Dedicated Le’ilui Nishmat Yitzhak Ben Chana, Mr. Irving Missry a’h on his yarzheit.
There is an important rule about Bitachon, brought down by an early Sefer, Yosef Ometz. It says Bitachon is given in two basic situations. One Bitachon is when everything is going well. That’s an important Bitachon
But in his words, Is Bitachon there when you are sitting with your table set, and your wine being poured and everything is doing fine, is that Bitachon? That’s not what he calls Bitachon… that’s not what he calls someone who’s relying...(Although we will see shortly that this is also a level of reliance) He says the main Bitachon is when a situation of fear comes up; When even though things are not looking well, a person still relies on Hashem’s mercy, and believes that Hashem can turn everything around in a second. That is what Bitachon is. The Sefer Ikarim says a similar thing. He says that we can’t really prove a person Bitachon from how he acts when everything is going well. Rather, when things are not going his way, that is the test of Bitachon. He brings a pasuk from Tehilim that says,
בטחו בו בכל עת
Rely on G-d in all times.
The Sefer Yikarim explains that “all times” means in times of success and time of difficulty. Those are the two times of bitachon.
When things are going well, we have to realize that everything came from Hashem. And when things aren’t going well, we have to rely on Him.
The truth is that both instances are difficult. It might be harder to rely on Hashem when things are not going well, but in my humble opinion even when things are going well it’s hard (and for some people it might even be harder when things are going well.) People tend to feel, when things are going well, that they are doing it. Then, when there are problems, they start to realize that G-d is involved.
The point is that a person has to work on Bitachon at all times.
בטחו בו בכל עת
Rely on Hashem at all times. When things are going well but things aren’t going well. The Gaon of Vilna comments on a famous pasuk in tehilim:
וַאֲנִ֤י ׀ בְּחַסְדְּךָ֣ בָטַחְתִּי֮
I relied on Your Hessed
יָ֤גֵ֥ל לִבִּ֗י בִּֽישׁוּעָ֫תֶ֥ךָ
My heart is glad in Your salvation.
אָשִׁ֥ירָה לַה׳כִּ֖י גָמַ֣ל עָלָֽי׃
I’ll sing a song to G-d, for He has been good to me
The Gaon of a Vilna says that this pasuk refers to three stages. The first stage is when the difficulty happen. When the difficulty happens, where am I going?
וַאֲנִ֤י ׀ בְּחַסְדְּךָ֣ בָטַחְתִּי֮
I am relying on Hashem
Then when the situation comes up that looks like things are turning around
יָ֤גֵ֥ל לִבִּ֗י
Who am I celebrating ?
בִּֽישׁוּעָ֫תֶ֥ךָ
G-d’s salvation.
I am not counting on human beings. I don’t say, “It looks like the vaccine is coming out… it looks like they won’t shut down business…etc.”
I am not suddenly impacted by the news, or tweets, positive or negative.
יָ֤גֵ֥ל לִבִּ֗י בִּֽישׁוּעָ֫תֶ֥ךָ
I celebrate G-d’s salvation.
And finally when the salvation does come,
אָשִׁ֥ירָה לַה׳
I sing songs of praise to G-d.
I don’t forget his salvation.
That is perfect Bitachon.
ואני -
When I am going through difficult times,
בְּחַסְדְּךָ֣ בָטַחְתִּי֮
I only rely on You.
When it looks like the salvation is around the corner,
יָ֤גֵ֥ל לִבִּ֗י בִּֽישׁוּעָ֫תֶ֥ךָ
I am celebrating Your salvation.
And when it finally does happen,
אָשִׁ֥ירָה לַה’ כי גמל על׳
I sing songs of praise to You.
That’s what
בטחו בו בכל עת
means: to rely on G-d at all times
Bitachon is a constant. Whether it’s harder or easier when things are going well, or harder or easier when there are challenges is not the point. The point is, בכל עת -in all situations, the person doesn’t change. When things are going well, he thanks Hashem constantly. When things aren’t going well, he’s relying on, and calling out, only to Hashem. When it looks like things are going to turn around, he relies on Hashem to turn them around. That is the constant of Bitachon
בטחו בו בכל עת
The chiddush is to be consistent. Nothing changes my attitude, despite the changes going on around me. Remain on a constant:
בטחו בו בכל עת
Rely in all times.
The words I use might be different when I pray or cry out, or say thank you, but the bitachon is constant.
The Sefer Zerah Kodesh tells us that the root of word bitachon is טיח- glue or plaster.
This is in the sense of plastering and connecting, A person has to stay at it constantly. Someone might wonder if that means they’re always in trouble, that they need to have constant reliance. But as we see, bitachon means you’re stuck to G-d, in the good, the bad or the indifferent. You’re always stuck to G-d. That’s what bitachon is. B’ezrat Hashem, it should be fulfilled on us, בטחו בו בכל עת, at all times.