After going off on a little tangent, we are back to our pyramid of Bitachon. We’ll go back to the beginning:
As we’ve mentioned, a baby starts off relying on his mother’s nursing. When he gets a little wiser, he starts to realize that there is a mother that’s taking care of him. After a while, he realizes that his mother is getting money and other support from his father. When he grows up and gets stronger, and has his own abilities, he starts relying on his own strength. He doesn’t realize Who got him to this point, and that’s where he gets into the trouble that we discussed previously.
Now we’re back on track, and
The Hovot HaLevavot continues,
וכשתחזק הכרתו ויראה חסרונם וצרכם אל הבורא
When he starts out in the business world, relying on himself or his contacts, he’ll start to realize that they, and he, are still lacking, and that without G-d’s help he won’t make it. He’ll realize he needs G-d in his life.
Whether he is planning something or doing other things, he realizes certain things are out of his control.
That’s the first stage of Bitachon: The realization that some things are out of our control, and at least in those areas, we should start relying on G-d. That’s our training ground, and it’s our first level.
There are some things we have no control over. Rain is one example. Whether we need the rain, or we don’t want it to rain, it’s out of our control. And in these areas that are out of our control, it’s easier to have Bitachon, because we know we can’t do it ourselves. Another example is when you’re going on a trip. You can’t control the take- off or landing of the plane.
Or, he says, (and this is very interesting),
ובנפל הדבר בחיים
And when a plague comes upon people
אשר אין בהם לאדם שום תחבולה
there is no way to control that!
That’s where you need Hashem.
This is a very appropriate and timely topic. And being the very curious fellow that I am, I was disturbed, wondering where this new virus in China came from.
I found out that it came from bats. That’s the original source. A bat carrying the virus bit an animal, the people ate that animal, and the people caught the virus. Bats carry many viruses, including Ebola. Five or six of these viruses have infected humans.
But something bothered me: Why aren’t the bats dying?
It turns out that bats have an interesting immune system. They carry antibodies that humans don’t have. They can carry viruses and live with them, and it’s not a problem for them. But when they bite other mammals, that don’t have the same immune system, those mammals are in trouble.
Why do bats have such strong immune systems? It has to do with the fact that bats fly a lot, which makes their metabolisms strong, and like other forms of exercise, builds up their immune systems.
These are things only Hashem can control! Hashem is in charge of all sibbot! He had this team of bats, that we can’t possibly control, unleash this virus that has led to who knows what- no one knows the true numbers .. Some people say they are burning 1000 bodies a day! Who knows what’s going on there!
Believe it or not, it’s even impacted the Hashgacha Pratit journals I tried to reorder. We ran out of them, but the printing is done in China, and now the printing is behind.
This virus has affected businesses of all kinds. And it’s all out of our control. And, again, because I’m curious, I googled “Virus in China caused by Jews.”
Sure enough, there are Arabs that claim that Trump wanted to get back at China, so he hired Jewish doctors to come up with a virus in order to punish them.
So now the bats are fueling antisemitism too! And all of it is out of our control.
So, regarding areas that are out of our control, like rain, the weather and viruses, let’s at least start relying on Hashem for these. And then we can start moving on to the next level.
Have a great day.