We are up to our third pasuk of Pesukei Bitachon- perek ה, pasuk יב)
וְיִשְׂמְח֨וּ כָל־ח֪וֹסֵי בָ֡ךְ לְעוֹלָ֣ם יְ֭רַנֵּנוּ וְתָסֵ֣ךְ עָלֵ֑ימוֹ וְֽיַעְלְצ֥וּ בְ֝ךָ֗ אֹהֲבֵ֥י שְׁמֶֽךָ
All who take refuge in You will rejoice
Forever they will sing joyously
You will shelter them
And those who love Your name will exult in You
One of the terms of bitachon is חסיון- Hisayon seeking refuge
As we have mentioned in the past, seeking refuge is a term referring to someone who never got a promise from God, but decided on his own to seek refuge in Him anyway, like seeking refuge under an awning in the rain. The awning never promised you anything, but it is there for you to seek refuge.
God is there for anyone to seek refuge. And if you do seek refuge in Hashem, you will be happy לְעוֹלָ֣ם יְ֭רַנֵּנוּ and sing forever.
This isn’t just a one time thing.
Bitachon or Hisayon, brings a joyous song forever.
Why?
The Radak says that when you seek refuge in G-d, וְתָסֵ֣ךְ עָלֵ֑ימוֹ G-d will protect you.
The word תסך/ tasech comes from the same root as schach of the succah.
The message of the Succah is a message of bitachon. We leave our homes and go out into the elements, and who is protecting us?
David HaMelech tells us that the Succah of Hashem isn’t reserved solely for the eight days of succot. A person who seeks refuge in Hashem can have a Sukkah any day of the year.
And why will they have such a high level of exultation?
The Malbim says that it’s because they will realize that they are supervised by Hashem with a very special, wondrous supervision.
And when a person sees the wondrous supervision that he gets from seeking refuge in Hashem, it brings him to a state of constant happiness.
The Chida asks how someone can always be happy. Doesn’t everybody have fears, concerns and worries? He answers that it’s like Hillel, in Masechet Berachot. When Hillel was on the road and heard a cry coming from a nearby home, he knew that it wasn’t coming from his home.
When one truly seeks refuge in Hashem, he is always happy, because he’s not concerned that anything bad will happen to him.
People may wonder how this can be? Does having Bitachon guarantee that nothing will bad happen?
If someone really has Bitachon like Hillel (and not everyone has this) then that person is always happy. That’s how the Chida explains this pasuk.
The Sefer Shomer Emunim says that there’s another important lesson from this pasuk: Bitachon is a source of simcha. He says that the best way to fight off all challenges is with simcha. When a person is sad and down, he doesn’t have the ability to take on his challenges.
But when a person has Bitachon, he strengthens his heart with simcha (based on this pasuk).
When a person believes that all his challenges are really coming from Hashem, and believes that Hashem is hiding in all of those challenges, and keeps his simcha level , all the challenges will dissipate. That’s why the person who has Bitachon sticks with it. He seeks refuge in Hashem and stays under that umbrella. He’s confident in the Succah of Hashem. He will be protected with that Succah and will always be happy, which, in turn, will bring him to success, to the point that he will feel like Hillel, who wasn’t worried when he heard the screams, because he knew they weren’t coming from his house.
This is a beautiful pasuk to review and put into our minds. There’s a special feeling of simcha that comes with Bitachon. There’s a simcha connection to Bitachon. And someone with Bitachon is happy, because everything is fine.
It’s interesting that the holiday of Succot is called Zman Simchatenu- The holiday of happiness. There are various reasons given for why it’s called this: one is that we are happy because our sins are forgiven. And another reason is because Bitachon brings happiness.
This is beautiful! We are finding out, in this pasuk, that the secret of the Succah isn’t just for the holiday of Succot. You can create your Succah with Bitachon every day of the year. And within that Succah, exists happiness.
So we can turn every day into Z’man Simchatenu - a time of joy. We have a happiness box- the power of Bitachon- to create a Succah of simcha every day of the year.
וְיִשְׂמְח֨וּ כָל־ח֪וֹסֵי בָ֡ךְ לְעוֹלָ֣ם יְ֭רַנֵּנוּ וְתָסֵ֣ךְ עָלֵ֑ימוֹ וְֽיַעְלְצ֥וּ בְ֝ךָ֗ אֹהֲבֵ֥י שְׁמֶֽךָ
They will be happy, all those who seek refuge in You
They will always be singing songs.
You will be a Succah on them,
And those who love Your name will exult in You
לְעוֹלָ֣ם יְ֭רַנֵּנוּ
You will always sing songs -
The word rina/ to sing, is term of song even when things are challenging or maybe even hopeless.
We say in our mincha prayers, “Yitzhak Yiranen.” Where does this term rina come from?
The Bet Yosef says that was the song that Yitzhak Avinu sang before the Akedah.
That doesn’t sound like a very good time- he was about to die! And yet, he was still singing!
In the end, Yitzhak survived the Akedah.
That’s the Simcha and Rina.
It says “there is a song of Rina and Yeshua in the tents of Sadikim.”
Rina is the song being sung when things don’t look that good, but ultimately there is a Yeshua for baalei Sadikim.
That is the wonderful, powerful lesson hiding in this pasuk.
One last time,
וְיִשְׂמְח֨וּ כָל־ח֪וֹסֵי בָ֡ךְ
Those that find refuge in You will be happy
לְעוֹלָ֣ם יְ֭רַנֵּנוּ
They will always be singing joyously
וְתָסֵ֣ךְ עָלֵ֑ימוֹ וְֽיַעְלְצ֥וּ בְ֝ךָ֗ אֹהֲבֵ֥י שְׁמֶֽךָ
You’ll be Schach for them
And they will exult in You,
Those that love You
Have a wonderful day.