"The Lord Your God Is With You": The Torah's Greatest Source of Strength

In this week's Torah portion, Parashat Devarim, the Torah declares: "For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has known your journey through this great wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing" (Deuteronomy 2:7).

The Netivot Shalom quotes the Maggid of Kozhnitz, who writes in Avodat Yisrael that this portion is always read during the Nine Days, the period between Rosh Chodesh Av and Tisha B'Av.

He notes that the words, "He has known your journey through this great wilderness," hint to the darkest periods of Jewish history. Even during the most painful times, God remains with His people. Even as we pass through the sorrow of the Three Weeks and the Nine Days, "the Lord will not forsake His people or abandon His inheritance." Therefore, "the Lord your God is with you; you have lacked nothing." When God is with you, nothing essential is missing.

The Torah's Guidance for Difficult Times

The Netivot Shalom explains that these verses offer timeless guidance for every Jew who experiences a difficult period, a personal "forty years in the great and terrible wilderness."

The Torah teaches that when hardship comes, a person should believe that it is not merely coincidence. Rather, "the Lord your God is with you." This faith itself is the key to feeling that one lacks nothing.

The holy books teach that the greatest way to sweeten harsh judgments is to strengthen one's awareness that "the Lord your God is with you." When a person lives with that awareness, "you have lacked nothing."

The Secret of Jewish Survival

The Jewish people have endured four long exiles since becoming a nation.

For nearly two thousand years, Jews have suffered through the final and longest exile, one whose hardships seem endless. There were periods of unimaginable suffering, when Jewish blood was spilled like water.

Yet after all of this, the Jewish people are still alive. What has sustained them?

The answer is found in these very words: "The Lord your God is with you; you have lacked nothing."

This conviction gave the Jewish people the strength to endure everything they experienced.

Whenever the Jewish people strengthened themselves with the belief that God was with them, they discovered that, despite all appearances, they lacked nothing essential.

The Netivot Shalom explains that this has always been the source of the Jewish nation's survival, and it is equally the source of strength for every individual during life's most difficult moments.

As the Zohar teaches, wherever the Jewish people were exiled, the Divine Presence went with them. That awareness gave them the strength to bear every hardship.

What is true for the nation is equally true for every individual.

When God Is With You, Nothing Is Missing

The Netivot Shalom summarizes this idea beautifully:

"This is the power that has sustained Israel throughout every generation. When 'the Lord your God is with you,' you lack nothing. When a Jew remains attached to God, nothing is truly missing. Only when a person feels disconnected from God do life's troubles overwhelm him. But when a Jew feels attached to the Almighty, he can say, 'Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me.' This is the meaning of the teaching that wherever Israel was exiled, the Divine Presence accompanied them. Through that attachment to the Shechinah, they survived every exile and lacked nothing."

The Greatest Advice for Every Challenge

The Netivot Shalom concludes with what he calls the greatest advice for overcoming life's difficulties: "The Lord your God is with you."

The Jewish people wandered through the wilderness for forty years, through a desolate land devoid of all natural support. Yet they survived because they remained attached to God.

The same is true for every Jew in every situation.

Even during times of profound darkness, whether material or spiritual, a person should strive to remain connected to God. When that bond remains strong, "you have lacked nothing."

A Message for Every Generation

The Netivot Shalom leaves us with one of the most powerful messages for confronting life's challenges: "The Lord your God is with you; you have lacked nothing."

When a Jew remains attached to God, no difficulty can deprive him of the inner strength needed to face life's trials.

Even in the darkest moments, when the road ahead seems uncertain and hope appears distant, the faith that God is always with us gives us the courage to continue.

This has been the secret of the Jewish people's survival throughout history, and it is also the secret of every individual Jew.

If we remember that "the Lord your God is with you," then even when the world around us seems dark, we can continue our journey with faith, confidence, and hope.