We’ve discussing the point when a person no longer has any available hishtadlut. The examples the Bet Halevi gave were when Eliyahu HaNavi was hiding from Achav, and when Rav Shimon Bar Yochai was hiding from the Romans.
He then says, When a person is in such a situation where there is no effort for him to put forth, there is no means through he can attain his sustenance and needs, he should not get discouraged by this. Don't get down- the opposite. He says, Once the gates of obligatory efforts have been locked for him, (that's a poetic way of saying there's nothing else to do – the gates of hishtadlut have been locked), he’s now exempt from his obligation of hishtadlut. He now knows that all there is to do is focus on his bitachon and reliance on Hashem.
This is an important concept to understand. We have an obligation to pay the tax. But if we’ve been absolved of the obligation, even better.
A powerful example of this is a story that happened to the Brisker Rav, who was the grandson of the Bet Halevi:
It was during World War I, and he found himself in an area that was being bombarded. A decision needed to be made about whether the people should go down into a bunker or remain where they were. During this discussion, the Brisker Rav was visibly nervous and tense. Finally, he said there's no way of knowing which option is safer. He then went into his living room, sat down, and started to learn calmly and peacefully, as though nothing was happening.
One of the students asked him why he was suddenly calm, when only moments ago, he was in a tizzy, seemingly anxious over the decision. The Brisker Rav explained, “As long as a decision had to be made, I was under the Torah obligation of hishtadlut to do everything necessary to guard myself and those that are around me. So I needed to think and put forth reasonable efforts in terms of searching and deciding what the best place to be was.
But once I determined that there was no clear advantage to one option over the other, and therefore, there was no obligation of hishtadlut, I could now relax.”
When there's nothing to do, we should feel more relaxed, not more anxious. We should realize that we've been absolved of our responsibility to act. We did everything that we can do. As long as there are things we can do, we have to ask ourselves:”How much hishtadlut should I do? How many times should I call? How much should I push?”
But now I'm totally absolved.
Does this situation ever happen to us? The answer is yes. Every single week, when Shabbat comes, we're supposed to look at our work as if it's been fully completed. We're supposed to say, Melachtecha K’Ilu Asuya because in a sense, it has been completed. Hashem told us not to work, and that means, by definition, that there is no work to do. Hashem determined that we need to work in the first place. He was the one that imposed the hishtadlut tax.
And He’s the one that tells us every week that we're free from the tax that we're forced to pay. Therefore, if we talk about, worry about, or even think about our work and our finances on Shabbat, we are unnecessarily paying a tax. Hashem gave us Shabbat as our day off. That means Shabbat is the perfect opportunity to develop and enhance our bitachon, because that's the one time a week that, for sure, there is no hishtadlut for us to do.
That’s why Shabbat is called Mekor Haberacha. Shabbat is a source of blessing because Shabbat is the time that we are able to home in on our Bitachon skills.
Let us take advantage of the precious opportunity that Shabbat offers, to strengthen our belief that Hashem cares for us always. Doing so will help us remain calm, content and confident at all times, in all circumstances, during the week as well, even when we feel helpless.
This is an eye-opening approach. As we've mentioned in the past, Rav Wolbe writes that bitachon is very elusive. People sometimes mistake bitachon for laziness and an excuse not to work and not to invest effort. In reality, however, once a person has truly done all he can do, he's not lazy. He can relax, trust in Hashem and feel gratified at being relieved of his responsibility to invest effort. And he can now rest with a clear conscience. He's not lazy. He did everything he can. He knocked on all the doors. Right now, is the time to work on bitachon.
Have a wonderful day.