Lech Lecha: Avraham’s Test of Parnassah—Bitachon, Hishtadlus, and Hashem’s Provision

Transcript

This Torah class is brought to you by TorahAnytime.com. We have the life of Avraham Avinu. The life of Avraham Avinu was nisyonos, was tests, one after another, asarah nisyonos, ten tests. The Mishnah in Avos tells us, Asarah nisyonos nisnaseh Avraham Avinu, ten tests. According to the Rishonim, the third of the tests was Vayehi ra'av ba'aretz, hunger. It was hunger. After Lech Lecha, he comes to Canaan, and right away, Vayehi ra'av ba'aretz, there's hunger. Vayered Avram Mitzrayma lagur sham. Avraham has to go down to Mitzrayim, ki kaved hara'av ba'aretz. It was very strong, the strong hunger. The mefarshim speak out, the double lashon, Vayehi ra'av ba'aretz, ki kaved hara'av ba'aretz, is to point out that it was mutar, because theoretically one is not allowed to leave Eretz Yisrael, but if it's kaved ra'av, it's a very strong hunger, a double hunger, then he's allowed to leave to go to Mitzrayim, even though he's leaving Eretz Yisrael, Eretz HaKodesh. So the nisayon of Vayehi ra'av ba'aretz, in the mefarshim... It is described as the nisayon of parnassah. The ten nisyonos, as enumerated in the Rav and other Rishonim on that Mishnah, besides for the actual nisayon, the Rishonim, the meforshim interpret the yesod of the nisayon. And the nisayon of Yehirah ba'aretz is interpreted, it's defined as the nisayon of parnassah. And so we would like to speak about today parnassah and the nisayon of parnassah. And as I look around, I see that everybody's krechtzing. I speak the word nisayon, parnassah, all of a sudden you see on everyone's face, they identify with the issue. So let's discuss the nisayon of parnassah. What was the nisayon of Avraham Avinu's parnassah? If you look at the Ramban, Rashi, there's a machlokes. Rashi learns that the nisayon was shelo hira achar HaKadosh Baruch Hu. He came to Canaan, so the first thing, a rav, but the Ribbono Shel Olam promised him, l'zaracha eten es haaretz, I'll take care of you. This is how you take care of him? This is how you take care of Avraham Avinu? So he could have thought, hirher, he could have had thoughts, questions, and he didn't. He went down to Mitzrayim without question, without— Thoughts of complaint. The Ramban is cholek on Rashi. The Ramban learns that actually, Vayehi rav ba'aretz, that Avraham Avinu made a big mistake in this one. The Ramban learns cheit gadol chata Avraham Avinu. He did a big sin in this area. Rashi learns it was a nisayon, it was one of the ten, and he passed it. Because if it's one of the ten, we know Avraham passed all the ten nisyonos. The Ramban says, no, this was an issue. He takes issue with Avraham and Vayehi rav ba'aretz. He shouldn't have done it. Why? Says the Ramban, he should have relied on the Ribono Shel Olam and not leave Eretz Yisrael till and if, till and if he was told by the Ribono Shel Olam to leave. And the Ribono Shel Olam never told him to go. So this was a mistake that Avraham made to leave. He should have remained in Canaan, and he should have been botei'ach, trusted the Ribono Shel Olam. The Ramban also adds that he put Sarah in sakanah. The trip to Mitzrayim didn't have no consequence; it had consequences. Look what happened to Sarah, she was taken.

Sakon, he had no right to put sorrow into sakon. So we have to explain this Ramban a little bit. L'choira, there's an inyan of hishtadlus. I mean, what should a person do if there's hunger? And like I explained to you, the Brisker Rav talks about it, the double lashon, Ki kaved hara'av ba'aretz, to emphasize that it was mutar, l'halacha, to go to Mitzrayim. So then what was the problem, chet gadol chata? What should a person do? Should a person not be mishtadel? Should a person not do what he could do to feed his family? I mean, there's hunger. So that's what he's supposed to do. He's supposed to go to Mitzrayim because of the hunger, right? L'choira, why is it a chet gadol chata? So the truth is, we could say that the Ramban is l'shitaso. The Ramban has an interesting shita that hishtadlus, in general, is meant for the simple people. Tzadikim don't have to do any hishtadlus whatsoever. The Ramban speaks about the inyan of going to doctors, and he says doctors and hishtadlus, tzadikim don't need to do this. A tzaddik is able to rely on the Ribono Shel Olam and directly get refuah, healing from the Ribono Shel Olam. He doesn't have to go to a doctor. V'rapo yerapeh, that the doctor becomes the mediator. It's a form of hishtadlus. They bypass this hishtadlus, the doctor, and go directly to the Ribono Shel Olam. Tefillah, the Steipler, zecher tzaddik v'kadosh livracha. Felt that he wanted to be on this madreigah that the Ramban was talking about, to not be mishtadel to go to a doctor. And at the end of his life, he was makpid that the doctor shouldn't intervene, to the point that when he needed intravenous, he refused to take it. He refused. He says, Ribbono Shel Olam, all my life I relied on the Ribbono Shel Olam. I want it directly from the Ribbono Shel Olam. No mediator, no hishtadlus, like the shita of the Ramban. Like the shita of the Ramban. Tell him that he doesn't know. Like the shita of the Ramban. Like the shita of the Ramban. The stipler, when he passed out, he went to semi-coma, so the doctors went and put in an intravenous. When he woke up, he got up from the coma, he had a sudden awakening, and he noticed that the intravenous was in his arm. He pulled it out from his arm angrily. I don't want any intervention from a doctor. No hishtadlus. So the Ramban maybe is l'shitaso, that the Ramban says tzaddikim shouldn't be mishtadel. If the Ribbono Shel Olam tells you to go to Mitzrayim, you go to Mitzrayim. And if not, stay where you are and the Ribbono Shel Olam will take care of you. This, rechoyri rabosai, is above our madreigah. We do have to be mishtadel. We're not holding at the madreigah of the Ramban, the madreigah of the stipler. But I believe that the second point— In the Ramban, is relevant to us. The Ramban says, and also, he shouldn't have put sorrow in sakana. You know, rabosai, parnassah, avadah we have to be mishtadel. But I believe that we have to take heedance, we have to take a zehirus to the second point of the Ramban, that it shouldn't be on the cheshbon of the family, to put the family in sakana, sometimes sakana ruchni and sometimes sakana gashmi. You're right, Sarah was in a sakana ruchni and gashmi. She was both, physically and spiritually. The family sometimes in a sakana, maybe not gashmi but ruchni. Why? The father is mishtadel in parnassah day and night. He comes home late from work, and he doesn't have time to learn with his children. And what's his thought? I have to be mishtadel, I have to do parnassah. Yes, parnassah, but not on the cheshbon of being mesaken, putting in danger your family. So it's true that the first part of the Ramban may be not relevant to us simple people, so to speak. But the lesson that should be taken from the Ramban's second point is relevant.

