BITACHON, NOT BUSINESS!

Today we are studying a pasuk in Mishleh , 22,19 where Shlomo Hamelech tells us, לִֽהְי֣וֹת בַּ֭יהֹוָה מִבְטַחֶ֑ךָ הוֹדַעְתִּ֖יךָ הַיּ֣וֹם אַף־אָֽתָּה ׃ To be in Hashem your reliance, I told you today, you as well Rabbenu Yonah says that Shlomo Hamelech is telling us that his whole intention in teaching the mussar of Mishleh, which is full of his wisdom, is to reach bitachon, because all those good Middot are necessary to reach that level. In the ladder of Middot brought down by Rav Pinhas Ben Yair in Avoda Zara 20B, which is the basis for Mesilat Yesharim , it says that Purity brings to holiness and holiness brings to fear. And he says bitachon is the highest level of fear. So therefore, if the top of the ladder is fear, then the top of the ladder is bitachon , and that's the goal of the entire Mishleh. And what does, “ Af Atah/You also” mean? Rabbenu Yona says Shlomo Hamelech is saying, ‘ You can do it too. Just like I learned all that Mussar to get to bitachon, you can do that as well.’ The sefer Mei Shiloach , vol 2 on Parashat Tsav says, “You too,” means even if you sinned, even if you're a Baal Teshuva, don't despair, you can also reach the highest levels of bitachon.’ In the same sefer , in the commentary on Mishleh , it says, Af Atah/ You too, means , Whoever I'm talking to, whether the smallest of the small or the greatest, the great, you still need to work on your Middot Rashi has a different twist. He says it means, “ I'm telling you, rely on Hashem and be involved in Torah and don't say, ‘How can I possibly do anything? I'm too busy, I have to support my family.’ No. Use your bitachon and you'll be able to reach all the highest levels.” The Gaon of Vilna, in his commentary to Mishleh says something earth shattering. He says this pasuk is not just saying that Mishleh is there to teach you bitachon, but rather, “ The the main purpose in God giving the Torah to the Jewish people is that they'll put their reliance on Hashem and to tell your children these lessons as well.” God gave us the Torah to reach bitachon and share it with our children. Why ? He continues, “The most fundamental thing is the complete reliance on Hashem, and that is the all-inclusive rule of all the Mitzvot. He says this is also brought down in Tehilim 78 5, where it says, וַיָּ֤קֶם עֵד֨וּת ׀ בְּֽיַעֲקֹ֗ב וְתוֹרָה֮ שָׂ֤ם בְּיִשְׂרָ֫אֵ֥ל אֲשֶׁ֣ר צִ֭וָּה אֶת־אֲבוֹתֵ֑ינוּ לְ֝הוֹדִיעָ֗ם לִבְנֵיהֶֽם׃ Hashem established a testimony in Yaakov and sat down in Israel, that He commanded our fathers to let it be known to their sons. That means that the purpose of Torah is to share it with your children, לְמַ֤עַן יֵדְע֨וּ ׀ דּ֣וֹר אַ֭חֲ רוֹן / So the last generation may know that's us.. בָּנִ֣ים יִוָּלֵ֑דוּ יָ֝קֻ֗מוּ וִיסַפְּר֥וּ לִבְנֵיהֶֽם׃ Sons yet be born, they'll mature and tell their own sons. And what will that cause? וְיָשִׂ֥ימוּ בֵאלֹהִ֗ים כִּ֫סְלָ֥ם וְלֹ֣א יִ֭שְׁכְּחוּ מַ֥עַלְלֵי־אֵ֑ל וּמִצְוֺתָ֥יו יִנְצֹֽרוּ׃ They will place their trust in Hashem and not forget the works of Hashem. So clearly it says Hashem gave us the Torah, so we should tell our children. And the goal is that וְיָשִׂ֥ימוּ בֵאלֹהִ֗ים כִּ֫סְלָ֥ם /We should put our faith in Hashem. Another source for this concept is that Habakuk came and put the entire Torah on Sadik B’Emunato Tiheyeh/ The one pillar of the whole Torah is the Sadik lives with his Emunah. And the rabbis explain that in this context, Emunah and Bitachon are synonymous. So, this is a most powerful pasuk . The entire Torah is there for one goal and that is to get to bitachon. Of course, you have to perfect your Middot. And you have to work on it. Bitachon is not as easy as it sounds. There are lots of interferences and bad character traits interfere with your Bitachon. But the end goal is to perfect yourself and reach that level of bitachon.

