The Hovot Halevavot tells us that one of the fundamentals of Emunah and Bitachon is that Hashem has past performance, which is an indicator of future success. We have been taken care of by Hashem for years, from even before we were born, when we were in our mother's womb. And if He did that until now, He will continue to do that. That is an important principle, and it's logical. I recently saw the following beautiful story from a book called Look Up and Dream , that illustrated this concept: In 1948, Rabbi Smith, a resident of Chicago, traveled to what was then known as Palestine by boat. On the boat he met a lady whose name was Mrs. Shoshana Sokol. She was a woman of the age of 91, and he learned that she, too, was from Chicago. He asked her about her destination and she replied, “ I'm on the way to Eretz Yisrael.” He asked her, where in Eretz Yisrael, and she replied that she didn’t really know. “ I'm going to Eretz Yisrael,” she said. Rabbi Smith cautioned her that she'd better think of a destination in Palestine or the British might send her back. Mrs. Sokol told him that she had a nephew, Chaim, living in Eretz Yisrael, but she didn't know where he lived. Rabbi Smith asked her if her nephew was aware that she was coming. She answered that she had never met her nephew before. Rabbi Smith looked at her in wonder, “ But how will you find him? ” Her answer was, “I have faith in Hashem.” “ But ,” he said, “ The British are tough on immigrants. If you're not expected and there's no one to meet you, they might send you back to a camp in Cyprus.” And this is the key line that I want to share with you… “ Listen, young man, I'm 91 years of age, and the good Lord has never failed me yet. He’ll look after me now as well.” Rabbi Smith held his peace, because you can't argue with what we call Emunah Peshutah/Simple, honest faith . Once the ship docked, a group of soldiers came on board and everyone was ordered to have their papers ready. One at a time, their names were called out. When Rabbi Smith's name was called, he made his way down the gang plank. Concerned for Mrs Sokol, he glanced back, but the soldier prodded him on. Once on land, a young man approached him. “ Rabbi Smith, I heard your name called. I'm a newspaper reporter and my boss sent me here to interview you.” “ Not here, young man, with a gun towards my back. Give me your phone number, and I'll call you when I get to my hotel.” The reporter then handed Rabbi Smith a paper. On the paper it said the name Sokol . Rabbi Smith asked, “ Is your name Chaim by any chance ?” The reporter answered, “ Yes. How'd you know?” Rabbi Smith continued, “ Do you have an aunt living in Chicago?” “I think so, but she's quite old. I don't even know if she's still alive,” Chaim replied. To which Rabbi Smith said, “S he's alive and well. In fact, she'll be following me down this gang plank any minute now.” At that moment, the loud speaker announced the name of the next passenger. And, aided by a helpful soldier, Mrs. Shoshana Sokol stepped off the boat right in front of her astonished nephew, Chaim Sokol. Looking in the direction of Rabbi Smith, Shoshana Sokol smiled called out, “I told you He wouldn't fail me.” What a beautiful, beautiful story. It touched me because, as we know, they say the Emunah of our simple grandmothers was greater than that of some of the greatest rabbis of today. And that's because their Emunah was just plain and simple, without any complications. As one of the rabbis say, “ If you want to knock a nail into the wall, you have to make sure you have a straight nail and a straight wall. Otherwise, things come out crooked.” In the old days, they were just plain and simple. As Mrs. Sokol said, the “ The Boss has not let me down for 91 years. He's not going to let me down now.” That’s real simple. And it works. We could tell stories and stories, but that's not the point. Our point is just a living example of that beautiful message. And this is relevant to Pesach as well, because as we sit at the Pesach Seder, we have to remember that it’s not just the past performance of Hashem for us individually, but the past performance of Hashem for the Jewish people at large. Think of this when you say V’He SheAmda … Not only has one tyrant or dictator has come to destroy us. In every generation, they’re out to destroy us - enemies from without, and enemies from within, and Hashem saves us. That is past performance and that's an indicator of Hashem's future success. We just have to rely on Him and believe in Him to invoke it, and have it applied to us. Have a wonderful day.