Welcome to the daily chizook. If someone asks us for our time when we're already busy or asks us to do something that requires a lot of effort, our first reaction might be, Why should I give up my time now? I have so many things to do. The same is true when it comes to giving in. Sometimes we know we're right and giving in will cost us something. So our Yitzara tells us not to. However, when we act for the sake of Hashem, we never lose. Whether we see it or not, when we do for others or give in to others, we are always the ones who gain. A man who will call Yehuda asked his Chavrutah if he built his sukayah. His Chavrutah said he didn't. His children were too young to help him and he couldn't do it by himself. Yehuda saw how much he needed someone. So he said, Don't worry. I can come help you today. Ben-A-Sedarim at 245. The Chavrutah was so grateful. He needed help so badly. He canceled an appointment that he had that afternoon so he could be home when Yehuda came. After morning-Seder, shortly before he was supposed to go to his Chavrutah, Yehuda came home looking for something to eat. He found a piece of frozen chocolate cake in the freezer and tried to take a bite. The cake was so frozen that instead of taking a bite out of it, he broke his front tooth from it. Besides the pain, he couldn't go around looking like that. He needed a dentist immediately. See, he called his regular dentist clinic but they told him the next available appointment wasn't for another month. He told them he couldn't wait. The secretary then said, Actually, if you come now, I'll take you. We have an opening because someone canceled. He rushed over. The dentist was able to temporarily fix his tooth and later, when he finally came to his Chavrutah's house to help him build the sukayah, he told them what happened. The Chavrutah looked at Yehuda and said, Do you know who canceled that appointment? I did. I canceled it so I could be here when you come help me build my sukayah. Amazing. Yehuda thought he was giving up of his time to help somebody else but in reality Hashem was using the very act of Chesed that he was going to do to help himself when he needed. Another man had been building his sukayah for years in the same spot between his building and the next building. One year after he and his sons finished all their work, a neighbor from the next building came very upset claiming the sukayah was on their property. The man knew he had every right to be there and the matter was brought to a rabbi. After hearing both sides, the rabbi spoke to him privately and said, I know that you're right, but look who you're dealing with. It may be much more to your benefit just to give in. I guarantee you no one ever lost out from giving in. This would be very difficult. He had already built his entire sukayah. Now he'd have to take the whole thing apart, carry everything to the other side of the building and then start over again. But he said, Okay, I'm going to be Mivater. I'll do it to avoid Machlokit and I'll do it with joy. So he and his sons took apart the sukayah and rebuilt it in a different location. It took a lot of time and effort. But after he finished, he was so happy to have the zichut to be able to avoid Machlokit. It was the perfect preparation to fulfill the mitzvah of sitting in Hashem's sukayah, which is called the Sukat Shalom. On the third day of Khola Moed, a sewage pipe unexpectedly burst in the building next door. Everything landed directly on the spot where his original sukayah had been standing. The sukayah that was now there became unusable for the rest of the holiday. Meanwhile, his family continued enjoying their beautiful sukayah on the other side of the building. Here again, what looked like something he was giving up turned out to be the very thing that benefited him. We don't always get to see the ending so clearly. Many times we give up of our time for somebody else and we never see what we gained. We give in for the sake of Shalom and we never see what Hashem saved us from that. But these stories remind us there's no such thing as losing when you do what Hashem wants. When the Yetzara tells us, why should I give up of my time? Why should I make the effort? Why should I give in when I'm right? We have to remember we're doing it for the sake of Hashem and when we do for the sake of Hashem, we always gain. Sometimes we get to see it immediately and sometimes we don't get to see it. But the reality is always the same. Every chesed, every sacrifice we make and every time we give in for the sake of Shalom, it is something that Hashem treasures. The more effort it takes, the harder it is, the greater is the zikhut. Have a great day.

Welcome to the daily Hizouk all year long. A person naturally gets his sense of security from the things that surround him. He has a house with strong walls and a solid roof. He has money in the bank, a good job, insurance, doctors, family, and people he could call when he needs help. And without realizing it, a person can start to feel, I am protected, I'm secure. On Sukor Hashem tells us to leave our house. We go and sit under this khach, a roof that does not give any real physical protection. And this is the yom tov that the Torah tells us more than any, is the holiday of Simcha of happiness. Because Hashem is telling us that one of the greatest sources of happiness is knowing who is really protecting you. A person thinks his house protects him, but how many things could happen inside the strongest house? He thinks his money protects him, but money could disappear in an instant. He thinks a certain person could help him, but that person can suddenly be unable to help. None of those things offer any real protection. They are just the means that Hashem uses to protect us. For seven days Hashem tells us, come outside and leave behind the illusion of security to come sit with me. Chazal tells us, the sukkah commemorates the Ananiah Kavod, the clouds of glory that surrounded the Jewish people in the desert. There they were in one of the most dangerous places imaginable. A desert without any protection, without any food, without any, without any water, and yet Hashem completely protected them with food, with shelter, with climate, with everything a person could possibly want. And this is one of the reasons why sukkah is man Simchateno. There's an enormous joy that comes when a person realizes, I don't have to be the one to hold my life together because Hashem is holding it for me. We spend so much energy trying to create security. We wonder what's going to be with my paternasah? What's going to happen with my child? What's going to happen with my health? What's going to be next year? And we try to build thick walls around ourselves to make sure nothing can go wrong. But then on sukkah, we enter the sukkah and Hashem reminds us, you don't need thicker walls, you need more emuna. The sukkah is called the silah de mehemnutah, the shade of emuna. We sit there and remind ourselves, Hashem, this is where I'm the safest. Not because the walls are strong, because here I recognize that you are with me. A father once took his young son on a trip. At one point, they had to walk on a very narrow path, and the boy became frightened. His father said to him, hold on to me. The boy grabbed the father's jacket tightly and continued walking. A few minutes later, the path became even more difficult. The father looked down and said, give me your hand. The boy said, don't worry dad, I'm already holding you. His father said, there's a very big difference. If you're holding me and you become frightened, you might let go. But if I'm holding your hand, I'm never letting go. This is one of the messages of the sukkah. We sometimes think our security depends on how tightly we are holding on, how carefully we plan for things, how much money we saved, how many connections we have, and how well prepared we are. But on sukkah, we realize our security does not come from how tightly we are holding on to things. It comes from knowing that Hashem is holding us. When we walk into the sukkah, we should look at the sukkah and say, Hashem, I am in your hands. My family is in your hands. My Paranasah is in your hands. My health is in your hands. My entire future is in your hands. And there's no safer place to be in the world. Chag Sameach and Shabbat Shalom.

Welcome to the daily Hizouk. There are times when a person is confronted with very big tests and sometimes those tests entail giving in to another party for peace, whether it's giving up money, property, or just plain old honor. It's always very difficult to do, especially when the person feels that they should not be the one to give in because it was the other side that caused the problem and they should be giving in. We must know the great value in being the one to sacrifice for peace according to the effort is the reward. Many times Hashem will prevent or present someone with an opportunity to give in as a vehicle to bring that person a blessing that he needs very badly. The rule is a person never loses by sacrificing for Hashem. It may appear that way at the onset, but in the end he will only gain. A man related, he deals in real estate. Being that he has no steady income, he is constantly connecting to Hashem and asking for his help. Sometimes he doesn't make any money for months and then one day in one swoop he'll get a half a year salary. In 2022, his third son became engaged and they set the wedding date towards the end of November. From months in advance, he booked the wedding hall, the band and the photographer. He also booked the caterer for the Shabbat Sheva Berakot. All of the Sheva Berakot were meals, all the Sheva Berakot meals were confirmed as well. One day, he received a phone call from his father-in-law telling him that his brother-in-law was about to celebrate his son's engagement and their wedding was scheduled for the same week as his and that would mean that both Shabbat Sheva Berakot would fall out on the same Shabbat. His father-in-law explained to him he really wanted to attend it both and politely asked him if he could switch his wedding date. Initially, this seemed like an impossible request, being that it would mean he would have to change so many things. He also felt that if anything, his brother-in-law should be the one changing his wedding date because his was said already beforehand. His father-in-law did tell him it would be too complicated for his brother-in-law to switch but he felt it was just as complicated for him to switch also. He told his father-in-law respectfully he would see what he could do. After going back and forth with it in his mind, he decided to get over the unpleasantness of it and asked his mehoutan if he would be okay with them switching the date. The mehoutan thought about it and then said he would be okay with it if he would take care of making all the changes himself. And so he contacted everyone that he needed to and Baruch Hashem was able to reschedule the wedding for 10 days later with everything being exactly the same. As the wedding drew near, the man received an invitation to a huge event where apartments and properties would be featured for sale. It was like a real estate fair and the date was the same date that his son's wedding was originally scheduled for. Now that the date was changed, he was able to attend and at that fair he found a property worth $20 million and succeeded in closing a deal between a buyer and a seller on it. He got his 2% commission which came out to $400,000, the largest commission he had ever earned. He then understood that Hashem had blessing in store for him, but he needed him to first do that heroic act of giving in for peace to access it. By giving in, he not only earned endless rewards in the next world, he also received dividends in this world as well. Have a great day.

Welcome to the daily Hizuq, the Sefer Ha'ikrim writes, there are three fundamentals of Emonah that every Jew must believe. Number one is the existence of Hashem. Number two is that the Torah was given to us from Shammayim. And number three, that Hashem is involved in everything that happens in this world, Hashqaha peratit. The Sefer Kometz Minha writes, that each of the Shalom Shedegaleem corresponds to one of these three fundamentals. On Pesach, the world learned that Hashem exists. On Shavuot, we saw the Torah coming down from Shammayim. And on Sukkot, we saw how Hashem took care of the Jewish people's every need in the desert, surrounding them in his clouds of glory. And thus, we leave our homes and go to live in temporary structures to show that we know we are in Hashem's hands. He is the one who protects and watches over us at all times. And this is one of the reasons why Sukkot is called Zeman Simhatenu, the time of our greatest joy. Because when a person internalizes that he is in Hashem's hands, he can be happy in all situations in life, even during the trying times. A woman related, how Emona gave her the ultimate strength and joy to deal with a very difficult situation that she was experiencing in her life. Last year, she had a miscarriage late in the pregnancy. It was a devastating blow, especially since they had been waiting to have a child. After the loss, she worked very hard on her Emona. That is what enabled her to get through that very difficult time with sanity. She conceived shortly afterward. However, to her dismay, things went wrong right from the beginning. The pregnancy was filled with fear and panic. Every doctor's visit meant more fear, and every trimester brought its own challenges. She decided to start listening from the beginning of an Emona hotline that she would regularly call. This hotline has over 2,005 minute clips, and she went back and started from number one. She drank every word thirstily and allowed the words to penetrate her soul and override her emotions. There were many times when she thought the pregnancy had ended. She kept repeatedly attempting to strengthen herself like a lion and kept listening to the classes aggressively. She would dial the number trembling and then hang up feeling much more relaxed and hopeful. There were many nights when panic would overtake her and the doctor's grim prognosis wouldn't let her sleep. She would then call the Emona hotline and let the words of Kizuk calm her nerves and enable her to fall asleep. There were times when she had questions like if Hashem didn't want us to be parents yet. Why did he have to pick up our hopes so high only to drop them down so low? But then the Emona lessons answered that question for her too. Perhaps there was a harsh decree written for them and Hashem and his infinite mercy was giving them temporary challenges in exchange. Those thoughts gave her a lot of hizouk. She felt like she entered the pregnancy on a premature theoretical level of Emona and left it on an advanced level with a concrete connection to Hashem. She would not sell this connection for any money in the world. This was the most precious commodity that she possesses. By the end of the pregnancy, she had already listened to 770 classes on the hotline. She especially connected with the lesson about imagining the Yeshua of Hashem before it happens and relying on Him for it. As she holds her beautiful baby girl in her arms, she knows with certainty that the only thing that got her to this glorious moment was her Emona and Bittachon. When we go outside and look up at the flimsy schach, we should internalize that it is only Hashem who protects, only Hashem who helps, and only Hashem who takes care of us. The more we recognize this, the happier we will be. Have a great day.