Even though we're mishtadel, like I explained to you, this is the nisayon of parnassah, and therefore you have to be mishtadel. Yes, but not to put your family in sakana. Avraham was taken to task for putting Sarah in sakana in his hishtadlus, in his hishtadlus to feed his family because of the rav. This is the Ramban. What's Rashi, rabosai? Rashi learns that the nisayon was that he could have thought thoughts of complaint to the Ribono Shel Olam. Now there's two ways to understand this. We could understand this that he could have complained, Where is the l'hanoscha u'letovascha? The Ribono Shel Olam, you promised me that it's going to be good for me. This is what you call good? Or maybe we could say, maybe deeper, an understanding to what the hirhur that could have been, and that Avraham was not meharher. What was that hirhur that could have been? What was it that Avraham could have thought and that he didn't, and that was the nisayon that he passed? There's an interesting Medrash. Medrash says, Ribono Shel Olam was telling Avraham, I take good care of you. I protected you. I fed you. Look, there was hunger and you went down to Mitzrayim. It's a Medrash. The Medrash says the Ribono Shel Olam protects the tzaddikim. Look, look, Avraham Avinu, look. There was hunger, no problem. You went down to Mitzrayim. Something needs to be explained here in this Medrash. If anything, it's the other way around. That's what you call feeding me? Avram Avinu could have thought, you weren't feeding me. Look, you made hunger. And that's what I was learning, parshas, that the heter could have been, this is the lanoscha, l'tovoscha, this is what you call taking care of me for my good, for my benefit? You made hunger. You starved me. I had to go down to Mitzrayim. The whole guf of the Medrash calls the Rabbeinu Shalom taking care of Avram, feeding him. So is it a rov, a nisayon, or is it the opposite, that the Rabbeinu Shalom is taking care of him? It's a mefurash Medrash. The Medrash says that the Rabbeinu Shalom is taking care of the tzaddik. You see that the Rabbeinu Shalom sends him down to Mitzrayim. Mitzrayim. Mitzrayim was a good thing. Mitzrayim was a bad thing. And the Medrash is mashma that Mitzrayim was the opposite. The Rabbeinu Shalom taking care of Avram Avinu. Here, rabosai, you hear the question. So we're trying to understand the nekudah, the point of the nisayon of Vayehi ra'av. Like I explained to you, it's the nisayon of parnassah. So according to the Ramban, the nisayon is maybe not to do hishtadlus. That's not for us. We pasken that you have to do hishtadlus. But the second point of the Ramban is relevant. He shtadlus, but not on the cheshbon of the family, sakanas and tzaar. Rashi learns shelo heirer. He could have been complaining about the situation. So pashut is to complaining because the Ribono Shel Olam starved him and didn't feed him when he promised to take care of him. But the Medrash is mashma the other way around, that the Ribono Shel Olam is telling him, Look, I take care of you. Sent you to Mitzrayim. How do we understand that the nisayon was he didn't complain, he wasn't meharher, when the whole guf of the Ribono Shel Olam is saying, I'm taking care of you by sending you to Mitzrayim? Another shaila. Satmar Rav in the sefer Divrei Yoel asks, What is the point of nisyonos? It's a very nice question. Life is meant for nisyonos. Ein lecha adam she'ein lo yisurim, ein lecha adam she'ein lo nisyonos. You look at the Mesillas Yesharim. The Mesillas Yesharim writes, Life is all nisyonos. It's in the hakdamah, in the beginning, the first perek of Mesillas Yesharim, the oysheh mitzad echad, the oni mitzad sheini. It's all nisyonos. Life is about nisyonos. Azoi zogt the Mesillas Yesharim. Chazal say there's no person that doesn't have yisurim, doesn't have nisyonos.

That's what. Why is this sobach? What's wrong if a person would come to this world and be happy and enjoy and not have difficulties? So this is a big discussion in the Rishonim, starting from the Rambam. The Rambam, Moreh Nevuchim, discusses the reason for nisyonos is to show the world that the Ribono Shel Olam and His tzaddikim, the Ribono Shel Olam and His tzaddikim, are united in the sense that even though the Ribono Shel Olam sends the nisayon, the tzaddik passes it. The tzaddik passes it. The Ribono Shel Olam looks and takes tzaddikim as an example. Here, look, look, look at the nisyonos. So you see that they have real love for the Eibishter. You see that people can have real yiras Shamayim. Look, look, they pass these tests to take a lesson from them. Yiras Shamayim and ahavas Hashem. So says the Rambam, Moreh Nevuchim. Sfas Emes explains that that's the root word of the word nisayon. What is nisayon? Nes. Nes can mean when you take something and you put it as a statue, like a degel. The nes of a degel means that you fly the degel that all should see. This too, the tzaddik becomes like a flag. He becomes the, wow, the example, the symbol that all to see. Look, look, Hashem is real because you see tzaddikim are able to be moser nefesh for the sake of the Eibishter's name and His honor. So it must be a real thing. When someone has chassidim, you know when it's a real Rebbe? You know when you know the chassidim are ready to jump to the fire for the Rebbe. That's a siman that the Rebbe's tzaddikim, who have people who are ready to jump off a cliff. Ah, that must be serious. If you have tzaddikim who are really ready to live lives of nisyonos, of difficulty, for the sake of the Eibishter, that brings out kedusha and kavod and gadlus haborei. So learns the Rambam. Other Rishonim discuss that it's about bringing the potential of a person, a l'maaseh, it should become practical. Every person has a lot of potential in him. There's a lot of koiches, so you need to work it out. When he works it out, then it becomes l'maaseh. So nisayonos is a form of a workout to bring to the surface the inner koiches and middos and mailos of a person. Many Rishonim learn like that. Others learn that the reason for nisayonos is the hamtakas hakisufa, that in order to earn Olam Haba, we have to earn it. Earning means it should be difficult, and we have to work hard to get to it. Otherwise, we didn't earn it, and we won't appreciate it. It's a whole different mahalach, hamtakas hakisufa. More or less, these are the three shitos in the Rishonim and Acharonim. Why do we have nisayonos? Either, like I said from the Rambam, to show the world, look, someone could stand for the Eibishter so strong, it must be— Rabbeinu Shlolam is real, the Torah is real. Second reason is, in order to work the person out. Yisurim is memaarek, makes a person, it works him out that he should be a complete person. The other pshat, why we have yisurim, is namedik kisufa, that we should come and earn our Olam Haba, like this we'll enjoy it. Reb Chaim Vital and others discuss this topic. Okay. Practically, if the whole kavanah of the nisyonos is to show the doros, the people that come after, that the person was serious about the Rabbeinu Shlolam's avodas Hashem, so if it's something that shelo hirher, that he didn't think, how does anyone know that? If he does something, for example, he jumps into a fire for the Eibishter, okay, so everybody sees that. But how do we know, for the generations, what went on in Avraham's mind, that this becomes, oh, a lesson, see, look. So the truth is, I mean, Chazal tell it us, so then we'll know it. You can come and say that the fact that Chazal tell us that that's what went through Avraham's mind, that becomes the lesson of the nisyon. But I would say—

