Shaar HaBitachon Lesson 19 with Rabbi Shais Taub

so we are still in chapter three the long chapter three and we are in the fifth preface the fifth preface was about remember what was about knowing that hashem runs the world in a certain way where there are many steps involved in procuring your needs and that there are two reasons for that one is to test us to make sure that you won't just take the easy way out and violate hashem's laws in order to get what you need or to think you're going to get what you need by doing that the other one is to keep us busy because uh you know it's not good to have nothing to do not good to be idle it's a formula for trouble that's the second reason and then uh says but if you are righteous really those two reasons don't apply to you so there's no reason that you should have to be bothered with going through all the trouble all the different steps and stages of meeting your needs it should just come to you fully delivered ah but we see sometimes that doesn't work out that way so then this was last class we had a whole long explanation of really we don't know why the righteous suffer and the wicked prosper when that happens but um here are some possible explanations why sometimes it could happen that way you remember this this is the last class it's not an absolute explanation because really there is no explanation but rebecca is simply illustrating to us by way of example that it's a very complex um parsha and it's uh you know hashem has many many very nice many calculations going on and somehow in the end it all balances out okay fine now it balances out it's exactly a hundred percent meticulously correct even though we can't follow the math okay so it's a calculus that is beyond human comprehension all right that that was what we covered last night all right now let's continue everybody is clear so far so good everything made sense what we said any questions comments complaints okay so let's continue the cave and shihizu the gilgal la la having demonstrated the need for man to strive for the means of a livelihood right that's what we did now we're going to explain not every man is obliged to explore every one of those means this is a classic question maybe i could make a living this way that way maybe i have to leave no stone unturned maybe i have to pursue every possible means of making a living the main bakay says no not necessary why he has because there are many ways many means for making a living mayhem nikales some of them are easy requiring little effort like shopkeeping or handicrafts like sewing or stitching the hasafros or writing the itsa hamish kharim wholesale supply uh that's not being the uber driver that's being the uber app you're the one who contracts out the workers people who do okay so they're not uber drivers they're they're farmers but meaning not being the farmer himself but being the guy who you know the what do they call it the the the employment agency yeah the temp agency yeah so those are easy jobs those are light jobs um then there are means of getting uh making a living which entail toil and burden like being a tanner light sauce min might say ahem or taking out iron and copper and lead that's what does it mean taking it out extracting it from the ground being a minor it's called a minor vesico cacassif or uh refining silver by smelting it with lead vinose hamasais or being a schlapper a porter somebody who carries things you know a mover allah or someone who travels long distances for a living you know like a long-haul trucker or a public speaker the vedas harishasa or working the land and plowing it or anything like that this sounds like uh one of those tests that the uh guidance counselor gives you right which job would you like okay um someone whose body is strong but his mind is weak yes he suited for an occupation that demands physical exertion within the limits that he can bear um one who is weak in his body and his mind is strong he shouldn't seek a means for employment that would wear out his body you should seek out something you should tend towards something which would be easy on his body and which he'll be able to sustain the the point is that hashem made everybody different and you should take that into consideration when looking for a means for a livelihood it's not like you have to say well i need to make a cleave for parnosa right you have to there has to be a stateless well they're hiring for uh they want they want to hire for a uh they need a a trainer at at the gym well you know if you're if you're really interested in making a cliff or parnosa you can't say no to that you got to go go apply to be a trainer at the gym right okay you can't do two push-ups but you're gonna be the trainer at the gym okay fine every person has a has a preference for a particular occupation or a business over another now we'll talk about preference before we're talking about capability now we're getting even a little bit more exacting even preference what you what you like hashem has already implanted within his nature the person's nature love and affection for it and the same with all living creatures he implanted within the cat a talent for trapping mice not just a talent a an enjoyment that the cat enjoys trapping mice he likes it he has you know of a cat needed to make it they don't need to make a living but because people feed them because they're domesticated if they're domesticated you know they say they're two kinds of people they're cats and dogs right cat people dog people what that doesn't mean people like cats people like dogs means people who are like cats people who are like dogs what is a person who's like a dog so dog says wow look at this human you know their master who feeds me and gives me shelter and takes care of me and keeps me safe they must be god right that's a dog thinks he looks at his master this must be god then there's the cat the cat says look at this being that takes care of me and feeds me cleans up after me does everything for me wow i must be god that's what the cat says okay anyway that's also connected to shadow talking to previously yeah but uh right here what are we talking about the the cat was given an enjoyment of trapping mice and so two people were given an enjoyment they like certain types of jobs but eva nates say this masha roy limit and then the hawk has the instinct to hunt the birds that are fit for it but teva ho isle say this hushem and the