On the morning after Election Day, I came up from our Daf Yomi shiur to an announcement from one of our eldest members. “Rabbi,” he proclaimed, “we are saying Hallel.”
It was not a question, let alone a shailah. It was an assumption and a conclusion.
I quickly reassured him that I agreed with his sentiment but couldn’t allow it to change our minhag or liturgy. Nevertheless, it was undeniable that everyone was smiling, and there was joy in the air.
Although I had several opportunities to address the subject, Shabbos was the first time I could dedicate a formal drasha to what was on everyone’s lips and in every heart. To be clear, we were spared from Kamala Harris and could look forward to four more years with President Trump. But politics aside and personal opinions notwithstanding, what does the Torah teach us about such an event?
I must confess that I am not generally prone to drashos or any speech about politics or elections. In my first rabbinic shteller, a person who did not share my religious positions or affiliations gave me great chizuk after my first month of drashos. He shared with me candidly that he had not supported my candidacy as rov of the shul. He had hoped for someone more modern, moderate, and preferably much more Zionistic. However, I had won him over. It actually had little to do with my opinions or even eloquence. For years, he had apparently railed against what he called the “New York Times sermon.” He strongly felt that no rabbi should be manipulated by the headlines or newspapers. There was a parsha to be discussed, a Yom Tov to be explained, and Jewish traits to be explored. Since I, too, seemed to focus on those subjects, he was willing to at least temporarily ignore my lapses into such extremism as standards of tznius, shemiras Shabbos, and avoidance of lashon hara.
Yet, all of a sudden, years and many miles later, here I was quoting the New York Times and pundits on a Shabbos morning. I actually thought for a moment, “What has happened to me?” Nevertheless, I forged on precisely because I felt that this is the time for us to think, speak, and act like bnei Torah.
So, although I rarely write about what I said in shul, please permit me to begin with my President Trump reelection drasha.
It was Parshas Lech Lecha, and I cited an unusual word that the Torah uses to describe the Torah’s introduction to the Bris Bein Habesarim. After Avrohom Avinu’s triumph in the war of the Five against the Four kings, Hashem appeared to him bamachazeh – “in a vision” (Bereishis 15:1). Targum Onkelos tells us that this was a prophetic revelation, but the Torah doesn’t use the usual word, which is nevuah. In fact, some commentators point out that this is a reversal of the normative pattern, where a Hebrew word is translated by the Targum into Aramaic. Here, the Aramaic machazeh, which seems to derive from the Aramaic chazi, is translated into the Hebrew nevuah.
Furthermore, the Torah introduces Avrohom’s first formal prophecy with Hashem’s promise, “Fear not, Avrom, I am your shield, and your reward is very great.” What exactly was Avrom worried about?
The Medrash (Bereishis Rabbah 44:4) teaches that Avrom was concerned about whether he had accidentally killed someone who was innocent in his battles to rescue Lot. Another opinion in the Medrash is that he was perturbed that, since Hashem had performed many miracles for him, he might have “used up” his merits in this world and would have nothing left for the next. Therefore, Hashem reassured him that his “reward [in the next world] was very great.” In other words, the word used in conjunction with the Bris Bein Habesarim is machazeh, which implies a somewhat diminished type of miracle because of its “downside” of possibly severely depleting our heavenly reward, which is where we will spend eternity.
Why, indeed, is this not something to worry about?
Some (see Rav Boruch Rosenblum, Boruch Yomeiru, Bereishis, pages 339-356) answer, based upon the Alter of Kelm (Chochmah Umussar 1:9), that it depends upon the type of miracle. If a neis clearly breaks the rules of nature, one must have tremendous credit in Heaven to merit such a reversal of the usual course of events. But if it is a miracle such as Purim, where one can explain it away with science, human nature, politics, or the like, one doesn’t lose anything in the World to Come.
Therefore, let us tell it like it is. Donald Trump’s triumph was an absolute miracle. This was a man who had twice nearly been assassinated, was ruled a felon by a clearly biased court of law, was impeached twice, and was vilified daily by the majority of world media. He became only the second president to return to power for non-consecutive terms since Grover Cleveland in 1892. He was elected and will be the oldest person to occupy the office. This despite the fact that his predecessor, Mr. Biden, was rejected from running again in part due to age-related issues. Even some of his most persistent detractors—women, African Americans, and Latinos—voted for him in overwhelming numbers. Is this not a miracle?