A little differently, Rabosai. I think that the pshat in the nisayon of Vayeired Avram Mitzrayimah ki kaved hara'av is not what so much he thought, complain and not complain. It's that he actually went down to Mitzrayim because that's what the Eibishter wanted from him. It's not in what he thought. Shlo yehir isn't what he was thinking while he was going down. Shlo yirachmi da'osav end that he went down. Nachama, Rabosai, I will explain it one more time. I have a simple question, and that is: how do I understand the Medrash that seems to say that the Ribono Shel Olam was actually feeding Avram, was protecting Avram by giving him rav and sending him to Mitzrayim? You look at it, it's the opposite. If anything, one could see it and say, What do you mean? Fakert, you're taking away his parnassah. You're starving him. And the chiddush is he didn't complain. The second question is, the fact that he didn't complain in his thinking, how does that become a lesson for the people doros later? Yes, after Rashi tells us that that's what happened, maybe. But from the nisayon itself, from the pesukim, you don't see it. You see that he wasn't meharhar. How do you know? Vayehi rav. He went down. So we have to go to the Rashi that says, Oh, you know, while he was doing it, he wasn't meharhar. In fact, the Sfas Emes, then how did this become a lesson for the generations after? Oh. You see how much he loves the Eibishter. So I'm answering the following, rabosai, here. It's not what he thought when he went down. It's the fact that he went down. You know, a person can have a job. He's very unhappy with the job that he has. He could be in a job thinking to himself, you know, this is not for me. I wish I'd be doing something else. So you know what? That person has two options. He could stop doing what he's doing and sit home and wait till he finds something that he wants to do. Then there's a person that says, if this is what the Eibishter sent me to do, I'll do the job, because this is what the Eibishter wants from me. What bracha in the morning do we say from the Birchas Hashachar that talks about feeding and parnassah? That's right, sheasa li kol tzarki. Did you notice that how do we use the lashon? Did we say shenasan li mezonos? No. Sheasa li kol tzarki, all my needs. The Ribono Shel Olam knows what you need, and He fits your parnassah to your needs. The job He sends you down, the path, the job that He gives you, must be for your needs. It's something that fits you. I believe that's the sheasa li kol tzarki. You should say, shenasan li mezonos, He gave me to eat, He gave me to drink. No, it's more than that. Parnassah is not only the actual feeding. It's the matzav that the Rabbeinu Shalom puts the person in, and he needs to be in that matzav. For his neshama, the nisyonos that he has in his parnassah is meant for him specific. She'oso li kol tzarki. And that's a tremendous nisayon, the nisayon of accepting, the nisayon of accepting the lot that the Rabbeinu Shalom put for me. If you look at the lashon of the Mishnah, איזהו עשיר? השמח בחלקו. Chofetz Chaim used to say, it doesn't say, השמח במה שיש לו. He's happy with what he has. It should say, איזהו עשיר? השמח במה שיש לו. He's happy with what he has. Says the Chofetz Chaim, and if he has nothing, so he's not happy. No, he's happy anyway. Why? He's שמח בחלקו, that the Eibishter gave him this lot in life. Part of ashirus is not accepting the amount of money you have or the amount of money you make, but it's accepting the lot in life that the Rabbeinu Shalom chose for you and how you make your money.

Ha'someiach b'mah sheyesh lo, b'mah shemasig, what he earns, mah shemarviach, and if it's a little, he's happy with that also. But rather, it's ha'someiach b'chelko. Chelko includes the specific parnassah that the Ribono Shel Olam chose for this person, the specific parnassah, the specific job, career that the Ribono Shel Olam chose for this person. It's also part of the sameach b'chelko. It's part of this she'os li kol tzorki; the Ribono Shel Olam knows what you need. And so, He chooses the path in life, the career that you must choose. Soon we'll talk: how do we know which is the career that the Ribono Shel Olam chose for us? We'll talk about that in a few moments. But this is the nisayon by Avram, Va'yehi ra'av ba'aretz. The Medrash is saying the Ribono Shel Olam is telling Avram, I'm feeding you. Fakert, I'm not not feeding you. The hunger wasn't a form of taking away sustenance, taking away parnassah. The opposite. It was a way of being mefarnes you, because I know that you have to go to Mitzrayim. So I rooted, I rerooted your parnassah to Mitzrayim. So Avram's piercing of the nisayon was shelo hirher lahalach l'Mitzrayim, that he went to Mitzrayim. It's in the action of going, Vayehi ra'av ba'aretz. Va'yehi ra'av ba'aretz, the pasuk actually does. Clearly state what the nisayon was. It says, Vayeired Avram Mitzrayimah. It's that he went down to Mitzrayim. Instead of staying where he was and saying, That's not for me to go down to Mitzrayim. I can't go. The Ribono Shel Olam promised me I'll stay home. I'll figure out already how I'll be mefarnes myself to my appeasing, to my wanting and enjoyment. No, the Ribono Shel Olam wants something else from me. The Ribono Shel Olam wants me to go down to Mitzrayim. The Ribono Shel Olam wants me to go down to Mitzrayim. And so, I will go down to Mitzrayim. So the nisayon wasn't shloy hirer necessarily what he was thinking, but the actions that he took as a result of his thinking, and that is Vayeired Mitzrayimah, and that the pasuk clearly states. And that's something that we can take a lesson l'doiros, that if the Ribono Shel Olam says go to Mitzrayim, and that's where your sustenance is and that's where your parnassah is, you go to Mitzrayim. This, rabosai, is nisayon. Nisayon means a test: if we do what we want to do, or we do what the Eibishter wants us to do. Parnassah teaches a lot about a person's inner yiras Shamayim, how a person does parnassah, how a person behaves during parnassah. Is a textbook, is a lesson of who the person is and where he's holding in yiras Shamayim. Yiras Shamayim accepts it. Because the Eibishter wants, and that's what He wants of me, and that's what I'll do. And that becomes the nisayon of Vayered Avram Mitzrayim, that Avram went down to Mitzrayim. The nemalah, rabosai, the end. In perek shirah, what is his shirah? What pasuk does he say as shirah? Noisen lechem l'chol basar, ki l'olam chasdo, that the Eibishter gives bread. The one animal, rabosai, the entire animal kingdom that works the hardest for his parnassah is the nemalah. Chazal tell us, Maseches Eruvin, osiv bakaitz lachmah, lech el nemalah atzel, go learn from him. Why? Because the nemalah, they work hard. They work hard constantly, bringing their bread. Unbelievable. And yet, what is their shirah? From all the animals, their shirah is Noisen lechem... You give it to me. Unbelievable, huh? From all the animals. And the answer is, and the explanation is, that the nemalah is saying, Ribono Shel Olam, I understand, You gave it to me. You want me to work hard for it. You want me to work very hard for this.

