Emuna

Moshe, a sergeant in the Israeli Navy, had beads of sweat on his forehead; tears glistened in his eyes. "The newspapers don't write about the miracles and the Divine Direction that we all saw when that missile hit us. I ran to my bunk on the deck right below the landing pad. It was charcoal; my metal bunk was completely melted down and all my possessions were ashes. If I hadn't been detained in the chapel and in the dining room for Shabbat meal, I'd have been charcoaled too. I haven't stopped thanking Hashem since..."
Israel's turbulent history transcends all logic, military and otherwise. It's beyond nature to the extent that experts in military history and strategy understand everything but Jewish history. That's exactly the subject of our lesson today. Hashem's personal Divine Direction is constantly defying nature and logic.

In this clip from the holy Western Wall in Jerusalem, we learn the true meaning of emuna and how to expedite Moshiach's arrival. Do we really love Hashem? The more one loves someone, the more one thinks about them. Let's ask ourselves how often we think about Hashem. Once a week? Once a day? Once an hour? More frequently? That's likely the first and most important question of self-assessment.

Today, we learn all about Divine Direction in making a living. Contrary to what Western society thinks, one doesn't have generate income by working around the clock. We'll also learn four easy ways to assure an adequate income.

The young man looked in the mirror. He didn't like what he saw. He asked himself, "How can I go to an interview looking like this? It's ridiculous to wear my best when my stubbly face looks like I'm a drunk from the gutter!" Yet, he knew that shaving during the 3 Weeks was a serious breach of Jewish faith, for it shows that the transgressor is apathetic about the destruction of the Holy Temple. He was at war with himself. He felt that his career and his future were at stake, so he decided to ask the great Rabbi Moshe Feinstein what to do...

Most people yearn for a comfort-zone existence. They don't like change and they certainly don't want crises. But the Almighty knows that we're capable of much more. Maybe we lack the courage and confidence to look for a better job or strive to go higher. What does the Almighty do? He throws us a crisis...

Sometimes, two people see an identical situation. There is no change in reality. Yet one person is happy and the other person is miserable. That's the difference between looking at Hashem and looking at causes, or catalysts that trigger events.
"Looking at Hashem" means viewing life's occurrences within the framework of Divine Providence. A person who attributes success and failure, happiness and grief to catalysts – human or otherwise – will never find inner peace.
By ignoring Hashem and attributing one's fate to catalysts, events seem random, senseless and frequently cruel. That not the hand of a loving Father in Heaven, as we see in today's Emuna Hour lesson.

The evil inclination never rests, so we can't either. If we don't do something every day to strengthen emuna, we won't have the emotional stamina to withstand the the major challenges that face each of us today.

The holy Baal Shem Tov attempted to explain to his brilliant students the depth of the concept of Divine Providence. Despite their magnificent minds and comprehensive Torah-learning backgrounds, they just couldn't comprehend. How can Almighty personally supervise and determines every single detail of creation? OK, He makes the sun shine, but what does He care about a tiny insect or an amoeba?
The same pious scholars who knew entire tractates of Talmud by heart were baffled. The Baal Shem Tov decided to take them to his favorite classroom – nature, out in the woods. There, he could teach them all about Divine Providence. This is the lesson we learn in Today's Emuna Hour.

In one of the most dramatic episodes of the Torah, Joseph reveals himself to his brothers. At this very moment, Joseph makes a monumental discovery. He suddenly sees the Divine hand of providence involved in every detail of his life. This is a lesson for each one of us, for posterity.
 

Divine Providence is the Almighty's precision constant supervision and intervention over all levels of creation. This is not only on a wide general scale, but down to the tiniest detail in each of our lives in particular. Both in macro and micro, the Almighty decides the fate of the super-galaxies as well which leaf a silkworm in Japan will eat for dinner. As we shall learn, the awareness of Divine Providence takes us to the highest level of emuna.

Noahides are truth-seeking people who have exchanged former beliefs for the purest form of faith. The Seven Noahide Commandments, the first of which is emuna, are their guiding lights.
Enjoying marvelous spiritual status in this world and the next, Noahides sometimes feel alone. Some seek to convert to Judaism. Others think they must have a house of worship to attend. They need neither. I do encourage them, though, to network and to develop support groups.
As we learn in this brief and encouraging message, the goal and beauty of a Noahide is cultivating his or her own intimate personal relationship with the Almighty. Nothing is more gratifying.

So what if the world is round? It means that if you're flying high, don't be arrogant because tomorrow you might not be on top. And, if you're down, don't be depressed because you'll soon be up again.