On Thursday evening, June 1, Chazaq hosted a beautiful shiur in memory of Dora bas Zilpah at Ohel Simcha.
Rabbi Asaf Haimoff, well-known speaker, spoke about the recent loss of the gadol ha’dor, Rav Gershon Edelstein zt”l, who devoted his brain and heart to serve Hashem, and he served Hashem on the highest level.
He taught how it’s important to have a mindset that if you failed in a certain area, you need to concentrate on that area instead of giving up. You may need guidance and you will earn brachah. You will be able to overcome the challenge. Since we have a yeitzer ha’ra, we need Torah.
Rabbi Dovid Goldwasser shared how, if you are insulted and you don’t answer back, then that is the greatest thing a person can achieve in this world. He shared that Dora bas Zilpah had the midah of knowing how to be quiet. In her z’chus, everyone should be tranquil, and their families should be filled with success.
He then shared that if a person says, “Ein od milvado,” he or she has a z’chus that nothing bad will happen. There is always a holy and an unholy side. “We are fighting the unholy side in this world.”
He shared a story about a young couple he didn’t know who came to speak to him before their marriage. After meeting with him, they invited him to their wedding. A short while later, Rabbi Goldwasser discovered that they had broken off the wedding plans. Rabbi Goldwasser said that “a person should never give up no matter what. Ein od milvado! Hashem is in charge. All a person needs is ratzon.” A person will be led the way he wants to go. Rabbi Goldwasser met with the chasan in his house and asked what happened.
One of the kallah’s uncles heard that he had a family member who was not 100% honest, and he had had a problem with this person, so the family called off the wedding. They sent a messenger to the chasan with all of the gifts he gave the kallah and told him that the wedding was off.
The chasan didn’t think the marriage could be salvaged, but Rabbi Goldwasser went with the idea that Hashem is in charge, and we should never give up. He called the kallah and eventually called the father, and with Hashem’s help the wedding went ahead as planned. It helped that the uncle who insisted on canceling the wedding had a daughter who was a talmidah of Rav Goldwasser. Such hashgachah!
It’s a wondrous charm to eliminate bad judgments when a person fixes in his head that Hashem is G-d and there is nothing else but Hashem. If a person says this, then everything in his or her life will be good and everything will be protected.
We are here to stand up to challenges. We are tested because that is the way we are able to grow. “That is the reason we are here. And everyone has different tests.”
He explained that everyone has an individualized test created just for them. “When we can stand up to the test, we have the greatest hatzlachah.”
Our emunah needs to be strong like the midday sun. He taught that there are three types of people whom Hashem calls out in shamayim that He is proud of. First, there is a person who doesn’t sin. Second is a poor person who finds something precious and returns it. The third example is a wealthy person who gives tz’dakah in a quiet way and doesn’t seek honor. Hashem calls all of these people out because they go against their nature. A person receives a brachah when he goes against his nature like someone who holds back from answering an insult. Rabbi Goldwasser shared that if you do this one time, you gain a z’chus for an entire lifetime.
“A person who goes against his nature brings brachah into the world.”
Certain people by their light give life to others and we need to emulate them. He concluded that we should all be zocheh to learn from this tzadekes, and everyone should have y’shuos and all the blessings they want.
By Susie Garber
