Emuna Daily

Worrying is a conversation you have with yourself about things you cannot change.

Davening is a conversation you have with Hashem about things He Can change.

Worry less.  Daven more.

Never stop pleading with your Father in Heaven.

The more you speak to Him as a father, the more He will reveal Himself in that role.

~ The Maggid of Mezritch

Moshe did not eat, drink or sleep for 40 days when he received the Torah.  The reason could be understood with a parable:

A king once said to his beloved friend, “Gather for yourself gold coins from my treasury.”  In his excitement, the friend did not eat or drink.  Whenever he felt the need to sleep, he said, “If I sleep, I will lose all this treasure!”  

So too, when Moshe was gathering Torah knowledge, he forgot about eating and drinking.  Whenever he felt the need to sleep, he said, “If I sleep, I will lose out, for Hashem has granted me only 40 days!”

~ R’ Chaim Kanievsky zt”l

“The Torah was not given to angels.”

~ Midrash Tanchuma, Naso 11

Hashem gave the Torah to human beings—with struggles, with flaws, with potential.

Shavuos reminds us: You don’t need to be perfect to receive the Torah.

You just need to be willing.

The mishna at the beginning of Peah states that the study of Torah outweighs them all (i.e., all of the other mitzvos).  The Vilna Gaon, in Shenos Eliyahu, explains why this is so:

It is because every word of Torah study is a fulfillment of a mitzvah on its own, and that mitzvah is equivalent to all the other mitzvos combined! 

Thus, a single page of Gemara contains the opportunity to fulfill hundreds of mitzvos, each of which is equivalent to all the other mitzvos!

~ R’ Chaim Kanievsky zt”l

Only three people were graced with the distinct title of “Eved” (Servant) of Hashem:

Avraham Avinu, Kaleiv and Moshe Rabeinu.  

It is because they never referred to another human being as “my master” or themselves as “your servant” and remained solely devoted in servitude to Hashem Yisbarach.

~ Meshech Chachmah

Let’s keep our perspective.  Of course, we must meet our physical needs.  It is impossible to live without them.

Nevertheless, we do not need to keep talking about them! 

~ The Alter of Novardok

A child once asked, “How did the Chazon Ish become the Chazon Ish?

The Chazon Ish replied, “It was because I never wasted a moment of time, and I was always careful with the mitzvah of kibud av v’em.”

לְאָדָם מַעַרְכֵי-לֵב; וּמֵה’ מַעֲנֵה לָשׁוֹן
“Man may prepare the thoughts of his heart, but the response of the tongue is from Hashem.”
— Mishlei 16:1

A chazan can prepare every note, but when he opens his mouth, it’s Hashem who decides how it sounds.

So too in life: We plan, we speak, but the final word is always His.

Fear is “What if?”

Emuna is “Even if.”

~ R’ Shlomo Farhi