28 Jul EIKEV: TURN TO HASHEM, ALONE

Many people have
the custom to say
the perek (Tehillim
91 Yoshev Beseser
Elyon after lighting
Chanukah lecht. The
Birchas Avraham zt’l
of Slonim, who had this
custom, explained to
his chassidim the words
Yikraeni V’e’enehu,
from this chapter “He
will call upon Me, and
I will answer him.” He
said: Why does it occur
that people daven, and
Hashem doesn’t answer them? It is because
it wasn’t Yikraeni, which means they didn’t
call Hashem. They davened, they even had
kavanah, but it wasn’t called Yikraeni, a call
to Hashem.
The Birchas Avraham explained this with a
mashal:
There was a person who went to a doctor
because of a pain in his eye. After checking
him, the doctor told him that he needed an
urgent operation, which must be done within
a month, otherwise, he would go blind r”l.
The doctor said, “The problem is that there
are only two doctors in the world who know
how to do this operation that will save your

eyes. One lives in London and the other lives
in New York. If you can get an appointment
with either one of them within a month, you
can save your eyesight.”
He got on the next flight and flew to
London. But the doctor told him that the next
appointment available is in three months. He
pleaded with the doctor to help him, explaining
the dire importance of the operation. But do
you think he pleaded with all his heart? No,
he wasn’t pleading with all his heart because
he knew that if this doctor didn’t help him,
there was a doctor in New York who might
help him. Afterwards, he flew to New York.
The ophthalmologist in New York also told
him that the next available appointment is in
three months, and he doesn’t have a time slot
available for him now. However, this time, he
pleaded with all his heart because he knew
that this doctor was his only hope.
This is how we should pray to Hashem,
with the understanding that no one can help,
other than Hashem alone. When one prays to
Hashem with such emunah, his tefillos will be
answered. As it states, Yikraeni V’e’enehu,
“He will call upon Me [with a sincere tefillah,
with all his heart], and I will answer him.”
Reb Don Segal Shlita tells a story that
occurred to one of the gedolim from the city
of Tunis. The gadol was walking with two of
his students when suddenly a mighty Arab

thief approached them. The Arab didn’t let
them pass, saying that he would kill the Rav.
The students spoke to the Arab, hoping to
convince him otherwise. The Arab callously
responded, “If you don’t stop bothering me, I
will kill both of you, together with the Rav.”
The Rav understood that the Arab’s threat
was real, so he advised his students to leave
immediately. They should not be around,
since it was a matter of pikuach nefesh.
With a broken heart and with tears, they left
their Rav. They stood at a distance to see what
would happen.
The Arab murderer said to the Rav, “What is
your last wish?”
He said he wanted a cup of water. The Arab
gave him a cup of water. The Rav then said
the brachah over the water with immense
hislahavus. Just then, even before the Rav
had a chance to drink from the water, a sheikh
arrived. This sheikh was very well respected
among the Arabs, and they all had to listen

to what he said. He was also a known anti-
Semite. Surprisingly, this time the sheikh said

to the Arab, “You can do whatever you want
to all Jews, but do not harm this Rav. You
must allow him to live.”
The Arab obeyed the sheikh and untied the
Rav’s ropes. Then he quickly ran to capture
the two students who were standing from afar.

If he couldn’t kill the Rav, he would satisfy
his desire for murder with the students. But
since the students were several yards away,
they managed to escape.
The next time the students met with their Rav,
they asked him why he requested a cup of
water. The Rav replied, “Do you think I wanted
water? I didn’t want the water. I wanted to say
the brachah Shehakol Nihyeh Bidvaro, ‘that
everything was created by Hashem’s word.’
I received a kabbalah that when one says
the brachah Shehakol with kavanah, it rips
up all harsh decrees. No creation can harm
him or rule over him when one believes with
certainty that Ein Od Milvado, there is only
Hahshem, Shehakol Nihyeh Bidvaro, and
everything happens according to His decree.
This lesson is also written in the Nefesh
HaChaim: “The truth is, that it is a great
concept and a wonderful segulah to remove
and to annul all dinim from oneself, and no
one will be able to harm him. This is when one
places in his heart that Hashem is true, V’Ein
Od Milvado, there is no one but Hashem”