BS’D
The world contradicts emuna thinking and living. We are instructed to work and do hishtadlut and get personally involved in our daily routine. It is a challenge not to worship our efforts.
Hashem is the only true reality. The RamBam ztk’l teaches, “Hu Levado emet: Hashem is the only truthful reality”, everything else is an allusion and a phantom of the yetzer hara. Hashem’s eyes are always looking at us. It takes tremendous strength to resist the world’s call to “kochi v’otzem yadi”. It is natural for us to ignore and forget that we are limited. From here we learn that one of the greatest barriers to emuna living is arrogance and one of the most beloved and important virtues is humility.
Submission to Hashem and appreciation of His ongoing goodness is the key to strengthening our emuna and cleaving to Hashem. Were it not for Hashem who gives us life, koach, wisdom and everything else we have… we would not have anything. The strength to do and not to do, the strength to learn and not to learn, the strength to succeed or not is rooted in Hashem’s giving. When we don’t succeed materially or spiritually that too is Hashem’s way of telling us, “You see, you can’t do anything without me!”
We should awaken ourselves from the deep slumber of self-worship and recognize our total dependence of Hashem. How different life would be if we absorbed this truth in our hearts; our emuna would climb to the greatest heights.
