One who takes a pledge from his fellow — if he had been certain that his fellow would pay him back earlier than agreed upon and would out of sheer kindness reward him for waiting for his money with twice the sum that was owed him— then he would never have taken a pledge from him. And as for the Creator, may He be exalted, Whose benevolent and great favors, present and past, are known to us, Who is known to requite acts of charity and obedience with reward that cannot be imagined, let alone described — it is much more a disgrace to demand a pledge from Him.

When a father punishes his child, the suffering he inflicts on himself is greater than anything experienced by the child. So it is with H'shem: His pain is greater than our pain. (Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov) Chabad.org "When someone will ask what he will eat in  the year of Shemittah, H'shem answers  that He will send His blessings. We may ask  why the pasuk seems to say that one must  ask this question to receive this bounty. It  sounds like if one doesn’t ask, he won’t  receive the blessing?   The Noam Elimelech (Parshas Behar)  famously says in the name of his brother,  Rav Zushe zt”l, that the pasuk is actually  saying that this assurance of a new  blessing from H'shem is only necessary  When one is concerned about what will be  and asks what he will eat.  This is because the doubts this person has stopped the  original blessings that were in place, and a new blessing  is needed. If one has ...

Many have a custom to give children toy bows and arrows to play with at Lag BaOmer picnics. The Bnei Yissachar cites an explanation from one of his teachers that, as a result of Rabbi Shimon’s great merits, no rainbow was seen during his lifetime. (According to Torah, the rainbow is a sign of G‑d’s displeasure.) We play with bows to commemorate this miracle. Another reason is based on the teaching of the Zohar that there will be an extremely bright, vivid rainbow before Moshiach comes. This is connected to Lag BaOmer because Rabbi Yisrael Baal Shem Tov, founder of the chassidic movement, taught that learning the mystical dimension of Torah espoused by Rabbi Shimon brings the messianic era closer. We play with a bow to remind us of the imminent arrival of Moshiach. chabad.org Any success we may have against the “murderous” tendencies of the yetzer hara may be the result of Divine help that we failed to ask for, but received anyhow. The mistake, many have found, is to ascribe spiritual ...