Month of Miracles

Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear

Nisan is the head of all months. It's a month of miracles, a month that is auspicious for Geula , and we are all hoping that we will finally be zocheh to experience it. The Torah tells us, שמור את חודש האביב , from which we learn that we have to ensure that Nisan comes out in the spring by sometimes adding an extra month of Adar. The sefer Nifseh Chaim explains, in Nisan we were commanded to slaughter the korban Pesach , which is a sheep. The Ramban says, one of the reasons for that korban is because the constellation of the month is a sheep, and it has influence on growth. The Torah told us to slaughter the sheep, to teach us that our leaving of Mitzrayim and blossoming into a nation was not going to be a result of the influence of the sheep, but rather it was going to be clear to all that Hashem is in charge of everything, and He was the one taking us out of Mitzrayim . This constellation governs during the first month of spring, and perhaps this is why Nisan has to come out in the spring, to remind us that we are governed by Hashem, and our growth always comes from Him. We get our strength from following His mitzvot. אין מזל לישיראל -We are above all of the mazalot . Even things that were destined to happen can be changed when we believe wholeheartedly that Hashem is in charge and not the natural forces of the world. A woman told me, she has a sister who is 38 years old and, baruch Hashem, is getting married about a week before Pesach. A few weeks ago, she was on the phone with her and she was feeling angry that her parents were only going to give a small amount of money towards the wedding. She herself did not have the funds to make a wedding and was feeling a great deal of stress trying to figure out where she would get the money from. All of a sudden, in the middle of the conversation she said, “Wait a second, what am I saying? Hashem is the One in charge of money. It's not Abba or Ima that is in charge of paying for the wedding. It is only Hashem and He will send the money the way He wants. It's not my job to worry and definitely not my job to be angry at Abba or Ima.” At that moment she felt so much calmer and better about things. Her sister was so proud of her, and they began talking about something else. A few minutes later, she said to her sister that their aunt was calling on the other line and her sister encouraged her to hang up with her and answer it to see what their aunt wanted. She spoke to her and then called her sister back twenty minutes later completely flabbergasted. Their aunt told her, she's going to fly in from the U.S. for the wedding and she wanted to pay for the entire thing. Not only that, she wanted to pay for the entire family, both sides, to stay in a hotel for the Shabbat sheva berachot , which would be Shabbat HaGadol, and then she said she also wanted to pay for everyone to stay there for the entire Pesach as well. It was an amazing yeshua that came within moments of this woman believing in the power of Hashem, rather than the way the natural way of the world seemed to be progressing. Another woman said her mother has had many health issues this past year and on top of it all, she was hit by a car that left her with post-traumatic stress disorder. And then when it seemed like she was finally improving, she lost her appetite to eat or drink until they had to admit her to the hospital. There, even more problems began to surface. The woman has two siblings that were not on speaking terms. She felt that making peace would be such a great zechut, it would help their mother immensely, and so she worked up the courage to text one sibling asking if he could acknowledge the other's presence with a word or two as a zechut for their mother. She didn't get a reply until the next day, when she received confirmation that he did greet the other sibling and even gave him a hug. Not too long after that their mother perked up. She became more conversational and even ate a little. It was a small yeshua, but it was something that she hadn't done in a long time and it gave them a lot of chizuk . We are above the mazal . Our deeds and our emunah are what accomplish things. When we know that Hashem is in charge and act accordingly, great things happen.