“Man plans, God laughs,” this Yiddish idiom summarizes not only of our religion but also every facet of our lives. Every morning during Birchot Hashchar, one of the many brachot we say is “…Hamechin Mitzadei Gaver,” Blessed are you God, who plans the steps of man; Many times in life, we, the teenagers are worried about colleges, technology, whats going to happen tomorrow, whats going to happen tonight, we forget that there is no guarantee in really anything, and that everything is in the hands of the creator.
In this weeks parasha, Chayeh Sarah, Avraham sends Eliezer, his servant, to go to the wells to find a wife for his son Itzchak. Before he goes on a seemingly impossible trip, he prays, “‘Hashem, God of my master Avraham, may you so arrange it for me this day that you do kindness with my master Avraham’… And it was then, when he had not yet finished speaking that suddenly Rivkah was coming out,” (Bereshit 24:12,15). Eliezer understood one really important thing, “man plans, God laughs,” in the end of the day, Eliezer knew that all he could do is pray and let all the dominos fall into place. In return, God literally delivered Rivkah within an instant.
Everyday, we are challenged with a plethora of obstacles, and we feel great enough to fight our battles ourselves. My wish to everyone this week is that we should all come to the realization that really we are all minute beings on this planet, and only with the help of God can we confront our obstacles and win!
Shabbat Shalom,
Yosef Nemanpour Outreach