We're now in Mishleh 28, 25 רְחַב־נֶ֭פֶשׁ יְגָרֶ֣ה מָד֑וֹן וּבֹטֵ֖חַ עַל־יְהֹוָ֣ה יְדֻשָּֽׁן׃ A Rechav Nefesh/greedy person stirs up strife. But one who relies on Hashem will have abundance. That's the simple Artscroll definition of the pasuk. And now for the commentaries… “Rechav Nefesh ” is a term used in Pirkei Avot , where Bilaam, is described as having a ‘ Nefesh Rechava ,’ which means he's a Baal Ta’ava, a man of desire. That's a Nefesh Rechava, Yigareh Madon/ stirs up strife.. Rashi says he brings upon himself Middat HaDin/God's justice. [When a person just indulges his own pleasures and is selfish, that arouses God's judgment on him. But a person who’s selfless is someone that's giving, which brings God's mercy upon him. It’s not really our topic, but it’s an important point.] וּבֹטֵ֖חַ עַל־יְהֹוָ֣ה The one who relies on Hashem is יְדֻשָּֽׁן Yedushan , which the Mesudat Sion says is a term of being anointed with oil, as it says in Tehilim 36 יִ֭רְוְיֻן מִדֶּ֣שֶׁן בֵּיתֶ֑ךָ That's the simple explanation. The Gaon of Vilna explains that a man of desire is someone who’s not happy with his lot. He's always angry because everything is too small or not enough, and therefore, he lives a miserable life. And since he's always angry, the smallest thing is going to tick him off, so he's going to get into arguments. But the one who relies on Hashem is the opposite. He is Sameach B’Helko/happy with his lot . He's happy with what he has, so he's in a state of tranquility because he's in a world of completeness. The Malbim says that this man is not only going to get into arguments with people because he's not in the right mood, he's going to start having complaints against God, because he looks at everything in the world as going wrong. He's constantly complaining. Conversely, the one who relies on Hashem, who is not being pushed by his desire, who is happy with what Hashem gives him is going to find what he needs. That's all on what we call the pshat level. The sefer Zera Yaakov, written in the 1700s by Rabbi Yaakov Ben Haim HaKohen, says Rechav Nefesh is referring to Zimri ben Salu, a man of desire who sinned with Kozbi. He caused arguments. He caused arguments with Moshe Rabbenu, and he caused 24,000 people to die. He caused arguments between God and the Jewish people. He says the Bote’ach al Hashem, the one that relied on Hashem, was Pinhas. Pinhas was zealous and killed them both, and he got wonderful blessings from Above. He says, Yodushan refers to the portion of the Mizbe’ach called the Terumat HaDeshen, where they put the pile of ashes. It says, all the blessings came to the Jewish people from the korbanot . So Pinhas, the one that relied on Hashem, merited to become a Kohen Gadol, and brought an abundance of blessings upon the Jewish people through the Korbanot . That's more of a Midrashic reading into our pasuk. There's a very interesting point in this pasuk, which goes back to the Hovot Halevavot in Shaar HaBechina where he discusses why it is that people don't see God creation. He also says, in Shaar Bitachon, that this interferes with our reliance on Hashem. If we don't see Hashem in creation and we don't see how He's taking care of us, we don't rely on Him. He says it comes because of our great desire for more. We're always looking at what we don't have and not at what we do have. We can't see God, because we only see what we don't have. As the famous question goes, Is the cup half empty or half full ? Half empty is the man of Ta’ava . He only sees what he doesn't have. Nothing satisfies him. On the other hand, the Baal bitachon is a man who’s able to slow down and see and appreciate what he has, and see how God has been taking care of him until now, in all the wonderful things that he has. He can truly feel like he's bathing in the goodness of God. This is a fundamental- we should not be looking for more, but rather, appreciating what we have. This is actually a prerequisite for bitachon because if a person is always complaining, bitachon doesn't do anything. They think, My life is miserable, but their life is not as miserable as they think it is. The cause is the Middah of desire , always looking for what you don't have, desiring more worrying about what the Joneses have, etc. This is a beautiful lesson. Mishleh is always about opposites. One would not simply say that the opposite of bitachon is a Nefesh Rechava, a greedy person that's chasing his desire . That's our pasuk for the day. רְחַב־נֶ֭פֶשׁ יְגָרֶ֣ה מָד֑וֹן וּבֹטֵ֖חַ עַל־יְהֹוָ֣ה יְדֻשָּֽׁן׃ The man who's greedy causes arguments. And one that relies on God will have abundance.

