Hashgacha Pratis

"Hashgacha Pratis" is not just the answer to a person asking, "Why did this happen to me?" Rather, it is the fundamental answer to many questions people have about their lives. "Who am I? What is my purpose in life? What is happening to me?" The answer to all of these questions is, "Hashgacha Pratis." Your existence is in order for you to reveal God's majesty in a unique way that can only be expressed through your particular life. You need to move away from seeing your life only from your perspective and view it from the perspective of there being a loftier purpose to your existence.
א"ב לך לך

Where is Rosh Hashana?

In his Sefer אשיחה בחוקיך, Rav Avraham Zvi Kluger points out the many hidden aspects of Rosh Hashana. Within the Torah itself, the purpose of the holiday is absent. The Mitzvah of Shofar must be pieced together from several source. Indeed this is not the only area in which the concept of proclaiming a king is somewhat ambiguous in the Torah. The Mitzvah of appointing a king is not clearly explained, and one of the main functions of the king, namely the building of the Bais HaMikodosh, is poorly explained as well.
He explains that this is because it is necessary for a person to decide on his own to choose God as King, and it is not something that can be commanded. The same is true for the choosing of a human king, as well as the Temple.
There are those who understand that belief in God is not a Mitzvah. They explain that until someone understands that God created existence and remains intimately involved with its continued existence, one cannot be commanded to believe, that is precisely the issue, who commanded us? First one must choose to believe, then he can be commanded.
A מלך, Melech, king indicates a ruler who is accepted upon the people of their own volition. He is not someone who is forced upon the people. One Rosh Hashana when God asks us to make him Melech he is asking us to come to a point of being willing to accept him of our own volition and not as a result of force.
It is for this reason that the aspect of Rosh Hashana as the day to accept Hashem as King is hidden in the Torah. It cannot, by definition, be commanded. If it was commanded it would be lacking the main goal as it would not be emanating from our free will.

Self-Confidence

The Seforim discuss the distinction between the very serious sin of the עגל הזהב, the Golden Calf, after which Hashem completely forgave the Jewish Nation, whereas the sin of the מרגלים, the Spies, led to crying every year on the anniversary of their return. They explain that this can be compared to someone who hurt the feelings of a dear friend. Subsequently, he apologized and asked for forgiveness. His friend responds, I can forgive you, but you should know that the person you really hurt is yourself. You will never trust yourself again, and you will always be upset with yourself that you allowed yourself to act this way towards a good friend.

In the same manner, Hashem told the Jewish Nation that the sin of the Golden Calf was an insult to His honor, and he could forgive them. However, when they spoke negatively about the Land of Israel, they were really expressing their own lack of confidence in their ability to live in the real world, away from the miraculous life they had enjoyed for forty years. This has nothing to do with me, God explained, and I cannot forgive you. You are now torn internally, you don't trust in your innate holiness, and this will cause crying in all generations.

We have endured the destruction of two Temples and still await the building of the third, and yet there are those amongst us who don't trust themselves, they do not believe in their own holiness. If a person thinks that he cannot withstand the physical world, that is because he doesn't trust in his own holy power of free will, and in the ability of the soul to live within a human body.
אשיחה בחוקיך במדבר רי"ט

Squaring the Circle

The Talmud Yerushalmi teaches us that within God's Creation there are no squares; everything is circular. A circle represents something complete. A circle rolls from place to place and doesn't stay in one place. Its place is every place, it is not limited. This symbolizes Hashem whose place is the entirety of Creation.

In the Mishkan (Tabernacle) everything was rectangular other than the Kiyor which stood outside. Rectangular objects don't just roll from place to place and symbolize Tzimtzum (limitation). Hashem chose his Creations to embody Him in the world in a finite manner. There were many half-measures in the Mishkan and the Ark had half measures in all of its dimensions. This is to indicate that we are seeking something, the Schechina, to complete us.
א"ב שמות ר"ס

The challenge of really davening

It is much easier to write a book about prayer, defining what is prayer, and to spend a full year working of explaining the fine points of prayer, contrasting the value of prayer vs. Torah study, than it is to actually pray. Ask such an author how much time he spent writing the book, and how much time he actually prayed to God that he should succeed in writing the book...