Of course, the pundits, who until Election Day were wrong about everything, jumped to explain the extraordinary as ordinary. The New York Times Sunday edition after the election (November 10, 2024) reads laughably like a satiric high school play. Ross Douthat wrote about “How Democrats Helped Trump,” Nicholas Kristoff bemoaned, “Will Democrats Finally Pay Attention to the Working Class?” and Ben Rhodes, an Obama advisor, averred that “Democrats Walked Into a Trap Republicans Set for Them.” Maureen Dowd mourned that this was “A Wake for Woke.” Of course, they were all wrong, as were unfortunately many of our own, because what simply happened was that Hashem runs the world, and “Like streams of water is the heart of a king in the hand of Hashem” (Mishlei 21:1).
However, that being said, we should be grateful to the pundits for helping us keep our share in Olam Haba, since the miracle can be explained so neatly and easily. Of course, as far as these experts were concerned, even one day earlier, this was an impossible result. Those who liked Trump were deemed primitive and backward. Where a week ago Trump was considered odious by the elites, suddenly they discovered Mrs. Harris’ lapses in intelligence, articulation, and failure “to read the room” (Damon Linker, page 5).
Let’s not fall into the trap of these arrogant know-it-alls who can’t see defeat in front of their noses. At least we should acknowledge the Yad Hashem when it hands us victory, and we can feel the presence of the Creator at work in our lives.
What we have to do is simply reactivate our emunah and bitachon in the One and Only Hashem, Who not only created the universe, but guides everything that happens in it, especially when it affects His people and children.
All of this was from Shabbos. Now let us delve further.
We know that Hashem causes every result to happen. However, we must do our hishtadlus—our effort—for otherwise, it is as if we are expecting or even demanding miracles. The Malbim (Shmuel I 17:47) explains that Klal Yisrael once thought that although there is Hashgocha Protis—Divine Providence—our actions do count for something. For this reason, when we go to war, we make military preparations. However, at one point we learned that “Hashem wages war, and even the best of preparations have absolutely nothing to do with the result. In truth, Hashem has done it all, and every victory was given to us by the Creator.”
So it is with every result we seek. The Chovos Halevavos (4:4) states that while “we must use doctors because the Torah (Shemos 21:19) tells us to do so, we must also constantly remember that it is Hashem Who has actually provided the cure.” The Chazon Ish, too (Emunah Ubitachon 5:5), quotes Rashi (Pesochim 56a) that “Chizkiyahu hid the ancient Book of Cures because people were not brought to teshuvah by their illness, since they had easy access to a refuah.” The Rambam, however, in his commentary on that Mishnah, disagrees. He holds that “the need for medicine is as natural as the imperative to eat in order to stay alive.” After discussing this disagreement between the Rishonim, the Chazon Ish concludes that Chizkiyahu’s generation (Sanhedrin 94b) was so great that they could rely totally upon Hashem, without any human intervention at all.
Rav Moshe Feinstein (Igros Moshe, Yoreh Deah 4:8) and the Tzitz Eliezer (17:2) strongly indicate that in our days, we must seek cures from physicians because we are not on the level of asking Hashem to intervene without trying natural methods. However, even so, all agree that our reliance should be upon Hashem, the One Who cures, not upon human therapies. All of life is full of Hashem’s miracles, whether or not we perceive them. Nevertheless, when an open miracle does happen, it could diminish our ultimate reward, so we must seek miracles that are wrapped in a veneer of nature.
Our joy at Mr. Trump’s reelection must carry at least some of these sentiments. We hope and, of course, pray that he will continue to be kind to our people. We have reason to believe he will do so, but there is no guarantee, and we must therefore daven even more strongly so that we do not appear complacent or arrogant to Hashem. This includes not believing that we accomplished this result through our political acumen or influence. Hashem made all the pundits look ridiculous and foolish to teach us this crucial lesson. It is best for us if there is visible human involvement, but in truth, it is all from Hashem. May we continue to see His loving and healing Hand in our communal and personal lives.
