There’s an interesting Ramchal, which we’ve mentioned in the past, where he talks about the power of קוי/ hope. ( hope refers to Bitachon.)
המקוה אפילו נכנס בגהינום יוצא ממנו
The one that hopes, even if he has to go to Gehinom ( because of his sins), will leave Gehinom because of his hope.
He quotes a pasuk
' יחליפו כח יעלו אבר וקווי ה
Those that hope to Hashem will have renewed strength and have wings.
He says that this means that they’ll be able to fly out of Gehinom.
How so?
וכמה מלאכים עליונים מעלים אותו המקוה הזה
Angels will come take him out.
The wings of angles will be sent down to pull them out.
ותקותו היא טהרתו
And his hope will purify himself.
This Ramchal is a big Hiddush. The commentaries explain that a person’s Middot become a part of his essence. So, if, during a person’s lifetime, he hoped to G-d as a natural reaction, not an intellectual point (because, as Rav Dessler says, after 120 years, we don’t take our intellect with us) and it becomes his instinct and essence, then it will continue to protect him. So, if a person’s essence is that he hoped to G-d, he will continue to hope to G-d even after he passes on, and that hope will pull him out of Gehinom.
The Ramchal explains that it’s the angels that will pull him out. Last week, we lost a great Gadol, Rav Yitzhak Scheiner. About ten years ago, I was zoche to spend a seudat shelishit with him in Deal NJ. He quoted a Yalkut Shemoni, with an even greater Hiddush than the Ramchal. He quoted as he heard it from his Rebbe, Rav Shraga Feivel Mendelovich, who was the leader of Torah V’Daat when Rav Scheiner attended the Yeshiva.
The pasuk in tehilim says,
גַּ֤ם כִּֽי־אֵלֵ֨ךְ בְּגֵ֪יא צַלְמָ֡וֶת לֹא־אִ֘ירָ֤א רָ֗ע כִּי־אַתָּ֥ה עִמָּדִ֑י שִׁבְטְךָ֥ וּ֝מִשְׁעַנְתֶּ֗ךָ הֵ֣מָּה יְנַֽחֲמֻֽנִ
Even when I walk through the valley of death, I will not fear evil because You are with me.
What is this “valley of death?”
The Yalkut Shemoni
רב אלעזר המודעי אומר לעתיד לבא באין כל שרי אוה”ע ומקטרגין לפני הקב”ה
Rav Elazar says that in the future, all of the ministering angels of Hashem will come to prosecute the Jewish people in front of G-d, and they will make the same claims that they had at Keriat Yam Suf. The Goyim were idol worshippers, but the Jews too, were idol worshippers. Goyim commit adultery, and Jews commit adultery. Goyim murder, and Jews murder. So, they’ll say, Why are the Goyim going to Gehinom while the Jews are getting out of Gehinom? That’s not fair. They should all go.
אמר להם אם כן הוא כל אומה ואומה תרד עמה אלהיה שנאמר כי כל העמים ילכו איש בשם אלהיו
And Hashem will say if those are the facts, you’re right. Every nation will go with its god.
As the pasuk says, “Every nation goes with the name of its god.”
The Midrash says that if the pasuk hadn’t said this, we wouldn’t be allowed to say it.
There is a pasuk that says,
ה׳ נשפט, באש
G-d is judged with fire.
(the Midrash points out that it doesn’t He judges with fire, but the He is judged with fire). What does that mean?
It’s as if to say, G-d Himself comes into to Gehinom with us and protects us.
That’s what the “valley of death” refers to.
Not like the Ramchal says, that angels are going to protect us, but that G-d Himself protects the person. And the way Rav Scheiner explained it, in the name of his teacher, was that if, in your lifetime, you bring Hashem into your life, He will be there to pull you out of Gehinom as well. That is a very powerful concept.
I recalled these thoughts when he passed away, and say them Le’ilui Nishmato. So may the hizzuk that we get from this be Le’ilui Nishmato, (although he does not need our help).
Of course this doesn’t mean a person can just be a sinner and say, “I’m okay because I have bitachon.”
Because if you say “I’ll sin and I’ll do teshuva,” you will not be allowed to do Teshuva, for it was the Teshuva that caused you to sin. The rule is, אין קטגור נעשה סנגור
the prosecutor can not be the defendant.
If bitachon made you sin, it won’t save you.
What we are talking about is a person who sinned because he couldn’t control himself.
You should know that Bitachon is so powerful that it goes with you every where, even after a person passes on after 120 years, provided that it’s not intellectual bitachon; it’s bitachon in your heart and instincts.
B’ezrat Hashem, as Rabbenu Yonah writes, by constantly working on bitachon,
קויתי ה׳ קותה נפשי
We hope to Hashem and it becomes part of our souls . The nefesh/ soul is the lowest level of instinct, like that of an animal. When bitachon becomes an instinct, an immediate reaction, then it will be part of you and protect you even after 120.
We should all live long lives, and be protected by our bitachon, in this world and the next.
Have a wonderful day.