CONFIDENCE IN AVODAS HASHEM

By Rabbi Zalman Goldberg 

The menuchas ha’nefesh which results from placing complete trust in Hashem is uplifting. By contrast, when one feels burdened by life’s responsibilities, ultimately due to the lack of Bitachon in Hashem, one might be more accurately described as dispirited and disheartened.

Parshas Naso encourages an uplifted mood, as can be derived from the name of the parsha. Naso means raise up; and although literally it refers to the census of the family of Gershon from the tribe of Levi, however, this notion can also be applied to uplifting in general¹. In light of the fact that this parsha is read in close proximity to the Yom Tov of Shavuos, the concept of Naso affects that the Torah which was given to us on Shavuos should have the most exalted status in our lives, i.e., we should be positively affected and uplifted by the Torah we study.

The idea of uplifting a person to a level of pure menuchas ha’nefesh applies not just when a person is in a neutral zone, and becomes elevated, rather this should also be a goal for people who are feeling down.

It² is normal for a person to occasionally feel that he or she is living a life which best characterized as a ‘desert’, i.e., lifeless and lacking in accomplishments and advancement. Much time may have been wasted. Likewise, in one’s community one may feel the lack of Yiddishe liveliness that surrounds them on a daily basis. This does not give a person a feeling of elation and one won’t feel excitement to make a difference in their own lives or on their surroundings.

The good news is that all of these figurative deserts were preceded by a real desert when the Yidden left Mitzrayim. By cautioning that the real desert shouldn’t affect the Yidden, and on the contrary, the desert was transformed to a place of vitality, this helped every Yid who currently finds him/herself in a figurative Midbar that they should be helped to not be subdued by the dreariness of the desert, rather, they should overpower the desert and transform it to a situation shining with Yiddishe life-force.

Being placed in a desert, and being expected to transform it, brings to mind the known account of the attention that the Alter Rebbe gave to Russian Jewry before Liozna became a part of Russia. In³ those times the Russians were famous for their illiteracy. Eventually there were Yiddishe families who migrated north, and with time the change of their surrounding was noticeable on them. Whereas formerly they lived in more or less Yiddishe communities and their appearance portrayed that, they now looked like their new surrounding which was very peasant like, and coarse.

The Alter Rebbe was the first to care for these families scattered all over the Russian towns, and he requested from an accomplished chassid in study and self-refinement, Reb Yochanan Ze’ev from Horodok, that instead of conducting his business in the southern district which was more populated by frum Yidden, he should focus more on doing business in the Russian towns.

This he did and after a few months, he returned to the Alter Rebbe depressed and downhearted that he had to spent time amongst such boorish people who had no appreciation for anything refined or intellectual. He begged the Alter Rebbe to allow him to return to his former clients in the more familiar surroundings.

The Alter Rebbe sternly responded that the steps of man are ordained by Hashem, and man has no say in matter.

After Tishrei Reb Yochanan Ze’ev crossed the border to Russia and as it got colder he found opportunities to farbreng with the local Yidden about Torah study and about good middos. Hashem gave him tremendous success and over the winter he inspired many baalei t’shuva. The report that Reb Yochanan Ze’ev brought the Alter Rebbe after this trip was a truly joyous one, for there were tangible products from his hard work.

The Alter Rebbe then sent several others to raise these newly inspired people to the next level, and within 3 years’ time there had blossomed communities with rabbanim, shochtim, and melamdim etc. Twenty years later, when parts of Poland and Lithuania were annexed to Russia, which resulted in Russia opening its doors for freer travel, hundreds of families who had resided in Poland now moved to what was formerly the coarse Russian empire, and were astounded at how what was considered a desert in the past, was now a source of Torah and Yiras Shamayim.

Direction for how to accomplish this we also derive from our parsha, where the Torah gives the command to count the Levites and instructs on their positions for traveling with the Mishkan.

Chassidus explains that the purpose of recording the Levite’s numbers and listing their duties was to empower the Levites. The Levites needed empowerment for at that time the Yidden were living in the Midbar and there was a constant fear that the desert and its terrifying elements may overpower them, both physically and spiritually. By counting the Levites, those who bore the Mishkan in the Midbar, the Levites were given an importance which could not be nullified, so that when they carry the Mishkan through the desert, they will be victorious over all that the desert represented and they will ultimately be able to transform the Midbar to a place which contained k’dusha.

This census of the Levites has an everlasting power for any individual who wishes to commit him/herself to the holy work of the ⁴Levites, which is to battle against the unholy desert elements. As a result of the Levites receiving an invincible existence by being counted in the Midbar, a domino effect is had on all those who follow their example. Once we receive an invincible spiritual existence from the Levites, there is no situation in which we may fear that our avodas Hashem will fail. In whichever desert we may find ourselves, whether our surroundings seem void of holiness, or if our lives appear to have been spent for large part not in a G-dly manner, we need to remember that as soon as we devote ourselves to avodas Hashem we become like a Levi who maintains the upper hand in every desert.

This is a general message derived from the counting of shevet Levi as a whole, but when we take a look at the individual families of shevet Levi, we can derive specific direction on how to transform any spiritual desert into an oasis of life.

The first (and oldest) family counted in this week’s parsha is that of Gershon. The name Gershon means to chase away, indicating that the evil elements must be eradicated from a person’s being prior to bringing in holiness, just as one must clean out the dirt before bringing beautiful furniture into one’s abode. ‘Bringing in the furniture’ hints to the doing of good deeds alluded to in the name “Kehos” and in the specific work that the family of Kehos did. Kehos means “to gather,” as it says “ולו יקהת עמים, and to him the nations will gather” referring to the good deeds that are being gathered as they are performed. Kehos also carried all of the inner vessels which were used to serve in the Mishkan, in contrast to the family of Gershon who dealt with the protective and outer parts of the Mishkan – the yerios, which were meant to keep out impure, unholy, and therefore unwanted, elements.

Interestingly, the family of Kehos is actually recorded earlier in Parshas BaMidbar, implying that although Kehos is not mentioned first in Parshas Naso and is therefore not first in the necessary order of overpowering the Midbar, it nonetheless contains a certain advantage over the family of Gershon.

The superiority of the duties of the descendants of Kehos was that they represented the ultimate goal. After the unwanted elements of the desert were repelled and driven away through the family of Gershon, the Kehos family can comfortably and confidently serve Hashem with no unholy distractions.

Simcha is one of the fundamental aspects of Bitachon in Hashem and if simcha is lacking, it’s obvious that there is another influence other than Hashem in the person’s life. And this is the Bitachon message of this week’s parsha: once we know that we are an extension of the invincible Levites, we need never worry about being overtaken by the “desert,” and we can be confident with inner joy that we will always succeed in our avodas Hashem.

Rabbi Zalman Goldberg is a well sought after speaker and lecturer on Chassidic thought. His writings and recordings on the topic of Bitachon can be accessed at http://www.gotbitachon.com. You can also receive his one minute daily Bitachon clip by sending a WhatsApp to 347.546.4402 with the word “Bitachon.”

(Endnotes)

1)  תורת מנחם תשמ”ז ח”ג ע’ 452 ואילך.

2)  לקו”ש חי”ג ע’ 16 ואילך.

3)  ספר התולדות אדה”ז ח”ב ע’ 482 ואילך.

4)  רמב”ם סוף הל’ שמיטה ויובל.