In this week’s Parsha, the Torah warns, “…Lest you say in your heart ‘my power and the strength of my hand performed this act of valor…you shall recall that your G-d is the one who gives you strength to perform valorous acts!”
The Torah is describing the tendency that most of us have to take credit for our wealth, strength or brilliance forgetting the reality that we are not self-made men. Every second, G-d is infusing energy and the power of thought into us.
Recently, many Jews commemorated the 50th anniversary of the six day war in which the Israelis against overwhelming odds, miraculously defeated and gained territory from the Egyptian aggressors on their southern border, the Jordanians to the east, and the Syrians on the north. Even the most secular commanders of the IDF acknowledged that it was the “Hand of G-d!”
Unfortunately, liberal journalists and politicians with an agenda began rewriting history and started toting the might of the invincible Israeli army until they learned the hard way during the tragic Yom Kippur War that they were not invincible after all. (They eventually won that war but they suffered numerous casualties).
In fact, without naming names, we can look around and wonder how certain individuals who may not seem that bright are nevertheless blessed with abundant wealth. It is because every single one of us were born with a certain task and we are each given the wealth, body, intelligence and disposition that are necessary for us to complete our mission in this world. Paradoxically, the more we acknowledge that Hahshem is our benefactor and we are not self-sufficient, the more we become “conduits” to receive His blessings.`

By Rabbi Sharaga Thav
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