The Dew Comes First

By Rabbi Moshe Krieger, Yeshivas Bircas HaTorah (www.bircas.org)

The basis of all our avodas Hashem is emunah and bitachon in Hashem, and we must always work to strengthen them. A person has to set aside time for this. He may have a fixed seder of mussar, he may speak about these things regularly with a rav, or he may simply set aside time to think about them deeply. Some people do this before davening, and the davening itself also focuses a person on his emunah that Hashem is running the world. But in Parshas Toldos we see something new: we can strengthen our emunah and bitachon even through our parnassah. In fact, parnassah itself is a tool that Hashem designed for this very purpose, to strengthen our emunah and bitachon and to bring us closer to HaKadosh Baruch Hu.

In Parshas Toldos, Yitzchak gives brachos to Yaakov and then to Eisav. The two brachos differ in some ways, but when it comes to material abundance they seem the same. To Yaakov, Yitzchak says, “May God give you of the dew of the heavens and of the fat of the land” (Bereishis 27:28). To Eisav he says, “Behold, of the fat of the land shall be your dwelling, and of the dew of the heavens from above” (Bereishis 27:39). Both speak of the dew of the heavens and the fat of the land. Yet the Zohar says that there is a great difference between them, because Yitzchak gave each son a bracha according to his own level. What does this mean?

The Kli Yakar explains that the two brachos differ in two ways. Yaakov’s bracha mentions Hashem’s Name (“May God give you”) and places the dew of the heavens before the fat of the land. Eisav’s bracha does not mention Hashem’s Name, and it puts the dew of the heavens after the fat of the land. Why? Eisav also has emunah; he too believes that Hashem helps him. But his initial focus is on his own hishtadlus. He tries to find good land and does whatever he can, and only then does he rely on HaKadosh Baruch Hu to help him. A Jew works the other way around. Before doing anything at all, he strengthens himself in emunah and bitachon, reminding himself that everything comes from Hashem. Afterwards he also looks for good land, but the main thing is the emunah and bitachon that come first. That is why Yaakov’s bracha opens with “May God give you,” and why the dew from heaven comes before the land.

This is similar to what the Ramchal writes in Derech Hashem (4:5:2). Before a Jew goes out to his work and his business dealings, his main avodah for his parnassah is his morning davening, where he asks Hashem for his parnassah. That tefillah is the main thing, because through it he expresses his emunah and bitachon in Hashem. A Jew has to strengthen his emunah and bitachon before he does anything else.

The bracha also shows that Hashem designed parnassah to help us serve Him better and come closer to Him. Rashi notes that the pasuk uses the Name Elokim, which refers to Hashem’s attribute of justice. Yaakov would receive with judgment: if he was deserving, he would receive, and if not, he would not. Eisav, on the other hand, would receive whether he was deserving or not. Why should Yaakov’s bracha be the one that depends on judgment? Because his bracha was meant to help him serve Hashem better and come closer to Him.

The Midrash (Bereishis Rabbah 66:3) teaches that the words of this pasuk also hint at certain mitzvos, such as korbanos and bikkurim, and at learning Chumash, Mishnah and Gemara. What is the Midrash telling us? That the root of a Jew’s parnassah is the mitzvos and the learning. That is why Hashem gives a Jew parnassah: so that he will do Hashem’s mitzvos and learn more. And if he does not, Hashem may take it away from him.

Rav Aharon Leib Shteinman would say that you can see this for yourself. If a working man strengthens his learning, his tefillah or his mitzvos, his parnassah will somehow come more easily. He may think he is losing out by putting more time and effort into learning, but he does not lose; on the contrary, something will become a little easier for him, because this is how Hashem built the system of parnassah. Rav Shteinman pointed out that it was the same in the desert. When Hashem gave the manna, the tzaddikim did not even have to go out to collect it; it came to their homes. Other people had to go out and gather it.

Rashi points out one more thing in the bracha. The pasuk begins “V’yiten lecha,” literally “And may He give you,” and from that specific vav (“and”) at the start of the word, Rashi learns that Hashem gives and then gives again. In other words, He does not give a Jew everything at once; He gives little by little. Why? When a person receives everything at once, it is a fine gift, but he is no longer connected to Hashem. But when Hashem gives him enough for one day, or one week, he does not know what next week will bring or what his parnassah will be from now on. So he turns to Hashem and davens, and his relationship with Hashem grows stronger.

The Gemara in Yoma (76a) teaches a similar idea. It asks why the manna came down every day rather than once for the whole year. It answers that a man with four or five children at home would see the manna come down today, without knowing whether it would come tomorrow. So he would daven to HaKadosh Baruch Hu with his whole heart. The same is true for us. When Hashem gives us parnassah little by little, and even at times when He holds it back, He is bringing us closer to Him.

The Satmar Rebbe once explained the bracha we say after eating or drinking, Borei Nefashos. We thank Hashem, “borei nefashos rabbos v’chesronan,” Who creates many living beings and their needs, “al kol mah shebarasa l’hachayos bahem nefesh kol chai,” for all that You have created to give life through them to every living soul. Why do we thank Hashem for our lacks? Because Hashem made us lacking on purpose, so that we would ask Him for what we need. And when we ask Him, our nefesh is brought to life. It rises higher and comes closer to HaKadosh Baruch Hu.

People would often come to Rav Shteinman with their problems, whether in parnassah or in other matters. He would comfort them and advise them what to do. But once, after they left, he said to someone, “I don’t understand why people don’t see that this is for their good. Why are they complaining? This is the way to come closer to HaKadosh Baruch Hu.”

There is a story from the time of the Chofetz Chaim. A young man learning in his yeshiva became engaged to a very fine girl from the neighborhood. She had real yiras Shamayim (fear of Heaven), she was a woman of chesed, and she had many fine qualities. But later he discovered that her family had no money at all; they were extremely poor. He did not know what to do, and he began to think about breaking off the shidduch. So he went to the Chofetz Chaim to discuss the problem.

The Chofetz Chaim answered him immediately: “I would not break off the shidduch. We do not go looking for problems, because we cannot know whether we will be able to withstand them. But if Hashem has given this to you, it is good for you. With a family like this, you will be able to grow much, much more. You will see siyata d’Shmaya, and you will see yourself coming closer to HaKadosh Baruch Hu every day. This is an opportunity, and you should not give it up.”

May we be zocheh that all our dealings in parnassah strengthen our emunah and bring us closer to HaKadosh Baruch Hu.