Deveikus: A Jew’s Protection

By Rabbi Moshe Krieger, Yeshivas Bircas HaTorah

As Yaakov returns to Eretz Yisrael, he helps his family cross the Yavok River, and then goes back for some small vessels that remained on the other side. There, he finds himself alone, confronted by a being whom Chazal identify as the Angel of Esav. The two engage in a fight that continues until the break of dawn. It seems that Yaakov will win, but just before the fight ends, the Angel of Esav manages to inflict a wound to Yaakov’s thigh. Nevertheless, Yaakov prevails.

Yaakov prevails? How was that possible? He was fighting against an angel, a being with superhuman powers. What chance could any human being, even Yaakov Avinu, have to win a battle against an angel?

The Seforno answers that Yaakov was able to fight the angel through deveikus — clinging entirely to Hashem in his thought and speech. Rav Yerucham Brodiansky explains that when a person clings to Hashem, Hashem is with him and protects him.

If that was the case, how did the angel manage to wound Yaakov?

The Seforno answers that the angel devised a trick that would divert Yaakov’s attention from Hashem. He revealed to Yaakov a time in the future when the leadership of the Jewish People would be in the hands of the wicked. This pained Yaakov, diminishing his deveikus to Hashem. This lapse, even though it was momentary, was what enabled the angel to harm Yaakov. Right afterwards, Yaakov regained his deveikus to Hashem and was able to win the battle.

In our times as well, adds Rav Brodiansky, Klal Yisrael is surrounded by enemies, both spiritual and physical, who seek to kill us. How can we survive and vanquish them? Yaakov Avinu shows us. If a person truly clings to Hashem, he gains Hashem’s protection and none of these enemies can have power over him.

How can we do this? What exactly does deveikus to Hashem mean?

In The Guide to the Perplexed (3:51), the Rambam writes that simply believing in Hashem is not enough, one has to think about Him, frequently. If a person has Hashem in mind at all times and thinks deeply about Him and his service of Him, Hashem will give him special protection. Of course, a parent must devote time to thinking about the needs of his children, a businessman must devote time to thinking about his business, etc., and this is what Hashem wants. However, at other times, a Jew must devote all of his thoughts to Hashem and his avoda. This is called clinging to Hashem or deveikus.

The Rambam notes that this is not an easy mindset to acquire. He therefore advises that one not try to adopt it all at once. The appropriate time to begin such a course of reflection is at the time of keriyas shema and tefilla. From there one moves on to adopting this mindset while saying blessings, studying Torah or doing any mitzvah. This is an avoda that takes years to perfect. When a person succeeds in developing this sense of deveikus, he will be thinking about Hashem at all times. As he wakes up in the morning, his first thought will be on Hashem and his avoda.

In Nefesh Hachaim (3:12), Rav Chaim of Volozhin writes that if one focuses his thoughts only on Hashem, believing with all of his might that no other forces in the universe exist that can have any power over him, and that there is no reality other than Hashem, during these moments such a person can gain the special protection mentioned by the Rambam, even if he is not always living at such a spiritual level.

When the Beis HaLevi served as Rav of Brisk, one of the storeowners in his kehilla came to him, terrified.

“Rebbe! The police are looking for smuggled goods. I have merchandise that came from over the border and it didn’t occur to me to hold on to the import document that came with them. If they search my store and I cannot provide that document, I might sit behind bars for years. Rebbe, what can I do?”

The Beis HaLevi took the man into a side room, locked the door and explained to him the idea of the Nefesh Hachaim mentioned above. He then urged him to put any worries out of his mind and concentrate on the thought that nothing exists but Hashem, and no power in the world can affect him but the will of Heaven.

About half an hour later, the man’s wife arrived with the news that the police had passed by the store without searching it. Although they marked all the stores they intended to search with red, and his store had indeed been marked, as they were approaching the store the police officers began asking themselves: “Is this one of the stores we checked already? Was the red sign supposed to mark off that we should start from here or start from the store just after it? Never mind, let’s just move on.”

May we be zoche to grow in deveikus to Hashem!