A brilliant person can author such a book, but a more simple person would respond that after reading all these lofty ideas, do you know what really inspires me? The simplest things. Rabbi Shmuel of Knon said that after studying all the Kabbalistic intentions of prayer, he decided to pray like a child, with no intentions other than that he was speaking to God. All I can offer with prayer is my own two cents, but you God know that my disfigured prayer is what I can do, it is my handiwork for you....

א"ב יתרו

Finding God in the Present

It is much easier for a person to find God in the past or the future, than it is to find Him in the present. One can look at the past (היה) and notice how everything was for the good and directed by God. So, too, one can pray to God for the future (יהיה). But the real work, the real place to exercise free-will is in the present (הוה). When a person is in a situation that has not yet passed and it is not yet clear what that state has wrought, but he is presently in it, that is where he needs to find and reveal the presence of God.

The letters of God's name י-ה-ו-ה represent the four spiritual world of Atzilut, Briyah, Yetzirah and Asiyah. The last three letters הוה represent the lower three worlds in which the vessels (existence) are not completely subordinate to the light (spirituality). Those worlds are the arena within which mankind operates. The letter י, representing Atzilut, represents serving God in the past and the future. Notice that היה, past, and יהיה, future, both have the letter י within them. But in the present God is hidden. And that is where free-will plays a role. By adding a little bit of ink to the word הוה, you form the name of God. Just by shining a little bit of God's light, the light of Atzilut, a person can change the three lower worlds to become manifestations of the Schechina. He can unite the entire name of God, the letter י within the הוה, present, and thereby create a dwelling place for the Schechina in the lower worlds (דירה בתחתונים).
ראצ"ק א"ב בשלח קל"ג

Realism

There are some people who feel that they have no place in this world. Each one feels like giving up for one reason or another. One because of his children, another because of health, and a third because of financial difficulties. Others are wracked with jealousy of other's perceived happiness, glory, or success. Imagine a person who invested money belonging to other people and lost it all. Even if he toils 24/7 for the remainder of his life he will never be able to repay what was lost. He is so depressed that he cannot get out of bed.If you have any close friends you have seen this scenario now and then.

A Tzaddik should encourage people not to give up. Don't be like the people in Mitzrayim who wanted to remain there as they didn't believe. The Tzaddik says, if you have no place in this world, let us create Olam Haba for you here in this world.Come and speak to Hashem in a simple and real manner. You know that you aren't about to become some great and famous person, you recognize reality for what it is.

The Tzaddik doesn't speak to the person the way in which we speak to children, full of exaggeration and telling each individual that he is destined for greatness. Reality is not like that. Our Sages teach us that if 1,000 children enter a school, only one will come out destined for greatness. But the Tzaddik has compassion on the other 999, and teaches them the value of every act they do. Even a little Tzeddakh, even a little bit of Torah study, some prayer, a few good deeds. Every little good thing creates a wonderful world in which to live. And our Sages teach us that in the World to Come we will see that those who were exalted here are low down there.

Learn to look at yourself and your life from a true spiritual perspective.

Finding God, and not Negativity, within Diversity

People engage in Loshon Hora (negative speech about others) because they are lacking a broader perspective on the state of the Jewish Nation since we left Egypt. If one had the proper perspective, he would not speak ill of another person, and surely not about an entire group.

Jewish history is replete with calamities. The nation was formed during two centuries of servitude in Egypt. After finally arriving in the Land of Israel we were exiled twice, by the Babylonians and then the Romans. The Second Temple period was a time of unremitting strife as various armies constantly invaded the country. Even the two-thousand years of the Messianic epoch have mostly passed with us in Exile suffering from inquisitions, holocausts and other destructions. This continues to this day when, in addition to the physical enemies, there are spiritual threats to the existence of Judaism. If you really think about this, you won't have anything negative to say about any Jew, even one who does share the same outlook, as we are all brothers in these sufferings.

Imagine a man who is very wealthy who is brazenly attacked in public and has all of his belongings stolen from him. He is left with nothing. Suddenly, he remembers that many years before a homeless man borrowed a penny from him and never paid him back. He goes and stars arguing with the homeless man demanding payment of his penny. While he may be within his rights to make that demand, why is he focusing on the penny when he is suffering from a much greater calamity?

