By Rabbi Zalman Goldberg
Ever since the first sin, when Adam and Chava partook of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, our world is a veritable mix of good and bad intertwined. Of course Torah and k’dusha are absolute in their goodness, but all worldly aspects which are not exclusively holy, but have a physical element, contain the potential for bad as well. As the well-known adage says, too much of a good thing is also not good. This applies not to Torah and Mitzvos, for of these one can never get enough. Anything worldly, on the other hand, as good as it may be, in excess, can be detrimental.
By not heeding Hashem’s command, the sin of eating from the Tree of Knowledge brought about an atmosphere of sin and impurity to the world. The result is not only negative influences per se, but even some of the things that used to be good, like certain elements which served as protection for k’dusha, now became potential adversaries, due to the negative influence mixed in.
A Yid finding himself in such a quandary may become frightened of such formidable circumstances. Here we are, a minority among the nations of the world, and there is such a threatening world surrounding us. Certainly it could devour and make into nothing everything holy that we stand for?!
The mitzvah of Orla has an encouraging message which cannot only help us survive, it can actually reverse the situation1.
For the first three years after a fruit tree is planted, its fruit are forbidden to be consumed by Yidden because of the prohibition of Orla2. If an Orla plant gets lost among two hundred other plants, that field should not be harvested because then the Orla will automatically become nullified by being lost in a volume two hundred times its own. While3 the plant is still not harvested, i.e., it is still connected to the ground, the Orla plant is not nullified and it maintains the prohibition of Orla. The reason for this is because there is a rule that מחובר לא בטל-an object which is connected cannot become nullified.
This teaches us a twofold lesson. Firstly, the fact is that Yidden are always connected to Hashem, even if not in a revealed way. Just as Hashem is eternal, with no change to His existence, as it says אני הוי’ לא שניתי-I am Hashem and have not changed, the same is with the Yidden. As the pasuk concludes, ואתם בני יעקב לא כליתם, that the Yidden’s existence will also be everlasting with no extermination, ח’’ו.
This is an encouraging fact of life, even if we don’t do anything about it. The result is that there is no need to worry about our Yiddishe and holy existence becoming run over by our oppressors, because we are automatically connected to Hashem. No other nation, not even the greatest superpower of yesteryear, has enjoyed certainty of eternity. Only the Yidden who are connected to Hashem, לא בטל, will always endure and live on.
If we work on developing this connection to Hashem and reveal it more and more, we will no doubt thrive in our holy work, despite the worldly pressures.
The Rebbe Maharash4 used to take a walk every day, and one day he took a different route than usual. When the goyim who were there saw the Rebbe, they bowed respectfully before him. The Rebbe was one on whom the connection to Hashem was visible, resulting in his exaltedness over all who beheld him.
Prior to the Six Day War, the Rebbe launched an international T’fillin campaign, stating that by putting on T’fillin daily, the name of Hashem will be upon the Yidden and our enemies will fear us. Not only will we have this automatic connection to Hashem, but it will be perceivable to all. The outcome is history, as the most wonderful miracles took place at that time.
As R’ Meir Premishlian put it plainly when he was confronted on how he was able to descend an icy slope on a daily basis on his way to the mikva, “Quite easily,” he responded, “When one is tied above, he does not fall below.” He was unique, because he was not only connected above by being a Yid, he had also developed and strengthened this connection, so fear of falling or being overtaken by the elements did not exist by him.
The Rebbe concludes that by always revealing our connection with Hashem, all of the protections that turned adversaries as a result of the sin of the Tree of Knowledge will become our protection once again, just like the way it was before the sin of the Eitz HaDaas. At that time, it will be revealed that there isn’t even any threat to the Yiddishe existence at all, for we will not be a minority among worldly influences, we will be the ultimate of creation, as the Mishna says that the whole world was created for the Yidden and our focus will be only on serving 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.”
1) לקו”ש ח”ג ע’ 993.
2) פרשתינו י”ט, כ”ג.
3) מסכת Orlaפ”א מ”ו.
4) ספה”מ מלוקט ח”ד ד”ה ולקחתם לכם ס”ה. וראה תו”מ חי”ז ע’ 144 ואילך סיפור דומה והמשך הדברים.