Yet, I understand that's what you want, and that's how you give me parnassah, so that's noisi lecha, I praise You for that. Imagine a person would work constantly to make parnassah. So he's thinking, Ribbono Shel Olam, You didn't give me parnassah. Look, because I have to work so hard. I wasn't blessed with parnassah. And the answer is, and the truth is, no, you are blessed with parnassah. But the Ribbono Shel Olam chose your method, your mahalach, how to get your tzinor and how to get the parnassah through ameilus, through a difficult. Avraham's parnassah was given to him. Not that Avraham, Hashem took away his parnassah. Hashem was giving him parnassah. Hashem was feeding him through a nisayon, through a difficulty of Vayeired Mitzrayimah. The nemalah works hard, but he understands that's what the Eibishter wants, and that's how He's giving him parnassah. It's not that the nemalah is getting his parnassah. No, he's receiving his parnassah. He receives through the ameilus, through the fact that he works hard. That's how the Ribbono Shel Olam is feeding him. How does a person know? How does a person know what the Ribbono Shel Olam has set out for him? It's a good question. As I saw, Tzafnas Paneach, zichrono livrachah, in the sefer says that a person has an inclination of what he needs and where he has to go to receive his parnassah. The Ribono Shel Olam feels that you need a specific object, so the person is moved. Something within him guides him to that. You know, I always thought about it. You know, you ask a person why he chose a certain parnassah, a certain field. You know, most people will answer, I don't know. I just felt. You ever see that? Usually that's the response: I don't know. I always wanted to do that. What do you mean you always wanted to do that? What made you want to do that? ... made you want to do it? A person is guided. I mean, listen to the simanim. You know, unfortunately not everybody does. Some people ignore where the Ribono Shel Olam sends them for parnassah. Why? Because we're selfish in a certain way, that we want to dictate how we get our parnassah. We want it this way, so therefore we say, You know what? It seems I should be getting parnassah. I'm not going to go down that road. Maybe that's what the Eibishter wants. You always want to be a rabbi? Who says there's parnassah in it? You're assuming there's parnassah in being a rabbi. The point being, rabosai, you have to learn to listen, to listen to what the Eibishter wants from us in our life. Parnassah is strictly that, as I soon will explain. And if you don't follow the whole yesod that I'm trying to build here, we'll repeat it in a few moments in the entire picture of it. You know, parnassah became about as a klalah. It's a curse, a curse based on the eitz hadaas, which means because Adam ate from the eitz hadaas, b'zeas apecha tochal lachma. Parnassah became a difficulty. What's the connection? Why, because he ate from the eitz hadaas, did this become the klalah? Maybe he should have had a different klalah, and since he ate from the eitz hadaas, he'll have a sore throat every time you eat, like this you'll have punishment for eating the eitz hadaas. I mean, why did this become the b'zeas apecha, unless you come and say the difficulty of eating here you ate, so the difficulty of eating, b'zeas apecha tochal, huh? Here you ate, you lusted to eat, so now you'll have a hard time eating. It's got to be better than that, a little bit more than that. So the Alter from Kelm is masbir that the pshat in the b'zeas apecha is in direct correlation to the sin of the eating of the eitz hadaas, because the eitz hadaas in Gan Eden was kulo nes. They were fed, everything b'nes. Chazal even tell us the—

Malachim came down and made steaks, mamish steaks, delicious, mamish fried, delicious foods, ... yeah. He was given mamish a full cuisine, full cuisine in Gan Eden. So that was a nes galui. He didn't take that, he didn't absorb that, he didn't appreciate that. So now you'll have to get a nes, hidden b'teich teva. Parnassah is nes b'teich teva. Parnassah is nes b'teich teva. It's teva. You go to work, you make money, but if you really dig deeper, it's tremendous nissim. So since the nes galui, you were mema'ais, you were boyet, you kicked it, you didn't accept it when you had it, so now you're going to get the nes b'teich hateva, covered, hidden in the teva. I would say maybe a little bit different, my rabosai. Eitz hadaas is tzivui Hashem. The Ribono Shel Olam said not to. Like the lashon of the pasuk, Is this true that you ate from the tree that I commanded you not to eat? Eitz hadaas was listening to the command of the Ribono Shel Olam. Adam sinned and didn't listen. The one area in a person's life that he must listen to the Eibishter is in parnassah, because there is no other way to get it, only if the Eibishter wants. Chazal tell us, Banei, chayei u'mezonei, loi b'mazal talya milsa. Ela, it's mamish machteach, it's biyad HaKadosh Baruch Hu. The Ribono Shel Olam directly gives it. You know, a person can be mishtadel, and things work, things happen. Banai, nobody's convinced that he makes children. You're right, the act is brought about through the act of procreation. That's true. But nobody in his right mind thinks that he creates a child, right? He understands that's the Ribono Shel Olam. Chaya, tell me, does a person believe that his life is dependent on him? He can eat your vitamins today till tomorrow, and the Eibishter wants you'll live, you'll live, and if not, you... Nobody in his right mind believes that he has the hishtadlus of life. You're right, we do exercise. That's being mishtadel in v'chai bahem. And in the zechus that we do shmiras haguf, the Ribono Shel Olam protects us. And if, chas v'shalom, if a person would go in front of a car, you know why he dies? The meforshim ask this for a kasha: why should he die? And the answer is because you put yourself in a matzav of misa, so you weren't mekayem the shmartem es nafshoseichem, so for that you deserve to die. It's not about your actions. Banai chaya, and the last thing is mezoneh. And what does that mean? People think they'll be mishtadel, they'll do, and the truth is nothing about parnassah is about your hishtadlus. It's not a direct correlation from the hishtadlus that brings about the parnassah. Usually it's the opposite. The more the person is mishtadel, the less it works out. Sometimes the less you mishtadel, the better off it works out. The Yad Hashem and the tzivui of what Hashem says should be is clear in Parnassah. So in the eitz hadaas, you didn't listen to the tzivui Hashem, zogt der Ribono Shel Olam, now you're going to listen to what I want. Now you're going to understand what it means, I said, because if it's not I said, you won't have. If it's not I said, not banah, not chayah, and not mezonah. This was a direct tikkun, if I could use the word tikkun, or a lesson to be learned from the chet of the eitz hadaas. I told you not to eat from the eitz hadaas. Now you won't eat unless I tell you to eat, unless I give it to you. You took what I told you not, what I didn't give you. Now you're going to only eat what I've given you. Bize'as apecha tochal lechem means, what is bize'as apecha? It's not there to be gotten. It has to be earned. The world was given to you to feed. The Ribono Shel Olam says, take, but don't take this. So you took what I didn't give you. Now you're going to understand that you can never take only what I did give you.

