Guide to the Final Redemption

Translated from Rabbi Arush’s feature article in the weekly Chut shel Chessed newsletter. The articles focus on his main messages: Praying for the geula and following the mitzvot of “Loving others as yourself”. 

 

Preparation for Life 

Do you know the secret of all those who were successful in life? The secret of success is coping at the tough moments, the moments of crisis. The most important resource of a person is his ability to cope during the rough stretches. Not to run away from the difficulty, not to kick angrily at the moment of crisis, but rather to pass the test courageously. 

There are many strong, talented people who have various strengths and abilities, who fail only because when they see some difficulty coming upon them, they retreat and give up. And there are many people who don’t have it easy, and they are not so talented, and the secret of their success is just that they know how to keep on going and move forward despite the hardships and from within the hardships.  

A truly wise person is not impressed by a wave of success. When things are going well, he does not delude himself, thinking that he has arrived and that everything will go smoothly from now on. Rather, he knows that the moments of crisis and trials will surely come, and he is always preparing himself for difficulties. 

And what is this preparation? The main preparation is emotional, building one’s emotional resilience; emotional resilience is emuna (faith). Emuna is the only thing that supports a person at the moment of the trial. Therefore, never let go of your emuna, especially in difficult times; do not run away – just run to emuna! 

 

Everything Disappears in an Instant 

In parashat Beshalach, the Jewish people are approaching the Sea of Reeds, and an enormous Egyptian army is chasing them. They left Egypt through big miracles only six days before this, under the strong impression of emuna, after a year of amazing miracles. They are loaded with gold, silver and everything good, and they are feeling the elation of victory. The revelation of the Shechina (Divine Presence) is accompanying them in the most concrete way – a pillar of fire and a pillar of cloud. 

And then, at the first crisis they get completely confused: What have you done to us to take us out of Egypt? Are there no graves in Egypt? They want to go back to Egypt! They forget all the miracles, they forget the faith, they give up completely. They forget how terrible it was for them there, and just lose their minds and therefore lose everything. And really, it was not a surprise – Hashem had prepared them ahead of time and told them that he was hardening Pharaoh’s heart in order to take full revenge on him – and still, there were those among the Jews who lost their minds completely. 

 

Getting to the Geula (full redemption) 

All our parashot now are parashot of geula, teaching us how one can be redeemed. We’ve seen miracles, learned that Hashem creates and looks after us, and He loves us and saves us – but this is not enough, because at difficult moments all this is tested once again: and if one doesn’t pass the test, the geula cannot come about. 

True geula is only when you know how to cope with difficulties and get through them with emuna. 

Difficulties, tests, ups and downs are an inseparable part of both the general and personal process of geula. And only when you know how to face the trials and travails without running away and without feeling sorry for yourself, like those parts of the Jewish people who at the time of the great trial on the shores of the Sea of Reeds did not give up, but rather called out to Hashem or jumped into the sea with full faith – only he who knows how to pass the test with emuna and to continue without getting confused, only he can really complete the geula process successfully, and truly be saved. Otherwise, at the first test he will return right back to Egypt, to the same darkness he was in before. 

So what do we need in order to get through life successfully and elevate ourselves more and more? 

                           We need emuna, and more emuna, and more emuna. 

Emuna that Hashem is omnipotent, is with us in every travail, loves us, has mercy on us, and does us good, and He does only good and will do only good to us, and even better. And will always watch over us. We need faith in ourselves that we are good, and that our desires are good, and that we have within us the strength to get out of anything bad with the power of tefilla (prayer), because Hashem sees only the good in us and is always awaiting our prayers.  

 

Don’t Stop Renewing Yourself 

And if you ask: Aren’t you tired of talking repeatedly about emuna? 

The simple answer is: Is there any stage or time in life when the trials end? Is there any reality in this world which doesn’t include coping with some issue? No. Everyone knows that from his own life and from that of his friends and family members, and well knows that a person in this world goes through an infinite number of trials. He finishes with one trial, and the next one shows up. Runs away from a lion, and a bear appears – or else the problems appear in bunches.  

The same way the trials don’t end, so the study of emuna and the enhancing of it continue as long as a person is alive and breathing. All the emuna that we have learned until now was enough for the tests that we’ve had until now. And for the coming tests we need new emuna, as the passuk say, “They are new every morning, great is Your faith.” 

 

From Trial to Trial 

Look at Bnei Yisrael: After such a great revelation of faith in Egypt, they encounter a new trial on the seashore, and fail and forget everything; and again Hashem saves them and they merit miracles five times over and an even greater revelation of the Shechina, to the point that each and every one of them could point and say, “This is my G-d and I will build Him a sanctuary.” And yet, a mere three days later they encounter the trial of thirst in the desert, and once again lose their faith.  

And in this test too, they see miracles: bitter water turns sweet. And yet they fail again in the test of food. When they think they have nothing to eat, they fall so badly, that they prefer to have died in Egypt rather than to have been redeemed. And again – they receive the mann from the heavens, wondrous food and a daily miracle, but the next time they lack water their faith fails them again and they want to return to Egypt and they wonder and ask, “Is Hashem among us or not?” and bring upon themselves the war with Amalek. 

That’s life: From test to test. 

There is no cure for this state of affairs, and no way out of it – just emuna – to repeat again and again the simple statements of emuna, to renew it endlessly.  

 

The Emuna is the Geula 

The emuna is the geula. It saves the person and reveals to him that Hashem is with him in all he goes through. Certainly, certainly Hashem is among us and will never desert us.  

What does passing a test mean? It means to remain happy and to thank Hashem wholeheartedly in any situation. Bnei Yisrael sang to Hashem after the Splitting of the Sea and all the great miracles that happened there, but that is not all. David Hamelech said, “I will sing chessed (loving-kindness) and mishpat (justice). I sing to Hashem not only in situations of chessed, but also in situations of mishpat. Even when there are dinim (accusations against a person), troubles and travails. 

David Hamelech is the symbol of growth in emuna, and all his life he had difficulties and trials – not a moment of peace. Enemies from without and within. And he never ran away from the difficulty and never complained, but rather always strengthened his emuna and ran only towards Hashem, sang to Him, remained joyful and didn’t stop praying, and that is why it is he who teaches us what geula is, and the Goel Tzedek (redeemer) who will come speedily in our days will be his descendant, Mashiach ben David.