Parashas Ha'azinu - Nurtured Through Torah

Picture this: You're visiting family who live in a little county in Florida. They have acres and acres of land. On this land, they grow many types of fruits and vegetables. It's beautiful! There are patches of red, orange, yellow, green, purple, brown, red and green, yellow and green, light green with dark green, orange and green, etc.

You're sitting in their kitchen admiring the beautiful crops and suddenly you see leaves fluttering in different directions. The light winds start to come in. You see drops of rain gliding down the kitchen window, one by one. You smell the fresh aroma of rain and grass. Within minutes a light rain storm has developed.

Did you know low wind speeds have positive effects on many plants, leading to thicker and stronger stems? Even for imaginary relatives who own imaginary crop fields!

The Torah in this week's parasha (32:2) says, “Let my instruction flow like rainfall, let my saying drip like dews; like a storm winds on verdure, and like raindrops on grass.”

Rashi comments, “Like storm winds: [Targum Onkeles translates it to be 'like rain winds'], just as the winds fortify vegetation and nurtures it, so do the words of Torah - Torah nurtures those who study it.”

This Rashi is interesting. How does Torah nurture a person? Does Torah make you stronger? Does it protect you, like a parent nurtures their child? In what way?

I believe the answer is that it makes you stronger in Emuna. How?

Learning Torah gives you a direct connection to Hashem. Once you've created that, your trust in Him increases. When a negative event happens in your life, you can look at it in many ways. Someone who has complete trust in Hashem will feel serene. He knows it must have been for a good reason and that Hashem is the only one who can take care of him. That is a feeling of being nurtured by Hashem and that comes via learning Torah. The more one learns Hashem's Torah and realizes the truth it holds, the more a person will feel connected and protected. Even when situations seem bad in our eyes.

Have a wonderful Shabbos,

Nisso