Welcome to the daily Hizuq. We know in the Medbār Hashem gave the Jewish people three miraculous gifts, the man, the Be'er Shal Miriam, and the Ananiyā Kavod. Yet, we have a Yom Tov that only appreciates the Ananiyā Kavod, the Haliray of Sukkot. Why don't we have a Yom Tov for the man, or for the well? The Mabīd answers, the Jewish people could not survive in the desert without food and water. Hashem, so to speak, had to provide those for them. But the Ananiyā Kavod, the clouds of glory, were different. Technically, they could have survived without them. It would have been difficult. The scorching sun would have beaten down upon them. They would have been exposed to snakes and scorpions, and the terrain would have been extremely difficult to travel through. But they could have survived. These clouds of glory showed us something much more. Hashem didn't just want his children to survive. He wanted them to be comfortable. He wanted the climate to be perfect, the terrain to be smooth, and to protect them from everything around them. And therefore, when we sit in the Sukkot and remember those clouds, Hashem wants us to internalize how much love that he has for us. He doesn't just give us what we need. He gives us so much more. Furthermore, we see an even deeper expression of Hashem's love at the Yamsuf. Rashi tells us in Parashat Yitro, when the Mitzriim were shooting arrows at the Jewish people, the Ananiyā Kavod were absorbing them. Hashem could have protected the Jewish people in countless ways. He could have stopped the Egyptians from shooting the arrows altogether. Why did he specifically have the clouds absorb those arrows? The Tif'edit Shemuel explains, the Ananiyā Kavod represented the sheikhina surrounding the Jewish people. Hashem was telling us, I want to take the arrows for you. Hashem wanted us to understand his extraordinary love that he has for us. When someone truly loves another person, he doesn't only want to give that person, and he is not only willing to take pain for that person, he even wants to take pain for that person. A mother will endure tremendous pain for her child and even feel privileged to do so. The greater the love, the more a person is willing to sacrifice for the one he loves. On Sukkot, Hashem wants us to recognize that this is the love that he has for us. The Ananiyā Kavod didn't just show us that Hashem will provide for us. They showed us that Hashem loves us with an endless love. And when a person truly understands how much Hashem loves him, naturally he will want to reciprocate. Towards the end of his life, the Hafec Ha'im would pray that he should have the opportunity to die on Kiddush Hashem. The tif-edit Shemuel explained, it was not because he was looking for more zikhuyot. He was saying, Hashem, I love you so much. I wish I could show you just how much I love you. I would even give you the most precious thing I have, my life. There was a time when the Hafec Ha'im had to spend an entire Shabbat alone in the field in order to avoid violating Shabbat. He had no food, no comforts, yet afterward he described what a beautiful Shabbat he had. The difficulty itself became an enjoyment for him because he knew he was doing it for Hashem. When we know how much Hashem loves us, our attitude towards serving him can change. Something could be difficult like getting up early to learn and pray or to hold ourselves back from something we want to do or to do a mitzvah under a challenging circumstance. But instead of thinking, why do I have to do this now? We could think, Hashem, I love you. If this is what you want from me now, I'm happy to do it. There are people, even when experiencing suffering, that are able to say, Hashem, I know you love me and I know you want this from me. So not only am I going to accept it, but I'm going to enjoy the pain that you're giving me because it's what you want. This is an extraordinary level of emunah. Suk'ah, Suk'or is our opportunity to sit under this khach and think about what the Ananiyya kavod really showed us that Hashem didn't just keep us alive. He surrounded us with love. He made everything perfect for us and he showed us. He's even happy to take the pain for us. The more we recognize how much Hashem loves us, the more we're going to love him back. And then even when serving him requires sacrifice, instead of feeling pain, we'll feel the privilege and say, Hashem, I love doing this for you. Have a great day.

Welcome to the daily Hizouk when Nafqah told Yaakov to go to the house of Lavan and find a wife. She said, He should stay there for Yameem Ahadim, which is generally translated to mean for a short time, until his brother's anger subsides, and then she would call for him to come back. When Yaakov told Lavan he would work for seven years to marry Rahel. Rashi says, those are the Yameem Ahadim that Rivka was referring to. The question is, why would Rivka want Yaakov to be in such a bad environment with Lavan for such a long time? Furthermore, when Yaakov was working during those seven years, it says They felt like Yameem Ahadim a short time because of his love for her. The question is asked, seemingly, if someone is so eager to get married, every day should feel like an eternity, not Yameem Ahadim. Rabbi Menasha Reisman quoted Ravmichel Forslanger, who gave a beautiful explanation to answer these questions. Rivka wanted to give Yaakov the greatest tool that would ensure that he is always happy in any circumstance that he finds himself in. When a person is suffering because of a problem in life, usually it's because the problem has persisted for a long period of time. Problems that only last a short amount of time are much easier to deal with. If someone is older and not married, talking about his difficulty, it is likely he will say, I've been trying for so many years and nothing ever works out. However, if a person is able to live one day at a time, his quality of life would improve tremendously. Every day is a new day with endless possibilities of what could happen. If the person believes when he wakes up in the morning that today could easily be the day of my salvation, it would give him so much strength and courage. What was yesterday has nothing to do with today. The difficulty comes about when a person joins today with all the previous days and looks at them as one big continuation. Similarly, when it comes to the worries that people suffer from, usually it has to do with the future. Because today, right now, they are still taken care of. They're just worried that it's not going to stay that way in the future. Which means the main suffering and worry of a person comes about because of him thinking about the past as well as the future. If he would just focus on today how much he has already and what could happen to bring salvation, he would be so much happier. This is what Rivka was telling Yaakov regarding the home of Lavan. He should be there for Yameem Ahadim literally one day at a time. She knew it was going to be tough for him there and so she gave him the secret to persevering. Even though he said he would work for seven years, that could mean seven years worth of work. And if Yaakov would get some kind of windfall of money, he could pay Lavan and leave at any time. An evidivity who has to work for six years can be freed at any moment if his master wants to set him free. And he is able to pray that Hashem put in his master's mind to let him out. Or that he finds enough money to buy himself out. When a person knows he can get out of his troubles today, it gives him so much strength. If someone is told that he will have to undergo treatment for a certain amount of time or be in the hospital for a certain amount of time, the person can take away so much mental anguish by recognizing that with Hashem nothing ever has to be the way people say. The first treatment can go so well that no further treatments are necessary. The patient can become better and turn what was supposed to be a two-week hospital stay into a two-day hospital stay. Even though Yosef Hassadik was in jail for 12 years, he was always in good spirits knowing that any day he can get out. And although it may have seemed that Yaakov had a very hard time in Lavan's house being swindled and taken advantage of multiple times, the Pasuk testifies Vayavor Yaakov Shalem. Yaakov left Lavan's house complete in every way, physically, monetarily, and most importantly, spiritually. He was meant to marry four wives and have 12 Sheva team from them. Lavan was never able to take advantage of Yaakov. Everything happened exactly the way Hashem wanted it to for the benefit of Yaakov. A person's pitakhon in Hashem can give him so much strength every day of his life. When it says that the seven years Yaakov worked for Rahel were yamim ahadim baavatota, of Michal explained it means, even though Yaakov loved Rahel and wanted to marry her. But because he looked at each day individually thinking, maybe today I will marry her, the time went by very fast. Similarly, he was able to get by the long difficult stay in Lavan's house because Levka told him, I'm going to send for you when it's time to come home. And every day Yaakov was able to say, maybe today will be the last day. Yeshua Hashem is always keheref ayin. Everybody could be saved from their problems today. If we focus on today with the proper pitakhon, we'll always have the strength and courage we need to be happy and productive in life. Have a great day.

Welcome to the daily hizouk, a life without emunah and betahun, usually leads to so much unnecessary stress and worry, as well as unnecessary efforts in the area of hishtalut. A man related that for his entire business career, he opened his store at 8 in the morning and didn't close until 8 in the evening. He was always so worried that if he closed any earlier, a potential customer would then go to his competition and discover that their product was just as good as his. He might then end up permanently going to that store. And because of this worry, plus the fact that he thought more hours means more money, he worked long and difficult 12 hour workdays. But as he began to grow old, that schedule became too taxing for him. However, he was too afraid to work any less. Then someone introduced him to the shara betahun. After learning it, he discovered that he could certainly put aside his worries and put in less hours than he was currently working. But learning it once wasn't enough for him to take real action. He learned each section again and again until he went through the entire chapter five times. He then calmly began working regular day schedules, leaving his store at 6 p.m. Since then, his financial situation has only improved. He can't explain it, but his store is earning more money than ever. The explanation is simple. Hashem is in charge of Paranasa and when we realize that and truly believe it, he rewards that belief. It is never up to us to figure out how Hashem will send us Paranasa. It's up to us to believe and pray with that belief. A woman told, she's an only child and her father passed away many years ago. Baruch Hashem, she got married and built a family of her own. A few days before Sukkot this year, a FedEx envelope was delivered to their front porch. She gave it to her husband thinking it might be for him. He opened it and found a check for a very large amount of money. It came at a time that they needed the money very badly and they had no idea who would possibly be sending them anything close to that amount. They investigated further and saw how Hashem orchestrated for them to receive the money they so desperately needed just at the right time. 40 years ago, her grandfather loaned a friend $50,000. This friend never repaid it and life moved on. Her grandfather eventually passed away and so did her father. This debt was long forgotten by everyone except the one who never forgets. On his deathbed, the old friend wanted to leave the world with a clean slate so he instructed his family to repay all of his outstanding debts including the one owed to her grandfather. Since her grandfather was no longer alive, they split the money amongst his children and since her father passed away and she was an only child, she received his full share. A debt from decades ago, a check that passed through generations was delivered right to her doorstep at the perfect moment. While they were unsure of how they were going to pay their bills Hashem was preparing their salvation from years in advance. Hashem is in charge of Patanasah, those who know it are able to live their lives with much more peace of mind. Have a great day.

Welcome to the daily hizouk. The pasouk says in Tehillim perek yud-tet ha-shamaim mis-saperim kevod-el uma-aseyadav magid harakia. Davira Melech is telling us that he looked at the creations in the world with amazement, seeing the greatness of Hashem in them. Studies have shown that the entire earth in which we live upon is 1.3 million times smaller than the Sun, and there are stars in outer space that are big enough to contain 9.3 billion Suns inside of them. The vastness is mind-boggling. Astronomers estimate that there are 2 trillion galaxies just in the observable universe, and all of the stars, planets, and galaxies that we can see make up just 4% of the entire universe, which means there's another 96% that we can't see, detect, or even comprehend. One of the reasons Hashem made the world like this is for us to realize His greatness. Somebody could become a believer in Hashem just by observing His creations. Rav Shach once went to visit someone in the hospital. At that time the rabbi himself was in his 90s, and the hospital staff accorded him great honor. One of the big doctors there escorted the rabbi out of the hospital when he left, and Rav Shach turned to him and asked what kind of car he drove. The doctor answered him, a Mercedes. Rav Shach then asked when he bought the car to which the doctor replied six months before that. Rav Shach asked further why he needed a new car, what was wrong with his previous one. The doctor said, rabbi, I did have a Mercedes before also, but they're always updating and making the car better. Rav Shach then said, we see from here, even the best cars on the market always have more room to improve in. Yes replied the doctor. Rav Shach then said, I know you're an expert cardiologist. What do you think about doing something to the heart to improve it? Can you think of something in the heart that needs improving upon and fixing it? Maybe one of the chambers is too small, or maybe one of the lobes is too far to the left. The doctor said no, the heart is perfect and doesn't need any improvements. Rav Shach then said, please tell me who can make something so perfect that never needs improving upon? The doctor replied, only God, and they both smiled. The brain is perfect, the eyes are perfect, every body part is perfect, because they are the makings of Hashem. After David Amalek wrote seven Pesuchim and that mizmour about the world, he switched gears and started speaking about the Torah saying, Torah Hashem temimah mesheevah nafesh, and he continued with more Pesuchim. Rabbi Zamiir Kohan explained as follows, from a person observing the world and the creations of Hashem, we can come to Emuna, but we'll still be left with a lot of questions regarding how and why things came into being. For that Hashem gave us the ultimate gift, the Torah which is temimah, complete, and has the answers to all of those questions. And that brings a person peace of mind, mesheevah nafesh, when a person has clarity he feels at ease. For millennia, philosophers and laymen have been trying to figure out the purpose of the world. How did the world start? How did man start? Is there life after death? All of these questions and more have perplexed the minds of mankind for all of history, but we have all of the answers right in front of us, children in kindergarten, know how the world started, know how Adam was created, we know our purpose, we know there's olam haba and having clarity gives us peace of mind. As we begin once again learning the Torah from Bideshi, let us appreciate this wonderous gift that Hashem has shared with us. Have a great day.

