LAZERBEAMS: "Ein Od Milvado" - There is none beside Him!

Here's a gift for Shabbat - a Hebrew lesson of the the most important three-word phrase you'll ever need to know, and a lifesaver at that - ein od milvado - literally, there is no one or nothing but Hashem. Only He can help us, both collectively and individually. Like the Rambam teaches in the firsst of our 13 Principles of Faith, "He alone does, did and will do every deed."

The Torah says (Deut. 4:35), "You have been shown, in order to know, that Hashem, He is the G-d. There is none beside Him!" אין עוד מלבדו - "There is none beside Him," is the key to understanding everything that happens to us, both on a broad national scale and on a personal private scale.

"Shown, in order to know", explains the Ramban, refers to the revelation of Hashem on Mount Sinai. Moses received both the written and the oral law from Hashem on Mount Sinai. Therefore, whenever a person deviates - even in the slightest - from "Halacha Le'Moshe be'Sinai", or the law as it was given to Moshe on Sinai, one's understanding that "There is none beside Him," is seriously weakened.

"There is none beside Him" means that everything in the world happens because Hashem decrees that it should happen. No one can lift a finger against Hashem's will. So, if someone harms us or insults us, its pointless to bear malice toward that person. Rather, we should make an accounting of the soul, understand that Hashem does everything for our ultimate good, and pray to Hashem to help us understand the message and correct what needs to be corrected. This is especially important in Elul.

In light of the above, any time a person - or a movement of people - make any compromise on Shulchan Oruch, e.g. religious law, they weaken their own faith with their own two hands. Conversely, when a person strengthens his or her observance of the Torah's commandments, that person automatically benefits from a chizuk, or reinforcement, of faith. That's one of the reasons why Rebbe Nachman of Breslev implores us to learn Shulchan Oruch every single day of our lives, and not to budge an iota from its statutes.

Faith that "There is none beside Him" is the only reliable bridge to traverse this world safely to the other side.

Ain Od Milvado!

Mordechai Ben David "Ein Od Milvado" - At The Ohel Concert 5758 Performing Mordechai Ben David (MBD) Avraham Fried Ira Heller And Oif Simchas Musical Director Yisroel Lamm Guest Conductor Moshe Laufer March 8 1998 In Madison Square Garden

This is from Harav Avigdor Nebenzahl Shlita, Senior Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Netiv Aryeh, The Rav of the Old City, world-renowned author and posek

"EIN OD MILVADO"-- "There is none beside Him"

Following the German occupation at the outset of WWII, when HaRav Yitzchak Zev Soloveitchik, the Brisker Rav, was forced to flee from Warsaw, he found the roads filled with German murderers. He spent the entire time of his flight concentrating on the thought "Ein Od Milvado" "there is none beside Him" and due to this, he was able to miraculously escape to Vilna which at the time was outside their jurisdiction (see Yalkut Lekach Tov on the Torah volume 5, page 62). Strengthening the recognition that save for the A-lmighty, there is no other force in the world is a tremendous "segulah" for removing from one's self and negating all the decrees and wills of others totally preventing them from working against them (see Nefesh HaChaim Shaar 3, Chapter 12). Even though the Germans had bombs, machine guns, and other weapons of destruction, when one understands that they are all nothing whatsoever, they can have no control over us and we can be saved from them.

It is not sufficient to mouth the words "ein od milvado" but we must actually feel it. All the forces in the world only exist because we deem them significant, when we feel in our heart that there is no power save that of Hashem then nothing in the world has the inherent ability to inflict any harm upon us. The Torah relates "Now Rachel had taken the teraphim, put them into the camel's pack-saddle and sat on them" (Bereishit 31:34). Why did she place them specifically in the packsaddle? Perhaps it was the ideal hiding place? Chazal offer an additional reason. These idols had a certain ability to reveal their precise location to Lavan. When did they possess such power? Only when they were treated with honor! If, on the other hand, they were degraded and treated as if they are worthless, their power would cease to function. By sitting on them, Rachel was not only hiding them but also degrading them in an effort to dispossess them of their powers. They would now be unable to inform Lavan of their whereabouts. This is how Avoda Zara operates, its power (assuming it has any) stems only from people attaching importance to it. When, however, no significance whatsoever is accorded it, when it is treated as being worthless, then it can exert no control (see Zohar volume I 164:2). It is not only Avoda Zara, but any force in the world only exists because we endow it with significance. When we truly realize and understand that Hashem is the only force in the world then the other forces will lose their significance and we will realize that nothing in the world can have any effect on us.