Pizeias hapecha teicha lechem means that the Ribono Shel Olam is saying, you can't just walk out in the street and you're gonna have food. It doesn't work that way. You would have to earn it. Now, how do you earn it? I told you many times, zechusim, Torah, mitzvahs, that earns parnassah. Told you over from Reb Eliyahu Lopian that he once asked a talmid of his, What do you do for parnassah? He said, Rebbe, I go to the diamond district and I do diamonds, or whatever it was, whatever the case was at the time, particular job that he did. So Reb Eliyahu Lopian asked him, Good, yeah, but what do you do for parnassah? So he says, Rebbe, I don't understand what you mean. I told you, I go to the diamond district and I cut diamonds and I sell diamonds. Very good, but what do you do for parnassah? He's thinking maybe the Rebbe became old-timer, senile, was a problem. So he looks at him, he says, What, you think I don't know what I'm talking about? I'll tell you what I'm talking about. Everything you told me is what the Eibishter does for you for parnassah. I want to know what you do for parnassah. You learn, you daven. What do you do to earn your parnassah? This, that you go to the store and you cut a diamond and make a few dollars, that the Eibishter is doing for you. The Ribono Shel Olam is saying, the eitzah daas I gave to you and I told you not to eat it. Now you're gonna learn that az ich zog un ich zog, zolst hobn ves hobn. And if I tell you not to have, you won't have. You can stand on your head, it's not gonna work. How many times people start businesses and it doesn't work, and he's a guarantee. I thought it's a guarantee. It's a definite, it's a winner. It's a definite winner, this business. Look, he shows you, and everybody needs it, and he has all the schar, and it doesn't work. HaKadosh Baruch Hu. The Ribono Shel Olam wished. The Ribono Shel Olam wanted you to do something else. The Ribono Shel Olam had other plans for you. The asher asa li kol tzorki was a different one. From above, the Ribono Shel Olam saw that this is not tzorkecha. Just like the nemalah. He works hard, and he still understands, nosein lechem l'chavosh. You know, another guy who worked as hard as the nemalah would come home and say, Listen, it's only right that I should make—I work so hard. It makes sense I should make a good paycheck. Look at the nemalah. Look at the nemalah. Look at the nemalah. Now you're saying lechem l'chavosh. No matter how hard the nemalah works and understands, the Ribono Shel Olam wanted to give him parnassah through its amalus. But again, it's just a heichi timtza, and how to get its parnassah. This is the yesod of the inyan of the eitz hadaas. We say in benching, rabosai, u'nosein lechem l'chol basar, ki l'olam chasdo, b'chein, b'chesed, u'v'rachamim. What does that mean, b'chein, b'chesed? Ribono Shel Olam, You give b'chein. V'zan u'mefarnes b'chein? Chein. Chesed. Chein. Ribono Shel Olam does it b'chein, chesed. Okay, I hear the rachamim. Rabosai, rachmanus sanas. Okay, but what does it mean that the Eibishter gives it to us b'chein? So pashut means He gives it to us in a way that it's respectable. Sometimes it could be a parnassah that comes through degrading means. The Ribono Shel Olam is giving it to us b'chein, through—what do they call that?—a sheinah parnassah instead of a miyusdik parnassah, yeah? Imagine if a guy has to be a garbage man to get his parnassah. It's a little bit degrading, right? The Ribono Shel Olam gives it to us b'chein, but what does the garbage man say then? He gets benefits. He shouldn't say b'chein v'chesed v'rachamim. He shouldn't say b'chein v'chesed v'rachamim. What? I think, rabosai, it means something completely different. A person sometimes has tremendous qualities, capabilities, the power to connect with people. He comes across polished, and people like him, so that's chein and chesed and rachamim, right? He's able to—he comes across with a lot of chein. So a person could think to himself, so then I'm the reason why I make good money. Oh, he makes good money. He's got a great personality.

We tell the Eibishter, we understand, b'chein, b'chesed, uv'rachamim, hu nosein lechem l'chol basar. Who gave you the chein? The Ribono Shel Olam is mefarnes us through the chein, the chesed, uv'rachamim. The idea is to understand that whenever we have, yes, it seems like it's us, but it's not us. It's the Ribono Shel Olam who's doing this, b'chein, b'chesed, uv'rachamim. I can tell you from my own experiences, anything I ever tried to do on my own, to be mishtadel, never ever worked out, never. And I think I have some talent. It just never happens. It never happened that something that I put work into worked out. Every hatzlacha I have had in my life, it's something that I didn't put any effort and the Ribono Shel Olam sent it to me. It's just the way it is. I can talk from personal experience. More effort we put in doesn't mean that that's what the Eibishter wants us to have. Yet, sometimes things are given to us and we understand the Ribono Shel Olam. As eides, a choshen l'vracha, he had a very interesting custom. When people would ask him where he got, for example, his watch, I remember someone once asked him, Where'd you get your watch? He said, I got it as a present. So my father turned around to him and said, You got it as a present? What do you mean you bought it? I remember when you bought it. What do you mean you got it as a present? He says, Avada, God is... the Eibishter gave it to me. The Eibishter gave it to me as a present. I'm not—I bought it. That's how I got the present. It's all... he used to use the language, the Ribono Shel Olam, he used to say, I got it as a favor. That's also another nusach he used to. I got it as a favor. The Ribono Shel Olam also does favors. B'tuvoi, Ribono Shel Olam does favors. He gives us things. It's an understanding of what it means, parnassah. Parnassah, what's given to you, it's b'tuvoi. The Ribono Shel Olam gives it to you according to the needs that you need. And a person has to accept the ratzon Hashem in this area. You could fight it. It won't work. It's not going to work, I say. What's allotted in life, Ribono Shel Olam gives you, and that's what you'll have. I believe that there's another part of the nisayon of parnassah which needs to be touched on. Part of parnassah is understanding that it's the Ribono Shel Olam, and it's the b'zeas apecha tochal lechem. It's klal. Reb Simcha Zissel, the Alter from Kelm, explains: could you imagine a guy walks around saying, I enjoy my job. He says, I don't understand. How could you even use those words, you enjoy your job? Imagine a guy says, I enjoy the klal I got. It's a tremendous klal. It's great. It's gevaldik. See, maybe the guy says, It's tremendous. Ribono Shel Olam, ha, this is a real good klal. Could you imagine? What do you mean? It's a klal. There's another part to it which I think is important to understand. One of the hardest things in parnassah is how to view parnassah as the Ribono Shel Olam is giving me, and therefore if I don't have, it's the Eibishter, as well as if others encrypt or hinge on my hatzlacha, I don't take it that they took from me and they stole from me. The Ribono Shel Olam didn't want me to have it. You know, a person goes in business, after quite some time he becomes almost a bitter person. Ah, this guy did this to me, and that guy that to me, and this and that, and this one and that one and this one and that one. The emes is, if you think it's all from the Eibishter, he did nothing. What did he do? Part of the nisayon of parnassah is to understand, Ki im liyadcha hamleiah hapsuchah. Ki im liyadcha hamleiah hapsuchah. Ribono Shel Olam, you give directly from Your hand? Lo al yedei matnas basar vadam, v'lo al yedei halva'asam. Ki im liyadcha hamleiah hapsuchah hakedoshah. What does that mean? I always think about a benching. We ask the Eibishter, it shouldn't be al yedei matnas. Now what does it mean it shouldn't be a present?

