Every morning, at the end of Birchot Hashachar, we say a Beracha on our learning. It’s comprised of three blessings.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְדֹוָד, אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו וְצִוָּנוּ עַל דִּבְרֵי תוֹרָה:
וְהַעֲרֵב נָא יְדֹוָד אֱלֹהֵינוּ אֶת דִּבְרֵי תוֹרָתְךָ בְּפִינוּ וּבְפִיפִיּוֹת עַמְּךָ בֵּית יִשְֹרָאֵל. וְנִהְיֶה אֲנַחְנוּ וְצֶאֱצָאֵינוּ וְצֶאֱצָאֵי צֶאֱצָאֵינוּ כֻּלָּנוּ יוֹדְעֵי שְׁמֶךָ וְלוֹמְדֵי תוֹרָתְךָ לִשְׁמָהּ. בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְדֹוָד, הַמְלַמֵּד תּוֹרָה לְעַמּוֹ יִשְֹרָאֵל:
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְדֹוָד, אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, אֲשֶׁר בָּחַר בָּנוּ מִכָּל הָעַמִּים וְנָתַן לָנוּ אֶת תּוֹרָתוֹ. בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְדֹוָד, נוֹתֵן הַתּוֹרָה:
The first is Baruch Atah Hashem... Al Divrei Torah
The second starts off with Va’Ha’Arevna Hashem Elokenu. What doe this mean? Most explain that it means sweetness. It comes from the word Arev. Rabbi Wolbe once said that it comes from the word Ta’arovet- mixture. When something is sweet, it mixes with your body. You take in things that are sweet. Conversely, when something is bitter, you spit it out.
So simply speaking, in this beracha, we ask Hashem to make the Torah sweet to us, so that we will in turn ingest it into our system.
There’s a commentary on this from one of the Rishonim, Rav Yehuda Bar Yakar, a contemporary of the Ramban, that takes a different approach. In his commentary to the Tefilah, Rav Yehuda says that it’s from the lashon of Arevut and Bitachon. He quotes a pasuk from Yishayah that says:
ספר ישעיה פרק לח -אֲדֹ-נָי עָשְׁקָה לִּי עָרְבֵנִי:
Rashi explains the word עָרְבֵנִי as guaranteed using the old French world-
רש"י ישעיה פרק לח פסוק יד
וערבני להנצל לשון ערבות גרנטיא"ה בלע"ז כמו (תהלים קיט) ערוב עבדך לטוב
When Yehuda told Yaakov
אנכי אערבנו I will guarantee to bring back Binyamin.”
In Hebrew, the word ערב means a co-signor, or guarantor.
So, in this explanation of this beracha we are asking that our Torah should bring about Bitachon. This is an unbelievable and innovative explanation.
Va’Haarevna Hashem Elokenu et Divre Torah... the words of the Torah should cause us to have Bitachon.
What does this mean? Why should we ask that the words of Torah bring us bitachon?
We can look to the Gaon of Vilna, in Mishlei, Perek כב, pasuk יט, where he says a very powerful statement:
עיקר נתינה לתורה לישראל כדי שישמו בטחונם בה׳
“The main reason G-d gave the Torah to the Jewish people is in order that they put their reliance on G-d,
לפי שעיקר הכל הבטחון השלם
because the main point is complete bitachon.
והוא כלל כל המצוות
That is the all-inclusive Mitzvah.
Therefore, it makes sense that if the goal of the Torah is Bitachon, reliance on Hashem, that’s what the whole goal of the Torah is for, whether it’s learning Torah, (because when we learn Torah it connects us to Hashem and when we connect to Hashem we have bitachon) or whether it’s the mitzvot of the Torah (which also constantly remind of Hashem, which causes us to rely), that’s the end goal of our entire Torah and mitzvot- Bitachon.
If that’s the case, it makes sense that first thing in the morning, we want to mention at Bircat HaTorah, that the goal is Bitachon.
Furthermore, he mentions the pasuk in Tehillim that says:
ספר תהילים פרק ט -(יא) וְיִבְטְחוּ בְךָ יוֹדְעֵי שְׁמֶךָ.
״Those that know Your name, will rely on You.
This the reason we say, in this Beracha,
. וְנִהְיֶה אֲנַחְנוּ וְצֶאֱצָאֵינוּ וְצֶאֱצָאֵי צֶאֱצָאֵינוּ כֻּלָּנוּ יוֹדְעֵי שְׁמֶךָ
“We and our children will know Your name.” Because if you know Hashem’s name, then you rely on Him.
What does it mean to know His name? It’s to know His power.
When Hashem revealed Himself to Moshe, Moshe asked What’s Your name?
Each of Hashem’s names reveal a certain power. And when we learn Torah, we are involved in G-d’s names
כי שם ה׳ אקרא
When I call out the name of G-d, I must bless Him.
The Name of G-d is learning Torah.
So, every time a person learns Torah, he learns more about G-d, more about His power, and more about His middot. He connects with Him. And the end goal of all of this is bitachon.
This should give us hizzuk. As we work on Bitachon daily, we should know that we are not just working on a detail. Bitachon is not a detail. It’s the end goal.
In the words of the Goan of Vilna,
שעיקר הכל הבטחון השלם
the main point is complete bitachon.
והוא כלל כל המצוות
It’s the generalization of all the Mitzvot.
That’s why the Gemarah, in Masechet Makkot, starts off with the 613 mitzvot, when examining what to focus on, then narrows it down to 15, then to 11, then finally down to one Mitzvah that Habakkuk came and said is
צדיק באמונתו יחיה -The Sadik lives with his Emunah.
That’s the all-inclusive Mitzvah: working on Emunah and Bitachon. It’s not that it’s the only thing we should do, rather, it’s a grouping, and with that, we get to everything else.
Have a wonderful day.