Welcome to the daily hizouk. There's an interesting phenomenon in life that we don't usually stop to think about. It's called laughter. Why did Hashem create laughter? And what exactly causes a person to laugh? Rabbi Zamir Kohan explained, generally, laughter comes when we are expecting one thing to happen and suddenly something completely unexpected takes place. We expect someone to say one thing and then he says exactly the opposite. We think we know where something is headed and suddenly there's a completely unexpected turn and that surprise brings about laughter. David Amalek said about Hashem, Yosef Bashamaim Yishak, Hashem who sits in heaven laughs. Hashem sees people making their plans, thinking they know exactly what's going to happen while he knows that everything is going to turn out completely differently. Paroah was told that the savior of the Jewish people was going to be born and was ultimately going to be struck through water. Paroah thought he had the perfect solution, throw every Jewish baby boy into the Nile. But Hashem took Paroah's very plan and used it against him. Not only did Moshe survive, he was brought directly into Paroah's palace. As a result of his decree, Paroah's own daughter raised him and Paroah and Moshe's own mother was paid to nurse him. The very man who was trying to prevent the Jewish savior from growing up ended up raising him in his home. Paroah thought he knew what he was doing. But Hashem had a completely different plan. Yosef Bashamaim Yishak. Haman built the gallows 50 year more high because he wanted Mordechai's death to be seen by everyone. But Hashem was preparing a completely different ending. The gallows that Haman prepared for Mordechai became the gallows upon which Haman himself was hanged. This is the way Hashem runs the world. People make plans, circumstances seem to be moving in one direction. Sometimes everything appears to be falling into place for the wrong outcome. And then in one moment Hashem turns everything around. We recently witnessed an extraordinary example of this in the attempted hijacking of that Dubai flight. Suddenly the lives of so many people were in grave danger. The plane was about 30 seconds away from crashing. But Hashem prepared a salvation that no one could have ever expected. First the pilot manages to open the door. Then the passenger overpowers the co-pilot. And the passenger happens to know how to lift the plane out of potential disaster. Then there happened to be qualified pilots on board who were passengers, who were able to come, fly and land the plane. A string of events that no one could have planned came together at precisely the right moments. The passengers went from a potential tragedy to singing the praises of Hashem, thanking him for his great salvation. Yosef Bashamaim Yishak. We only see the situations as they appear right now but Hashem sees the endings. And this knowledge should give us tremendous chizook. A person may look at his life and think he knows where thinks he knows where things are headed. The Shiduch doesn't seem to be coming. The Paternasah isn't working out. The medical situation doesn't look promising. A family problem seems to be getting worse. He looks at all the circumstances and sees no reasonable way for things to turn around. But we only see the middle of the story. Hashem sees the ending. Sometimes the very thing that appears to be taking us further away from our salvation is what Hashem is using to bring it about. We don't have to know how Hashem is going to do it but we know that Hashem is never limited by what we see in one moment. Everything can unexpectedly change and that is what we learn from laughter. And the greatest laughter of all is still awaiting us. Tavira Melch said, az yemale sechog pino. Then our mouths are going to be filled with laughter. When the final ge'ula arrives, it will be the greatest reversal imaginable. The nation that was persecuted throughout history, driven from country to country, attacked and threatened with annihilation again and again, will suddenly be elevated before the entire world. Everyone will look and say, this is the nation that everyone tried to destroy and now they are on top of the world. Az yemale sechog pino. That is going to engender the greatest laughter of all. Bezrat Hashem, we should all merit a year filled with this kind of laughter. The laughter that comes when Hashem reveals his Yeshua and suddenly turns situations around in ways we could have never imagined. We should have a year filled with happiness. Perochah Yeshua for Clal Yisrael and the Mashiach bimherabiamen o amen. Have a great time.

Welcome to the daily chizook. Everybody wants happiness. But what exactly is happiness and how do we get it? If someone is happy with his house, he's not going to be looking around for another house. If someone's happy with his family, he's not going to be looking around at other families. When a person is truly happy with what he has, he doesn't look around to see what everyone else has and he never becomes jealous of them. Happiness comes from a feeling of satisfaction, a feeling of being full. It's possible, even in physicality, to experience that feeling at least momentarily. If someone, let's say, wins the lottery, at that moment he will feel that his bank account is full. He doesn't need anything else. He'll feel content and he'll be happy. But when it comes to physicality, that feeling wears off quickly. Before long, he'll be back to wanting more and once again feeling lacking. Hashem gave us an incredible gift to be able to feel happy all the time. He gave us a mission in life. He gave us Torah and Mitzvot and the ability to fulfill that mission every second of the day. We constantly have the ability to experience the feeling of being full, the feeling of accomplishment. I did another Mitzvah. I learned another word of Torah. I did another act of Chesed. I prayed another tefilah. I overcame another challenge. Every one of those accomplishments is another step toward the purpose for which I came into this world. And there is no limit to how much a person can accomplish. He can keep doing more and more, constantly fulfilling his life with real meaning. This feeling of accomplishment can give a person a constant source of happiness. But what about the things in life that really bother people? Perhaps a person wishes he had more money. Perhaps he's unhappy with his spouse or there's something else in his life that he wishes was different. For this Hashem gave us another precious gift. The gift of Emuna. Knowing that Hashem is the one who gives me everything I have and he is the only one who knows exactly what I need. He knows my purpose in this world and knows what I need to fulfill it. And if I believe that, then I could always be happy. The wife that I have is the wife that Hashem handpicked for me because she's exactly what my Nishama needs. The amount of money that I have is exactly what Hashem determined I need right now to fulfill my purpose. And if I needed more, Hashem would have given me more. Once a person truly believes this, he can feel full and satiated. And this feeling of satiation is one of the most wonderful feelings a person can experience. The feeling of true contentment as the Mishnah says in Perkeavot, Ezehu Asheer HaSamech Bechelko, who is truly wealthy, someone who is happy with what he has. How could I be happy with what I have? Because I know who gave it to me, the one who loves me more than I could ever imagine, the one who knows my purpose and exactly what I need to fulfill my purpose. The feeling that I have everything I need right now will bring a person true satisfaction and happiness. Hashem has given us all the tools we need. He gave us the Torah and Mitzvot. He gave us the gift of Emonah. With these gifts, we can go through life full of purpose, full of meaning and full of the knowledge that Hashem has given me, everything that we need. And that is the recipe for true happiness. Have a great day.

Welcome to the daily chizuk. A rabbi told me he once heard a concept that made his tifila so much better. He said, imagine a person lying in a hospital bed whose body suddenly could no longer perform its basic functions on its own. First, he could no longer breathe. Immediately, the doctors would have to put him on a ventilator, sending oxygen into his lungs to keep him alive. Then imagine his heart could no longer pump his blood properly. Now he would need another machine to circulate his blood for him. His kidneys stopped filtering the waste from his bloodstream, so he would need dialysis. His body could no longer properly take nourishment, so he would need a feeding tube. If his heart's electrical system could no longer maintain the proper rhythm, he would need a pacemaker to send the signals necessary to keep it beating correctly. Picture this person surrounded by machines, with tubes and wires going everywhere. One machine is breathing for him, another is helping circulate his blood, another is cleaning his blood, another is supplying his nourishment, another is regulating his heartbeat. Without all of that assistance, he wouldn't be able to survive. And now, think about ourselves. We walk around without any of those machines, but that doesn't mean those things aren't being done for us. It means Hashem himself is doing them. Every second Hashem is making our hearts beat. He's causing our lungs to expand and contract. He is putting oxygen into our bloodstream and sending that blood throughout our bodies. He's causing our kidneys to filter our blood. He's enabling our digestive systems to take food and transform it into nourishment that gives energy to every part of the body. He is keeping the countless electrical signals traveling throughout our bodies exactly as they need to. At night, we don't need to plug ourselves into anything. We just go to sleep. And while we are completely unaware of what's happening, Hashem continues operating every system. The heart keeps beating. The lungs keep breathing. The blood keeps circulating. The kidneys keep filtering. The brain keeps functioning. Thousands upon thousands of processes continue taking place without giving them a single thought. When a person thinks about this, he begins to realize how close Hashem is to him. Hashem is giving me this breath right now. And now he's giving me another one. He just made my heart beat again and again. He is giving me life at this very moment. When a person truly internalizes this, his entire experience of Tifila can change. Because one of the things that sometimes makes Tifila difficult is that although we know Hashem hears us, he can feel so far away. Imagine someone desperately needed something from the President. He sees the President sitting inside his car with the window closed and begins screaming, trying desperately to get his attention. Mr. President, please, I need your help. Then the window opens. But the man continues screaming. The President looks at him and says, you don't have to scream. I'm right here. I'm listening to what you have to say. Sometimes when we pray, we feel as though Hashem is somewhere far away and we have to somehow get our Tifila to him. But when a person realizes that the one he is speaking to is the very one who is giving him the breath with which he is speaking, everything changes. Hashem is so close to me. I don't have to get his attention. I don't have to wonder whether he hears me. I could whisper the faintest whisper. And he's hearing every word. And then a person could think about something even greater. The Hashem who is so close to me, loves me with a love beyond anything I could comprehend. And so the person could speak to Hashem with such a beautiful feeling. Hashem, you're right here with me. You're giving me the breath that I'm using right now to speak to you. And you love me more than I could ever understand. Please, Hashem, I need your help. Please give me what I need. And if Hashem gives him what he asks for, he thanks him. And if he doesn't, he knows the same Hashem who loves him and is giving him every breath, knows that what he is asking for is not best for him at this moment. Tifila becomes so much better when Hashem is no longer considered somewhere in the heavens. Every heartbeat reminds us he is right here. Every breath tells us he is sustaining me right now. And when we get up to stand in front of him to pray, we are speaking to the one who loves us and is closer to us than we could ever imagine. Have a great day.

Welcome to the daily hizouk. The Torah tells us after Hashem completed the creation of the world Hashem saw everything that he made and it was very good There are many things that take place in this world that don't appear good to us But Hashem sees at all Hashem He sees the entire picture We see just one small piece Many times what we think would be best for us is not what Hashem knows we need A woman recently told me before Simcha Torah She had been reading a book on Emuna She came across a story about a man who had prepared himself to stay up the entire night of shavuol learning Torah He was so excited about it But then he got sick and all of his plans got cancelled He had a difficult time accepting it until the rabbi helped him understand That obviously Hashem wanted a different tikkun from him that shavuol His avodah was not going to be learning that he planned on doing It was going to be accepting Hashem's will and doing the best he can in the circumstance that Hashem put him in The woman had no idea when she read that story how soon she was going to need its message Her son had made very special plans for Simcha Torah Over the previous months he had been learning many masekh-tot and left the final piece of each one for Simcha Torah He was planning to make a major siyum on seven or eight masekh-tot His father was also planning on making a siyum together with him It was supposed to be an incredible joyous celebration of Torah On the day designated for rejoicing with the Torah But right before Simcha Torah her son became sick He couldn't finish the masekh-tot and he couldn't even participate in the meal and siyum that they had planned He was devastated His mother spoke to him afterward and tried to give him chizuk And then she remembered the story that she happened to read right before Yom Tov She told the message to her son Perhaps Hashem had sent them that story beforehand because he knew they were going to need it They took it as a direct message from Hashem We make plans to serve Hashem and those plans are great But sometimes Hashem shows us that the avodah he wants from us is different than the ones That we thought we were going to do This young man wanted to give Hashem seven or eight siyumim But at that moment Hashem wanted something else from him To surrender his will and accept Hashem's will with Emuna As we begin the Torah again from Bereshit We are reminded that Hashem is not only the creator of the world But the creator of every single circumstance in our lives We don't always understand why he changes our plans But he always sees the entire picture and knows exactly what our nishama needs at every given moment The greatest avodah we can give Hashem is not necessarily the one we planned But rather the one that he planned for us Shabbat shalom

Welcome to the daily hizouk. I recently attended a celebration for the birth of a baby girl. Baruch Hashem, the baby was healthy, the mother was healthy, and everyone was coming and smiling, saying mazal tov. It was a beautiful, happy occasion. At one point, the grandfather said something that really struck me. He said, everyone's walking in here and seeing the end of the story. You see a beautiful baby. You see happy parents. But nobody knows what happened before we got here. The baby was born on Erev Rosh Hashanah. The labor had gone on for a very long time, and then things became very frightening. The baby was breached and was having tremendous difficulty coming out. The mother was bleeding heavily. Eventually, the baby was delivered, but she had to be taken to the NICU. The young husband had walked into the hospital expecting the happiest day of his life. This was his first child. But suddenly, he was terrified for both his wife and his baby. When his father came to the hospital shortly before Rosh Hashanah, the moment his son saw him, he broke down crying on his shoulder. He was so scared. Would his wife be okay? Was the baby going to be okay? Nobody knew. His parents had to leave the hospital and rush home for Rosh Hashanah. Throughout the holiday, they were on edge. How was our son doing? How's our daughter-in-law doing? How's the baby doing? But after Rosh Hashanah, they found out everything changed. Their son was smiling and laughing. Their daughter-in-law was doing well. The baby was out of the NICU. But Rosh Hashanah, everyone was healthy and everything was wonderful. And now, everyone was coming to the celebration, saying mazal tov, what a beautiful baby. But they were only seeing the end of the story. This reminded me of an orah haim in Parashat Yutro. The Torah tells us there, Yutro heard about all the great miracles that Hashanah performed for the Jewish people. Chazal tell us, he heard about Hashem splitting the yamsuf and the war with Amalek. Yet, when Yutro arrived, Moshe sat down and told him everything that happened. The orah haim asks, what did Moshe tell him? Didn't Yutro already hear what happened? That's why he came. He answers, Yutro only heard the end of the story. Moshe told him what happened before the end. Yutro knew Hashem saved them, but Moshe told them at Kul Hatila'ah, all of the trials and travails that they experienced along the way. Yutro heard an amazing miracle. Kiri At-Yamsuf, but Moshe told them what it was like, while the Jewish people were trapped at sea, and Paro and his army were coming from behind, threatening to kill them. Yutro heard that the Jews beat Amalek, but Moshe told them what they went through before the victory. When you only hear the Yeshua, you appreciate it on one level, but when you know what happened before, you appreciate it on a completely different level. Furthermore, there's something even deeper. The difficulties along the way are what build us. Of course, we don't understand Hashem's calculations and why any particular difficulty has to happen. There's countless reasons for everything Hashem does, but we do know what the difficulties can bring out of us. When the Jewish people were trapped at Yamsuf, they cried out to Hashem. When Amalek attacked, the Mishnah tells us that the Jewish people looked up toward Shamaim and subjected their hearts to their Father in Heaven. It was the difficulties that made them look upward. It was the difficulties that brought out their Tiffila and brought out their Emuna and brought them so close to Hashem. This is part of the glorious life of a Jew. Yes, there are times when life is very scary and we don't know what's going to happen next, but those are also times when we could reach deep down and pray differently and recognize how completely dependent we are in Hashem. And then, if and when Hashem does bring the Yishua, our gratitude will be so much greater because we know we will know from where Hashem brought us. And sometimes, we don't even know the full extent of the Yishua when it happens. We recently spoke about the fly Dubai flight and the tremendous salvation that took place. At that time, we thanked Hashem for saving the people on the airplane, but now we found out something that makes the salvation so much greater. We found out that the co-pilot was planning a September 11th-style suicide attack. It was going to crash the plane into the Ben-Gurion Airport. What we thought was just a salvation of one plane full of people was a prevention of a catastrophe on an enormous scale. We said, Baruch Hashem then, but now we can say Baruch Hashem with an entirely new appreciation. Sometimes we see the end, but we do not know the entire story behind it. In our own lives, there will be so many times when we say Baruch Hashem without even knowing what Hashem saved us from. And if we are living through the difficulty, we have to remember we're in the middle of the story. We didn't reach the end yet. These moments can bring us so close to Hashem and build us in ways we cannot even realize. Bezrat Hashem, we should always merit to see the Salvation and be able to give the proper Haqqara to Hashem, but we can never underestimate the levels we could reach before the salvation comes. Have a great day.

