it. Af im pasik, Havei say, nu, nu, nu, Ya'inasi b'chagvei ha-sela, b'seiser ha-madreigah, har'ini es marayich, hashmi'ini es koleich. I want to hear what koleich is referring to, zogt Rashi. This is going on Kriyas Yam Suf, sheHaKadosh Baruch Hu hayah k'mastir panim meihem b'yam k'dei sheyitza'aku. The Ribono Shel Olam made it that they should scream out to daven for that. SheHaKadosh Baruch Hu mis'aveh li'tefilasan. So then there's a problem over here. Ad yadanisht. Yud is nisht. Yuds or not? You want me to daven? You don't want me to daven? Which one was it? So maybe you could answer in the first and then later, we could learn the pesukim, but not enough time. Okay. Do it at the Friday night Shabbos table. You could work out the kashya nit gefehrlech. All right. But the Chasam Sofer says different. Zogt the heilige Chasam Sofer, Moshe Rabbeinu started to daven, and you know what he was afraid of? He was afraid... You're davening? Oy vey. If you're davening already, maisha, oy vey, we're in trouble. We're in trouble. If you're promising us, ... you're davening. So this is what he was afraid of, yeah? Zogt dem, שהרי אנו רואים שגם אתם מסופקים, שהרי מסתם היינו בתפילה. So Moshe Rabbeinu, שגם אלו יתפללו להקדוש ברוך הוא, he was afraid that they would also daven to HaKadosh Baruch Hu. But what would they daven to HaKadosh Baruch Hu? Get us out of here. That's the pshat. Moshe Rabbeinu started to daven, רבונו שלם, save us. They, they're gonna start davening, Oh no, get us out of here, get us back to Mitzrayim, ... and that's the vayitzaku. So what happened? זאָגט דער חסם סופר, ודאג משה רבינו, ... יגרמו שתסך התשועה, that their tefillah would be answered. Moshe was afraid that those that were davening to go back to Mitzrayim, they might win, yeah? על כן אמר להם, אל תתחרישון, ואנחנו נִתְפַּלֵּל. That's what, ואתם תחרישון, he was telling you, shh, shh, shh, you guys don't daven. You don't daven. Let me do the davening, because he wanted to make sure.

That they don't daven in the wrong tefillah. That's v'atem tachrishu. So it's not the pshat they weren't allowed to daven. I can't. He was afraid they'd daven the wrong tefillos. They would daven, Please, G-d, get us back to Mitzrayim, and they might have a taka yeshuah to go back to Mitzrayim. So, atem tachrishu, not chas v'shalom mishdavenin, mishdavennish richtig. You gotta daven for the wrong thing. You gotta remember, you have to know what you're davening for. You ready? So then why did the Ribono Shel Olam tell Moshe Rabbeinu, It's not the time to daven? Yeah, the Ribono Shel Olam wants the tefillah. He doesn't want they should make the wrong tefillah; He wants him to daven. So what is it? Zogt der Sfas Emes, chiddush: lo kivnu maaseihem. They didn't do right. They didn't daven right, because they were davening stam, Hashem. V'lo shayach b'zeh lomar. You needed that it should be, Ribono Shel Olam, I'm telling You how to save us. Haya lo lefaresh tefilosam. Now listen to a loshon, some sofer's pelladik. They were supposed to say, Ribono Shel Olam, b'ka ha-yam! Katta! Break the waters open. And they didn't do that. V'haya nifka al pi divreihem, v'haya kiddush Hashem. It would have been a kiddush Hashem. V'hainu d'amar HaKadosh Baruch Hu l'Moshe Rabbeinu, Matitzak elai? What are you screaming? What, shreist onah? You ever see a person in the middle of Hallel, shreit, Onah Hashem, hoshia na! What are you screaming, Onah Hashem? Tell Me, katta, Ribono Shel Olam, split the waters. And I would have split the waters; it would have been a kiddush Hashem. That's the kasha. You see, that's why I told you, pelegeshtigel fun Zamzayva. You got to tell the Ribono Shel Olam instructions on how. I have exactly three minutes, and as soon as the clock strikes 2:30, the shiur ... has to end at exactly 2:30. Okay, I'll keep to the 2:30. I want to just tell you over a chiddush from the Chofetz Chaim, all right? And I want you to think about it. A lot of people, they daven, they want to win the lottery. Okay, is that a good thing for them? Might be not a good thing. But I want to tell