You Do Yours, and I Will Do Mine

3 Sivan 5782

“So Moses counted them according to G‑d’s word, just as he was commanded.” (Bamidbar 3:16)

“Moses said to the Holy One, blessed is He, ‘How can I enter their tents to know the number of their sucklings?’ The Holy One, blessed is He, replied to him, ‘You do yours, and I will do Mine.’ Moses went and stood at the entrance to the tent, and the Divine Presence preceded him. A heavenly voice then emanated from the tent, saying, ‘There are this many babies in this tent.’ That is why it says, ‘according to G‑d’s word.’” (Rashi)

“Indeed, Your servant is scrupulous with them; in observing them there is abundant reward.” (Tehillim 19:12)

We must be scrupulous with our part in serving Hashem. We must do all we can to keep up with our learning, pray with concentration, perform mitzvos behidur, and do gemillus chassadim to our utmost capacity, however, the final result is not in our hands. Nonetheless, we can rely that the One who gave the mitzvos will also remove all obstacles in our way to performing them. Indeed, this is the abundant reward our verse in Tehillim speaks of, that Hashem will be there to help us right where our sphere of control ends, that He will keep us from “inadvertent wrongs” (Tehillim 19:13), on the one hand, and fulfill the work of our hands, on the other.

“This being, in terms of the sefirot, binah of Atzilut, which is known as ’the concealed world’ which nests in the World of Beriah, as is known to the students of the Kabbalah” (Lessons in Tanya, Likutei Amarim, beginning of Chapter 53)

Lessons in Tanya explains, “Those familiar with the Kabbalah know that binah of Atzilut radiates into the World of Beriah, a world which still remains in the category of ‘a concealed world’—i.e., it is categorized as a World but not a World whose independent being is revealed, in that the World of Beriah is aware of how it is wholly dependent on G‑d.” Our task is to bring a little of Beriah into this world, by recognizing that our world is also wholly dependent on G‑d. We do this by keeping in mind the above, that regardless of our effort, in whichever area, spiritual or physical, the end result is still in the “hands” of Hashem.