In the face of all that we have suffered, how can a person find room to speak ill of another Jew because of one small thing or another? Because of a small distinction of how he serves Hashem? Our world has been destroyed, we are all in exile, we don't live in our land in the way we did in days bygone. We are in pain over current events. In the face of such collective pain, how can a person engage in Loshon Hora about another Jew and his different form of serving Hashem.

The question is even greater on those who have spent time studying the deeper portions of Torah. Kabbalsitic thought teaches us that God is beyond understanding, and that those within the physical world cannot comprehend Him. Our minds are too limited to grasp. But then when it comes to certain topics, rather than realizing that they don't understand God's machinations, some begin to speak ill of others, as if they have never studied all these things and don't see the hypocrisy in their behavior.

People build their own approaches because of the questions they have on the way they see others serving God. They find something lacking in every approach and try to find some truth to grasp. They limit their view to the extent that they see other Jews, tens and thousands of them who are scrupulously following the dictates of the Shulchan Aruch, and they view them as if they are worthless. Only his opinion stands, everything else is nothing.

There is no greater foolishness. Actually, the panoply of different viewpoints demonstrate the greatness of Hashem, that He cannot be comprehended and there are many paths to Him. A person of sound mind would find great joy seeing this diversity which brings Hashem unlimited joy.
ראצ"ק א"ב שמות

One Shining Point

When Rebbe Nachman speaks of finding the נקודה טובה , good point, within each person, he doesn't mean that when you find it then that good point is all that is good about the person, Rather, the good point tells us about the person in general, it reveals to us that in reality he is permeated with good.

We can compare this to Shabbos. Shabbos is not merely the best day of the week, such that theoretically something could happen and some other day of the week could wrest the title of "best" from Shabbos. Rather, the function of Shabbos is to reveal to us the godliness that underlies each and every day of the week. We can see it most clearly on Shabbos, but Shabbos then teaches us about all the rest of the days.

This is why we say in davening every day היום יום פלוני בשבת, this is such and such a day in Shabbos. In another vein, there is a Halacha that if a person is lost and loses track of what day of the week it is, he should choose any day and observe it as Shabbos. On that day he can recite Kiddush using the name of Hashem despite the lack of clarity as to whether or not it is truly Shabbos. This is because Shabbos really underlies the entirety of Creation every single day, but we only actually experience it once a week.

The same is true for the good points of a person. They are not just a portion, one of many aspects of who the person is -  that he has many facets that are less than desirable and this good one. Rather, he is inherently good. The little bit of good that you can find tells you about the rest of him that it is good.

When Rebbe Nachman said to find the good point in every person, and especially with oneself, this was his way of saying, "Be aware of your essential goodness. If it is currently hidden from your eyes go and find something that will point you in the direction of finding it." Even if you find just one thing, that is not indicative of the one thing alone, but it tells us about the entire person. His essential goodness is revealed through the one shining point.
ראצ"ק א"ב שמות

Patient Understanding

There is an obvious difficulty with inspiration. When a person is in an inspired state it is easy to feel and discuss all sorts of lofty ideas and ideals. But that isn't when those ideas are really needed. And when the challenging times come, it is impossible for a person to speak straight. It is like one of those stories from the Baal Shem Tov about someone who is so ignorant that he doesn't even know aleph-bet. In difficult times people often find it impossible to find the strength to speak to their friends; how are they supposed to find comfort and inspiration in the midst of the difficulties?

The Noam Elimelech explains that the real task is to utilize the moments of inspiration to shine upon the times of difficulty. It is similar to someone who is studying Torah and he might toil on a particular topic for many hours. Sometimes it may take weeks until he understands. As he keeps plugging away he understands a tiny bit more at at a time, and frequently, because of his overall confusion, he doesn't even notice that bit. Eventually, when he has clarity, he realizes that it was all the little bits that contributed to his ultimate comprehension. All the toil becomes wortwhile in retrospect.

The same is true when a person is finding it challenging to engage in his relationship with Hashem. Long periods may pass and he may feel that he is not advancing whatsoever. He feels that he neither learns nor davens properly. Only after a lengthy period of time does he begin to see that every little bit that he does adds up. At that point, all the frustration he had been feeling turns into a feeling of success. Even when he isn't finding any inspiration or silver linings, he can know to be patient and to wait because when the inspiration comes he will have insights that will make all the challenges worthwhile.