Welcome to the daily Hizouk. There are times when a person finds himself in a situation that seems almost impossible to overcome. The odds are against him, and even the experts don't see a way out. But we must always remember Hashem is never limited by odds. He knows exactly what we need, who we need, and where we need to be. And many times, even before we realize there's a problem, Hashem has already put everything into place for the Yeshua. A man recently shared an amazing story about his wife. It began with what seemed like an ordinary cold. But as the days passed, her condition continued to get worse. Once Shabbat, while her husband was in shul, he suddenly had a strong feeling that he needed to go home and check on her. When he got home, he saw her sitting on the couch, struggling to breathe. He immediately knew she needed the emergency room. Not knowing which hospital to go to, they decided on Cornell in Manhattan. Only later would they realize how much Hashkacha was involved in that decision. At the hospital, the doctors initially diagnosed her with viral myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle. They began treating her, but her condition kept getting worse. At one point, a certain doctor entered the room and noticed something unusual. Her heart rhythms were changing every 30 seconds. This doctor said, I'm worried this might be a case of giant cell myocarditis, an extremely rare and dangerous condition that can quickly destroy the heart muscle. The other doctors were skeptical. She didn't have the typical symptoms, so they suggested to wait until tomorrow to perform a biopsy. But this doctor was adamant. She said, if we wait till tomorrow and wait for the results, if she does have giant cell myocarditis, she won't be here to see them. She insisted that they begin treating them for both conditions immediately. The treatment was very aggressive and involved putting her on ECMO, a machine that temporarily supports the work of the heart and lungs. Her husband was terrified and didn't know which doctors to listen to. At that critical moment, they called an organization called Lev Medical for advice. The man explained the situation to someone there who immediately told him whatever that particular doctor says to do, listen to her. She's world-renowned for being able to diagnose these conditions. Lev Medical was there to help them throughout the entire ordeal. They followed the doctor's recommendation and when the biopsy results eventually came back, nobody could believe it. She did have giant cell myocarditis. Nobody could believe this doctor recognized such a rare condition so quickly. If she didn't walk into that room at that moment and insist on immediate treatment, his wife would have most likely not survived. Hashem sent what her husband called an angel at exactly the right moment. But it was far from over. Her heart was badly damaged and the doctors told her husband she would need a heart transplant. Then another serious complication developed. Fluid was accumulating in her lungs and her condition deteriorated so badly she couldn't even be put on the transplant list. Without a new heart, she couldn't survive. But in her current condition, she couldn't qualify for one. Thousands of people in her community were praying for her. Groups were saying to Helene round the clock. People were accepting upon themselves commitments to improve in their Shemitah, Talashon and other areas of Avodat Hashem. An outpouring of Tifila and Ahdut surrounded this family. At the hospital, the situation became so desperate that about 40 doctors from four different Manhattan hospitals joined a conference call to see whether anything could be done to save her life. Eventually, they called her husband and said there was one option left. A very risky emergency operation. It was all or nothing. Baruch Hashem, the operation was a success. They stabilized her enough to get her onto the heart transplant list. She was still in critical condition depending on machines to keep her alive. But now there was hope. About a week later, seemingly out of nowhere, a heart became available that was a match. And then they discovered something else amazing. One of the world's leading heart transplant surgeons was right there at Cornell Hospital. The hospital they chose without knowing anything about its expertise. First, Hashem guided them to the doctor who recognized her rare condition and began treating her immediately for it. And now, the surgeon she needed was already there waiting for her. The transplant lasted for about 10 hours. During those hours, her husband and many rabbis gathered in the hospital waiting room and poured out their hearts to Hashem and Tifila. He described the Tifila as being so powerful. It felt like the walls were shaking from their cries. And finally, the news came back. Baruch Hashem, the transplant was a success. Shortly afterward, a nurse approached the husband and told him they would no longer be allowing the large number of visitors who had been coming to the hospital. Until then, dozens of people had been visiting regularly. The husband replied, but those visitors are the reason she's here today. All of their prayers, all of that unity, that's what saved her life. The nurse then told him something he didn't know. She said, the reason we allowed all those visitors was because your wife was on our end of life list. Nobody believed she was going to survive, but now we took her off. She's going to live and we have to protect her from infections. The husband replied, I understand, but I meant what I said. It was all of those visitors and all of their prayers that helped take her off that list. The nurse answered, I believe you because nobody here thought she was going to live. What a display of HaShqa HaPiratit. How many things had to happen for this woman to survive against all the odds. Her husband felt the urge to leave Shul when he did. They chose the right hospital. The one doctor who could recognize her rare condition walked into the room at precisely the right moment and noticed those unusual heart rhythms. The emergency surgery succeeded. A compatible heart became available. And the surgeon with the expertise she needed was already there. Every step was another piece of HaShqa Ha. At the time, all the family could see were frightening developments, but Hashem was guiding them the entire time. We never know how a Yeshua will come about. Sometimes the situation could look so bleak that even the greatest experts give up hope, but Hashem never has any limitations. He could always send the right Shaliah, create the right opportunity and bring about a Yeshua that nobody could have ever dreamed of. Our job is to pray from the bottom of our hearts, make the necessary Hishdalut and remember that everything is always only in Hashem's hands. Even when we can't see a path forward, Hashem may already be preparing the next step. Have a great day.

Welcome to the daily Chizuk, the Orah Haim Akadosh, discussing the sin of Adam Arishon explains why Hashem made his test with the nachha so difficult. He asks, why did Hashem create such a difficult evil to entice Adam and Chavat-e-sin? The Orah Haim explains, the reward of a person that a person receives in the next world depends on how difficult his tests are in this world, as Chazal teach us, lefum sa'ara agra. Therefore, the stronger the temptation and the more difficult the Nisayon is to overcome, the greater the reward the person will be able to earn. The Orah Haim then brings from the Zahra Akadosh a mashal about the son of a king. The king commanded his son not to do a certain Avera, and then he told the person involved to try to entice his son to do that same Avera. Why would the king make it more difficult for his son to listen to him? The Zahar explains, because the king loves his son so much, he wanted to give him the opportunity to overcome a difficult test so he could reward him greatly. This is the tremendous chesed that Hashem does for us, those that he loves. He prepares for us challenges through which we can reach the highest levels of olam haba. This gives us a completely different perspective when we find ourselves struggling in life. We might ask sometimes, why me? Why is Hashem making it so difficult for me? We naturally think, if Hashem loves us, he should make things easier. But the Orah Haim and the Zahra are teaching us exactly the opposite. Hashem loves us so much and wants to give us the greatest olam haba. If everything was easy, we wouldn't be able to earn nearly as much. When Hashem gives a person a difficult nisayon, he is giving him an opportunity to earn something that will last forever. Furthermore, Hashem is showing the person that he believes in him. As we know, Hashem doesn't give people tests that they're not capable of passing. So when something seems very difficult instead of thinking, why is Hashem doing it to me? We could think, Hashem knows what I'm capable of. He's giving me a tremendous compliment right now. A man told me on Simcha Torah, he accepted upon himself that he was going to start getting up early every morning to go learn before Shahrit. The very first morning after Simcha Torah, at 5.45 a.m., he was backing out of his driveway when suddenly a person riding a bicycle rammed into his car. That man then accused him of hitting him and demanded a large amount of money. The whole thing appeared to be some type of hoax. And because of everything that happened, the man ended up missing his learning that morning. He couldn't understand it. He thought, here I accepted upon myself to get up early and learn. I thought Hashem wants me to go learn. And the very first morning, it looks like he's stopping me from going. But the truth is, it's exactly the opposite of what he's thinking. Hashem loved his commitment so much. He's not pushing him away. He's being given an opportunity to earn so much more for the very same commitment. It's one thing to get up early and go learn when things go smoothly. But it's something completely different. When the very first morning, a major obstacle comes up and the person nonetheless says, I'm not going to give up. Tomorrow morning, I'm going again. Now, when he continues despite the difficulty, the reward is infinitely greater. Sometimes we think the obstacle is a sign that Hashem doesn't want us to do what we're trying to do. But we know Hashem loves when we do his avodah. And it's exactly the opposite. He's giving us the opportunity to make the avodah much more valuable. Our rabbis are teaching us here the proper way to look at his struggle. Hashem loves us. He wants to give us more. He knows what we're capable of. And he's giving us the opportunity to earn eternal rewards that only come about through difficulties. The next time we think, the next time we want to ask, why me? Why does this have to be so hard? We should remember of what our rabbis teach us. The struggle is not a sign that we're being pushed away. It's a great opportunity Hashem is giving us. He loves us with an infinite love and wants us to be happy for all eternity. And he is giving us the opportunity now to earn that eternal happiness. Have a great day.

Welcome to the daily Hizouk. Chazal teaches us a beautiful principle. In Adam Shomei Ali Umafsid, Hashem tells us, No person ever listens to me and loses out. Sometimes when we do the right thing, it seems like we're losing. We may have to give up our time, our money, or even an opportunity that appears to be very important to us. At that moment, it will seem like we're making a great sacrifice. But Hashem tells us, when we listen to Him, we will never lose out. We may not understand how everything's going to work out, but we can rest assured that when we do His will, we always gain. A woman named Chaya Related on Erev Rosh Hashanah this year, she received a phone call from her mother asking if she could take her shopping for Yom Tov. The timing couldn't have been worse. Rosh Hashanah was approaching and Chaya had barely begun preparing. All she managed to make so far were the halot and an apple cake. She still had an entire Yom Tov menu to cook, and with Rosh Hashanah falling on Shabbat this year, everything had to be ready before candlelighting. Furthermore, her mother lived a half hour away, so between the driving, shopping, then helping her put everything away, she knew she would be losing most of the day. Nevertheless, her mother needed her, and Chaya wasn't going to pass up on the opportunity to fulfill the Mitzvah of Kibur Avayem. So she got into her car and drove to the city to pick up her mother. They went shopping, and afterward, Chaya drove her mother home and helped her put everything away. By the time she finally headed back, she was feeling tremendous pressure. There was only a few hours left before Yom Tov. How would she possibly prepare enough food in such a short time? But she did not regret helping her mother. She knew she did the right thing, and now she was going to do her best with whatever time was left. Right when she got home, she hurried into the kitchen and started to cook. But before she got very far, the phone rang. It was her father, who was the rabbi of a large school, and he sounded very excited. Chaya, you're not going to believe what just happened. One of his congregants owned a restaurant, and that day, he unexpectedly had a tremendous amount of freshly prepared food left over. Rather than letting it go to waste, he decided to bring all of it to the rabbi's house for Yom Tov. And this wasn't just any kind of food. There was lamb, steak, salmon, and an assortment of delicious salads and all kinds of beautifully prepared dishes. There was so much food, her father couldn't possibly fit everything into their refrigerator. She told Chaya, I'm sending all the extra food over to your house now in a taxi. Chaya couldn't believe it. Just a short time earlier, she was wondering how she would possibly manage to cook enough food for Yom Tov. Now an entire Yom Tov menu was being delivered right to her doorstep. And not just any menu, the food was far more elaborate than anything she could have managed to prepare. She went out of her way to help her mother, and Hashem arranged for her to have everything she needed without having to prepare anything herself. She was overwhelmed by the Hashkah she just witnessed, the timing, the unexpected surplus of food, the restaurant owner's decision to bring it to her father, and then her father's inability to fit it in his refrigerator. Every detail worked out perfectly. An Adam Shomei Aliyum Afsid, Chaya thought she was giving up of her valuable time, but Hashem showed her that the mitzvah didn't cost her anything. In fact, she ended up with a much better Yom Tov meal than she would have had otherwise. And of course, the greatest gain of all was the mitzvah itself, which will remain with her for all eternity. There will be many situations in life when we're not sure if we should do the right thing because we're afraid of what we might lose. We may have an opportunity to help someone, but we're worried it's going to take too much time or an opportunity to give sedaka, but we're worried about needing the money for our own expenses. A person wants to dedicate more time to learning Torah, but he's not sure how he's going to manage everything else. Of course, we have to act responsibly, but when we know that Hashem wants us to do something, we should do it with confidence. We're not dealing with a limited world in which every minute or dollar we give away is gone. We're dealing with Hashem who has unlimited ways of taking care of us. And even when we don't see the obvious outcome, the principle is always true. Sometimes a person will do a mitzvah and appear to have sacrificed something. He doesn't get an unexpected gift or immediate solution to his problem afterward. That just means that Hashem is not openly showing him the gains from his sacrifice. Chaya was given a special privilege to see the words of Chazal come true right before her eyes. The next time we have an opportunity to do a mitzvah and it looks like we're going to lose, we should remind ourselves, We may not always see how, we may not always understand when, but Hashem is always taking care of us. And the greatest gain of all is always the mitzvah that lasts forever. Have a great day.