V'lo yehyeh alvasa, it shouldn't be a loan, and what should it be? Earned. That's called kiyum liyadcha hamleiah, hapsuchah, hakedoshah, v'harchavah. You know what I think, rabosai, the pshat is? Even the halvaah and even the matanah, I should recognize it's kiyum liyadcha hamleiah, that it comes from you. We tend to take the inyan of parnassah like, He gave me parnassah. You ever noticed? Oh, that's my boss, he gives me parnassah. Wait a minute, what are you talking about? Laylidei matnas basar v'dam, v'loy lidei halvaah, I shouldn't view it that someone's giving me parnassah, someone's lending me money. It's chas v'shalom, kiyum liyadcha. I should recognize that it's coming directly from you, and these are just shluchim. These are shluchim that were sent to be the mediators on how I get my parnassah. Kiyum liyadcha hamleiah, hapsuchah, hakedoshah, v'harchavah. It's about how I view my situation and connection with my partners, my business associates. It's liyadcha, and therefore, when they, so to speak, officially cheat me or fake me or jip me or whatever the story may be, I understand it's from the Ribono Shel Olam. It's the Ribono Shel Olam telling me no. And I'll tell you where I got this, this understanding of this. You know, Avraham Avinu went to fight the four melachim, kings. To save Lot. Vayavo vayapalit, vayaged l'Avram haIvri. What's he called? He's called Avram haIvri. Tell me something. Why is he called Ivri? This is the first time in the Torah we find he's called an Ivri. So the Medrash says, Ivri, because he was from ever echad, he was from one side of the world, and the rest of the world is on the other side of the world. Now why does that have to do with this story? I mean, from the day Avram was born, he was Ivri. Why in this story? And I assume we'll explain to you it's a nisayon. The Arba Melachim is considered the fifth of the nisyonos, the test that Avram Avinu had to go through. He only is called, Vayavo vayapalit, vayaged l'Avram haIvri. He went and he told Avram haIvri. Why here? Why now are we discussing that he's an Ivri, that he's on one side of the world and everybody else on the other side of the world? You know, this is one of the nisyonos, like I just told you. It's one of the list, on the list of the nisyonos that he went to fight. What right did Avram have to go fight? You know, he went mamash sakanas nefashos. He went a few people against major armies. Is a person allowed to put himself in danger to come and protect Lot? Chayecha kodmin. It's a big discussion in halacha. What right did he have to do it? And he knew he might die. Chazal bring down, the Medrash says that Avram went, pikuach nefesh al kiddush Hashem. He's ready to die al kiddush Hashem. What's the kiddush Hashem over here? Where do we find over here that this became— Kiddush Hashem. Why is it Kiddush Hashem? So the Vilna always says, it's a famous pshat: Vayar Avram ki nishba achiv. L'choira, Lot wasn't achiv; Lot was his nephew. So why does the pasuk say, Vayar Avram ki nishba achiv? Famous question. So the truth is, Rashi in Rus says that uncle is called achiv. An uncle is called an ach, like we see from Avraham Avinu here, he's called ach. L'choira, it's the opposite; Lot is called achiv, not Avram. If it would say, Vayar achiv ki nishba Lot, then I got you, okay, and then I understand. But it says, Vayar Avram ki nishba... so it's going on Lot, the nephew, not the uncle. An uncle is called achiv. So where do you see it in this pasuk? Unless maybe me, as if the uncle is called achiv, so then the nephew is called achiv. Maybe. Maybe. That's all what Rashi means. Others learn, like I told you, that this goes to the heart of the nisayon and the Kiddush Hashem that's necessary. Why did they steal, kidnap Lot? They took him, they kidnapped him. Why did they kidnap him? Ki nishba achiv. They saw that Avram and Lot looked alike. They looked like brothers.

Incidentally, they looked like brothers. They wanted to use this as a propaganda, like l'havdil, or maybe not l'havdil, but like the Al Qaedas today, they steal, steal, steal people and then make a whole propaganda movie out of it. They’re beheading him and this and that, right? They wanted to use him. Ah, we got Avraham Avinu. We got Avraham Avinu. So, ki nishba achiv, oh, so then it would be a chilul Hashem, because they say they got Avraham Avinu, so it’s kiddush Hashem. That’s the pshat. All right. I would like to say a different pshat, chaveirim. Why does it say, ki nishba achiv, achiv? There’s a Rabbeinu Bechaye that says that this was a tremendous, difficult test for Avraham Avinu. Lot got into a major fight with him, got into a major fight. So Avraham could have been hesitant: I have to go save him? We’re in a fight. He didn’t look at the fight, says Rabbeinu Bechaye, but he looked at the ach. My brother. Ach b’tzarah. I have a brother who’s in danger. So the fact that Avraham was able to overlook the personal animosity between him and Lot and run after to save Lot, that’s achiv, ki nishba achiv. He looked at the achvah, the relation, the brotherhood, the achim anachim, and he didn’t look, says the Rabbeinu Bechaye, in the riv. He didn’t pay attention to the animosity between them. I believe that that’s the pshat, Vayavoi l’Avram haIvri. Why would Lot— I’m sorry, why would the palit oyg think that Avraham would put himself— I mean, he thought Avraham... He had a havah amina that Avraham would run after to save Lot. It's crazy, Lot. It's crazy, you got to be suicide. And the answer is, Avraham was Ivri. The oyg, the Polit understood who Avraham was. Avraham was an Ivri. What's an Ivri? You know, the Rambam writes about being moichel, forgiving. The Rambam says that a Yid shouldn't be a nachsar. When someone comes to ask him mechilah, he should be moichel him. Be moichel him. And he shouldn't be like the goyim, arelei halev, arelei halev, that they have this tumah in them. Their hearts are stone, arelei halev, that evrasam la'ad, that when they get angry, it's forever. You can't, you can't, and you can't give them damin to them. You can't soften them up. They're angry, they're angry forever. Anger stays forever. So this is a middah that Avraham, as an Ivri, had, which nobody else in the world had. It was crazy. In the world it was a crazy thing to go save Lot. You know why? What do you mean? He's my enemy. Go save Lot? He's going to fight me. You want me to go to his wedding? You want me to go? I'm his enemy. You don't know we're fighting? By Yidden there's no such nekudah. The idea of paying attention to the riv and ignoring the achvah is a goyish thing. A Yid doesn't have that. Vayardef Avram haIvri. Avraham was—see, that's what made him understand that he would run to save Lot. He would run to save Lot. Why? Va'ishma Avram ki nishba achiv. That's a special ma'alah. That Avraham Avinu had that he was able to, and I believe that just like the nisyonos is Avraham Avinu nisnaseh. The lashon of the Mishnah is what? Aser nisyonos nisnaseh Avraham Avinu. Say the mefarshim, why does it say Avraham Avinu? Avraham. And the answer is because in these nisyonos, Avinu, he became our father, and he installed in us the DNA, so to speak, the koiches to be able to pass these nisyonos. So part of the nisayon of the Arba Melachim, according to Rabbeinu Bechaye's pshat, was he installed in us the ability to look at the achvah and to forget the riv, the fact that we're fighting. I've told you that my zeide zichrono livracha had someone by him in the shul who was Yad Yeminah. He was mamash kosher and dovuk to Reb Meizaida all the years. It was a very big, beautiful baal tefillah. Originally he wasn't part of the kehillah of my zeide, nor did he have much to do with my zeide. But there was an incident that occurred, and that made him become a complete, as they use today the word, a chassid from my grandfather, the biggest chassid, to the point that his son got up by his levayah, of this baal...