deer likes to hunt snakes i didn't know that by the way i'm maybe in north america the deer are different i wasn't i didn't the deer in chicago where i grew up didn't hunt snakes seemed like sometimes they were hunting the headlights of oncoming cars but i don't know about them hunting snakes okay but maybe in spain they did you have birds who specialize they only like to trap fish you tell these birds why do you diversify what's wrong with trapping some rodents from time to time and the bird says no really i just like to trap fish okay and that's good that's fine because that's what he likes to do that's all right okay um thus within the nature of each animal species there's implanted a liking and desire for a certain kind of plant or animal hateful olive liasiba the mosainess which is ordained as its natural source of sustenance the configuration of its body and limbs is suited for that thing as for example for instance the long bill and legs of the bird that catches fish there's a bird that has a long long bill and long legs and it catches fish what's that i'm talking about there is it the pelican you ever heard the poem the pelican a very fine bird is a pelican his beak can hold more than his belly kin there's more to it but that's what my father told me that's all good sign told me that when i was a kid i remember that one yeah someone could google it um fine so that bird is anatomically suited for the kind of parnosa that he likes or maybe he likes the kind of parnosa that he's anatomically suited for i think that's probably more what we're saying right okay yeah okay um yeah yeah the hashem or like the strong teeth and claws of the lion he's very suited for what he does or the horns of the ox and the ram is on the other hand animals whose sustenance comes from plant life are not provided with the tools of the hunt and pray right a vegetarian what do they call it an herbivore an herbivore doesn't need to have sharp claws he just eats plants right but a carnivore needs sharp claws because that's what he needs in order to get the kind of parnosa that he likes okay so that's just a natural thing that exists in the world that every being is made with a certain proclivity toward the kind of parnosa that that's suited for him valadimian jose tim tamida spinae adam vegufes mujhanes les redes similarly you will find among human beings that different personalities and physiques are predisposed towards certain trades and occupations whoever discovers within his personality and nature an attraction to a particular trade and his body is fit for it and can endure its difficulty yejazura allah he should pursue it and make it his means of earning a livelihood remember baby jessica 80s children will remember remember baby jessica she fell in the well remember how they got her out in the end she was in a little narrow little pipe and nobody could get in there and they couldn't use like machines because it would be too dangerous and nobody could it was too narrow no one could reach in there and then they found a guy i i'm remembering this from when it happened okay i don't remember how old i was i think it was probably eight years old go look up if it happened in 1982. i'm just thinking i was eight years old and if if indeed it happened in 1982 then i was eight years old okay now you know how old i am don't identify theft me okay and i'm not gonna say my social security on the air to show how confident i am in this product you know that that guy from the secure lock or whatever it was got his identity stolen like 10 times okay 1987. okay thank you very much so then i was 12 13. okay um you know who got baby jessica out of the well this is how i remember it there was a guy with no collar bones there's no collar bones he just had arms coming right out of his neck he didn't have shoulders he didn't have a collarbone he was born for this and he was the guy he was able to reach in and take baby jessica out of the well okay so that's like a case where really it's obvious by the way i don't think he made a living doing that afterwards it wasn't like after that they were like you should go to all the places where okay but and maybe that was a bad example anyways the point is that each one of us were endowed with certain talents and a certain constitution and all of these things need to be taken into account again i really like this it's this is very gentle stuff this is like going with the grain going with my nature i can i can definitely handle this okay the isabel um he should accept its sweetness as well as its bitterness because even the job that you're suited for and that you're built for it's not it's not all peaches and cream the aliyokuts and he shouldn't be discouraged if his income is denied him an occasion an occasion he should trust in hashem she asked pickley tarpe that he will provide for him his sustenance all the days of his life the cave in bethesda by the gopher besides when he is occupied in mind and body with one of the means of earning a living let his intent be to fulfill the commandment of the creator who has commanded man to engage in worldly means such as working the soil plowing and sewing it like it says hashem took the man the first man of them and he put him in the garden in ghanadin to work it and to keep it so whatever it is take a job that's suited to you and then when you do it just have in mind that you're fulfilling hashem's will that hashem wants us to work lesh hashem has commanded men to make use of the other living creatures for his benefit and sustenance to build cities and prepare foods to marry to be fruitful and multiply right so these are all things these are relatively mundane things i mean not relatively one these are really mundane things but this is the way of the world this is what hashem commanded us to do he will be rewarded for the intent of his heart and mind to perform these for god's sake whether or not he carries out his desire as it is written you will eat by the fruit of the labor of your hands and you will be happy and it will be well with you the um and our sages of blessed memory say all your deeds should be for the sake of heaven so even when you're doing what you got to do meaning making a living have in mind this is the way hashem wanted life to be and he will not be harmed at all by the search for the means of a livelihood if in his heart and mind he intends them for the sake of heaven you got to do what you