Welcome to the daily chizook. Sometimes a person is waiting for something for so long, and he begins to wonder if it will ever happen. He has been praying and hoping for years, perhaps watching others around him receive the very thing that he has been longing so much for. As time passes, he may begin to lose some hope. But one of the foundations of our Emonah is to recognize that Hashem already knows what our future holds. What may appear to be impossible to us today may already be part of the beautiful future that Hashem has already planned for us. In this week's Parashah, Nahuach, the Torah tells us that Nahuach was 600 years old when the Mabul began. Chazal tells us Hashem had given that generation 120 years to repent during which Nahuach was involved in building the Teva. That means that Nahuach was 480 years old when he started to build it. And there the Torah tells us the instructions that Hashem gave Nahuach regarding the building, including the following words. You will enter the Teva. You, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you. There is something remarkable about these words. Nahuach was 500 years old when he had his first child. That means when he heard these instructions, he still didn't have any children. Imagine what Nahuach felt like after hearing those words. He had lived for 480 years without children. Generations had come and gone. People around him had raised families, watching their children grow, and enjoying their grandchildren and great grandchildren. And Nahuach was still waiting. And then in the middle of Hashem's command to Nahuach about building the Teva, he heard the greatest news. Hashem told him he was going to enter the Teva together with his sons and their wives. Not only was he going to have children, but those children would grow up and get married. What an incredible piece of news that must have been. Hashem was telling Nahuach about a future that he could not yet see. The entire future is already known to Hashem. Even while Nahuach was still living through those years of waiting, what was still a hope from Nahuach's perspective was already a certainty from Hashem's perspective. This is something that can give us a lot of chizook. A person may be waiting for a shiduch, for children, for paranasa, for edifu'ah shalema, or some other yishua. And he looks at his circumstances and can't imagine how things will change. Maybe he already tried everything he could. Years have passed, nothing is moving. But we have to remember that our view of the future is very limited. We could only see right now Hashem sees the entire picture. He knows what's going to happen tomorrow and next year and the year after. And the fact that we can't see a solution doesn't mean there isn't one. Imagine if a person could go back in time and tell someone who had been waiting for a yishua for 20 years. I know you can't understand why this is taking so long, but I see your future in just a little while everything is going to change. Yes, we don't have anyone telling us our future, but we have something even more fundamental. We have Hashem who is guiding our lives with love and wisdom. And we know no situation is ever beyond his ability to change. Our job is to continue praying, making the right ishtalut, and never allowing the passage of time to convince us that Hashem is not going to help. I recently heard of multiple people having their first babies after years and years of waiting. One person after nearly two decades. Noach was 480 years old with no children, but his future family was already part of Hashem's plan. We may be standing at a point in our lives where we can't see, we can't imagine that things are going to change, but Hashem sees what we can't, and while we wait, we should strengthen ourselves with the knowledge that Hashem may already have planned our beautiful future ahead. Shabbat Shalom.

Welcome to the daily huizuk. The Mashiach, Rabbi Cheska Levinstein said over in a talk about Hishtalut that all of a person's efforts to accomplish things in this world never change what Hashem decreed for him. Between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, Hashem determined what will happen to a person during the coming year, and whatever he decreed will take place. Of course, to filan good deeds have the power to change decrees, but the physical Hishtalut that we make never changes what Hashem has in store for us. The only reason we have to make Hishtalut is because Hashem wants to conceal his involvement in our lives. He wants things to look like they are happening through nature, and our efforts are what provide that concealment, but the Hishtalut itself never accomplishes anything. This is similar, he says, to what the Ramban explains regarding Yosef Hasadik. When Yaakov Avino sent Yosef to check on his brothers, Yosef went to Shechem but couldn't find them. The Torah then says, A man found him, and he was wandering in the field. That man, Rashi tells us, was an angel who directed Yosef to his brothers. The Ramban asks, why does the Torah go out of its way to tell us all these details? He explains, first of all, the Torah wants us to show us the great Kibbut Av of Yosef. He had every reason to turn back. He couldn't find his brothers, he was wandering, and he knew they weren't happy with him, yet he still continued because he wanted to do what his father asked him to. And then the Ramban adds, the Torah is also teaching us here, The decrees of Hashem are what is true, and our efforts never determine outcomes. Hashem had already decreed that Yosef was going to find his brothers and be sold to Mitsrayim. Therefore, Hashem arranged for the angel to be there to direct him. Even if Yosef decided to turn around and go home earlier, the decree of Hashem would have still been fulfilled. The angel would have appeared whenever Yosef was giving up. Yosef gained tremendous rewards for his efforts to honor his father, but those efforts are not what determined the outcome. Hashem's plan was going to take place no matter what. And this is how we have to look at our Hishtalut. We're obligated to do what Hashem asks us to, but we should never think that our efforts are what produce results. Whatever Hashem decreed is what is going to happen. And when we recognize that, it'll bring tremendous peace of mind as well. When something works out, we will never become impressed with ourselves, thinking how smart we were and how great we handled the situation. We'll recognize it was Hashem who brought us the success, and when things don't work out, we won't spend any time second-guessing ourselves, thinking, if only I made that phone call or if only I had gone to that meeting, we'll remind ourselves Hashem was in control the entire time and everything's happening exactly the way it's supposed to. But even more important than the peace of mind is that this avodah can bring a person a tremendous spiritual elevation. Every time we attribute something that happens to Hashem, we are strengthening our connection to him. Instead of going throughout our day focused only on the physical things taking place around us, we can turn all of our experiences into opportunities to come closer to Hashem. The Mashiach explained, this is the deeper meaning of the words of David Amalek, shivti be betah Hashem kol yemeh hayay, he asked Hashem to dwell in his house all the days of his life. What was David Amalek asking for here? Was he praying to sit in the bed midrash and learn Torah all day long? As much as he may have wanted that, it couldn't have been his actual request because David was a king. He had a nation to lead, he had people to judge and wars to fight. He couldn't spend every moment sitting in the bed midrash, rather the Mashiach explains. David was asking Hashem wherever he would be, whatever he would be doing, it should be considered like he's sitting in the house of Hashem. Even while fulfilling his physical responsibilities, his mind should remain connected to Hashem by recognizing Hashem's hand and everything taking place around him. That would make all of his days a great spiritual elevation. And this is something we could all do. A person goes to work, makes phone calls, goes to meetings, takes care of his family, deals with his everyday responsibilities. Throughout the day, he can be thinking about Hashem. When something goes his way, he says, thank you Hashem, you did that. And when something doesn't, he says, I know that was from you and this is for my best. Whenever an unexpected problem comes up, instead of getting frustrated, he'll remind Hashem, he'll remind himself that Hashem is running his life. A person who lives this way will live his entire days in the house of Hashem. The place that he works will become a place of Avodat Hashem. His home week will become a place of Avodat Hashem. And all his dealings throughout the day will be Avodat Hashem. Ha-ge-ze-ra-e-me-et-ve-ha-ri-sut-she-ker. Hashem's decrees are only what determine outcomes. Our efforts do not help or detract. All they do is conceal him. And when we live with that recognition, we'll be living with Hashem all the days of our life. Have a great day.

Welcome to the daily Hizouk. Hashem runs the world according to our deeds. Things are constantly changing based on our actions. And this is one of the reasons why Hashem tells us to follow the Torah on Mitzvot because he knows how good it is for us. Of course, the main reward for Mitzvot is in the next world. But the Torah on Mitzvot that we do also help us for things in this world. When a person needs a Yishua, he usually thinks first about what he could do physically to bring it about. If he needs Paternasah, he'll think about who to call or what new opportunity he can pursue. If he needs it if Hu'ah, he'll think about which doctor he could go to. And of course, we have to make a Hishtalut, but we should never forget about the one who actually brings about every Yishua and therefore, whenever we have a need, one of the first things we should be doing is thinking about how we could improve spiritually. Every improvement we make brings us closer to Hashem and can bring about an abundance of blessing into our lives. I read a few Hashkachah Parateed stories in a pamphlet. A man named Eliezer from Mordihin Elite related that his family was traveling to Kitiat Bialik for his grandmother's yurt site. A young Avrech joined them because he needed to visit a Sheva house in that area. During the ride, the Avrech told them that he had been debating how he was going to get there. It was either going to be three buses or a direct train, but he didn't want to do either because of concerns of Shemirat and A'im. He prayed that day at Menchah that Hashem should help him reach his destination in the quickest and purest way. Afterward, he went over to an older rabbi in his kolel to ask him what to do, and that rabbi happened to be Eliezer's father and knew about the van going there. Eliezer couldn't believe it. Of all the people in the kolel, you went to the one person who knew about the ride going exactly to where you needed to go? The Avrech replied by saying, I asked Hashem to help me, and he did. A father related that his son Yaakov was an outstanding boy who remained single year after year despite all the efforts made to find the Meshiduch. Eventually, the father decided, instead of calling another shatchan, he would think about what to improve on spiritually. The first thing he did was check the mezuzah in his house, and the sofer saw that the mezuzah on Yaakov's bedroom was pasul. The word betekha, which means your house, was missing a yud. The father immediately replaced the mezuzah and amazingly, the next morning, a shiduch was suggested and two weeks later Yaakov was engaged. A man from Monsi related. He had done a job for a friend who promised to pay him $100 and the other man for helping $100. In the end, the other man didn't help at all. He did everything himself, and he felt he deserved the full $200, but his friend gave him only $100 and gave the other guy $100. Rather than make him look it, he said he's going to keep quiet, reminding himself that a person never loses out by giving in. The very same day, he found an envelope on the floor with $200 in it and a phone number written on the outside. He called the owner to return the money, and when the owner found out that this person who found it was an avrech in Kolel, he told him, thank you for returning it. I want to give it to you as a gift. He gave up $100 to avoid Machloket, and Hashem gave him $200. Ahatsala, a volunteer in Lakewood, related. During Chanukah last year, he was called to help an older man in a retirement community. During the ambulance ride, the man mentioned that he put on Tifilin every single day and explained why. He said years earlier, his three-year-old grandson was diagnosed with autism. The child was withdrawn and not speaking, and the family was devastated. One day, the grandfather sat down and started praying to Hashem with all of his heart. During that Tifila, he committed to putting on Tifilin every day as a zechut for the boy. The very next morning, his daughter came to visit, and when he opened the door, his grandson ran toward him and started to talk. Both he and his daughter couldn't believe their eyes. A few days later, the grandfather forgot to put on his Tifilin, and that night, he had a dream, and he heard a voice telling him, I kept my part of the deal, now it's your turn to keep yours. And he said from that day on, he never missed putting on Tifilin again. We don't always see the immediate effects of our deeds, but we know they are what have the most effect on our lives. And therefore, especially when we have a need, we should think about, besides the physical hishtalut, what we can do to improve spiritually, and by the help of Hashem, we will see Barakha coming into our lives. Amen. Have a great day.