This person is baal tefillah, and said that my father always said that he believed b'emunah shleimah that Rav Alkin, my zeide zichrono livrachah, Rav Alkin would definitely bring Moshiach. With his ahavas Yisrael, with his middos tovos, he would definitely be po'el in his lifetime to bring Moshiach. That's what this person said in harachah, in his praise of my zeide zichrono livrachah. Now what was the connection? He had a restaurant, a rather famous restaurant. I'm not going to say the name here now, but he had a famous restaurant that everybody ate there. My zeide was the rav, the rav hamachshir. Business went down, so he tried to figure out why, and he decided that it has to do with hashgachah, that people are starting to think that the hashgachah is not up par, and that's what's causing it. It wouldn't have nothing to do with that. Maybe he wasn't serving, maybe he was cutting corners on the salami, I don't know. I don't know what the problem was, all right? But it was going down. He comes to the zeide, and he blamed my grandfather for the hashgachah. He said it's the hashgachah's fault that the customer service, the customer clientele is going down. He was very nasty to the zeide, very nasty. He spoke very harshly. My zeide was very shocked. He was very surprised, and he quit. My zeide said, I can't be in this hashgachah, and he quit. Years later, this person was sitting shiva for a member of his family. My father comes into the house. My zeide tells him, We have a nichum aveilim to go to today. Make preparations to go to Nichum Aveilim. My father said, Who? I said, So-and-so. That Yid who years before embarrassed my zeide, and he was maliv him, he hurt him. So my father says, What? You could go to his nichum aveilim? What are you, you got to be kidding me. What, you forgot what he did to you? And my zeide responded, and when I saw the Rebbe, Reb Chaya, it just word for word echoed the response of my zeide. My zeide said, There's such a thing called achin b'tzara. When a brother is in distress, in a bad situation, you have to learn that fighting and issues is not the time to make a cheshbon when there's an ach b'tzara. It's in yeshiva, the fight, we don't pay attention to the fight. It's mamash what Reb Chaim said was the koach of Avraham Avinu. And so my grandfather went to menachem avel this person. He was surprised to see my zeide walk through the door, and my zeide sat with him, and he was mechazek him k'darko. He was warm and everything, k'darko, like my zeide, you had this beautiful warm touch to himself. And my zeide would be mechazek and me'oded the person, and he was so moved by it that he made up that from here on in he's going to be attached to my grandfather, believe in that, and so it was. This is the koiches of Avraham Avinu, that Avraham instilled in the zera of Arba Melachim: achva and not riv. Achva, and we ignore the riv. There's a time and a place where my achva, it needs me. My brother needs me. And when my brother needs me, I don't. Now in business, rabosai, there's plenty riv. Plenty. Riv is part of the ingrained of business world, right? They say it's a dog-eat-dog world. That's what it is. The business world is rough. We have to learn that it's the Ribono Shel Olam who's ruling the world, and my parnassah is the Ribono Shel Olam has given me, and if there's somebody who takes from me, it's because the Eibishter wanted him to take from me. And then, parnassah is meant to be left in the business. When you come home or you come to the shul, you have to be able to bury, so to speak, the riv and look at the achvah. To bury the riv and to look at the achvah. Where did Avram get this koach from? Where did Avram see this? You know, it's interesting. Avram tells Lot, Hifared na me'alai. Hifared na me'alai. Was it a good thing or a bad thing? Did he do the right thing? We find that the Ribono Shel Olam, kol zman Lot was by him, the Ribono Shel Olam says, I am not coming to you. There was no gilui.

The Shechinah to Avram, kol zman Lot was there. The minute Lot leaves, the Ribono Shel Olam comes to Avraham Avinu. So Avram should learn from this what? He did the right thing. So they all ask the question, but he was sending Lot away, and the answer, of course, is sometimes pirud is good. Sometimes separation, to separate yourself, is shalom. That's the way to make peace. You see, it's not working, it's not a healthy relationship, the ruchniyus is being compromised, let it go. So we are to learn from this to say goodbye, right? The Medrash says clearly that the Ribono Shel Olam had a taina on Avraham Avinu: B'kol atah misdabek. You attach yourself to anything and everybody. The ugliest lowlifes are members of your household, come to eat by you and stay by you, and you connect with them. U'be'achicha, Lot, your relative, him you don't keep in contact with, him you're not attached to. Wait a second. There's a contradiction here in the Chazal. On one hand, he parted from me'alai, and it's a good thing, and the Ribono Shel Olam didn't come to him till now. And on the other hand, the Ribono Shel Olam is saying, I have a taina on you. What's the pshat? Which one is it? Was it the right thing to do, or was it the wrong thing to do to send Lot off? I think the pshat, Rabbei say, is as follows. There's a time and a place where it's yipared from. Yes, Lot was supposed to leave Avram, but you still could have been in contact with him. In English, I would, in English, in today's days, I'd send him a text. Hand him a text. Today's modern terminology and technologies, hand him a text. Why did you completely disconnect from him? That's where the ta'ina is. Avadi, poren ami olai. Every now and then, give a cent of... a get well, a shalom aleichem, a good year card. You could have kept up with him. Hakel atam mizdabek. Rabosai, this is a textbook on how Yidden live together. There's a time and a place where I can't be with that person, or I'm in business, I can't be in business with that person. What is pirud? Pirud, no. You notice the word no. You notice how Avram speaks? Pirud, no. Please. You ever see someone, or two partners, when they break up, did you ever see the word please? That's not the terminology we find. If we have to split up, it's usually very, very nasty language. Pirud, no me'alai. And what does he say to him? Ima yamin, v'eimina; ima smol, v'asmila. Rashi, the Rishonim say, I won't be far. I'll always be—I'll be close in case you need me. You hear? I'll be close in case you need me. And there's a point in Chazal that he should have kept a little more connection with him, something a little more. Now the Arba Malachim come, so he's ready to jump into the fire to save Lot. Gave him his word, ima yamin, v'eimina, so I won't be too far away. This is what we call loyalty. Family. Family. Achvah. Yeah? Achvah, loyalty. Family. A word, a word. I gave you my word. And I always think to myself, where is he located in the story of the Arba Melachim? V'hu yoshev b'Eilonei Mamrei. He was sitting in Eilonei Mamrei. Why is it important for us to know about Eilonei Mamrei, you know? You ever think about why do I have to know where Avram was when he went to the melachim to fight the kings? So some say he took them with him. V'hein ba'alei bris — you know the lashon of the pesukim — v'hein ba'alei bris Avram, so he took them with him. So they're ba'alei bris, which means they went because they promised the treaty. There was a treaty between them. I was thinking of a different pshat also. Avram had loyalty. V'hein ba'alei bris Avram. A word is a word. Ba'alei bris. I made up with you bris. Light. He made a bris with light. Didn't he make a treaty with light that in case light ever needs him, he'll be there for light? Pasuk is telling us every — where is Avram? You know, if you think about it, Avram could have lived anywhere. He was the king of the world.

