At the end of this article I am once again sharing an essay from the end of EndTheMadness Guide to the Shidduch World, called “Bitachon and Hishtadlus in Shidduchim (and elsewhere)”. If you have any interest in the shidduch world, you should read the book and share it, even though, unlike 99.9% of my material, it isn’t free. It’s on Amazon here and I have some copies in Israel for sale as well.
In my recent series of articles about how the Erev Rav control the shidduch world (which they can only get away with only because we allow them to) I need to correct and clarify one thing I wrote in the last installment.
One of the false prophets in rabbinic garb pushing a ridiculous, un-Torah campaign to prevent young women from dating for a full year cherry-picked and distorted an obscure source to support this nonsense:
Regarding the Gemara that says that a shidduch is preordained, the Chasam Sofer (She’eilos U’teshuvos Orach Chaim, siman 55) says that one can’t understand the Gemara on a practical level, since אין לנו עסק בנסתרות [we have no business with hidden matters]…It is not to be acted upon…As such, it is our responsibility to act as if there were no bas kol, even though there was one.
In other words, Chazal’s numerous teachings (not to mention clear pesukim from Tanach) that emphasize Hashem’s direct involvement in orchestrating matches should have no practical influence on our behavior. With one swoop of the pen this rabbi rendered all these teachings functionally irrelevant. We should pretend that divine orchestration is not in the picture, and our hishtadlus should reflect that:
Just like we understand that we have to do whatever we can to marry off our own children [really? no limits?], so too, we must do hishtadlus to ensure that each girl in Klal Yisrael has a chance to get married.
By this he means, of course, that we should actively prevent some women from getting married (but only for a year…) for the presumed “greater good”.
Originally I wrote that the source doesn’t exist. I need to correct and clarify that; technically the source exists, but the deceiver in rabbinic garb completely distorts it. (You can see the teshuva here.)
The Chasam Sofer simply states that, despite the bas kol, Hashem does not actually force people to marry; they can always refuse. Despite divine orchestration, people have free choice, and we can’t fully understand how the two work together:
ואין הקדוש ברוך הוא משנה בחירתו של אדם ואילו לא רצה הזוג הזה להזדווג זה עם זה לא היה ממעשי שמים לכופם לכך, ואין לנו עסק בנסתרות דארבעים יום קודם יצירת הולד
This in no way indicates that Hashem’s orchestration of matches should not influence our practical understanding or behavior — and it certainly in no way justifies what these phonies are pushing. These schemes of NASI and their affiliates are completely outside the pale, no matter how many false prophets they recruit or hire to endorse them.
In this week’s Torah class I presented numerous sources from Chazal that deepen our understanding of the proper balance of bitachon and hishtadlus. It is precisely because we don’t act as if there is no bas kol — because our trust in divine orchestration does influence our behavior — that our hishtadlus is circumscribed.
This is a principle that transcends the shidduch world. It applies to every aspect of our lives. Our bitachon, our trust that Hashem is managing the world and our lives, compels us to limit our hishtadlus.
If we acted as if there were no bas kol, we would behave exactly like atheists, and merely pay lip service to the notion that “everything comes from Hashem”.
Our approach to earning a living, to “epidemics”, to military threats, and every problem or perceived danger, would all be exactly the same as that of an atheist. We would pretend Hashem doesn’t exist and engage in unfettered hishtadlus (or conveniently just “follow the experts”, who themselves are atheists or work for them).
This week’s Torah class is filled with Torah sources that will deepen our understanding of how the relationship between bitachon and hishtadlus is supposed to work, specifically with regard to shidduchim, but in general as well. There is so much more to say on the subject, but the general principles are clearly outlined in the class. It is embedded above and on Rumble here.
Please share it and help weaken the grip of the Erev Rav and their false prophets on our people.
Message on a Beit Shemesh mailing list:
Needed for a soldiers unit asap!
