In this week’s Torah reading, Moses rebuked the Jews in the desert for crying over entering the Land of Israel. As they neared the Promised Land after leaving Egypt, they sent spies to advise them regarding conquering the land. Most of the spies reported that it would be too difficult to conquer. The majority of the nation believed their perspective, and cried bitterly about the impending disaster. The Jews said (1:27), “It is because God hates us that he took us out of Egypt in order to give us in the hands of the Emorites to destroy us.”
Why would they think that God hates them and wants to kill them? The Seforno explains that the Jews thought that this was a punishment for serving idols when they were in Egypt.
The question is, if this was their thought process, why are they to blame for their reaction? There is no denying that God metes out retribution for one’s sins, as God leads the world with justice. Why are they being admonished for these fears?
God’s Kindness Throughout
The answer to this question is delivered by Moses in the following verses (30-32). Moses said, “Your God who goes before you, He will fight for you as he did for you in Egypt in front of your eyes. And in this desert, you saw how your God carried you like a man carries his son, this whole journey which you have traveled until you came to this place. And in this matter you do not trust your God?!”
In other words, the Jews already witnessed countless times how God has cared for them with boundless love, for quite a while. Even if they had sinned, which deserves a consequence, it would not be rational to suspect that all of the sudden God will turn against them after experiencing such devoted love by God. If God was out to get them, He could have done so long ago. Therefore, their distrust in God’s kindness was inexcusable.
Focus on the Good
This idea addresses a challenge many of us struggle with. At times, we feel we might be headed towards unfortunate situations. Instead of being hopeful, our hopes are derailed by thought that, “Maybe God is punishing me.” We need to strengthen ourselves to push away these notions. Although it is true that there are times we deserve to be punished, there is no reason we should assume this is the case. We must focus on all the good God has provided us until now and strengthen our convictions that God did not decide to turn against us.
As the Chovos Halevavos says (gate of Bitachon, chapter 2), when we think about all the good God has given us every step of our lives and continues to give us constantly, we will be compelled to rely on Him to continue to do so. In addition, we must remember that God’s kindness has no bounds and He always showers his creations with blessings even when they are not deserving of them.
God Helped Until Now and He Will Continue
As I was writing this piece, I was trying to figure out where I can find a good story for this message. I didn’t know where to look, but I told myself, “God has helped every week until now, God will send me a story this time as well.” And then it happened. My account reflected an overdraft fee. There was also a check which was attempted to be cashed, but it wasn’t covered by my overdraft protection. I had no way of climbing out of the negative balance. I started feeling very despondent. There were a several payments that were scheduled to be drafted from my account soon, and I didn’t have a way of covering them on time.
But then I told myself, “You have been responsible for covering bills for over twelve years. Did it ever happen that you were stuck for an extended amount of time without being able to cover drafts from your account? Why should now be different? There is no reason to think that God won’t help you now as well.” I managed to change my attitude and mood, and indeed, matters worked out.
Realism or Lack of Trust?
When we feel pessimistic about a looming misfortune and we blame it on being punished for our deeds, we think we are being realistic. But the truth of the matter is that these notions are rooted in a lack of reliance on God. If we truly trusted God’s limitless love and kindness, then the default expectation should be that God will not forsake us, rather than anticipation of misfortune.
We may have made some mistakes which deserve consequences, but that doesn’t stop God from showering us with an abundance of blessings. Focusing on our misdeeds instead of all the good God bestows upon us regularly is a display of distrust and lack of appreciation. If we think about how good God is to us, our reliance on God will be reinforced. With this mindset, many of our anxieties will vanish, and despite the mistakes we made we will be able to hope for salvation.
By Rabbi Yitzchok Aryeh Strimber torah4every1@gmail.com
