We are now starting the seventh and final chapter of Shaar Bitachon, where the Hovot HaLevavot says the following:
“Now that I’ve finished telling you what I have to tell you, (as much as I know) I have to tell you the about the things that ruin bitachon, which he refers to as
מפסידי הבטחון.
Before we begin with the specifics, we will take a step back to discuss an important rule that applies to all of our service to Hashem. We quote from another section of the Hovot HaLevavot called
ייחוד המעשה - Focusing Our Deeds on G-d
In the fifth chapter, the Hovot HaLevavot says a very powerful line, that I first heard quoted by Rav Wolbe:
כי אין ענין מעניני הטובה, אלא אם יש לא פגע שיפסיד אותו
There is nothing good, that doesn’t have some kind of negativity that will ruin it.
That’s the rule. That’s the way G-d made the world, ever since the sin of Adam HaRishon. There is טוב ורע, good and evil.
There is no good that will stay good on its own, if you don’t do something about it. Left unchecked, it will eventually get ruined. That’s the way of the world-both physically and spiritually. If you make your office nice and clean, in a month there will be dust all over the place. Why is that? The answer is that it’s just the way of the world. Nothing stays the way it is on its own. Unless you’re working on it, there are things that are going to ruin it.
But just so you don’t think all your work is for naught, here’s a little hizuk:
A great rabbi was once walking in the streets of Vienna, and saw a street-sweeper cleaning the streets. He asked the man why he bothered, if it was always dirty anyway. The street-sweeper responded that if he didn’t sweep at all, imagine how much dirtier it would be!
And this is a life’s work. We have to keep rebuilding and building again. Because if we don’t know what can ruin what we already have, then we basically have nothing.
Therefore, he says, the person that knows what ruins things can be careful.
And conversely, a person who doesn’t know what is good, or how to save himself from what is bad, will eventually lose everything.
He quotes a pious man that says,
למדו הרע תחילה להבדיל ממינו
First you have to know the evil to stay away from, and then learn the good and do it.
In this same sefer Hovot HaLevavot, in the fourth chapter, of Avodat Elokim/ Service of G-d, the Hovot HaLevavot talks about people of various levels. At the ninth level, it would seem that these people are at a very high level: they believe what they are supposed to believe, and they have the right intentions but they don’t realize what they have and that there are things that can ruin their good qualities. This prevents them from reaching the highest level.
He quotes a pasuk: זבובי מות ובאיש יביע שמן
The dead flies will ruin the best of oils
We have to be aware of those things that can ruin us, like a fly in oil.
This is an interesting concept. I’ll give a physical mashal to help with comprehending the spiritual, because the physical is connected to the spiritual:
We have to check fruit for bugs. There are books about how to do this. And it’s interesting to note that almost every fruit has a particular bug specific to that item. There are certain thrips to look for in strawberries, and other bugs or worms in dates. Likewise, everything good out there has something that can potentially ruin it. So, we have to be aware of this.
Rabbi Yehezkiel Levenstein once wrote a beautiful letter to one of his students who had just gotten a job as a new rabbi. In the letter, Rav Yehezkiel quotes to him from this Hovot HaLevavot. “It’s wonderful that you are becoming a rabbi, but you must be warned about what can ruin you: While you are busy teaching, giving speeches and inspiring others, you may forget about yourself. You could become empty, and forget that you need to work on yourself. Beware of what can cause you to lose out.”
That was the Mussar the Rabbi gave to this young rabbi.
So, after all our hard work (we’ve been learning Hovot HaLevavot for over a year now), we have to be careful that we don’t lose it.
Have a wonderful day