Life In A Bleak World - Is There Hope?
The world seems to be going through significant turmoil. Islamic fundamentalism has put everyone on edge, from New York to Jakarta and everywhere in between. The financial meltdown has not helped. And as Jews we wonder why the world is yet again ganging up on Israel. If the world's leaders are looking to make a difference, surely issues in North Korea, Iran, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe and Darfur can keep them busy.
Indeed how can we sleep peacefully in our beds at night with such storms brewing outside our front doors?
At the beginning of this week's Torah reading, the Parshah of Devarim (Deuteronomy 1:1-3:22), Moses makes oblique references to a number of places where the Jewish people had grumbled against G‑d whilst traveling through the desert, thus rebuking the Jewish people for their behavior. While the commentators discuss why Moses did not openly refer to the incidents, perhaps the bigger question is why the Jews rebelled in the first place. Surely the generation that saw the Ten Plagues, the Splitting of the Sea and the Giving of the Torah should have been a bit stronger in their belief in G‑d!
It is instructive that many of the occasions that Moses refers to were connected to concerns over their food supply: a lack of water, discontent over the manna and a desire to eat meat. Apparently, the Jewish people didn't suffer so much from a lack of belief as much as from a lack of trust. It was unquestionable to them that G‑d could sustain them in the desert had He wished, their issue was whether He would.
Approximately one thousand years ago Rabbeinu Bachaya ibn Pakuda wrote a fundamental book on faith called Chovot Halevavot. On the issue of trust in G‑d he defines seven conditions that are necessary for a person to have complete trust in another: Knowledge that the one you trust in (1) loves and cares for you, and that he or she (2) is devoted to your needs and (3) is aware of your needs—factors that can be commonly found in good friends or family members.
Rabbeinu Bachaya continues, however, that to engender complete trust, the one in whom you trust must also be (4) fully capable of fulfilling your needs, (5) consistently have taken care of your needs in the past and will continue to do so as long as you live, be (6) the only one with the ability to help or harm you, and (7) his generosity must be non-dependent of your deserving.
While some of these later conditions may be found in family, friends or even government some of the time, they will only be found consistently in G‑d.
King David writes in the Book of Psalms: "Throw your burden unto G‑d." While we must do all we can in practical terms, King Solomon reminds us in Proverbs that "the hearts of kings and ministers are in the hand of G‑d."
It's not enough to believe that He could protect us from all the madness surrounding us, we must trust that He will.
"Think good and it will be good," the chassidic masters tell us. This is more than the power of positive thinking; it is the belief that through – and because of – our trust in G‑d, He will shower us with an abundance of blessing, health, wealth and prosperity.
The same message applies to those who maintain that "If Netanyahu keeps antagonizing America, Israel will be doomed," "Israel cannot survive without America's support," or any number of similar statements that are oft-heard comments these days.
These statements are incorrect. Yes, we strive to maintain friendly relations with all—when doing so doesn't pose a risk to our own security. Yes, we do our best to stabilize our world and make it a more safe, secure and economically sound place to live in. And we appoint the leaders who we believe will do the best jobs in these areas.
But we don't put our trust in anyone other than G‑d.
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