We spend so much of our lives trying.
We work on our marriages. We work on our children. We work on our parnasah, our Torah, ourselves. And because Hashem created us *adam la'amal yulad*—born to work—that yegiah isn't something we're supposed to escape.
But then comes the danger.
When something finally works, it's very easy to look back at everything we did and think: *I did this.*
In this Rosh Hashanah shiur, Rav Shlomo Katz and the chevra of Shirat David continue an extraordinary teaching from the Tolna Rebbe about the ba'al tokeia who simply could not get a sound out of the shofar. From the building of the Mishkan and Beit Hamikdash to Moshe Rabbeinu forgetting everything he learned on Har Sinai, we discover a pattern that runs through Torah: **techilah hishtadlut, sofo matanah**. First comes our effort. In the end, it's a gift.
And that changes how we understand the shofar itself.
We blow from the narrow end—*min hameitzar karati Kah*—and somehow an enormous sound emerges from the other side. The more we toil, the more we're able to recognize and actually taste the miracle when it comes.
Maybe that's part of what it means to crown Hashem on Rosh Hashanah: not waiting until life pushes us into the narrowest place to realize that everything we have was a gift all along.
\----------
For more Shuirim and Music from Rav Shlomo Katz, visit: https://ravshlomokatz.com
Join Rav Shlomo Katz's WhatsApp Community: https://chat.whatsapp.com/KHKOh hPaeHx5Kb74WL9L9a?mode=ems\copy\t
CHAPTERS
00:00 Opening Announcements & Memorials
01:03 Recap: The Miracle of the Shofar
03:06 The Mishkan, Beit Hamikdash & Menorah
04:47 Hishtadlut: Why Hashem Makes Us Work
08:23 Marriage, Hatzlachah & Divine Help
10:02 Amal, Miracles & the Gift of Torah
13:36 When Human Effort Isn't Enough
Shlomo KatzHost