A few weeks back I commented to my wife that halavai
I should have as much Emunah in Hashem as I do in Costco.
After posting over two hundred essays online on a
blog entitled EmunahSpeak, it was very unsettling to find myself playing
peek-a-boo with the yesod of everything that I have written about these past
three and half years.
How could such a thing be?
To be sure, the Yetzer Hora was quite content that I
should have such thoughts. But said
contentment was short lived because after some reflection I fingered the culprit,
and once nailed I was able to morph a small hashkafic speed bump into some
solid reinforcement of the aforementioned yesod of the ideas that have been put
forth on this blog since its inception.
The truth is that it’s really not all that complicated. In the context of Costco or any other
competent entity, the Yetzer Hora take’s a walk. And why shouldn’t it? What tachliss is there for it to hang
around?
You shop at Costco because you trust their no questions
asked return policy or the quality of their product line?
What exactly can the Yetzer Hora put on the table to
weaken that trust? That the returns are
in reality being accepted by Wall Mart or that the quality of their products
can be attributed to a competitor?
What you see is what you get without so much as a
nano thought to the contrary, so why shouldn’t have faith in Costco that it can
deliver on its promises to the public?
The Yetzer has absolutely nothing to sell here, so there’s no
pushback. And without pushback anyone
can be a believer.
Not so with Hashem.
When we’re talking Hashem, we’re also talking about
a Yetzer Hora that is in 24/7 mode, which means that when Hashem lets you walk
away from a six car pileup in which the other five drivers were killed the Yetzer
Hora whispers in your ear: airbag or
anything else that will cause you attribute your good fortune to something
other than Hashem.
You had orange juice for breakfast this morning?
Did you thank Hashem for putting it on your table or
were you thinking about Costco who sold to it to you and the fact that they
will take it back, no questions asked, even if you finish three quarters of the
bottle?