got to do this is the system hashem made so you do something that's suited to you and you have in mind that this is this is what hashem wants people doing and that's it and it'll be okay you're not gonna have to do anything crazy or anything that's not suited for you or anything that would obviously nothing that would make you compromise your values or your morals you should not think that your livelihood depends on a particular source and that if that source were to fail there would be no other way to to earn a living because that's not the way it is you're not getting your living from that source it's just a conduit you know they say about shabbos this is more about shabbos but in general uh that uh you don't work on travis so how are you gonna make a living if you only work six days out of out of the week you know you're gonna you're gonna miss out on income that you could have made if you worked seven days a week so there's an old marshall that see them say that there's a samavar you know like that you know tea thing you know and it has little spigots on it where you know you the tea comes out so imagine it has six spigots on it and a guy says you know what i want to get more water out of it so it puts a seven spigot on it is it gonna produce more water because you put a seven spicket on it no still gives the same amount of water so if you think that the job if you don't have this job now you're not going to have the parnosa that's like saying if i don't have that spigot that i won't have the water the water's the water okay the spigot is just the the means for accessing the water but the the parnosa doesn't come from doesn't come from the job there's a question here i'll get to the question sure for one second let's just finish here so don't think that that the the parnosa is coming from a particular source aval rather yiftak al hualakim trust in hashem for hashem all the different means to making a living are the same it's not harder for him to sustain you if you work this type of job or that type of job so don't get hung up on the particular job he'll support you by whatever means he wants at any time he wants in any way he wants kamehameha like it says nothing can prevent hashem from saving whether by many or by few the amount says he's the one who gives you power to become prosperous the amber and it says not by might and not by power but by my spirit says the god of hosts so don't get so hung up bottom line find a job that you're suited for do it because this is the natural way that the world works and that's it that's it hashem will use that as the as the pipeline okay there's a question here i'm having a hard time with yesterday's lesson i followed understood the depth of the other lessons understanding that everything that happens to us is for our good and hashem always takes care of us and we trust only in him so it's hard to understand all the reasons why the sadiq has suffering in this world all the reasons why hashem would punish the righteous in this world if everything is for the good why see anything as punishment it's hard for me especially where i'm at in my life i lived with active addiction for over three decades and trying hard to do the next right thing for myself and my family and seeing i want to make it more anonymous but seeing a a relative who is a true tadic with with yiddish and is struggling with with an illness in several parts yeah okay and he in accepting that he's suffering for clout israel or for past sins it's very sad hard to accept rather if we know that everything including pain and challenges are for our good it's more bearable and able to trust can you please clarify it okay so here's a very important lesson everything we've said about understanding why the righteous suffer and remember yesterday i told you that that the point of it was not a philosophical discussion we're not really trying to answer that question okay we're dealing with it in context in the context of understanding our obligation to work and make a living okay so it's not really don't think that that was an attempt to settle that question in fact rebecca says explicitly at the very beginning i'm not settling this question this is not a philosophical question i'm dealing with it just practically in terms of the bottom line is that we have to know that sometimes you do everything right and you still have to work okay and this is how you should take it emotionally this is how you should deal with the fact that you're doing everything right and you still have to work and maybe you have to work very hard and and and this is why that might happen but he was not trying to explain why bad things happen to good people and i told you that yesterday and i'm going to repeat it again but since you asked it and since it's on our minds and since people are still suffering in this gullus let me share one thing with you a catch-all a general rule a cloud goggle any explanation that you ever learn that helps you to better come to terms with the pain and suffering in this world is not meant for you to apply to others it's only meant for you to apply to yourself you know there's an expression lycabelli surimbiavo to accept suffering with love you can only accept that which was sent to you if ups comes and delivers uh a new laptop to me that my neighbor ordered through uh through uh amazon but it has the ups made a mistake and he put it on my porch am i allowed to take it and keep it no because it wasn't sent to me same thing if hashem sends suffering to me i can accept it because it's for me it's my teacher it's to elevate me it's good for me somehow but if hashem sends suffering to somebody else can i accept it no it's unacceptable i can accept my suffering because my suffering benefits me when i accept it but what benefit does it do anyone when i accept somebody else's suffering so when it comes to observing other people who are suffering our answer has to be like will the judge of the whole world not do justice so it's a little bit of a you have to play both sides when it comes to my suffering hashem whatever you got to do you got to kick me again do whatever you got to do i love you when it comes to others what good is it going to how is it going to build my character to watch somebody else get kicked unacceptable i hope that i hope that helps okay thank you everyone hashem we will begin next week with chapter four we finish chapter three thank you good night