Welcome to Daily Bitachon. This Bitachon chat started a few years ago, and it's been quite a few years since we learned the Bet Halevi on Bitachon. I feel it's appropriate now, since we have a lot of new listeners, to review the basics of Bitachon, as delineated by the Bet Halevi. Those
that have the Bet Halevi book by ArtScroll, it would be nice to follow along. Today we'll discuss sentence 1, on page one,
חובת הבטחון בא בפסוקים הרבה רבו מספר
The obligation of bitachon appears in many pesukim, too many to count,
Every word of the Bet Halevi is full of meaning, and even just that first line is a chiddush. His opening word is Hova, which means Bitachon is an obligation. This is a chiddush. People look at bitachon like it’s optional - like, you could take two aspirin if you'd like, or if you want, you could suffer with a headache.
Some people don't believe in taking medicine. They’d rather deal with the headache and suffer. So too, you might that think some people opt take the bitachon pill, and some people don't. But that's a mistake.
You don't have an option.
Bitachon is not an optional thing to do, to take the stresses off and live a happier, more tranquil life. It is an obligation. It's a must. You have to have bitachon. People make the mistake of thinking, “I'm not worthy….God never promised me…. Who said it has to be good….Maybe it means that whatever happens is going to be good….”
That's all very nice. But Bitachon is a mitzvah.
Relying on Hashem is a mitzvah. Now, will it happen or won't it happen? Is it guaranteed? Is it not guaranteed? We will discuss that later on. The first thing you have to know, literally the ABCs of Bitachon, is that it is a must. Where does it say this? The Bet Halevi says it’s too many to count.
Like Jewish people are multiplied, there's too many to count.
It would've been nice if the Bet Halevi shared with us some of his favorites. There are many opinions on what the source is.
Once upon a time, we studied the Pisukei Bitachon delineated by Rav Zundel of Salant. The entire tehilim is almost all full of Bitachon.
We'll get there, but for today we’ll just finish the first little unit….
…ומי שמחסר בו עברה גדולה הוא
And if one lacks (bitachon) it’s a great sin.
You might think, okay, Bitachon is a Mitzvah. But there are certain Mitzvot called Mitzvah Kiyumit, which means that if you fulfill it, you get a mitzvah, but if you don't, you don't get a sin. For example, you don't have to eat bread in the Succah other than the first night (or two nights depending if you live in Israel or diaspora). After that, you can eat steak and rice, if you want, for the rest of the holiday. Another example is that you don't have to eat Matzah all seven days of Pesach. And you don't have to go into the forest looking for bird's nests to send away the mother bird.
Those are called Mitzvot Kiyumit- Mitzvot that are optional.
Other Mitzvot are Mitzvot Chiyuvit-
You must shake the Lulav and Etrog. You must wear Tefilin.
So, you might have thought bitachon is a mitzvah Kiyumit- what if I don't? But the Bet Halevi says, if you're lacking in Bitachon, not only is it a sin, it's a great, big sin. So there's a positive and a negative here.
B’Ezrat Hashem, we'll continue with this tomorrow.
Have a wonderful day.