10 Aug EKEV: BEFORE YOU SWING THE BAT

In Parashat Ekev, Moshe
Rabbenu commands the
people that after they cross
into the Land of Israel, they
must remember what their
lives were like in the
desert. They must remember
the miraculous existence that they lived –
being fed by manna which fell from the
heavens, drinking water supplied by a
supernatural well which traveled with them,
and wearing the same clothes and shoes,
which never became worn.
Moshe then warns the people that after they
enter Eretz Yisrael, and after they till the
land, produce large amounts of food, and
amass wealth, they might grow arrogant,
and think to themselves, “My strength and
the power of my hand made for me all this
wealth” (Devarim 8:17). Instead of
attributing their prosperity to Hashem, they
will take all the credit for their
success. Moshe commands us:
You shall remember Hashem your G-d – that
it is He who gives you the strength to attain
wealth. (8:18)
This section is among the most important
sources in the Torah regarding the proper

balance between hishtadlut (effort)
and emuna (faith). We are told that it is
perfectly acceptable, and even necessary, to
work for a living, but we must also firmly
believe that the success of our endeavors
depends entirely on Hashem – that it is He
who gives you the strength to attain wealth.
The analogy I like to give is one of a baseball
player who steps up to the plate. When the
pitcher throws a pitch, and it’s in the strike
zone, nobody would tell the batter not to
swing the bat, and to instead trust that
Hashem will help him get on base. The right
thing for him to do is to swing – and to
swing the best way he knows how,
powerfully, to try to hit the ball squarely. But
just before he swings, he must remind
himself that the outcome of his swing
depends entirely on Hashem. And after he
hits the ball over the fence, and he’s rounding
the bases, he must realize that it is He who
gives you the strength to attain wealth, that it
was Hashem who made his swing successful,
who sent the ball out the park.
When I meet with older singles in our
community, they often ask me about this
subject, how much effort they should be
investing in trying to find a shidduch. I tell
them that they should take out a piece of

paper, and make a list of everything they
can do to find a marriage partner. They
should think long and hard of what the
maximum effort is, and write down every
single measure that they can take to make
this process work. This might mean
contacting a certain number
of shadchanim, attending a certain number
of events, different ways to expand their
social network, and so on. Then, after this
list is complete, and they have written
down everything they could possibly do,
they should put the list away, and remind
themselves that this process depends
exclusively on Hashem, that it is He, and not
their efforts, that will bring them
their shidduch.
After contemplating this for a few minutes, I
tell them, they should pull their list out
again, and do every single thing on the list,
without any exceptions.
They need to “swing” hard – but only after
establishing in their minds that it is He who
gives you the strength to attain wealth, that
the outcome depends solely on Hashem.
Returning to our parashah, this is why
Moshe commands the people to always
remember their supernatural existence in the

desert. They must realize that just as Hashem
cared for them during those years, when
they had no ability to obtain food or water
on their own, Hashem would be caring for
them in the land, when they would be
working to sustain themselves. There is no
difference. Even though we are to invest
effort to attain our needs, whatever those
needs may be, it is Hashem who provides
them.
Every day, when we get a good “pitch,”
when we have an opportunity for parnasah,
for a shidduch, for a cure, for whatever it is
that we need, we need to “swing” as hard as
we can. But just before we “swing,” we need
to remember that only Hashem determines
where the “ball” lands.