Ashrei 14
עיני כל אליך ישברו, ואתה נותן להם את אכלם בעתו – The eyes of all look to You with hope, and You give them their food in its proper time.
The Sefer Chareidim,1 based on the Zohar in Parshas B’Shalach and Parshas Pinchas, says that it is a great mitzvah for one to ask for his food (livelihood) from Hashem in the morning before breakfast, and again before the evening meal. He explains that this is why Chazal instructed us to say Ashrei (in the morning before eating and again at Minchah, which would generally occur before eating the evening meal). He references our pasuk and the next pasuk and says that one should lift up his eyes (to Shamayim) when saying these two p’sukim. (There are others2 who explain these two p’sukim not as a request but as praise. In fact, they state that the beauty of Ashrei is that we are NOT making any requests and we are just praising Hashem).
Though asking for our needs may be necessary, it seems self-serving and hardly what we would think of as a “great mitzvah.” What is it about asking for our needs that makes it a “great mitzvah”? The sefer Nafshi Cholas Ahavasecha offers one approach that is divided into two parts. The author presents the benefits of having to ask Hashem for our livelihood as two gifts, which are really two sides of the same concept. The first gift is that, when we ask Hashem in earnest for our livelihood, we recognize that WE are NOT the cause of success in earning our livelihood. We must put in the effort but the result is from Hashem. This is what we acknowledge when reciting this pasuk. We “look to You with hope” because we understand that we are not in control. The second gift is that, through asking Hashem for our needs, we draw closer to Him. When we recite this pasuk, we realize and proclaim that we are completely dependent on Him at every moment. That feeling of total reliance on Hashem can infuse us with a feeling of pleasure and serenity as we come closer in our relationship with Him, as we let go of the burden and stress of feeling that we are in control of our lives. It would seem, based on this explanation, that the great mitzvah of asking for our needs is the mitzvah of bitachon, reliance on Hashem. Bitachon is, in fact, not only a great mitzvah, but as the Vilna Gaon3 puts it: “עיקר הכל הוא הבטחון השלם והוא כלל כל המצות–The most essential element is complete reliance (on Hashem), and it is a basis of all of the mitzvos.”
The very same concept is true of our avodas Hashem and learning Torah as well. The Chazon Ish says4 that lifting one’s eyes to Hashem (asking Him for help, recognizing that success comes from Him – and complete reliance on Him – to bring success to our toil) brings salvation also for avodas Hashem and learning Torah. Rav Wolbe,5 based on a Gemara in Maseches Nidah, writes that diligence in learning does not suffice for one to acquire chochmah. One must daven and ask Hashem to help him. Rav Wolbe goes so far as to write: Who knows how many with tremendous potential to become great in Torah were lost and did not actualize their potential because their tefilos were rushed and they did not ask Hashem for help from the depths of their hearts?
May we be zocheh to ask for our needs frequently, and to feel the serenity and pleasure of coming closer to Hashem as a result.
1 ספר חרדים פרק ל״ח אות ל״ו
2 הכותב בספר עין יעקב מסכת ברכות ד עמוד ב
גר״א משלי פרק כ״ב פסוק י״ט 3
קובץ אגרות חזון איש חלק ג׳ אגרת ה4
עלי שור ב דף תקצ-צא 5