Crazy Week …
I worked on a few classes and articles

I wrote and recorded this Tuesday. On Wednesday, the
President suspended the tariffs for 90 days and the stock market shot up a
record amount for a single day …. what will be tomorow?

Trust in Hashem—A Test for Our Generation

Rabbi Abittan, Zecher sadik livracha,
often reminded us that the great test of our generation is bitachon—trust
in Hashem. He would say that because of the comforts we’ve been blessed with,
it’s easy to fall into the illusion of self-sufficiency. The Torah warns us of
this very mindset:

'Kochi v’otzem yadi asah li et
hachayil hazeh—My strength and the might of my hand made me all this
wealth' (Devarim 8:17).

Even if we don’t say those words, we
often live them—forgetting that all we have is a gift from Hashem. And
so, sometimes Hashem gently—or not so gently—reminds us that He is in
charge.

Just recently, someone panicking at the
tariff announcement and how it would affect his business, reached out to tell
me he had listened to a shiur I gave on the 7th of Nisan in 2020, just as COVID
was beginning. It was our first Zoom class through the Safra Synagogue. The
world had shut down. Orders were canceled. Work stopped. And we were asking
ourselves: What now?

I shared then an idea based on the Haggadah:

'Bechol dor vador omdim aleinu
lechaloteinu'—In every generation, they rise up to destroy us.

But there’s another layer. It’s not only
that an enemy rises—it’s that we feel like the world is ending. And it
seems that it’s not once in every generation; rather in our days, almost every
year we get hit with something that makes us feel the world is ending. Sometimes it’s local, sometimes global and sometimes
personal, but the pattern repeats.

We’ve lived it. After 9/11. During the
Second Intifada. The financial crisis of 2008. Superstorm Sandy. COVID. And
most recently, the horrific events of Shemini Atzeret or October 7th. And in
each moment, the same fear returns: What will be tomorrow?

The Midrash teaches (Shemot
Rabbah 3:5):

'Hakadosh Baruch Hu mit’aveh
le’tefilatan shel tzaddikim'—Hashem desires the prayers of the
righteous.

Why? Because in moments of crisis, we
remember. We turn back. We cry out, 'Ein lanu al mi lehisha’en ella al
Avinu Shebashamayim'—We have no one to rely on but our Father in
Heaven.

That first Chol HaMoed Pesach of 2020,
we buried so many. It was a nightmare. And yet—we are here. We survived.
Like our grandparents who endured the Spanish Flu after WWI. Like generations
before them, who faced plagues, pogroms, exile, and still clung to their
emunah.

Our community in particular has long
been blessed in business. From the days of retail peddling, to wholesale, to
international importing and investing in real estate. And today, that same
world is shaking—tariffs, supply chain breakdowns, volatility. Deals that once
brought profit now bring loss. It feels uncertain. And yet, maybe Hashem is
whispering again: I’m still in control.

The pasuk in Tehillim (20:8)
says: 'Eleh barechev v’eleh basusim, va’anachnu b’shem Hashem Elokeinu
nazkir'—Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we call out in
the name of Hashem our God.

This is the message of bitachon.
And it’s not just theological—it’s historical. In Parashat Beshalach, as
Bnei Yisrael stand before the sea, chased by the Egyptians, they cry out in
fear. And Hashem says:

'Ma titzak elai? Daber el Bnei
Yisrael v’yisa’u'—Why are you crying to Me? Tell Bnei Yisrael to move
forward (Shemot 14:15).

Sometimes emunah means standing
still; sometimes it means marching forward even when we can’t see the path.
But always it means knowing Who is leading us.

Even in October 7th’s darkness, we saw Yad
Hashem—through miracles, survival, unity, and resolve. And perhaps that’s
the silver lining: we remembered that we are not alone.

So with all this in mind, I revisited
that class from Nisan 2020, and I am going to post it again, not just as a record of what we went through, but
as a reminder of what we always come back to: Hashem lo ya’azvenu—Hashem
will not abandon us.

May this
reflection be a zechut for clarity, courage, and geulah, bimheira
v’yameinu, amen.