Before You Swing the Bat

Insight of the Week

n Parashat Ekev, Moshe Rabbenu commands the people that after they cross into the Land of Israel, they must remember what their lives were like in the desert. They must remember the miraculous existence that they lived – being fed by manna which fell from the heavens, drinking water supplied by a supernatural well which traveled with them, and wearing the same clothes and shoes, which never became worn. Moshe then warns the people that after they enter Eretz Yisrael , and after they till the land, produce large amounts of food, and amass wealth, they might grow arrogant, and think to themselves, כוחי ועוצם ידי עשה לי את החיל הזה – "My strength and the power of my hand made for me all this wealth" (Devarim 8:17). Instead of attributing their prosperity to Hashem, they will take all the credit for their success. Moshe commands us: וזכרת את ה' אלוקיך כי הוא הנותן לך כח לעשות חיל. You shall remember Hashem your G-d – that it is He who gives you the strength to attain wealth . (8:18) This section is among the most important sources in the Torah regarding the proper balance between hishtadlut (effort) and emuna (faith). We are told that it is perfectly acceptable, and even necessary, to work for a living, but we must also firmly believe that the success of our endeavors depends entirely on Hashem – כי הוא הנותן לך כח לעשות חיל . The analogy I like to give is one of a baseball player who steps up to the plate. When the pitcher throws a pitch, and it's in the strike zone, nobody would tell the batter not to swing the bat, and to instead trust that Hashem will help him get on base. The right thing for him to do is to swing – and to swing the best way he knows how, powerfully, to try to hit the ball squarely. But just before he swings, he must remind himself that the outcome of his swing depends entirely on Hashem. And after he hits the ball over the fence, and he's rounding the bases, he must realize that הוא הנותן לך כח לעשות חיל , that it was Hashem who made his swing successful, who sent the ball out the park. When I meet with older singles in our community, they often ask me about this subject, how much effort they should be investing in trying to find a shidduch . I tell them that they should take out a piece of paper, and make a list of everything they can do to find a marriage partner. They should think long and hard of what the maximum effort is, and write down every single measure that they can take to make this process work. This might mean contacting a certain number of shadchanim , attending a certain number of events, different ways to expand their social network, and so on. Then, after this list is complete, and they have written down everything they could possibly do, they should put the list away, and remind themselves that this process depends exclusively on Hashem, that it is He, and not their efforts, that will bring them their shidduch . After contemplating this for a few minutes, I tell them, they should pull their list out again, and do every single thing on the list, without any exceptions. They need to "swing" hard – but only after establishing in their minds that הוא הנותן לך כח לעשות חיל , that the outcome depends solely on Hashem. Returning to our parashah , this is why Moshe commands the people to always remember their supernatural existence in the desert. They must realize that just as Hashem cared for them during those years, when they had no ability to obtain food or water on their own, Hashem would be caring for them in the land, when they would be working to sustain themselves. There is no difference. Even though we are to invest effort to attain our needs, whatever those needs may be, it is Hashem who provides them. Every day, when we get a good "pitch," when we have an opportunity for parnasah , for a shidduch , for a cure, for whatever it is that we need, we need to "swing" as hard as we can. But just before we "swing," we need to remember that only Hashem determines where the "ball" lands.