Welcome to the daily hizouk when a person is faced with a difficult situation and finds himself in distress. He has to remember there's a powerful way to bring about a Yeshua. The pasuk says, When someone has bitachon in Hashem, he'll be surrounded by kindness. When a person recognizes, recognizes that what he's going through is not the result of a circumstance, but rather something being orchestrated completely by Hashem, that recognition can become a tremendous zichhut and bring about an outpouring of chesed. We know the famous sigulah brought down by Rav Chaim Veluzhner in the Nefe Shachayim. When a person finds himself in a situation of danger or distress, he should concentrate on the words, that there's nothing else other than Hashem. He should internalize that no person and no creation in this world has any power to harm him. Everything is completely controlled by Hashem. Rav Chaim explains, when a person truly believes this in his heart, it has the power to protect him from the current threat that he's in. It's a great sigulah for Yeshua. A similar teaching is brought down in the name of the Baal Shem Tov. When a person is experiencing any type of distress, whether in physical matters or spiritual matters, if he strengthens himself and believes that everything is coming directly from Hashem, that recognition alone has the power to nullify the decree, it could be one of the purposes of the difficulty is to bring the person to a higher level of emunah and once he reaches that level, he no longer needs the difficulty. But the Sifadim explains something else, the spiritual elevation that a person achieves through that recognition can accomplish what the Yisurim were meant to accomplish and he won't need them anymore. As a person is overwhelmed with worry, he's awake at night thinking about what's going to happen tomorrow. He's worried about what somebody said or what somebody did or what could happen as a result of a particular situation. His mind keeps going through all different kinds of possibilities and he can't find any rest. At that moment, he has to know he has a wondrous opportunity instead of continuing in his worry. He should stop and remind himself this is not happening because of what any person did. It's not happening because of any circumstance. It's happening right now because that's what Hashem wants to happen. Nobody could harm me, nobody could help me. It's all only up to Hashem. Every detail of my life is only in his hands. The more a person thinks about that and really believes it, then he's strengthening his pitahon and that pitahon can change the entire situation. What appeared to be a frightening or worrying circumstance can become an opportunity to bring down tremendous Rahamim. The worries that were consuming him should be replaced with the comforting knowledge that Hashem is in complete control. A person doesn't have to figure out how everything's going to work out. He just has to know who's in control of everything. We should never underestimate the power of those moments. When everything's going smoothly, it's easy to say Hashem's in charge, but when a person has every reason to be afraid and he pushes away those fears by reminding himself that only Hashem is going to determine what's going to happen, it's a great accomplishment. He is showing his emunah when it's most difficult to do, and that is a very big zikr that can bring down salvation. So if a person does find himself in a situation that's causing him distress, instead of becoming consumed with worry, he should stop himself and think, An-Od Milivador. Think about what those words really mean. Nobody has any power besides Hashem. Nothing happened by chance. Everything is out of Hashem's control, and with that recognition, the person can elevate himself to an entirely different level of bitachon, where the blessing of the pasuk can be fulfilled, ve ha'boteyach bahashem, chesed yisob ebenu. Someone who has bitachon and Hashem will be surrounded by Hashem's chesed. Have a great day.

Welcome to the daily Hizuq. Today is the yore side of Rahel Imanu. The Torah tells us about the tremendous pain that Rahel went through during the years she couldn't have children. But Rahel utilized the gift of Tefilah and prayed emotional Tefilot and the Torah tells us and gave her a child. Throughout all the years of waiting, Rahel continued turning to Hashem and when the time was right her Yeshua arrived. A woman from Yerushalayim named Rahel who works as a kindergarten teacher shared a personal story in an interview in honor of Rahel Imanu's yore side. She said that she was 21 when she got married and her and her husband who both came from large families dreamed of having a large family of their own. She naturally assumed that after she got married she would start having children but two years went by and nothing happened. She finally started fertility treatments but the years passed by without any success. Rahel explained throughout those years she believed Hashem was going to give her children at the right time but that doesn't mean she didn't suffer till it happened. There were weeks when she was filled with hope and emunah and other weeks when she was so disappointed. She described how painful it was to undergo another treatment, pray with all her heart, get berakhot from rabbis, try different sigulot and then find out that once again it didn't work. Every time she got her hopes up it was followed by another disappointment. She mentioned a painful incident. She and her husband were visiting her mother-in-law shortly after they had another unsuccessful treatment. During the conversation her mother-in-law mentioned that Rahel's sister-in-law who got married four years after her was expecting now her second child. Rahel couldn't stop herself. She started crying uncontrollably right there in front of her mother-in-law. She said how embarrassing it was but the pain was just too much and it wasn't only the treatments that were difficult. Her siblings were having children year after year. When they invited Rahel and her husband for Shabbat she sometimes felt that they were being treated like a poor childless couple who needed a place to go. She explained that one of the most painful feelings a person can experience is being pitied. She didn't want people to look at her as though something was wrong with her. She just wanted to be treated like everybody else. When she was asked what helped her get through the difficult years she said for starters her parents were so supportive. They never pressured her. They never offered advice on their own. They never brought up the subject of children unless she wanted to discuss it. They treated her just like everybody else and that was such a big help to her. Sometimes she said people think they have to say something to make another person feel better but very often the greatest kindness is just to make that person feel normal and respected. Rahel also said hearing stories of other people who had waited years and eventually had children gave her so much chizook once she met a woman on a bus who told her that her mother waited four years for her first child and eventually she had 14 children. Stories like that gave Rahel hope for her own life. She also found comfort being a kindergarten teacher. Every day she was surrounded by children that she loved but she admitted coming home at the end of the day to an empty silent apartment was so painful. After seven years of waiting Rahel and her husband were advised to take a break from the pressures of all the treatments and spend some time together away. They took a few trips and another rabbi suggested that they move apartments. Shortly after returning from a trip during the month they moved from Betar to Yerushalayim Rahel discovered she was expecting her first child and it wasn't just one baby. It was twins and those twins were the beginning of a beautiful family. By the time she gave this interview she already had eight children but perhaps the most meaningful part of her story was what she said about the seven long years of waiting. She said that her husband, her and her husband used that time to strengthen their marriage and develop a deeper relationship with Hashem. She appreciated all of the heartfelt, tiffy, love that she was able to make that usually don't happen when things are going smooth. She appreciated the gift of children in a completely different way afterward. Before she had children she was an interior designer and her apartment was kept like a museum. Later with a house full of children the walls and furniture were scratched and scribbled on but it didn't bother her at all. She was so happy that her home was no longer a museum. It was a home filled with life and then she added an Emuna lesson that she learned. She said Hashem has a unique design path for every person. We can never compare our lives to someone else's. Just because another person received something earlier than us doesn't mean Hashem forgot about us. She also emphasized we have a choice on how we live during the waiting. We could allow those years to be consumed by bitterness and resentment or we could use them to grow closer to Hashem and become stronger people. Rachel the man who waited for years and then the Torah tells us when the time was right, Hashem gave her a salvation. Rachel taught us the power of continuing to turn to Hashem no matter how long a person has to wait. And instead of pitying ourselves, this woman has taught us how much we can accomplish during the years of waiting. Strengthening marriage, developing a better relationship with Hashem, learning to appreciate blessings. We may not be able to choose when our difficulties will end but we could choose what we could accomplish while going through them. Every tifila is so precious. Every effort to strengthen our emunah is so valuable. We should never lose hope no matter how long a situation has been going on. Hashem can always change anything. Ke hedev ayin in a moment. And in the meantime, we could accomplish so much the way we choose to go through the challenge. Have a great day.

Welcome to the Daily Hlizouk and this week's Parashat Lech Lecha. The Torah tells us that Hashem took Avraham Avino outside and said to him, Habbetna Hashemaymah usforakochavim. Rashi explains, Avraham had seen in the stars that he was not destined to have a child. Avraham told, Hashem told him, Sam itstagninut shelcha. Leave your astrology behind. What appeared to be written in the stars did not have to determine his future. The Gemara tells us, En mazal yisrael. The Jewish people are never bound by mazal. Even if something appears to be a person's destiny, Hashem can change it in an instant. Our tiffilot and good deeds have tremendous power and we should never feel that our future is already determined because of what it looks like today. A beautiful story was told about a religious couple in Israel, Yosef Chaim and Berakhah. Exactly a year after their wedding, Berakhah gave birth to their first child, a baby boy. The birth went smoothly and the young couple was overjoyed. But the following day their happiness was shattered. The doctors informed them that their baby had cerebral palsy. They said their son would never walk, would never speak and would have very limited development. They then advised them not to bring the baby home. They said to leave him in the hospital or put him in an institution. You're a young couple just starting out, they told them. Why take on such a burden? Leave him here and continue on with your lives. The couple was devastated. They dreamed of bringing home a healthy baby and suddenly they were being told that their son would never be able to do the most basic things. But when they held their little baby in their arms, they felt an overwhelming love for him. They looked at each other and made a decision. This child was the child that Hashem chose to give them and they were going to raise him with all the love and devotion they possibly could and they would do whatever they could to help him develop. They named him Menachem Mendel. The years that followed did require tremendous effort and dedication. They invested enormous amounts of time, energy and resources in helping Mendel develop and then despite the doctor's predictions at the age of four, Mendel began to walk and to talk. The parents who had been told that their son would never take a step or say a word were now watching him do both. As the years passed, Bracha and Yosef Chaim were blessed with many other children but they never stopped investing in Mendel. They included him in every family trip and made sure he was always part of everything they did. Eventually, they celebrated Mendel's bar mitzvah. The child who the doctor said should be left in an institution was now putting on Tifeline and doing mitzvah with great joy, excited about his life like any other child. At his bar mitzvah, they showed a film called A Day in the Life of Mendel. It showed him going through his daily routine from washing his hands in the morning to saying shema at night, carefully performing mitzvah with a smile on his face. The people were moved to tears. Here was a boy who had been given such a bleak prognosis yet he was living a beautiful life with Toran mitzvah. Brukha later shared a powerful message from her experience. She said, if parents discover that their child has a disability, the initial shock and grief are natural but they must not remain trapped in mourning the child they imagined having. They have to embrace the child that Hashem gave them. If the parents are embarrassed by their child and hide them away, the child may learn to feel ashamed of himself but when the parents believe in their child and love him and accept him with his challenges, that gives him confidence and encouragement to develop to the best of his abilities. She said parents should constantly remind themselves this is the gift that Hashem gave us and we're going to do the very best with him. The doctors that had told this couple their son would never walk and never speak, it ended up doing both at the time it seemed there was no possibility of anything different, yet at the age of four, he started developing and then he celebrated his bar mitzvah, put on his tiffeline and is living a life with Toran mitzvah. This is the lesson Hashem told Avraham Avino, leave your astrology behind, no matter how certain something may look, no matter what anybody says, the future is never beyond Hashem's ability to change and mazali Israel, we are never bound by what appears to be destiny. Shabbat shalom.

Welcome to the daily Hizouk, as we learn the parashiyar of Avraham Avino. It's important for us to understand some of the things that made Avraham so great. The pasuk says about Avraham, Umasata et levavon ne'eman lefanecha, that Hashem found his heart loyal before him. Avraham was in Ne'eman, he stayed loyal to Hashem no matter what he went through. After Avraham discovered Hashem, he devoted his life to spreading his name throughout the world. But instead of being praised for what he was doing, he was ridiculed and persecuted. Khazal tell us Avraham was thrown into prison for ten years. Imagine Avraham Avino, a person who dedicated his life to bringing people closer to Hashem, sitting in prison year after year. A regular person might say to himself, I'm doing everything for Hashem, why isn't he helping me? After five years, seven years, nine years, a person might begin to lose his strength, but Avraham remained in Ne'eman. And then when he was taken out and was given a choice of bowing to an idol or being thrown into a fiery furnace, Avraham was willing to give up his life for Hashem. Rather than turning away, even after everything he already went through, his Ne'emanu didn't waver at all. The Rambam tells us Avraham went from city to city, gathering thousands of people, teaching them about Hashem. And all of that took place before Hashem appeared to him in Parashat Lech Lecha. Avraham had already lived an extraordinary life. He sacrificed so much and accomplished so much. We might have thought that at this point he did enough, but little did Avraham know that his journey was just beginning. At the age of 75, Hashem told him Lech Lecha, an entire new part of his life was beginning. And what happened? Challenge after challenge. Hashem promised Avraham blessings when he would go to Edith Yisrael. And right after he arrived, there was a famine. Hashem promised Avraham a wonderful future. Then his wife Saras, taken by Parah, Hashem promised Avraham children. But year after year passed without his promise being fulfilled. Again and again, Avraham went through situations that seemed to contradict everything Hashem told him. And throughout all of them, Avraham remained Ne'eman. He continued following Hashem with complete Emonah. There are people today who go through challenges that have lasted for years. A person may say, I can't anymore. I've been struggling with Padana Saffer so long. I've been praying and trying every single lie I could find. But nothing is changing. How much longer could I continue like this? Someone else might say, I've been waiting for Yeshua for years already. I'm getting tired of praying for the same thing. I'm getting tired of hoping. I don't have the strength anymore. Those feelings are very natural. When a person's been struggling for so long, it's hard to keep going. But this is exactly when we need to learn from our greats what makes a person great in this world. Hashem will give a person a test that does last for a very long time. And when the person continues to be Ne'eman, after years of difficulty, that is what will make him so great. We know the end of the story of Avraham. He became the father of the Jewish people. He merited to have Yitzhak Avino. He was a prince in the eyes of the world. And Hashem gave him so much blessing. But that came after years of remaining Ne'eman from one challenge to the next. We don't know if and when our Yeshua will come. But we do know that every moment we remain loyal to Hashem is so precious. Somebody recently told me, I'm tired already. I'm getting old. I don't have the strength to continue with these challenges. Avraham was 75 years old when Hashem first told him, at an age where a person may have thought he had already done enough. Avraham was just beginning the greatest challenges of his life. Because every minute we have in this world is an opportunity. Every minute we can grow and gain things that will last with us forever. And when someone has been going through a challenge for a very long time, the more he continues to persevere, the greater he becomes. Imagine a person who has been praying for years, who keeps having disappointments after disappointments, and continues getting up every morning, turning to Hashem again. Imagine a person continuing to say, Birkat Amazon with Kavana after waiting months and years to see some kind of financial gain in his business. Imagine a person continuing to doom its vote with enthusiasm and continuing to trust in Hashem, even though he hasn't seen the Yeshua he's been waiting for. Every day of remaining ne'eman is such a great accomplishment. This is one of the great lessons we could learn from Avraham Avino. We should never think because we've been struggling for so long, we did enough already. The longer the challenge continues, the greater opportunity the person has to show his ne'emanuta Hashem. We hope the challenge will end today. But before it does, that's where all the greatness lies. Hashem sees every effort, every tifila, every moment of emunah, and what greater praise could there be for a person than for Hashem to say about him. He always stayed loyal to me. He never gave up. That is what made Avraham so great, and that is the greatness that each one of us could strive to have in our own lives. Have a great day.

