The total population of the tribe of Binyamin was forty-five thousand six hundred. The tribe of Dan’s population was sixty-four thousand four hundred. Rav Zelig Plisken shlita writes: The Chofetz Chaim explains why those numbers are so remarkable: Binyamin had ten sons, while his brother Dan had only one son, named Chushim. Chushim was handicapped; he was deaf. Although Dan had only one son and Binyamin had ten, Dan had many more descendants than Binyamin.
From here we can learn, says the Chofetz Chaim, that if Hashem wants a person to be successful, he will succeed even if it appears at first that he has less than someone else. It is possible that from one son a person can have more descendants than from ten sons. Similarly, as regards wealth and possessions. There are some people with only a limited amount of money and possessions, but they feel happy with what they have and live very cheerful lives. On the opposite side, there are wealthy people who lack true success in life even though they own a lot.
In general, the way we are is to always want more. Chazal teach us that if one has a hundred dollars, he will want two hundred dollars, and so on and so forth. Quantity is not always a valid measurement for success in life. The person who masters taking pleasure in what he has is guaranteed a life of happiness. This is hard but we must have Emunah (faith) and Bitachon (trust) in Hashem, knowing that whatever we are meant to have we will have. Rav Gamliel Rabinovitch shlita writes in Tiv HaEmenua, that Rav Akiva Eiger zt”l once commented: “Without faith in Hashem one cannot even pass the threshold of his home; however, with faith in Hashem, he has the ability to even split the sea! This sea can very well mean the sea of one’s hardships and suffering. With Emunah and Bitachon, one can split and pass through hardships. Emunah and Bitachon are the power that carries a person through this world despite all of his challenges!
Having Bitachon, trust in Hashem is such an important thing. I would like to share with you something incredible that I heard from Rav Yitzchok Fingerer shlita: In Lashon HaKodesh (the Hebrew language) the word for worry is Daagah (דָאָגָה), which is spelled Daled (ד), Aleph (א), Gimmel (ג), Hey (ה). The commentaries point out that the word Daagah, worry, has all the beginning letters of the Aleph Beis from Aleph (א) to Hey (ה), except for one. It is missing the letter Beis (ב). The Beis stands for Bitachon. This teaches us that it is the absence of Bitachon, (trust) in Hashem, that causes worry. When a person has trust, he doesn’t have to worry!
There are countless stories of people who made every effort for Parnassa (sustenance) but ran short on necessary funds for various last-minute occasions. However, they did not despair. They firmly believed that Hashem is the provider. Often at the last moment, they “somehow” received the necessary funds. It may have been a tax credit they didn’t expect or a gift. However, we know there is no such thing as Mikreh, coincidence. מִקְרֶה, Mikreh (coincidence) is Gematria Hashem השם (345)! This is to signify that Hashem controls all occurrences and incidences of life, even those which seem to be coincidental.
