Today we will study chapter קיב of Tehilim, pasuk (112,7)
מִשְּׁמוּעָה רָעָה לֹא יִירָא נָכוֹן לִבּוֹ בָּטֻחַ בה׳
He will not be afraid of bad news
His heart is steadfast, he relies on God
Does this mean that the man who has bitachon is never afraid of bad news?
The Gemara in Masechet Berachot (daf ס)
tells about the time that k Hillel HaZaken was on the road and heard a cry coming from the city. He guaranteed that it wasn’t coming from his house.
And concerning Hillel, the Gemara quotes our pasuk:
מִשְּׁמוּעָה רָעָה לֹא יִירָא נָכוֹן לִבּוֹ בָּטֻחַ בה׳
He is not afraid of bad news
His heart is steadfast, he relies on God
The Shnei Luchot HaBrit asks an obvious question - There is no such thing a person who is such a sadik that they never sinned. So therefore, maybe something bad did happen in Hillel’s house, became he sinned.
And even if there were such a person that never sinned, would Hillel, who was a humble person, say that he was from those Sadikim?
The answer is that Hillel was happy when he had yisurim/suffering, because he knew it was there in order to cleanse him, and that was how he raised his children.
That’s why, when he heard a scream, he knew it couldn’t be coming from his house; because although they had problems, they would never scream over them. That is what the Shelah says.
The Gaon of Vilna brings this explanation as well, in his commentary on Berachot, but he adds that based on the simple reading, it doesn’t really sound like that’s the answer. It says, “Not afraid of any bad news,” not “No screams.”
He explains that Hillel truly felt batuach/guaranteed that there would be no problems. Bitachon guarantees that there are no problems.
And of the Sadikim that we see that have problems, he says that it depends on their level of Bitachon.
Chanina Ben Dosa said En Od Milevado. If you are on the highest level, then you can truly be guaranteed.
People may wonder whether this means that all Sadikim always get what they want- but don’t we see Sadikim that don’t get what they want?
The Sefer Leshem says that sometimes when Hashem wants to bring a gezera/decree for reasons that we can’t understand, He takes away the person’s freedom of choice, puts fear into his heart and doesn’t allow the person to have Bitachon.
In other words, of course Bitachon is powerful, but there is no way that Hashem can be stopped from making something that He wants happen. You can’t beat the system. If God want something to happen, He will stop the Bitachon. But if there is Bitachon, in his words, “In truth, nothing stands in the way of Bitachon.”
Therefore, the sefarim say that when a person does have Bitachon, he can feel guaranteed. Because if Hashem wanted something to happen, and didn’t want to stop it, He would take the person’s bitachon away. So as long as your bitachon is not being taken away, and you feel confident that you are relying on Hashem, you can be guaranteed and rely on Hashem to make it happen.
There are levels, as we have said. But there is a level where a person feels guaranteed, and he knows for sure that he will be saved, and he has no questions. He will be saved.
That same Gemara, in Masechet Berachot, continues with a story about a student who was walking with Rav Yishmael and Rav Yossi in the marketplace. And he saw that he was afraid, so he told him, “Sinners are
afraid. You shouldn’t be afraid. You should strengthen yourself in Bitachon.”
In another story, Rav Yehuda Ben Natan was following Rav Hanuna and he groaned. He said, “Do you want to bring suffering upon yourself? As it says, “I feared a fear it brought upon me. And that which I was afraid of will come upon me.”
This is a famous pasuk that teaches that fear brings things on, and Bitachon averts bad things.
As our pasuk says, if a person really has Bitachon, מִשְּׁמוּעָה רָעָה לֹא יִירָא
he’s not afraid of bad news- and not only that there won’t be screams from the bad news, but rather, he’s not afraid of bad news at all.
He feels guaranteed in Hashem, and if a person relies, he will be saved. There will be no problems.
That’s the message of this pasuk, with its high level of Bitachon.
Perek קיב, pasuk ז
You can take this to the bank. It’s not poetry. It’s real.
מִשְּׁמוּעָה רָעָה לֹא יִירָא נָכוֹן לִבּוֹ בָּטֻחַ בה׳
He will not be afraid of bad news
His heart is steadfast, he relies on God