Success can make us forget.

When we are struggling, we see how much we need Hashem. We daven for help. We notice every open door. We recognize each small kindness.

Then things begin working.

The business grows. The problem gets solved. Life becomes more comfortable. Slowly, what once felt like a gift begins to feel like something we created ourselves.

Moshe Rabbeinu warns Bnei Yisrael that this will happen when they enter Eretz Yisrael.

They will have food, beautiful homes, growing flocks, and increasing wealth. Then they may say:

“My strength and the might of my hand made me all this wealth.”
(Devarim 8:17)

But before Moshe warns them about forgetting Hashem, he spends much of the perek helping them remember.

“You shall remember the entire way upon which Hashem, your God, led you these forty years in the wilderness.”
(Devarim 8:2)

Remember the mann Hashem gave you when there was nothing to eat.

Remember that your clothing did not wear out.

Remember how Hashem took you out of Mitzrayim, protected you through the dangerous wilderness, and brought water from a rock.

For forty years, Hashem took care of you.

Why repeat all of this now?

Because Bnei Yisrael are about to become successful. Moshe is giving them the protection they will need when that success arrives.

That protection is memory.

Keep the Stories Alive

It is not enough to recognize Hashem’s help while it is happening. We need to preserve the story.

Write down the moments when Hashem opened a door for you.

Talk about the times when you did not know what would happen, but somehow you were carried through.

Tell your children how Hashem helped your family, provided what you needed, and brought you to where you are today.

These stories protect us.

When we regularly remember everything Hashem has already done for us, today’s success does not appear out of nowhere. It becomes part of a much larger story.

Hashem carried me then.

Hashem helped me reach this point.

Hashem is the One helping me now.

Moshe concludes:

“You shall remember Hashem, your God, for it is He Who gives you strength to achieve success.”
(Devarim 8:18)

Success naturally makes us look at what we did.

Memory reminds us to look at Who made it possible.

The more we preserve and retell the stories of Hashem’s goodness, the easier it becomes to recognize Him in every new bracha that enters our lives.