We continue with what we started yesterday of Rabbenu Yonah in Mishleh, talking about the importance of remembering Hashem in all your deeds. He says that there are certain people that have Hashem on their minds in general, but not in the specifics because they think, “No question, I'm gonna handle it, and you know what? The loss is not that great anyway. It's not like it's a big million dollar deal. I'm putting money in the meter. Why shouldn't the meter work?”
To them, we say, ‘Know Him in all your ways, big and small, since all activities are in the hands of God, and every success you have is due to His kindness…Hasdei Hashem.
If you ask some people how it’s going, they answer, ‘Hasdei Hashem.’
It's not just a nice way of greeting, like Baruch Hashem. No, it's all success is due to His Hessed. When you cross the street, it’s His Hessed. You have a responsibility to remember your Benefactor in every deed that you do.
He continues, “Because if you have success and you don't remember Hashem and you didn't put your eyes to Him beforehand, you are diminishing your service to Hashem.”
He adds another very important rule, that we’ve said many a time.
“The reward you get for relying on Hashem and hoping to Him for the success of that activity is much greater that whatever your trying to achieve.” For example, imagine a fellow that parks by the pump to save himself from circling the block. What does a ticket for parking by a pump cost? Let’s say it’s $250. So he relies on Hashem. He thinks, “Please Hashem, I shouldn't get a ticket.” The value of that bitachon is worth more than the $250. Anytime you rely on Hashem, the reward for the bitachon is much greater than the thing itself that you're trying to get.
He says that this concept is actually a Gemara in Masechet Berachot, which says. “What is a small pasuk that the entire fundamental of Torah depends on it? “בְּכׇל־דְּרָכֶ֥יךָ דָעֵ֑הוּ /Know God in everything that you do.”
The Rambam explains this to mean that when you go to sleep, you should go to sleep L’Shem Shamayim. When you eat, you should eat L’Shem Shamayim. Do everything for Hashem's name.
But Rabbenu Yonah learns it a little differently. ‘Know God in all your ways’ means ‘Rely on Him in everything that you do.’ This is a pasuk that most of the Torah depends on.
This is a powerful concept – it’s not just the general Bitachon, but the Bitachon of the specifics.
Rabbenu Yonah even says, “I'll prove to you that this pasuk, Know God in all your ways, is referring to bitachon. Because it says in the Gemara that the entire Torah depends on it. He says, What else is there? That's Bitachon- the fundamentals of Torah are hanging on Bitachon.
Rabbenu Yonah is telling us an extremely important concept, that when the Gemara says that the entire Torah depends on bitachon, it doesn't just mean the general bitachon. Rabbenu Yonah is explaining that the whole Torah depends on the detailed bitachon, the specific bitachon, the realization that everything that you do, all the success that you have, every accomplishment that you have, small or big, is B’Yad Hashem.
As he said, Most people focus on the big things, not the small things. But our job is to constantly be aware that without Hashem's success, without Hashem’s Hessed, nothing would happen. That's our job of
בְּכׇל־דְּרָכֶ֥יךָ דָעֵ֑הוּ
Know Hashem in all your ways.
Have a wonderful day.