You know, Avraham was considered... You ever notice where people live when their status is high? A lot of people are going to live in the capital, live in Manhattan. They live... Avraham is not living in Manhattan. Where is he living? He's living, Vayavo Avraham Ivri. The whole world is on one side; he's somewhere else, Avraham. And where is he? He's living b'Eilonei Mamrei. And what's Eilonei Mamrei? Heim ba'alei bris Avram, lashon hapasuk, right? V'hu shochein, Vayavo... Avraham Ivri, v'hu shochein b'Eilonei Mamrei, v'heim ba'alei bris Avram. Avraham, he connects with ba'alei bris, the people he has a treaty with. Loyalty. And because of that, Vayishma Avraham, he had loyalty. Vayarach es chanichav yelidei beiso. Loyalty, family, promise. This, rabosai, is a tremendous lesson. In business, there's loyalty also. You go into partnership with somebody. Are you loyal? Are you ba'alei bris? Did you make up a treaty with the guy? You have to jump into the fire to protect your baal bris, the person who you have loyalty, the person who you promised. Today, how many times do we find people go into partnership with people, and then they come, I have to break up. It's not good for me anymore. Who said it has to be good for you? Did I miss something? The word partnership means it has to be good for you. Partnership means that you promise that you'll be good for the other guy. Isn't that what a partnership is? How many times people go into a marriage, and then they come and they say, We got to split up. Why? It's not good for me anymore. I thought the vows were not that it should be good for you. I never heard anybody say, I'll be there through my health and my sickness, right? It's the other person's health and the other person's... The partnership is a kabbalah to be there for the other guy, not to be there because it's good for you. That's v'ein bali bris Avram. When you go into parnassah, rabosai, understanding what it means that the Eibishter and what a word is a word, and achves ach for rabosai, anashim achim anachnu. You know, there's a Gemara. The Gemara says that people came to Dovid HaMelech every day, and they asked him the question, Amcha Yisrael tzrichim parnassah. Klal Yisrael needs parnassah. What did he answer, Dovid? Lechu, parnesu zeh mizeh. Make parnassah one from the other. So they said, It's not enough. Why? We need more. Okay, so miyad they would go out to go to war to collect more money to bring into Eretz Yisrael more money. What's the pshat? Every day they ask the same question and every day get the same answer. At what point do they say, Hmm, Dovid, don't you have any new ideas? Can't you come up—could you imagine the commerce, the head of commerce of the government comes up every day with the same idea? We don't have money in the economy that... Why don't you just go out and do business? Yeah, we got that. That's pashut. I don't need your information, right? So I always say the pshat is, Dovid is not telling you technically good advice. Dovid's explaining what is parnassah. Parnassah is meant, zu mi zu. Parnassah was meant to connect in Klal Yisrael. It's a way of connecting. You need, and he has what to sell. You need, he has what to sell. So the Ribbono Shel Olam connects Klal Yisrael like that. That's called chelkoi, chelkoi. Parnassah isn't just the money. Parnassah is, Ribbono Shel Olam knows where you have to be and who you have to connect with. The same way when a person is a partner in marriage, it's a ben zivug. The Ribbono Shel Olam knows. So too in parnassah, Ribbono Shel Olam knows who you're supposed to be connected with. He knows who, because there's a kesher doiros before us. Who knows what the inyonim are, that these two people must be together. Now I understand the Chazal. Chazal say that kerushah, zivug, l'zavkom k'kriyas Yam Suf. You know what else Chazal...

I'll say, mezaynes. Kasha, the mezaynes is the kriyas Yam. Interesting. The same thing, the zivug and the kriyas Yam Suf, and the parnassah. What's the connection? You know, kriyas Yam Suf is splitting what was meant to be together. Zivug, l'zavug, what was meant to be together. It's like kriyas Yam Suf. Parnassah, same thing. Where and how and who you get your parnassah from is like zivug, like kriyas Yam Suf. It's a connection. Zu mi zu. The Ribono Shel Olam puts the people together who have to connect for whatever reasons. It's a partnership made in heaven. And that becomes, Rabosai, the idea of understanding nosin lechem l'chol basar, nosin lechem l'chol basar. I was thinking something interesting. You know, the נמלה, Rabosai, is the quintessential example of parnassah, oger bakayitz lachmah. You know, they don't take for themselves. It's a colony. I don't know if you know, ants are a colony. It's not one ant who brings for himself. There's a whole group. The group. I was thinking, it's an interesting observation. I was thinking over Shabbos, this yesod. Lechem, the נמלה, atzel nosin lechem l'chol basar. If you notice, what does it say? L'chol basar. Ribono Shel Olam, when He feeds one, it's not feeding one. He's feeding the kol basar. It has a united structure, how it intermingles and becomes the feeding of the entire people. Parnassah has a system to it, and just like the neshamah, it's a colony, and the oyger, they come together to bring for the group. That becomes the yesod of parnassah. If a person's out for me and not for the parnassah of Klal Yisrael, the parnassah of the tzibbur, it's not about us, it's about me, then you miss the idea of l'chu parnesu zu mizu. This becomes the nisayon of parnassah, because the person shelo yeharher. He has to be able to be focused on what the Eibishter wants in him. And Avraham knew that this is what the Eibishter wants from him. He wants, Vahi ra'av ba'aretz, in order he should go down to Mitzrayim for whatever the reason. There's big reasons in why Avraham had to go down to Mitzrayim. There was an important idea of Avraham going to Mitzrayim so Ribbono Shel Olam is mesavev the parnassah, fakert, He's giving him parnassah, and not the reverse, that He's taking away the parnassah. This is the nisayon of Vahi ra'av. You've just experienced another Torah class, brought to you by TorahAnytime.com.