Paths of Faith: Faith Attracts Salvation

Faith is the key that Hashem has given us for all salvations.

The "Beit Aharon" of Karlin said: Faith is an extension — through faith, one draws salvation. When we believe that salvation will come, it indeed arrives with His help.

The word 'faith' has two meanings: to believe, and to grow.

1. To believe means to trust and put confidence in.

2. To grow — faith also means to grow, as it is written in the Megillah "And he raised Hadassah" — meaning Mordechai raised Esther as a daughter.

It is not by chance that the word 'faith' has these two meanings. When you believe in something, you nurture it, allow it to form and develop, and draw it toward you. A person attracts what they believe in. If they believe salvation will come, they essentially nurture the salvation, causing it to be created and to come to them. The "Oheb Yisrael" quoted by Rabbi Yechiel of Zlotchov said: When a person believes and trusts, this is how they draw salvation to themselves.

It is told about a Holocaust survivor that while in the camps, he constantly spoke words of faith and trust. These words were weary to the camp residents, who faced death hour by hour. After they were brought to the extermination camp, one person mocked him, asking: Even now do you still believe? He replied: Certainly. Then, one day, it was his turn. He was put among hundreds of Jews in the gas chambers when that same person asked again: Even here will you say it is all from Hashem and all for the best? Without hesitation, he said: Certainly! At that moment, a Nazi officer came to close the chamber doors but couldn’t because it was too crowded. He opened the door and pushed the Jew outside—he seized the moment, fled, and his life was spared.

"And his hands were steadfast" — said the Rabbi of Malkovitz: As with hands a person can act and perform, so with faith—in the mind, the complete faith and trust that things will happen can create miracles.

The "Pele Yoetz" in the letter on thought writes that thoughts have a pulling power; what a person focuses on, they draw upon themselves, for good or bad.

In Rabbi Mendel M'Rimanov's home, there was great poverty. One Friday came, but there were still no fish for Shabbat. The rebbetzin was very concerned: What will happen? Where will she get fish for Shabbat? But the rabbi reassured her and said: Prepare vessels, and the fish will come... The rebbetzin followed his words, and suddenly a guest who was stuck in the town for Shabbat knocked on their door and asked to stay with them. He brought fish with him... In their simple faith in Hashem that the fish would come, they attracted salvation.

In the book "Strength of Israel" by the Tzaddik of Zlotchov, it is mentioned: In faith, there is power that, through belief in Hashem with complete faith, something is drawn and comes in its fullness.

This helps us understand what Rashi said about Noah, who believed and did not believe the flood would come. We can explain that Noah feared to believe completely in the coming of the flood, for by his complete faith, the flood would certainly be drawn, and he did not want to be the cause of it.

In other words, Noah worried that if he wholeheartedly believed in the arrival of the flood, this very faith would draw the flood and bring destruction to the world, and he did not want to be the cause!

Even regarding the sale of Joseph, we find a similar principle. After Joseph's brothers sold him, they showed Jacob his coat of many colors dipped in the blood of goats, and he concluded that a wild beast had devoured Joseph:

"And they said, We found this; know whether it is thy son's coat or not. And he knew it and said, It is my son’s coat; a wild beast has eaten him; Joseph is surely torn to pieces" (Genesis 37:32).

Righteous people ask: Why did they need to make Jacob believe that a wild beast devoured him? Why was it not enough to say they didn’t know where he was? Why add sorrow to his sorrow?

Because the brothers knew that if they told Jacob Joseph had disappeared, Jacob’s faith would have been powerful enough to bring him back.

A believing person, as if, gives power to the spiritual worlds to bring them salvation; this is how Hashem created the world, that a person below influences the worlds above. As it is said, "Give strength to God" (Psalms 68:35)

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