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Sharon Khakshoor
Sharon comes from Great Neck NJ and went to North Shore Hebrew Academy. Sharon is part of our inaugral Sephardic Program at Machon Gold in which an emphasis is placed on learning Halakha as it pertains to Sephardi traditions and students have the opportunity to meet Sephardi Gedolim living in Jerusalem. Sharon was selected as our featured student in recogition of her incredible dedication to learning both in class in with teachers in her private time. Her commitment helps create a serious atmosphere in class and her model behavior contributes significantly to the atmosphere of growth at Machon Gold. It is an honor to have her as a student.
אמונה
Question One
Question
On ראש השנה every person's health, prosperity and overall wellbeing is decided. The course of each person's life is ingrained on that day. If it is decided how much money each person will have in the coming year then why work? Why is it necessary to earn a living if Hashem is going to provide each of us with the amount of money that was decided on Rosh Hashana?
Answer
After the downfall of Adam, Hashem punished man with the decree that man must provide his own food by the sweat of his own brow. Hashem introduced the concept of השתדלות into the world. Man must put an effort into making a living so that Hashem can do the miracle of giving a person money. The more effort a person invests, the smaller miracle that Hashem has to make. השתדלות causes a small rather than a large miracle so that it will appear natural that that person has made the amount of money that he did. If a person just sits around all day and does no השתדלות then it will seem almost impossible i.e. a clear miracle that he makes a lot of money.
Question Two
Question
How much השתדלות must a person do in order to merit his income? I.e. if a person owns a store and he sits in his store from 9.00am until 5.00pm waiting for customers, but one day decides to close at 2.00pm instead of 5.00pm does that mean that he will earn less money?
Answer
It is true that the person will earn the same amount of money irrelevant of how long he keeps his shop open. The only factor is אמונה. Every person is different and therefore the expectations of each person are different. Each individual has their required level of השתדלות. The השתדלות for one person might just be to buy a lottery ticket. That might be sufficient in order for that person to get the money that they need. The merit of a person depends on their amount of אמונה. If a person truly believes that they will win the lottery just with the act of buying the ticket- then Hashem will grant it to them.
Problem:
Let us say that it is possible for a person to have the absolute אמונה that they will win the lottery, but who is to say that they deserve to win. Is it fair that any human being willing to believe fully should then win the lottery?
Solution
Let a Mashal explain the answer to this problem. It is like a little kid who is standing on the top of a huge rock. His hands are outstretched ready to be caught by his father as he jumps into the air. The child does not look to see where his father is. He does not wonder whether his father will catch him in time. He knows that if he jumps, his father will be there to catch him.
Let us think about this father and understand that this father is Hashem all we need to do is to jump.
Previously Featured Students
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