Welcome to the daily chizuk. Sometimes a person is afraid to do what Hashem wants, because he's worried about what other people will think. He may feel that if he stands up to do what's right, he'll lose an opportunity. But we must remember, the people we're trying to impress have no control over our success, only Hashem does. Chazal tell us, we have to be bold like a leopard and strong like a lion when it comes to doing the will of Hashem. Rabbi Moshe Feller was sent by the Lubavitcher Rebbe to Minnesota more than 60 years ago to attempt to bring Jews closer to Torah. In the beginning, he wasn't having any success. People there told him, there's one person he had to meet, a prominent Jewish scientist named Professor Velvel Green, who was working for Nassau. If he could get Professor Green involved, that would open doors for him throughout the Jewish community. Rabbi Feller tried very hard to get a meeting, but the professor wasn't interested. But after much persistence, he finally got a meeting. The professor agreed to meet him one day for 20 minutes at 6 p.m. at his office. Professor Green was involved in top secret research for Nassau. When Rabbi Feller arrived, he had to go through security and armed guards escorted him to the professor's office. Imagine how Rabbi Feller must have felt. He had been struggling to accomplish his mission in Minnesota, and now he finally had a meeting with the one person everybody said could help him. This was his biggest opportunity. He needed to make a good impression. They began the meeting, but things very quickly started going badly. And at one point, Rabbi Feller looked outside the window and noticed the sun was setting, and he didn't pray Menchah yet. He knew logically speaking if he got up to pray, it would completely ruin the meeting. But he couldn't miss Menchah. So he politely excused himself and got up to pray right there in Professor Green's office. Professor Green couldn't believe what he was seeing. This rabbi tried so hard to get an appointment with him, and now he was using the time to pray instead of speaking to him. When Rabbi Feller finished, the professor told him the meeting was over. The rabbi explained and apologized again, but said, although my meeting with you was very important, I had an even more important meeting to attend, I couldn't miss the afternoon prayers and pray to Hashem. Sometime later, Professor Green was speaking to his wife and was reminded how they were discussing how Jews throughout history had been willing to sacrifice their lives rather than give up their loyalty to Hashem. They wondered if they were still Jews in the world with that kind of commitment. Professor Green then said to his wife, I think I found one, and he told her the story of how, of what Rabbi Feller did. The very thing that Rabbi Feller thought would ruin his chances made the greatest impression on the professor. Eventually, Professor Green developed a close relationship with Rabbi Feller, began learning more about Judaism, and became religious himself. This became the beginning of a very successful mission that Rabbi Feller accomplished in spreading Torah in Minnesota. Years later, Professor Green was invited to speak before hundreds of doctors and clergymen. By that time, he himself was wearing a kippah. After his lecture, the chairman announced they had saved the best question for last. Everyone wanted to know what that little cap on his head was. Professor Green said he wanted to melt into the floor. Imagine how uncomfortable he felt standing before hundreds of distinguished people with everyone staring at his kippah. But he answered proudly and said that it's a yarmulke, which comes from the words, Yare Malka, to fear the king. We cover our heads to remind us that God is above us at all times. To his amazement, the entire audience stood up and applauded. We sometimes think that in order to succeed, we have to hide our beliefs or compromise on what Hashem wants, but we must remember the people we're trying to impress have no control, only Hashem does. Of course, we always have to treat people with respect, but we never have to compromise our obligations to Hashem to gain someone else's favor. Rabbi Feller thought he needed Professor Green to help him succeed on his mission, but it was precisely when he stopped trying to impress the professor and stood before Hashem that made the greatest impression. Have a great day.

Welcome to the daily chizuk, a man related that his entire business is in jeopardy of being shut down and it seems that the final decision is going to be made by one particular individual. The business owner was beside himself with worry. He couldn't sleep at night. He could barely eat. His entire pattern as I was hanging in the balance and he felt that his whole future was in the hands of this one man. He went to his rabbi for chizuk and the rabbi told him, your business is not in that man's hands. He has no power to decide what's going to happen to you. It may look like he has the final say, but he's just a puppet. The only one making the decision is akadosh baruchu. You have to believe in odd milivador. No one in this world has any power other than Hashem. The rabbi continued giving him chizuk, helping him internalize that no human being can take away what Hashem wants him to have. Baruch Hashem, the man calmed down, was able to eat and sleep again. The final decision still hasn't been made yet and he doesn't know what the outcome will be, but he's in a completely different place now. Instead of constantly worrying about what that individual is going to decide, he's focusing on Hashem. He's improving in his own abodat Hashem and he's strengthening his emuna in bitachon, continuing to think en odd milivador. Rabbi Biederman told the story that took place in Romania during the communist regime. A Jew named Rabbi Moshe was involved in business dealings that were considered illegal under the communist government. When the authorities discovered what he was doing, they began searching for him. The danger was so great that he had to go into hiding, constantly moving from place to place, afraid that at any moment he could be caught and thrown into jail. One day, a letter arrived to his home informing him that his application to leave Romania had been approved. When he first found out he was so happy, he would finally be able to escape the country with his family. But then he became suspicious. What if it was all a trap? Maybe the government was trying to lure him out of hiding so they could arrest him when he came to the port to get his travel documents. He didn't know what to do. He went to the to the great Rebbe, the Noam Eliezer of Scullin, and explained his situation. The Rebbe thought about it and said, I don't know what to tell you. Rabbi Moshe started to cry, Rebbe, please help me. My life is in danger. They could catch me at any moment. What should I do? The Rebbe told him, you understand that according to the natural course of events, you have no way of being saved. But if you believed, be'emunah shalema, that only Hashem could save you and you put your vitachon in him, then you could be saved. Rabbi Moshe cried out, I believe with complete emunah. But the Rebbe told him, it's not enough to just say it. You have to believe it deep inside the recesses of your heart. And so in order to help you, we're going to sit together and talk about emunah and vitachon. The Rabbi then sat there with him for an hour, repeating again and again the basic principles of emunah. Haqadosh Baruchu creates and governs every living being. He could do anything, all of nature belongs to him. There is no force in this world that could stand in his way, and only he alone decides what happens. En-od me levador, there's nothing besides Hashem. He said these ideas again and again, and then the Rebbe told him to come back the next day. The next day, once again they sat for an hour, speaking about how Hashem controls everything, and the following day for another hour. They did this for an entire week, day after day, until those words became a reality in his heart. Finally, after a week, the Rebbe told him he could go in peace. When the day of departure arrived, Rabbi Moshe went with his family to the port. The procedure was that everyone who had permission to leave would wait in a large hall until his name was called. Then he would get his papers, present them to the guard, and board the ship. Rabbi Moshe waited an hour past, then two hours. People were being called one after another, but his name was never called. The hall was becoming empty, and the ship was getting ready to leave. His family was terrified. But Rabbi Moshe remained completely calm. He told them, the ship is not going anywhere without us. Everything is being directed, minash shamaim. Finally, at the last moment, an officer walked into the hall and asked him what he was still doing there. Rabbi Moshe explained he was waiting for his papers. The officer went to a cabinet, took out the documents, and handed them over. The family then hurried to the ship. The guard glanced at the papers for a split second, and then waved them through, and they boarded the boat just as it was about to leave. A few days later, when they were safely away from Romania, Rabbi Moshe decided to look more carefully at the papers, and he couldn't believe what he saw. There was a red stamp on the document stating he was absolutely forbidden to leave Romania. The government really did set a trap for him. They wanted him to come out of hiding so they could capture him. But look what Hashem did. His name wasn't called. He was delayed for hours. And because he reached the ship at the last moment, the guard didn't have time to examine his documents. The government thought that it was in control. The officers thought they were setting a trap. But Hashem was controlling every detail, including the exact time Moshe would get his papers, and how long the guard would have to examine them. The scholar, Nerevi, didn't just tell Moshe once that Hashem is in charge and send him away. He sat with him for an hour every day, repeating the words until he really believed them. We have to remind ourselves again and again. Hashem creates everything. He is in control of everything, and he could do anything at any time. And nobody could ever help or hurt us without his will. Whether a person's waiting for a decision about a business, a health concern, a shiduq or anything else, he should never put any emphasis on another person. No one has any control other than Hashem. And the more we believe that, the more we'll see it. Have a great day.

Welcome to the daily chizuk, when a person is going through a difficult situation, and the doctors or experts tell him they don't have an answer. It's very easy to become overwhelmed with fear and worry. But we have to remember, no matter how hopeless a situation appears to be, Hashem is never limited by what people can or cannot do. Even when every avenue seems to be closed, Hashem has unlimited ways of bringing salvation. A woman from Israel named Ortal Yitzchakov related a story about her son, who was four and a half when it happened a few years ago. One day, he developed a high fever. The doctors thought it was a throat infection and gave him antibiotics, but three days later, the fever still didn't come down. The little boy became very weak and was sleeping all the time. He would come home from kindergarten, go straight to sleep, wake up for a short time to eat, and then fall back asleep again. His parents knew something was very wrong. By Thursday, his condition got so bad, they called Hatsala. On the way to the hospital, their son began having seizures. The doctors ran some tests, but everything came back normal. They couldn't figure out what was causing the seizures. By Friday morning, his condition got so bad, the doctors said they had to sedate him and put him on a ventilator. Just a few days earlier, this little boy was perfectly healthy. Now he was lying unconscious in intensive care, connected to a breathing machine, and nobody knew what was wrong with him. That Friday afternoon, the family arranged a half-rashat-khala gathering. Women came from all over to pray for a rifua shalema, but his condition remained critical, and he stayed on a ventilator for an entire week. Finally, on Lagba Omed, the little boy woke up. His mother was overjoyed, but when she tried speaking to him, he couldn't answer. All he could do was reach out and hold her hand. Even that small gesture meant so much to her. But this good news didn't last too long. The seizures started again, and the doctors were continuing to look for answers. Then, things became so bad, the little boy started having as many as 40 seizures a day. The parents were watching their little precious boy suffer again and again, and the doctors could do nothing to stop it. Ortaal later described how she and her husband felt that they were on the verge of an emotional breakdown. At one point, Ortaal decided it was time to strengthen herself spiritually. She contacted Hidabrut and arranged another evening of HaFrasad Chala and Chizuk, this time with Rebbitson Esther Lamour. But before the gathering started, she sat with the Rebbitson in her car and broke down crying. She said they already had HaFrasad Chala gatherings, and so many people had been praying, yet her son was only getting worse. Why was anything going to change this time? The Rebbitson gave her Chizuk with stories of Yeshuaot and helped strengthen her emunah. Then, during the gathering, the Rebbitson began singing and encouraged the women there to dance. She told Ortaal, you have to be happy, Hashem doesn't want sadness. At first, this was very difficult for Ortaal considering everything she was going through. But slowly, she started to feel a new sense of strength, and instead of focusing on what the doctors couldn't do, she started thinking about what Hashem could do. She recognized that no matter how hopeless things appeared to be, Hashem could heal her son in an instant. And then she said I believe that my son's going to be healthy. I believe that Hashem could heal him. Nothing had changed yet. Her son was still suffering from seizures. The doctors still had no answers, but something changed dramatically inside of her. She strengthened her Bittachon and Hashem and found the ability to be happy with everything going on. Ortaal also made a commitment to give a monthly Siddhaka pledge as a zikhut for her son. The next day, her husband called from the hospital with great news. Their son went through an entire night without one single seizure. And that morning, there were no other seizures. From that point, his condition kept improving. He was transferred out of intensive care, and by the night of Shavuot, he was able to speak again. Soon afterward, he began recognizing his family and friends. The doctors couldn't believe the recovery. The family made a Siddhata thanking Hashem. And eventually, after spending seven Shabbats in the hospital, they were finally able to bring their little boy home. Ortaal said from then on, every Shabbat at home felt like a new gift. We must always remember that the limitations of doctors and experts are not limitations to Hashem. When there seems to be no way out, there's always a way. We have to strengthen our emunah, continue praying, and remember that Hashem has the power to change everything. Kehedev Ayin. Have a great day.

