Modeh Ani is how Yidden start their day. But at the end of Modeh Ani we say something very unique — rabba emunasecha, “great is Your faithfulness.” When we talk about emunah, we usually talk about ourselves — we want to have emunah in Hashem. But rabba emunasecha means we’re talking about the Eibishter — Hashem’s faith is great. What does this mean?
There’s an inyan called home court advantage. You always want your team to play the biggest game on their own turf. But if a sports player is truly great, why should it matter where he plays? Whether he plays here or there, if he’s a great player shouldn’t he play well?
The difference is that when you’re on your home court, everyone is screaming for you, everyone is rooting for you. When everyone wants you to win, it brings out your koach. The potential inside you becomes realized on a much higher level than when nobody in the crowd wants you to win. Gevalt! That’s the inyan of home court advantage.
Listen to this unbelievable Zohar HaKadosh. The Zohar says:
בהאי עלמא נאים בשׁינתיה בכל לילה, וסלקא נשמתא לעילא, ואשתכחת בכמה חיובין קמי קב”ה. ומהימנותא רבה דקב”ה אחזר לה לגופא, ומחדש לה קב”ה. ולמה? רבה אמונתך וֹ.וּמפני שרבה אמונתך
“In this world, man goes to sleep each night, and his neshama ascends to the heavens, and it is found to be guilty (of various mistakes it made throughout the day) before the Holy One. With great faith in him, Hashem returns his neshama to his body and renews him with life. Why? Because Hashem’s faith in him is great.”
The Eibishter believes in us so much. The Eibishter is rooting for us! We need to know that we constantly have the home court advantage, because Hashem Himself wants us to win!
If we would really absorb this, it would give us enormous si’yata d’shmaya. If we would just internalize this, it would give us a huge boost to overcome the basic nisayonos we face every day. When we know the Eibishter is right there, rooting for us, the bottom line is: you’ve got this!
There’s a maaseh with the previous Slonimer Rebbe. The heiligeh Slonimer Rebbe walked into an inn, and he saw a Yid there. The Rebbe said to the chassidim who were with him that this Yid’s face was shining, mamish shining. The Rebbe told the chassidim to go over and ask him what he does. Maybe he did a special mitzvah? Maybe he’s holding in a very holy madreigah? Why is his face shining so much?
The chassidim went over and said, “Shalom aleichem, Reb Yid, what do you do? Are you a hidden tzaddik? Do you learn kabbalah? What’s your inyan?” The Yid said, “I’ll tell you the truth. I do nothing. I’m a shoemaker. I don’t know how to read, I don’t know how to learn, I don’t know how to daven.” They went back and told the Rebbe. The Rebbe said, “Something’s not right here. There must be something he isn’t telling you.”
The next day the Rebbe sent his chassidim to ask him again. They asked again, and the Yid again responded that he is not special in any way!
The Rebbe decided that he needed to get to the bottom of what causes this Yid’s face to shine like this, and went himself to try to find out why. So the Rebbe went over and said, “Tell me, Reb Yid, is there one thing that you do that is special? Do you daven one time a day, or do some kind of unique avodah? There must be something!”
The Yid said, “The truth is, maybe there is one thing. Every night before I go to sleep, I look up to Shamayim and I say: ‘Tatteh in Himmel (Father in Heaven), do me a favor. Only if You believe that I can do everything You need me to do tomorrow, wake me up in the morning. Otherwise, don’t wake me up.’”
The Slonimer Rebbe explained to his chassidim: this Yid walks around the whole day knowing that the Eibishter believes he can do everything he’s needed for. That’s why his face is mamish shining!
The Eibishter believes in us, and when we know that, we have the home court advantage, and we can win the fight.
L’chaim Yidden!
This article was found in Nekuda Tova Issue 61.
