THE CONNECTION BETWEEN CALMNESS AND BITACHON - DEVARIM

Parashas Devarim begins with Moshe Rabbeinu rebuking the Jewish people for the various sins that they committed in the desert. One of the first sins that he addresses is that of the spies. Moshe recalls the events that led to this tragic occurrence. “And you all approached me and said, ‘let us send men ahead of us who will spy out the land for us, and they will tell us the way which we should go in it, and which cities we should come to’.”

Given that all of Moshe’s words involve some kind of rebuke, the question arises, what exactly is the criticism found in these words? Rashi explains that the way in which they approached Moshe was inappropriate. “You all approached me in an irbuvia, the children pushing ahead of the elderly, and the elderly pushing ahead of the leaders.”

The simple understanding of this criticism is that Moshe was rebuking them for a lack in derech eretz (respect) and kavod HaTorah (respect for Torah). Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky zt”l writes that it is difficult to say that this was the focus of Moshe’s reproof. It is clear from the account of the spies in Parashas Shelach, that the main failing of the spies was a lack of bitachon (trust in HaShem). This caused them to be fearful of the mighty people living in Eretz Yisroel, and to mourn their perceived inability to conquer the land. Accordingly, what is the connection between the fact that the people approached Moshe in an inappropriate manner, with the lack of bitachon that was the true cause of the sin?

Rav Kamenetsky explains that indeed, the lack of bitachon was the cause of the sin of the spies; the lack of derech eretz displayed was merely a symptom of that lacking. Had they had the appropriate level of trust, then they would have calmly approached Moshe, in the correct order. However, since they felt a great deal of anxiety about entering the land, they acted with behala (ie. in an agitated fashion), and broke the conventions of who should approach Moshe first. In this way, their lack of bitachon was the cause of their agitated behavior.

Rav Kamenetsky uses this idea to answer a pressing question in the story of the spies. In Parashas Shelach, the order of the spies is not in the same order as anywhere else in the Torah. Normally, they are written according to their age, but here they are not. The commentaries offer various suggestions as to the reasoning behind the order. Rav Kamenetsky suggests that there is no reasoning to the order of the spies in this instance; the spies, with the exception of Yehoshua and Calev, felt the same anxiety as the people, therefore they also approached their entry to Eretz Yisroel in a state of behala. Behala results in a lack of order, accordingly, it is appropriate that the spies are mentioned in no specific order as a reflection of their agitated attitude.

We have learnt from the principle of Rav Kamenetsky,that when a person acts in an agitated, or hurried fashion, there is a strong possibility that his behavior stems from a lack of trust in HaShem. A person who has such trust, will feel no sense of panic when he needs to do something, and will have no sense of impatience when events do not take place as quickly as he would like them to. Rather, he recognizes that HaShem is constantly guiding him, and any tests that he undergoes are HaShem’s way of giving him opportunities to grow. However, when a person does not have the security that bitachon provides, he feels no sense of calmness (menucha), and may feel eager to make events happen quicker than they should.

The first lesson that one can take from this idea is to be aware of situations when he may have a tendency to be impatient or agitated. When he is aware that he is in this state, he should make every effort to refrain from any action that he may later regret. Rather, he should try to step back and take a measured view of the situation at hand. Secondly, he should understand that his behavior may well stem from a lack of bitachon, and he should try to internalize that which intellectually he knows to be true – that HaShem is with Him and therefore, there is no need to get agitated.

May we all merit to develop the bitachon that will enable us to live with menucha.

SHABBOS - MENUCHA

In order to appreciate Shabbos properly, it is essential to develop an understanding of the idea of 'menucha' that is so central to this holy day. The Torah states: "And on the seventh day, G-d completed the work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all the work that He had done." This passuk poses a difficult problem. It informs us that G-d rested on the seventh day, implying that He did nothing. Yet it also says that on this same day He 'completed' His work of creation, indicating that He did actually create something on Shabbos, and that this final act of creation caused the completion of the world. The Medrash, brought by Rashi, explains that G-d did indeed created something on Shabbos. He created the concept of menucha (rest) through His 'act' of resting. We see from here, that Hashem's menucha did not merely entail an absence of action, rather it involved some kind of active effort. This understanding leads us to ask, what was the active element in Hashem's menucha?

The Beis HaLevi zt"l addresses this question. He begins by explaining the fundamental difference between the first six days and Shabbos. In the first six days, Hashem was actively creating completely new forms of existence from nothing. On Shabbos, He refrained from creating new things, however He did not sit idly, so to speak, and do nothing. What did He do on Shabbos? The Beis HaLevi explains that Hashem is constantly recreating the world. We acknowledge this in birchos krias shema. We say "and in His goodness, He renews the works of creation every day, constantly." This means that Hashem is constantly creating the world anew. If He stopped doing this for one instance then the world would cease to exist. This process began on the first Shabbos of creation, and it is this that is described as Hashem's menucha. It contrasted with the previous six days in that Hashem refrained from creating new things, yesh m'ayin, rather He recreated the world in its previous form. Thus, Hashem's menucha did not constitute a mere refraining of activity, rather it represented a change from creating new things, to recreating them in their previous form. This was the 'creation' of the seventh day.

We are commanded to emulate Hashem's resting on Shabbos by refraining from melacha. However, it is not sufficient to merely do nothing, rather we also must emulate Hashem's menucha. In what way can we do this based upon the Beis HaLevi's explanation of menucha? The Torah tells us that on these six days we must do melacha. This means that we must be involved in creative activity, in this way we emulate Hashem's creation of the first six days. On Shabbos, we must refrain from such activity, however this does not mean that we do nothing. Rather we must emulate the way that Hashem 'rested'. He recreated the world, enabling it to maintain its previous state. In a similar way, on Shabbos, we must actively maintain all the 'creation' of the previous six days, and not let it all go to waste. This means that a significant part of Shabbos menucha is to consolidate one's achievements from the previous six days. In a practical sense, this means that one should go over his previous week, assessing how he grew, and where he faltered. In this way he can prevent the previous week's events from being lost, and he can use them as a springboard for the following week.

Rav Hirsch zt"l points out that this a fundamental aspect of one's avodas Hashem. He learns this out from the Mitzvo of Terumas Hadeshen, the raising up of the ashes, whereby a Kohen must move the ashes from the altar to the ground next to the altar. Rav Hirsch points out that this is the first avoda (service) of the day in the Mishkan, but it is really a continuation of the previous day's avoda. This alludes to us that today's avoda should be a continuation of the previous day's accomplishments. Each day of growth and avodas Hashem should not be contained in a vacuum, isolated from the past. Rather a person must consolidate on this previous accomplishments and build on them in the new day. Shabbos seems to encompass this idea to a greater extent than the other days, because it is the one day when we are free from distractions and are therefore able to step back and assess where we are holding in our avodas Hashem.

Shabbos is the day of rest, however we have seen that the 'rest', involved does not constitute mere inactivity. Rather it require an active effort to contemplate the previous week's accomplishments and failings. May we all merit to attain true Shabbos menucha.