Chisel Away | Rabbi David Haber

Everyone, at one point or another in their life, is looking for a big break. Sometimes it's a businessman, looking for the next great deal to get him ahead. Other times it's a mother or a father, looking for the right Shidduch for their child. Sometimes it's parents that are looking to have a child of their own. But all of us, at one point or another in our lives, are looking for a big break. If you're one of those people, listen to this. Hashem tells Moshe Rabenu in Parashat Ki Tisa, Carve for yourself two tablets, like the original set. Says Rashi, From there Moshe Rabenu became a very wealthy man from this particular episode. Moshe Rabenu was allowed to keep the fragments of the tablets as he chiseled and as they fell, those Hashem gifted them for himself. What does this mean for us? A little while ago, here in the community, we had launched a very ambitious project. A situation presented itself for our Torah institution that would be very advantageous for us. The challenge was that we'd have to come up with a fortune of money in a very, very, very short window. But because it was so fitting, we agreed to the terms and set out on our mission. I began to text different people and call different people, and the response was lukewarm. Late, late into Motzei Shabbat, 1:30, 2:00 in the morning or thereabout, I began to think to myself, nervously, How are we going to do this? And I said: You know what? If Hashem gave us this opportunity, then He gave us the ability to do it. But if He gave us the ability to do it, He wants us to do something special. And so, although I had held myself, I thought, to a pretty high standard in Shemirat Ha’einayim, I had made a Kabbalah on myself that we were going to go one step further. I made the Kabbalah and I went to sleep that night. Rabotai, there is no other way for me to say this, other than to say that Sunday morning, miracles began to happen. Floodgates began to open. People who owed us nothing, who barely knew what we did, opened up their wallets and ultimately flooded our coffers. We came to the deadline with every last dollar in hand, ready to close the deal. Carve for yourself two stone tablets. Says Hashem, Chisel the tablets. The sages say, This is analogous to a person chiseling away at their character traits. When you chisel, when you carve, when you work, when you go one step further, the fragments of that make you richer. Whoever is looking for a big break, you can be in business, you could be a mother, a father, a girl waiting, a boy waiting, a family waiting, you could be a community or a nation waiting for a big break. That big break comes when we push ourselves one step further. Hashem says: Carve, carve away. Chisel, chisel away. Work, work away. And משם, from there, נתעשר you will reap the reward. Mazel tov and Mabrouk on your big break.