Building Strength The word “ emunah ” is commonly translated as “belief,” referring to axioms which we accept as true, specifically, the thirteen fundamental articles of Jewish faith. Rav Yerucham Levovitz, however, in one of his published discourses (Elul-Tishrei, vol. 2), writes that technically, the word emunah means something else. The pasuk states in the Book of Yeshayahu (22:23), ותקעתיו יתד במקום נאמן – “I shall thrust him as a peg in a reliable place.” Rashi explains that the word נאמן (“reliable”) in this verse means that people can rely on the peg when they lean on it, and trust that it will support them. The word emunah , then, which is related to the word נאמן , means “firm” and “strong,” like a peg or pole firmly implanted in place that remains where it is even when strong pressure is applied. When a person has emunah , he clings tightly and steadfastly to G-d under all circumstances. He holds on tight even though the challenges and tribulations of life, even in periods of hardship. He continues praying to G-d and trusting in His kindness even when it seems that his prayers go unanswered, like Moshe, who prayed 515 times for the privilege of entering Eretz Yisrael , stopping only when Hashem told him to stop. One of the main objectives of Shabbat is to build emunah . What this means is that Shabbat builds our strength and resolve, empowering us to withstand whatever challenges we will confront during the coming week. This is the reason why on Motza’eh Shabbat we joyfully wish one another, שבוע טוב – “A good week” – and sing songs about Eliyahu Ha’navi and the arrival of Mashiah . After going through Shabbat, we are strengthened and emboldened, and so we feel upbeat and optimistic about the coming week. With our emunah bolstered, we look ahead with eager anticipation, trusting that the hardships and challenges of the past will remain there in the past as we embark upon a new week and a new beginning. This is also why once a month we recite ברכת הלבנה on Motza’eh Shabbat, which includes the proclamation, דוד מלך ישראל חי וקיים – affirming the eternity of the Davidic dynasty. It has been explained that David’s kingship was like the moon – large and successful in some periods, and small and lowly in others. We leave Shabbat with hope and optimism, and we thus look to the moon and fully trust that any setbacks we experience will be followed by good fortune and success, just like the moon always grows again after its period of decline. Rav Matisyahu Salomon, the esteemed Mashgiah of the Lakewood Yeshiva, delivered the final address at the Siyum Ha’Shas at Madison Square Garden in 1995, an event which was dedicated to the memory of the six million victims of the Holocaust. In his speech, Rav Salomon told the story of a Holocaust survivor who was asked by Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz how he was able to retain his faith after five years in a forced labor camp. The man explained that the Nazis did not allow the inmates to observe any mitzvot , and they carefully guarded them around the clock, but the one thing the Nazis could not take away from the inmates was the moon. Some of the inmates kept track of when Rosh Hodesh was and when ברכת הלבנה could be recited. As the laborers walked back to the barracks after their day of work, surrounded on both sides by soldiers, the inmates would whisper to one another that it was time for ברכת הלבנה , and they would hold hands and recite the berachah . The symbolism of this prayer, in which we ask that the moon should once again shine brightly without ever diminishing in size, kept them upbeat and preserved their emunah . This is how they held themselves in place and continued clinging to Hashem. The opposite of emunah , of unshakable faith, is ye’ush – despair, when a person no longer clings to Hashem, and instead just gives up. Rav Yaakov Galinsky tells the story of a Holocaust survivor who lost his entire family during the war, and fell into deep depression, to the point where he could not function. He simply lost all hope and the desire to build a new life for himself. Rav Galinsky urged the man to speak to the Hazon Ish . The man refused, until finally Rav Galinsky succeeded in dragging him to the great sage. The Hazon Ish listened attentively to the man’s heartbreaking story, and then responded with a story of his own. There was a woman living in a small European town who supported her family by traveling to the big city with a large bag of cash , purchasing goods at wholesale prices, and then selling them in her town for a profit. On one trip, however, she lost her bag of money. She searched all over, but it was nowhere to be found. In despair, she went to the local Rabbi and asked him to announce in the synagogue that a bag of money was lost. As it turned out, the bag had been found by a poor member of that Jewish community. The poor man heard the announcement, and he went to the Rabbi’s home and explained that according to halachah , he was not required to return the bag. He added that this bag was Hashem’s answer to his prayers for financial assistance so he could marry off his daughter. The Rabbi’s feeling was that the man was halachically correct, but just to be sure, he submitted the question to the leading halachic authority in Europe at that time, Rav Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor of Kovna. Rav Yitzchak Elchanan ruled that the man had to return to the money to the woman. He explained that normally, if a person loses something in a predominantly gentile city, the finder does not have to return the object to its owner, because the owner presumably despaired and lost hope of ever retrieving it. In this instance, however, the bag of money belonged to a married woman, and the Gemara (Gittin 57a) establishes that a husband is the de facto owner of anything his wife possesses. Since the husband was the true legal owner over this bag of money, and he never knew that it was lost and thus did not despair, the money belonged to him. “The same applies to you,” the Hazon Ish told the despondent survivor. He cited the Gemara’s comment, אפילו חרב חדה מונח על צווארו של אדם על ימנע עצמו מן הרחמים – even if an executioner’s blade rests on a person’s neck, he may not despair, and should still pray to Hashem to help him. We are all messengers of Hashem in this world, the Hazon Ish explained to the man, and only He decides what happens. Since we are His messengers, we have no permission to despair. As long as we are here in this world, we have a job to do. We have no right to lose hope as long as Hashem has not lost hope – just like the wife’s despair over her lost money was legally insignificant since her husband had not lost hope. During the weeks after Tisha B’Av, we experience the seven Shabbatot of nehamah (consolation), when we read special haftarot which contain the prophecies of redemption. Even though we went through another period of mourning and Tisha B’Av, and Mashiah has still not arrived, we are nevertheless upbeat and hopeful. We hang on to emunah with firm, steadfast determination, even after so many centuries. And Shabbat is what gives us this confidence and optimism. May we always gain strength from the Shabbat experience to hold steadfastly to Hashem throughout our lives, even in times when we struggle with difficult challenges, and we will then live with joy, contentment and positive energy under any circumstances.