That is called living with המתקת הדין, sweetening the judgement.
ראצ"ק א"ב שמות כ"ה

Sweetening the Din

The Kabbalistic and Chassidic works speak about sweetening the Din (judgment). Don't get caught up in the jargon of the literal meaning of the terminology. It is really just discussing something that we do every day of our lives.

המתקת הדינים, sweetening the judgement, is accomplished when a person reveals the presence of Hashem from within the hiddeness. When a person is in an inspired state this is accomplished by all sorts of lofty Mitzvah activities, when a person is not inspired it is accomplished by working on finding new inspiration (חיזוק).

When a person exerts himself to find God from within his difficulties and challenges he is engaged in sweetening the judgement. He is faced with a choice of remaining in a dark and uninspired state, and he chooses to turn the darkness to light, the bitter to sweet. 

I Will Be What I Will Be

As Moshe was ready to be sent out to speak to the Jews to tell them that he was the emissary of Hashem to take them out of Mitzrayim he asked Hashem by what name He should be introduced to the people. Hashem answered אהיה אשר אהיה, I will be what I will be.

The word היה indicates the past, that which was. Oftentimes in life we feel that we are weighed down by our past, things that we have done, choices that we have made have created realities as to who we are that are unchangeable. We have no future because of our past.

How do we change the past to create a future? By adding the letter א we change היה, what was, to אהיה I will be. The letter א symbolizes the one Hashem. By reconnecting to God we can undo our past and create the future that we wish to create.

Pushing Away Small-mindedness

Moshe came to the Jewish nation which was wallowing and suffering in servitude and wanted to encourage the people to adopt a joyful attitude by telling them that the end of exile was nigh and their salvation was arriving. They refused to listen to him. The result of the servitude was that they remained engrossed in small-mindedness and suffering and refused to listen to Moshe.

Moshe knew that the only way to destroy the Klipah (evil influence) of Paroh was through joy, and he stood there and begged the Jews, "Be happy!" When they wouldn't listen to him, he went back to Hashem and complained, "The Sons of Israel would not listen to me, how can I expect Paroh to listen to me." How can I break the Klipah of Paroh if I can't enroll the Jews to embrace joy? That's the only way to break Paroh's hold over them.

This can be compared to a bride who is refusing to get married. As the groom stands there waiting, she keeps on insisting that she is unfit for such a wonderful husband. Everyone else is telling her to stop over-thinking things and appreciate the fact that this wonderful man wants nothing more than to take her for a wife.

The task of Tzaddikim is to explain to people in a way that they can understand that Hashem is sitting and waiting for them. Why should they remain wrapped in pain? Nothing will bring Him greater pleasure than our agreeing to join Him.

The power of Mitzrayim was to block the people's awareness of Hashem's desire for them. Without this awareness serving God becomes very difficult, and doesn't come along with peace and calm.

Moshe cried out to Hashem, "I can't take them out of Exile as long as they have an Exile mindset. You can't push away small-mindedness with more small-mindedness. They need something shining upon them from above to broaden their mindset, to bring some גאולה (redemption) into the גלות (exile).

The Fifth Son

The fifth cup at the Seder, the Cup of Eliyahu, corresponds to the fifth term of redemption, והבאתי, 'And I will bring you." It also corresponds to the Fifth Son. As we say in the Hagaddah the Torah addresses four sons: the Wise Son, the Wicked Son, the Simple Son and the Son Who Does Not Know How to Ask. The Torah doesn't teach us how to speak to the fifth son because he doesn't come to the Seder. The first two sons come and ask questions. The other two at least arrive and you can teach them something. But the fifth son, because he is absent, there is no one to speak to.

For this reason, rather than tell us how to speak to the fifth son, the Torah speaks about והבאתי, about the need to bring him. He doesn't understand that he has a need to be there. He is lacking an appreciation of his inherent holiness and did not align himself with the rest of Jewry on this night.

The fifth cup, the cup of Eliyahu, represents that power of Eliyahu to remind every Jew of who he is, "He will return the hearts of the fathers to the sons, and the hearts of the sons to their fathers." He awakens the fifth son to remember his inherent holiness and to realign himself with who he truly is.
ראצ"ק א"ב קא"נ וארא