In the previous class, we spoke about being real in Bitachon and the danger of sometimes talking the talk, but not walking the walk when it comes to bitachon.
Rav Yisrael Salantar was once giving a class on the topic of bitachon, and a man in the audience approached him and said, “Rabbi, I'm going to stop working. I'm going to buy a lottery ticket and have full trust in Hashem that I'm going to win. Is that okay?” “Sure,” the Rabbi said.
Then, the day before the drawing, Rav Yisrael approached the man and offered to purchase the ticket at a price much lower than what the man could possibly win. The man happily agreed (Imagine if it were a million dollar lottery, and Rav Yisrael offered him $10,000)
Rav Yisrael told him, “Then you don't have real bitachon. If you really believed that Hashem was making you win, you would not have sold a ticket to me for the lower price.”
So again, it's easy to fool oneself. Someone recently told me that they had real bitachon that their critically ill friend would get better, but the friend didn't get better. I said it was hard for me to believe. I asked if they would be willing to bet a million dollars that this person would get better. Probably not, they said. So, you can't tell me that you were 100% convinced that the person was getting better.
Like we said, t's not an easy task.
You can talk about bitachon when it's not applicable. Of course, it's easy when it's theoretical.
But, although, as we said, bitachon is a service to the heart, we should not disregard talking about bitachon as if it's not helpful. The more you speak about bitachon, the stronger it will be established in your heart.
It’s brought down in the Yerushalmi Masechet Berachot, that the following pasuk should never leave your lips: ה׳ צְבָא֑וֹת אַֽשְׁרֵ֥י אָ֝דָ֗ם בֹּטֵ֥חַ בָּֽךְ
Hashem Sevaot Ashrei Adam Bote’ach Bach
Hashem, God of hosts, happy is the man that trusts in You
What does it mean that it this should never leave your lips?
Rav Avraham Erlanger explains that our Hachamim teaching us that although Bitachon is in the heart, the way the strengthen one’s Bitachon is through constantly speaking about it. That’s what the Chazal mean when they say the verse should never leave your lips. The Sefer Mishpat Sedek says that the Maharal encourages a person to say certain pesukim in order to train himself in that area.
In the back of the Bet Halevi on Bitachon ( ArtScroll) book, there's a list of pesukei Bitachon that were brought down and collected by
Rav Yosef Zundel of Salant, the teacher of Rav Yisrael Salantar.
There is a definite benefit in having these words of Bitachon on your lips, and the Maharal suggests that after you say these Pesukei Bitachon, you should pray for bitachon. If you have the ArtScroll edition of the Bet Halevi on Bitachon, you can go to page 180, where there is a beautiful, ancient prayer brought down in the sefer Margaliot Tovot from Rabbi Yaakov Tzahalon of Italy.
Additionally, there is a famous explanation, which is not the simple pshat, of ,He’Emanti Ki Edaber. It can be understood as, “I believe because I speak.” The more I speak about bitachon, the more I believe.
So, we can actually pray for bitachon.
In the Amida, ותן
שכר טוב לכל הבטחים בשמך באמת
Give reward to those that rely on You in truth.
Why in truth? Because not everyone has true bitachon.
And what should I do if I really don't have that level? And the answer is, if you try to have Bitachon, Hashem will help you.
Rav Shimon Schwab says that this is the meaning of the pasuk
Baruch Hagever Asher Yivtach B’Hashem V’Haya Hashem Mivtacho
Blessed is the person who relies on Hashem, then Hashem will be his security.
That means if you try your best to have bitachon, then Hashem will be your security. He will come through and help you get to that level of bitachon.
That's what we're trying to do, trying to constantly work on, and talk to ourselves about bitachon.
Have a wonderful day.