you over a chiddush from the Chofetz Chaim. Chofetz Chaim says, Shteit in pasuk, Ki gomal alei imoi. Ki gomal alei imoi means like a child with the mother. Zogt der Chofetz Chaim, Kemoi shehatinok ratz tamid l'imo, kein hayah Dovid HaMelech poneh laShem yisbarach. That's how he was poneh to the Eibishter, you hear? He would turn to the Eibishter on everything, and we spoke about this many times. Ha'adam tzarich ledaber lifnei Hashem yisbarach mah she'al libo, k'adam hamedaber lifnei aviv, v'yachol ledaber af b'lashon jargon, Yiddish. It says jargon, Yiddish, okay. And then he speaks. Ki gomal alei imoi has also another meaning. Zogt the Chofetz Chaim in the sichos, you ever see how a child can bother the mother over again and over again. Another, לפני ... right? How many times he asks something before he tells you. Get away, you're bothering me. How much? Go away from me. ... by the ... by the ... and the ... So it's Chofetz Chaim. Chofetz Chaim זאָגט גם עלי אמי, כי לאמר, שהוא מתפלל לה' כי נוקם ... ואף על פי שדרך בשר ודם, כשמתירים אליו הרבה, הוא מתרגז ומקפיד על זה. He gets angry. אבל הקדוש ברוך הוא אינו כן. The רבונו של עולם is not like that. כל שמרבה לבקש ממנו. The more you ask, the more he's happy. ... And this is why I brought you the sicha, because one of the things he brings over here in the sicha, you hear? A story. A story, you hear? There was once a group of women that came to him, and they said that their husbands were taken to the army, were taken to the army, the Russian army. They never knew how he would come back, if he would come back. And he asked—they asked the Chofetz Chaim that he should daven, he should daven for them. He answered them, What are you coming to me for? ... Go to the beis medrash, open up the aron kodesh, and cry לפני מי שאמר...

Tell him, talk to him in Yiddish. Open up the ... And tell him in Yiddish, peshuto, הרי הקדוש ברוך הוא בכבודו ובעצמו מבקש. It's what He wants from you, שתתפללו ממנו. אין צריך בתחינות מיוחדות. You don't even have to say special ... special words, אלא יש לפטוח לפניו יתברך את כל הלב ולספר לו. ממש נצטרך בלבכם. You see a big machlokes. According to many, what is tefillah? Tefillah needs to be in the construct of a tefillah of a Shemoneh Esrei. Chofetz Chaim said, just daven ... ... I want this, I want that, this hurts me, this bothers me. ... No, I want, and with this I end. The Chazon Ish ... that the Mishnah Berurah is posik basra. That's the lashon of a Chazon Ish. Anyone can argue on that. Mishnah Berurah, posik basra. Once, it was by Reb Elyashiv for quite a while. I used to go to ask him shailas daily at a certain tekufah when I was in Eretz Yisrael. So I asked Reb Elyashiv, Reb Meir, the yeshiva zatzal used to say that derech haShulchan. Whenever there's a machlokes, the Mishnah Berurah and the Aruch HaShulchan, halachah is like the Aruch HaShulchan. ... Mishnah Berurah was a melaket of sefarim, halachos, but it wasn't the rav. The posek, he wasn't a posek for the tzibbur, Aruch HaShulchan was a ... He said, ... Reb Meir, I heard this from my father, many of the talmidim. So, Abu Yashiv looks at me. Abba, the Chazon Ish is zogt nit azoi. He says, Good, Abba. Abba, a meshech zogt. Yeshiva memeisha. He says, Yeah, Abba, the Chazon Ish is zogt nit azoi. I knew I wasn't getting too far. This is this far. But I had one question on the tip of my tongue. So how could the Chazon Ish himself argue on the Mishnah Berurah? If the Chazon Ish ... that he's ... basing ... on the Mishnah Berurah, and it was on the tip of my tongue to ask him. I was just afraid. I got scared. Just going to do it. I got scared to ask. Until today, I regret that I didn't ask. ... I should have known, but al kol panim, halacha k'posek bas... The Mishnah Berurah tells us, go daven to the Eibishter directly. Talk to Him. All your needs, all your problems, all your pains. And that's a lot more guaranteed than chalomos that you'll be struck by the lightning, which we call winning the jackpot of the lottery. You've just experienced another Torah class, brought to you by TorahAnytime.com.