What about the Egyptian king’s death provoked Bnei Yisrael’s pain and initiated their crying out? Horav Yitzchak, zl, m’Volozhin explains that as long as Pharaoh was alive, the Jews attributed all of their tzaros, troubles, to his wicked leadership. They hoped that when he would hopefully leave this world, the evil decrees would end. When he died, however, and the evil continued unabated, they realized that they could only turn to Hashem. The nature of man is to attribute everything that occurs in his life to natural causes and place their hopes on its positive conclusion. The believing Jew, however, places his trust in Hashem and seeks to find His guiding hand. One should live his life in such a manner that he understands that everything comes from Hashem, thus, He is the One to whom we should turn.
Horav Asher Weiss, Shlita, relates that a woman suffering from extreme poverty came before the Divrei Chaim (Sanzer Rav, zl) weeping bitterly. She pleaded with the holy Rebbe to intercede on behalf of her gravely ill son. The Divrei Chaim told her, “If you give me one thousand reinis (the currency of the day), I guarantee you that your son will merit a refuah sheleimah, complete recovery.”
The woman was incredulous and expressed her displeasure: “How can I pay so much money? I am lucky to have some coins to live and support my family. The sum the Rebbe is demanding from me is not within my reach. Please forgo the exorbitant sum. I have nothing.” The Rebbe refused to reconsider, “I must have the complete sum, or I cannot promise you that your son will survive.”
When the woman heard this final response and saw that the Rebbe was immovable, she raised her hands in desperation and exclaimed, “If the Rebbe will not help me, then I have no recourse but to turn to Hashem.” The Rebbe countered, “This is what I wanted to hear. I cannot help you. Only Hashem has the power to heal your son. Unless you acknowledge this verity, you are assured of nothing. Now that you have accepted Hashem as the only resort, I will give you my blessing for a refuah sheleimah.”
All too often, we exhaust all avenues of salvation, while ignoring the only One who has the means for effecting a positive response to our needs.
