Rabbi David Ashear
When Queen Esther was apprehensive about approaching Achashverosh without being invited, Mordechai told her that if she did not go, “relief and salvation shall come to the Jews from another place” (Esther 4:14). The Maharal explains the term “from another place” as a reference to Hashem. Mordechai was saying that Hashem has countless ways to bring salvation. “If you want to be the vehicle,” he told Esther, “then it will come through you. But if not, Hashem will bring it another way.”
We must keep Mordechai’s words in mind whenever we confront challenges in life. At times people say, “If I don’t get that job, then I’m finished; there are no other options”; or, “If we don’t get this order, this business can’t continue.” We are never bound to any one option. If one option does not work out, then Hashem will help in some other way. This is true when it comes to dating, as well. A person might say, “If I am not able to marry this person, then I’ll never be happy.” This is not true. Hashem can find someone else capable of making the person just as happy. It often happens that when the solution is found, we look back and say, “I can’t believe it. There were so many options and opportunities!”
We firmly believe that a person’s livelihood for the year is determined on Rosh Hashanah. Hashem has countless ways of bringing us the parnassah He decreed. If option A does not work, He can do it through option B. If that does not succeed, then there’s option C, and so on. We should never feel that we are dependent on any one source of income or means of earning a livelihood. Hashem will always get to us exactly what we are supposed to receive.
A few years ago, a certain organization was experiencing financial difficulties and needed to cut their employees’ salaries. A Rabbi who worked for the organization was earning exactly what he needed to pay his family’s bills, and now his salary was slashed by $7,000 a year. His job did not
allow any time to take on additional work to make up for the shortfall. He turned to Hashem and said, “I know my parnassah comes from You. You have many ways of sending it. Please show me the way I can make this money which I need.”
A week or two later, he received a bill in the mail from his homeowner’s insurance company. This had never happened before; the bill was always sent straight to the mortgage company. He phoned the insurance company, and the representative apologized for the error. When the Rabbi reviewed the bill, he noticed that the price seemed a bit steep. He was paying $7,000 a year for a less-than-stellar policy. After several brief phone calls, he found a different policy that offered better coverage for just $3,000. After signing up with the new plan, he received a $4,000 refund from the mortgage company for the difference. A couple of weeks later, he received a phone call from a synagogue asking if he could help lead their minyanim on Rosh Hashanah, offering $3,000 compensation. Just like that, Hashem made up the $7,000 difference.
There are many ways in which we can be helped. We should never feel limited. We have Hashem helping us, and He can help us in ways we could never imagine.
Adapted from “Living Emunah,” by Rabbi David Ashear, with permission of the copyright holders, ArtScroll / Mesorah Publications, Ltd.