Focus Only on Now

“And now do not be sad and let it not trouble you” (Genesis/Bereishit, 45:5) 

When there is a tenuous health or economic crisis taking place in the world, or other similar situations, there are news reporters who try to project a gloomy outlook on the future, predicting how many people will die in a plague or will starve. This causes people to worry and to lose the peace of mind that is so crucial to life. 

In such a time, one must consider that it is improper to think or speak too much about such dire predictions, for two reasons: 

1) Most predictions are not happening in the end as it was predicted. Even if a situation that appears hopeless, Hashem can make a miracle in the blink of an eye. When that happens, it means that you suffered from worry for naught. This is taught in the Talmud (Yevamot, 63b) in the name of Sefer Ben Sira: “Do not worry for tomorrow’s troubles, because you never know what a new day will bring.” 

2) Even if it will be bad, it is improper to add more suffering by filling one’s head with worry before the trouble comes. Instead, it is better to wait and only suffer during the actual time of suffering, as the Talmud teaches (Brachot, 9b), “It is enough to suffer from trouble in its own time.” 

It is always best to think only of the present situation, and not about any possible future suffering, or even about past sufferings, because if you only look at each moment individually, it is not so difficult to endure. This is what the Sifrei Kadmonim introduce the wise saying: “The past is no longer, the future is not yet, and the present is the blink of an eye, so why worry?!” 

If one follows this philosophy, it is possible to endure the most difficult sufferings. My holy ancestor, Rebbe Isaac of Kaalov, may his merit protect us, accepted horrendous suffering upon himself in his old age, in order to atone for the Jewish people vicariously. When a doctor asked him how it was possible to suffer so much and to remain in a state of joy, my holy ancestor answered that he only looks at each moment individually. 

When a person lives always in the present, he succeeds in every area of life. When he thinks too much about past and future which is impossible to fix this day in the present, this fills the head with extra worries, and causes a person to fall into despair, and this causes him to lose the present, which is the only time he actually has now to do something, and if he loses the present, he cannot accomplish anything. 

This is true even with spiritual issues, that it is important to only think of the present. When a person begins to observe some mitzvah, the Evil Inclination tempts him to think of all the sins he committed in the past, and think of how he will sin in the future as well, which causes him to fall into despair and lose the present as well. In such a situation, a person must overcome this temptation and only think about the present, and ignore the past and future. 

When the holy Rebbe Simchah Bunim of Peshischa zt”l was a young man, he worked as a pharmacist in Danzig. His Rebbe, the Yid HaKadosh of Peshischa zt”l asked him if he heard anything in Danzig that could be used as a lesson in serving Hashem? He answered that he heard how merchants would tell one another: “It is nothing to lose money, but when one loses courage, he loses everything!”  

This means that even if someone loses money, he shouldn’t get depressed over this, thus losing his inner life, because if he gives up hope he will lose everything because he will simply stop working altogether. What is lost is lost – why lose even more, and something even more critical, like your emotional health? Therefore, he must forget the fact that he lost money, and try his luck once again.  

From this, we can also learn a lesson in serving Hashem – never give up hope because of his past sins. Instead, only think only of what you can accomplish right now! 

A chassid once complained to his Rebbe, the Holy Rebbe Yisroel of Ruzhin zt”l, that he has no courage to pray before the King of kings, the Holy One, Blessed is He, because he knows what a sinner he is. The Rebbe answered him that “Chazal (Yalkut Shimoni – Tehillim 889) explain the verse ‘Every breath praise Hashem’ (Psalms/Tehillim 150:6) that one must praise Hashem with every breath one breathes. The holy books explain that when one exhales, part of the soul rises with the breath, and seeks to separate from the body and return to its source in the Higher Realm, however Heaven sends the soul back. Thus, a person’s life–force is renewed with every breath. According to this, we find that every moment a person is made a brand-new creation, and this means that we must treasure every moment individually, meaning that you are no longer the same person who committed the sin earlier.” 

Similarly, a story is told of the holy Apter Rov zt”l, author of the book “Ohev Yisrael,” that once before reciting the prayer Nishmat Kol Chai, he spoke up and said, “Yetzer Hara, you are right when you say I sinned in the past, and it is possible that I may sin again in the future, G-d forbid, but now I want to recite Nishmat, so please go away right now, and you can come back to remind me of my sins at a time that is set aside for teshuvah (repentance).” 

My holy ancestor, Rebbe Sender of Komarna zy”a, explained that this is the meaning of what Chazal says (Chagigah 11b), “Whoever looks at what was before or after, it would have been best for him to never come into the world.” If someone is accustomed to look at the past and worry about what will be, it would be better if he never was created, because this worry causes him to fall into depression and lose hope – and this destroys his life. 

Perhaps this concept is hinted to in what Yosef HaTzaddik said:  

“And now” – If you only think about the present which is now),  

“do not be depressed” – You will not fall into depression over your pain from your past and worries of the future, 

“And let it not trouble you” – Then you will not become angry, because when a person has peace of mind, he does not get angry quickly.  

As a result, you will be worthy to live in tranquility and joy constantly, in every situation!