To Make a Difference

First, believe in yourself. Believe that what you do does make a difference. Rav Tzaddok writes (Tzidkas HaTzaddik 154), “Just as a person must have faith in Hashem Yisbarach, so too he must follow this with faith in himself, to believe that his actions matter to Hashem.”

Believe that your tefillos matter, that they count — and that these tefillos play a role in bringing yeshuas Yisrael.

During the era of Nechemiah, the Jews who’d returned to Yerushalayim were threatened by infiltrators who terrorized them. In response, Nechemiah organized the Jews of Yerushalayim and had them build a wall for security. He did this by assigning each family a section of wall that was its responsibility to build.

By dividing the work into personal assignments, Nechemiah motivated the people. He inspired them. Each person knew that without his section of wall, the wall would not be secure. The pasuk (Nechemiah 4:6) relates: “We built the wall… for it was in the hearts of the people to do the work.”