Basket of Riches

In the emuna CD, Basket of Riches, Rabbi Lazer Brody says that Hashem wants to give us every blessing. Even more than we want to receive, Hashem wants to give. Since the Jewish people are His treasured people, when we are successful it is a sanctification of His Name. When our people have it good, the kingship of Hashem is apparent. It reflects the King’s glory in the world. The converse is also true. Since He created the world for His glory, He has a vested interest in our being successful.

Believe in Hashem’s mercy

Those of us who are parents know how much we love our children. The love is unshakeable and unconditional no matter what our children do. Why does Hashem imbue us with this trait? The purpose of this is to give us an inkling of the love He has for us.

We need to realize that the compassion of human parents pales before the benevolence of Hashem, who is millions of times more compassionate then the most loving human parent. Knowing this should infuse us with an optimistic outlook and help us realize that Hashem wants us to succeed. He has unlimited mercy for each of us. When we realize this we can shed our negative emotions and succeed in all we do.

A vessel is needed to receive blessing

When we pray we don’t have to convince Hashem to give us what we want because He already wants to give us these things. We pray in order to create a spiritual vessel to receive Divine abundance.

Rabbi Brody says that Divine abundance can be compared to fine wine. Someone holding a $500 bottle of wine would certainly not pour it on the ground or into a dirty glass. He would want to pour it into a crystal clear goblet. It is a spiritual law that when there is no vessel to hold the abundance, there can be no abundance. The spiritual vessel that is the equivalent of a crystal clear goblet is prayer. Prayer is like a basket of riches.

Pay the price

Everything has a price tag both in the material world and the spiritual realm. You wouldn’t think of going into a Mercedes dealer with a $500 down payment and expect to drive off with a brand new car. Who can give a price to finding a soulmate or having healthy children? We must pray frequently and at length. The more valuable something is, the more we need to accumulate prayers both in quality and quantity.

Hashem wants to give us every single blessing and He is able to do so. Think how embarrassing it will be in the next world when we see Hashem’s mercy up close and first hand. We’ll ask ourselves “Why didn’t I believe in Hashem’s mercy? I could have accomplished so much with my prayers!”

If we knew how many hours of prayer are required for each of our various needs, we would surely stand and pray until we accumulated the requisite amount of prayer. However, we don’t know the exact spiritual price tag to build the vessel needed for each salvation.  The main reason that we fail to persevere in our prayers is because deep down inside we don’t believe in Hashem’s mercy and the power of prayer.

Beware of obstacles

Rabbi Brody discusses obstacles to having prayers answered. These include a sense of entitlement and arrogance that is particularly repugnant to Hashem. Arrogance is usually manifest in crying and complaining. We need to remember that while gratitude evokes divine compassion, crying and complaining extinguishes it. Other prime obstacles include sadness and despair which cause a person to give up on himself and discount Hashem’s everlasting love and compassion.

Let’s remember:

* Hashem wants to give. He doesn’t need to be persuaded to do so.

* We pray to build vessels needed to receive His blessings.

* Everything has its spiritual price tag. Rebbe Natan of Breslev says that wherever he notices a deficiency, there must be a deficiency in prayer.

* Humility and gratitude invoke Divine compassion while a sense of entitlement and arrogance are anathema to Hashem.

In the merit of applying these principles and really believing in Hashem’s mercy and the power of prayer, may we soon see our personal salvations and the full redemption of our people, Amen.