Kumkum
Refrigerator
Shabbat water urn
Microwave
Stove burners (כיריים)
Used is okay!!!!
Update:
It turns out this is a new unit in the shomron to combat weapon smuggling into the shomron.
They have almost nothing except for a tent. Ezrat achim has managed to get heaters and fleece clothing but they have nothing to prepare food.
They get cold food once a day (remember folks this the shomron it gets super cold at night - these guys can’t even prepare a cup of coffee or tea or mana chama)
Kravi or not these guys are in a hard place.
Please help us get everything asap!!!!
Meanwhile, you’re all paying record taxes “to pay for the war”, much of which is funneled by the Defense Ministry into state-owned weapons manufacturing companies, which are earning billions in profits, none of which is being returned to the citizens in the form of dividends or tax refunds.
At the same time, the slave labor in the army is suffering to “keep you safe” while keeping the war machine churning, so the state can keep earning those billions in profits, and is begging for used appliances to heat up food and water. The slave labor is under the command of the same Defense Ministry. No conflict of interest there!
Apparently Rafael and Israel Aerospace Industries (or Elbit) can’t spare a few hundred shekels to buy a burner and an urn for the hungry cannon fodder. Hurts the bottom line.
Why should they, when you’ll keep giving...and keep enabling?
They defecate on the people and don’t even provide them with toilet paper to wipe themselves.
Am Yisrael Chai, ya brainwashed suckers!
And here we go again:
I don’t mind if people are skeptical of what I write and question me — as long as they are also skeptical of what the media publishes and question them too.
You know the media lies to you. You know the government lies to you. I might get something wrong here or there, but it would be an honest mistake; I don’t lie to you.
If you keep getting fooled by the same liars and deceivers, it’s on you.
So why do people still implicitly trust this garbage propaganda and place the burden of proof squarely on those who are skeptical?
Keep in mind that as part of their Covid propaganda they redefined “unvaccinated” to include people who took their accursed shots within a couple of weeks or so. So if someone took a shot, got sick, and dropped dead shortly thereafter, they excitedly proclaimed that an unvaccinated person died of Covid. They haven’t stopped playing this game; see here (hat tip to Brucha Weisberger).
Therefore, for all we know, this girl might have gotten a flu shot, then died from the flu (or the shot…), and the snakes could legally claim she was unvaccinated to promote a blood libel against sensible people and push the very same shots.
So why should we believe the media report? Why should we act on it? Why is the burden of proof on those who doubt them?
I don’t have to prove they made up all or part of this story. I don’t have to prove the girl was murdered in the hospital. I don’t have to prove whatever she was sick with wasn’t treated properly. I don’t have to prove whatever shots she previously took contributed to her death. I don’t have to prove that their “solution” to the flu is really bad for your health and you would have to be insane to take it.
I don’t have to prove that known liars and murderers are lying yet again. And I certainly don’t have to take their advice. Neither do you.
A Practical Guide to Human Effort and Trust in G–D
April 27, 2021
This is long, but if you read only one thing I ever write, maybe this should be it.
The following essay appears at the end of my book EndTheMadness Guide to the Shidduch World. I wrote it to help singles navigate the confusing world of dating, where they are pulled back and forth between pressure to force the issue and admonishments to relax and trust in G–D. Many people have been alienated from the Torah, pressured into disastrous marriages, or driven crazy as a result.
The underlying concepts and challenges, however, come up in every aspect of life. How much do we push for what we want – at what cost – and how much do we leave to G–D?
The virus / “vaccine” situation has forced people to confront the tension between bitachon [trust in G–D] and hishtadlus [human effort]. Most people throw these terms around without any real understanding of how they are supposed to be applied together, in harmony, in real life.
I am presenting the essay in its original form, but have inserted notes specific to the current situation.
Due to the length of this article, to continue reading please go to: https://chananyaweissman.substack.com/
While there, also to read the many articles he has written for a while.