Welcome to the Daily Hizouk and this week's Parashah Vayera. We read about the Nisayon of Akedat Yitzhak. Avraham Avina was asked to do something that went against everything that he understood and everything that he stood for. But whatever the will of Hashem was, he was happy to do it. And after he passed this test, Hashem told him, He was going to be greatly blessed and he was going to have an abundance of children. Hashem promised him great blessings in the merit of what he just did. Thousands of years later, we are still speaking about Akedat Yitzhak in our tifilot, asking Hashem to remember that zikhrut and have mercy on us. Avraham Avina performed the great act of misirut nefesh and its zikhrut continues to stand for us throughout the generations. We have no idea how powerful a mitzvah is and how far its effects can reach, especially when a person does something so difficult, the zikhrut is greater than we could ever imagine. A woman told me a story about her 32 year old daughter who has been waiting many years to get married. A couple of weeks ago, her family was discussing what they could do as a zikhrut to help her find her zivug. They decided for at least that week they would all accept Shabbat 30 minutes before candlelighting. Everybody took the commitment seriously. They made extra efforts to finish all their preparations early and they had in mind that it should be a zikhrut for this young woman. That same week, a friend asked the young woman to go with her upstate for Shabbat to help her with something. They planned to leave Thursday after work, but she found out that her 24 year old cousin had gone engaged and the family was making alakha in Thursday night. She told her friend she would have to leave later because she wasn't going to miss it. She wanted to be there to show how genuinely happy she was for her cousin and she didn't want anyone to even think that she might be upset because someone so much younger than her was getting engaged while she was still waiting. She wanted to share in the Simcha wholeheartedly. So she went to the l'chaim, celebrated with her cousin, and afterward got into her car to drive upstate while she was driving on the highway, a deer in front of her car, and she hit it. The car went completely out of control. It began spinning and no matter what she tried, she couldn't stop it. She even tried to put the car into park, but nothing helped. The car went off the road, turned on its side, and continue moving at a very high speed, heading straight towards the edge of a cliff. And then somehow, the car stopped right at the edge. Nobody could understand how that happened. The car was completely out of control and nothing she could do would stop it. If it continued just a little further, it would have been devastating, but Hashem stopped the car right before that happened. The doors were jammed, she couldn't get out. Someone called the fire department, the police, a helicopter came, and eventually they got her out and by Ruch Hashem, she didn't even have one scratch on her. The family is overwhelmed with hakarat atov to Hashem. They can't stop thinking about how close she came to disaster and how miraculously she was saved. And they can't stop thinking about the zichuyot that came before the accident. Just days earlier, so many members of the family accepted Shabbat early in her merit. And on that same night, she made a special effort to attend her younger cousin's engagement party to bring her happiness despite her own difficult circumstances. We can never know which zichuyot brings about, which Yeshua, but we know that every mitzvah we do is precious to Hashem and the more self-sacrifice involved, the greater the value. The family accepted Shabbat early, hoping it would be a zichuyot for her Shiduch. They had no idea that just days later, the young woman would be in a situation where her life would be in danger. And when she went to her cousin's lechayb, all she was thinking about was making someone else happy. She had no idea what was waiting for her on the highway that night. One of the lessons we can learn from Akedat Yitzchak is how far the zichuyot of one act of misirut nefesh could reach. We do mitzvah, we think we accomplish something small, we may push ourselves to do something difficult and wonder if it really made a difference. But we have no idea what's happening in Shammayim from our deeds. Every mitzvah brings enormous merits and those zichuyot, besides for the eternal merit, they stand for us in this world as well. We should never underestimate the value of any effort we make in Abodat Hashem. Shabbat Shalom.

Welcome to the daily Hizouk. We recently mentioned the words of the Ramban in Parashat Vayeshev, Ha Gezera Emet Ve Ha Harisud Shaker. Hashem's decree is the truth, and man's efforts can never change it. The Ramban was explaining how Yosef was on his way to find his brothers, and when he couldn't find them, he could have easily turned back and gone home. But Hashem already decreed that the Jewish people were going to go down to Mitsrayim, and Yosef being sold by his brothers at that time was the beginning of that process. So Hashem sent the Malach Gabriel to point Yosef towards his brothers, to teach us that Hashem's plan is going to happen no matter what people decide to do. We find the same idea in many places throughout the Torah. When Sidon was about to be destroyed, the Malach told Lot, Ha Harah Himalat, escape to the mountain. But Lot did not want to go to the mountain. He asked instead to go to a small city named Soar, and the Malach agreed. Lot thought he chose where he was going to live, but the Torah tells us right afterward, Lot became afraid to stay in Soar. So he went up to the mountain with his two daughters and settled in a cave there. That Hashban points out, this was the exact place the Malach had originally told Lot to go to. Lot thought he was making his own decisions about where to live, but Hashem brought him exactly where he wanted to be. And what happened in that cave? Lot's daughters thought that the world got destroyed and they were the only ones left. So they decided to give their father wine and continue the world having children through him. But where did they get wine in a cave in the middle of a mountain from? Rashi tells us Hashem had prepared the wine for them there. There was a much greater plan taking place. From Lot's daughter came Moav, and generations later from Moav came Ruth, the great grandmother of David the Malach from whose descendants Mashiach will come. Lot thought he was choosing where to go, but Hashem was preparing the beginnings of the dynasty of Mashiach. The Torah says regarding Lot's older daughter, vatishkav et aviyah b'laylahu, instead of using the more common phrase b'laylahahu. This unusual expression appears in only two other places in the Torah. The word who can be understood as a hint to hakadosh baruchu, telling us that Hashem himself was there directing the events. The second place is regarding the birth of Yisachar. The Torah tells us that as Yaakov was returning home from the field. The Yaakov was returning home from the field, and the Gemara Mashiach at Nidah explains, at that time Hashem caused Yaakov's donkey to turn towards Lot's tent. See the Gemara there, Lamed Aleph, Amur Aleph with Rashi and the Aruch Laner. And the Torah says the words vayishkav imah b'laylahu. Rashi explains hakadosh baruchu personally assisted in bringing about the birth of Yisachar. Yisachar became the Shevet that was going to produce outstanding Talmideh HaKhamim who were going to be the Mora'a and Klal Yisrael. They were going to be the teachers of Klal Yisrael. What appeared to be an ordinary event was all part of Hashem's plan to bring a Shevet that was going to have such an important role in the future of the Jewish people. The third place is when Yaakov Avina was preparing to meet Esav. Yaakov was afraid and the Rashbam there says he decided to escape by taking a different route. The Torah says vayakom b'laylahu vayav oret maavad yabok. Yaakov got up that night and crossed the Yabok River. The Rashbam explains Yaakov was trying to avoid meeting Esav but Hashem promised Yaakov that he was going to protect him and he wanted Yaakov to see that promise fulfilled. So Hashem sent the Malach to stop him from escaping and look what came out of that encounter. The Malach acknowledged Yaakov's right to the berakhot. Yaakov got the name Yisrael. The name that his descendants would carry for all generations. Yaakov thought he was deciding where to go but Hashem had different plans and sent a Malach that was going to have a major significance for the entire future of Kral Yisrael. In all these places the people involved thought they were making their own decisions but Hashem was directing events the way that he wanted them to come about. We as well make decisions every day. We decide where to go, what opportunities to pursue and which situations to avoid. We make our hishtalud and do what we think is right but we must never think that we are the ones controlling the outcome. Sometimes Hashem does allow us to take the road we chose and sometimes he redirects us to places we never expected to be. We may think something happened because of a decision that we made or a change of circumstances but behind it all is a kadosh baruchu guiding everything and everyone towards the destination he planned. Ha gezerah imet vea harisud shekir Hashem's plan always comes to fruition and therefore we should always feel comfortable knowing we are exactly where we're meant to be. Have a great day.

Welcome to the daily hizouk, if we would be asked what Abraham Avino did that made him so loved by Hashem, what would we say? Perhaps it was his willingness to be thrown into the fiery furnace, or maybe it was that he passed all of his tests, or maybe it was Akedat Yitzhak, or perhaps it was the thousands of people that he brought to believe in Hashem. The Torah tells us something astonishing. Hashem says about Avraham, Kyedat Yitzhak, and Hashem explains the words Kyedat Yitzhak as an expression of love. Hashem was saying, I love Avraham, because he commands his children and household to follow my ways. Of all the great things that Avraham accomplished, Hashem singles out the chinuch that he gave his family. And we could see a small glimpse into the great chinuch of Avraham from the Akedat. Avraham told Yitzhak that Hashem commanded him to be brought as a korban. Yitzhak never heard this command from Hashem. He was only hearing it from his father, yet he accepted it right away. It's difficult enough for parents to get their children to listen to them regarding anything. And here Yitzhak was being asked to give up his life, willing to listen to his father without any questions. Furthermore, when it came time to find a wife for Yitzhak, Avraham made Eliezer swear to follow all of his instructions. Avraham understood how important it was for Yitzhak to find the right wife. There's a very big lesson we could learn from here. A mother may spend her days taking care of her children, teaching them Torah and Mitzvot, Verachot, encouraging them to pray, develop Good Midot. Sometimes she may feel that she could be accomplishing so much more if she would be out in the world doing something for Klal Yisrael, maybe running a school or inspiring large groups of people. But here we see, although Avraham was bringing back thousands of people closer to Hashem, Hashem told us what made Avraham so beloved to him was the chinuch that he was giving his own family. A mother raising her children to be of der Hashem is accomplishing something so precious. She's raising the next generation of Klal Yisrael. Every beracha she teaches them. Every time she encourages her child to do a mitzvah. Every time she explains what Hashem wants from us, she's doing a tremendous avoda. Chinuch requires a lot of love, patience, warmth, and understanding. We want our children to develop a true desire to serve Hashem, and that takes effort round the clock. Most of the time, nobody sees how much work we put into our children. But Hashem sees everything, and he's telling us how special it is to him. There's another lesson we learned from here. Even Avraham, who was the greatest mechanech, had a son like Yishmael. Yishmael went in a different direction despite the chinuch he received. Even the greatest mechanechim cannot guarantee the results of their efforts. Parents are responsible to teach, to guide, to love, and set the right example for their children. And of course, pray for them day and night. But every child, but the results are never in their hands. A parent whose child is struggling should never think that all the years of his efforts were wasted. Hashem values every effort we put in. The Gemara Mbabbah Batra tells us that in the ultimately, Yishmael made tishuvah in Avraham's lifetime. Avraham was a her to see all of his children going in the Derech Hashem. Sometimes parents plant seeds that don't seem to be growing, but those seeds are there waiting for the right time to blossom. Every parent working to raise his children in the ways of Hashem should appreciate the greatness of what he's doing. We may not see immediate results. We may not receive any recognition for it. But we are performing the greatest avodah. An avodah that Hashem said is what made Avraham so beloved in his eyes. Have a great day.

Welcome to the daily Hizouk. How many times does a person look back at something that happened in his life and say, if only I had done things differently, everything would have been so much better now? Could be he passed up on a business opportunity or turned down a Shedouk or made an investment that didn't work out and he keeps thinking about what could have been wishing he could go back in time and change that decision. There's a beautiful lesson we could learn from at the end of Parashat Vayera. Immediately after the Akheda, the Torah tells us that Abraham Avino received the news that Milka had given birth to children and among her descendants was Rivka. Rashi explains why the Torah tells us that here because when Abraham returned from the Akheda he started thinking to himself, if Yitzchak would have been slaughtered, he would have left the world without any children. Maybe I should have married him off earlier to one of the daughters of Anir, Eshkol, or Mamre. And right then Hashem informed Abraham that Rivka, Yitzchak's destined wife, had been born. Rabbi Ali Melech Biederman brings out a beautiful lesson from here. Abraham was thinking, maybe he made a mistake by not marrying off Yitzchak earlier, but Hashem was showing him there were no mistakes. It was Hashem who had put into Abraham's mind not to pursue those earlier Shedoukim because none of those girls were meant for Yitzchak. His real Zivug Rivka wasn't even born yet. Abraham was looking back thinking, why didn't he do something differently? And Hashem told him, I was the one who guided you not to do it. I was preparing the right Shedouk for your son. Sometimes a person thinks he's waiting because he made the wrong decision. And if he would have chosen differently, things would have been so much better. But in reality, that person who he declined wasn't meant for him. He's waiting because the time did not yet come for him to meet the right one. The chazon ish told a story that took place in brisk. There was a young man who became very wealthy by purchasing forests there. He made a tremendous amount of money cutting down trees and selling the wood. His business continued growing until eventually he owned practically all the forests around brisk. Then one day a fire broke out and within hours, all of his forest burned down. All his money was gone. The man who had so much was left with nothing. Afterward, whenever he would pass by those burned forests, he would sigh bitterly and say, Oh, my forest, my forest, how much money did I invest in you? All my years of hard work, all my money, everything is what was lost. One day, the bet tell if he heard him speaking that way and taught him a very important lesson. You have it all wrong. He said, you think that because you invested your money in the forest, you became poor when they burned down. But the truth is, it's exactly the opposite. Because it was decreed in Shamaim that you should be that you should lose your wealth. Hashem led you to invest all your money in those forests. We see events taking place and we assume that one thing caused another. But we have to remember that Hashem is the one directing everything behind the scenes. A person might say, if only I bought that property, if only I accepted that offer, or if only I made a different decision, I wouldn't be in this situation today. But who says things would have worked out differently? If Hashem wanted something to happen, he had countless ways of making it happen. The pasuk says that Man has many thoughts in his heart, but the plan of Hashem is always what prevails. Sometimes we regret something we did, or we regret something we didn't do. We replay the situation over and over, imagining how much better our lives could have been. But knowing that Hashem is always the one directing things can save us from so much unnecessary regret. Instead of dwelling on what we should have done yesterday, we should think about what Hashem wants from us now, with the peace of mind that we're exactly where he wants us to be. The more we internalize that, the easier it will become to let go of the past and look towards the future with Emuna and peace of mind. Have a great day.