Parashat Vayeira: Every Step Is Directed From Heaven

Rav Mordechai Pogramansky, zt”l, and a renowned mohel from Minsk had missed their train stop. By the time they realized their mistake, it was too late. The train continued to the end of the line, leaving them in an unfamiliar place, far from where they had intended to go.

The mohel had been brought to Kovno to perform brit milah for several infants. Now, having missed their stop, the two travelers found themselves wondering how they would reach their destination.

Rav Mordechai, however, saw an opportunity to share a remarkable insight.

“In this week’s parashah,” the rav began, “the Torah tells us about Hagar after she left Avraham’s household: ‘She went and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba’ (Bereishit 21:14).”

Rashi comments that Hagar had returned to the idolatry of her father’s household.

“But where,” Rav Mordechai asked, “does the Torah indicate that she returned to idol worship? The verse merely says that she wandered in the wilderness.”

The answer, the rav explained, lies in the word “wandered.”

A person who truly believes in Hashem understands that wherever he finds himself, Hashem has brought him there. Even when he does not know where he is or why his journey has taken an unexpected turn, he recognizes that he remains under Divine providence.

Such a person may certainly lose his way geographically, but he does not believe that his circumstances are beyond Hashem’s control.

According to Rav Mordechai’s explanation, the Torah’s description of Hagar as wandering reflects something deeper than losing her bearings. It suggests that she had lost the faith she had acquired in Avraham’s household, no longer recognizing that her steps were directed from Heaven. This, the rav explained, is what Rashi meant when he wrote that she had returned to the ways of her father’s house.

Rav Mordechai had barely finished speaking when a Jewish man appeared before them.

The man was searching for a mohel to perform a brit milah for his newborn son.

The two travelers could hardly have imagined a more striking demonstration of the lesson they had just discussed. They had missed their intended stop, traveled to an unfamiliar place, and discovered that someone there needed precisely the person traveling with Rav Mordechai.

What had appeared to be an unfortunate mistake had brought them to the very place where they were needed.

The account, recorded in Gedulat Mordechai, illustrates a fundamental principle of hashgachah pratit: A person may not know why his plans have changed, but that does not mean his journey is without purpose.

The Gemara (Sukkah 53a) relates another extraordinary incident that brings this idea into sharper focus.

One day, Shlomo HaMelech noticed that the Angel of Death appeared troubled. When Shlomo asked why, the angel explained that he had been instructed to take the lives of two of the king’s scribes, Elihoreph and Achiyah.

Seeking to protect them, Shlomo summoned demons and instructed them to carry the two men to the city of Luz, where the Angel of Death had no power.

But when the scribes reached the entrance to Luz, the Angel of Death took their souls.

The following day, Shlomo saw the angel again, this time appearing pleased. When asked why, the angel explained that he had been commanded to take the scribes’ lives at precisely the place to which Shlomo had sent them.

Upon hearing this, Shlomo declared: “A person’s feet are his guarantors; they lead him to the place where he is required to be.”

At first glance, two questions arise.

Why did the Angel of Death return to Shlomo after the scribes had already died? His first appearance had prompted Shlomo to send them toward Luz, but what purpose was served by appearing again?

Furthermore, why did Shlomo speak of a person’s feet leading him to his destination? The scribes had not walked to Luz. They had been carried there by demons.

The explanation offered in Be’er HaParashah sheds light on both questions.

The Angel of Death’s second appearance was intended to trouble Shlomo with the thought that the king himself had caused the scribes’ deaths. Had Shlomo not sent them toward Luz, the angel seemed to suggest, they would have remained where they were and escaped their fate.

Shlomo understood the implication but refused to be shaken by it.

“A person’s feet are his guarantors.”

The king was declaring that the scribes had been destined to reach that location. Had Shlomo not arranged for them to be taken there, they would have arrived by another means, even on their own feet.

His attempt to save them had not created the Heavenly decree. Their destination had already been determined.

Shlomo would not allow himself to be consumed by the thought that his efforts to protect the scribes had somehow caused what Heaven had decreed.

This teaching also addresses how we understand events that appear accidental. When someone is struck by a vehicle while crossing a road, we naturally see the immediate circumstances that led to the tragedy. Yet the lesson drawn from Shlomo HaMelech is that even such events are not outside Hashem’s providence.

That belief does not mean we know why a tragedy occurred, nor does it absolve anyone of the responsibility to exercise caution and protect human life. Rather, it teaches that our limited understanding of events does not encompass the full picture.

The Divrei Yisrael, in Parashat Beshalach, develops this principle further.

When a person believes that nothing happens by chance, but that everything is governed by hashgachah pratit, even the smallest movement takes on meaning. Every step and every journey, however ordinary they may seem, unfold under Hashem’s supervision.

We acknowledge this each morning in the blessing haMeichin mitzadei gaver, praising Hashem “Who directs the footsteps of man.”

The Divrei Yisrael teaches that such faith can protect a person from anguish and resentment. When someone recognizes that events are not random, he is better able to face disappointment without surrendering to anger or despair.

This does not mean that every difficult experience becomes easy to accept. Nor does it mean that we will always understand why something happened. Faith gives us the strength to recognize that even when the reason remains hidden, Hashem’s providence has not disappeared.

Rav Mordechai Pogramansky and his companion were fortunate enough to discover the purpose of their unexpected journey almost immediately. The father searching for a mohel appeared before them just as Rav Mordechai finished explaining that a believer is never truly lost.

Most of us do not receive such immediate explanations.

We make plans, choose our routes, and do our best to reach our destinations. Sometimes everything unfolds as expected. At other times, we encounter delays, disappointments, or circumstances we could never have anticipated.

Our responsibility is to act thoughtfully and make the best decisions we can, while remembering that our efforts take place within a plan greater than our own.

Rav Mordechai and the mohel thought they had missed their destination. In truth, they had arrived exactly where they were needed.

We may not always be privileged to discover the purpose of an unexpected turn, as they did. But even when the reason remains hidden, we can hold firmly to the knowledge that our steps are never beyond Hashem’s providence.

Based on teachings presented in Be’er HaParashah by Rav Elimelech Biderman, shlit”a, including the account recorded in Gedulat Mordechai, printed at the end of Siach Yosef, p. 20, and the teachings of the Divrei Yisrael.

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Rabbi Leeor Dahan, a graduate of Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim/RSA, is a noted scholar and teacher, well-versed in halachah. He currently leads Kehilat Avodat Hashem in Hillcrest, Queens, inspiring his congregation to delve into Torah study and embrace its eternal teachings.