We're now in a pasuk in Tehilim 31, 7 where David Hamelech says, שָׂנֵ֗אתִי הַשֹּׁמְרִ֥ים הַבְלֵי־שָׁ֑וְא וַ֝אֲנִ֗י אֶל־יְהֹוָ֥ה בָּטָֽחְתִּי / I despise those who wait for worthless vanities, And as for me, I rely on Hashem Simply speaking, David Hamelech is saying, I hate those people who are Shomrim Havleh Shav. Rashi says this means people who are hoping for the for the salvation of idolatry or other forces that don't really help us. The word Shomer can mean to look forward, like Yaakov Avinu waiting and looking forward to Yosef’s dreams coming true. The Ibn Ezra says the ‘ Havleh Shav ’ that David Hamelech hates refers to people that use soothsayers and horoscopes etc. to find out the right time or the right thing to do. “I don't do that,” says David , “I rely on Hashem.” The Malbim says this refers to people who rely on human beings, whose promises are in vain because they don't necessarily come through. In all of these simple explanations, it's David Hamelech talking. However, the Midrash Raba on Shemot 7,4 says that this is actually a quote from Gan Eden. It says, in the future, Gan Eden will scream out and say, “ Please, I'm looking for Sadikim. I don't want Resha’im. As it says, ‘ שָׂנֵ֗אתִי הַשֹּׁמְרִ֥ים הַבְלֵי־שָׁ֑וְא /I hate those people that are waiting for falsehood. Who am I looking forward to? Those that relied on Your name, as it says V’Ani El Hashem Batachti.’ This is very interesting. Rav Bloch, in his sefer Iggeret Al HaBitachon (page 1), points out that it starts off saying, I want Sadikim and then switches to , I want those that rely on You, not the ones that are looking forward to nonsense. That means the determining factor between the Sadik and Rasha , as we see from this Midrash (and not just Sadik and Rasha for this world, but forever and ever in Gan Eden or the opposite) depends on whether you rely on Hashem or on all the other nonsense, whether it's idol worship, soothsayers or people. The Midrash continues, “ Gehinom is going to say, “I don’t want Sadikim. I want Reshaim. Who are they ? Those people that are looking forward to the Havlei Shav , those people looking forward to the nonsense. This is a fascinating pasuk - it’s not just David Hamelech talking- it's Gan Eden and Gehinom, our eternal life is asking for that. The Rambam’s son, in his sefer HaMaspik L’Ovdei Hashem ( in the chapter on Bitachon) describes something called the Kefira Nisteret / the hidden, underground heretic. He looks like he relies on Hashem externally , and he says ,‘ God is the one that takes care, God is the one that brings life and death, God is the one that heals,’ and the opposite. But in his heart, he's really relying on his actions, on his hishtadlut . When there's a disease, he only cares about the doctors and the medicine. When there's an enemy, he only cares about his strength. In his words, they are counting on things that are transient and for hope that will be dashed . He says , These people are abominable to the prophets and the righteous as David Hamelech says, שָׂנֵ֗אתִי הַשֹּׁמְרִ֥ים הַבְלֵי־שָׁ֑וְא וַ֝אֲנִ֗י אֶל־יְהֹוָ֥ה בָּטָֽחְתִּ I hate those people . It's a heavy term. He says this refers to the undercover heretics. Externally, with their lip service, they look great. But the Torah warns us, he says, Beware Lest you forget your God and you become arrogant, and you say, it was my strength and my force that made brought me the strength. Now of course, the Rambam’s son adds that this curse refers to a person that's solely relying on people. But regardless, there's an important lesson in our pasuk -the lesson we started with: Whatever we're relying on solely is going to decide our status. Are we righteous or the opposite? That will decide our eternal life. That's why this is an important pasuk- it reminds us of the importance and the centrality of bitachon in our religion, because that decides our eternity. Rav Bloch quotes Rabbenu Bachye in Parashat Pinha s that says it's well known that a person is only called a Sadik if he relies on Hashem. There’s a pasuk in Mishleh, 28,1 that says The righteous rely on God like a lion. That’s our message for today. Have a wonderful day.

This short clip is an excerpt from the shiur corresponding to the number in the title. For example, a clip titled "1a - Bitachon Story" would be an excerpt from the full shiur "1 - Basics in Bitachon". The full shiurim can be found in the in the Acquiring Bitachon podcast section.