We are continuing with the lessons of the Bet Halevi. He now discusses the concept that a person who has Bitachon realizes that doing improper things won't get you anywhere, because the hishtadlut is just there to cover the miracle, to keep you busy or for whatever the reason. But it's not possible that one should need to do improper hishtadlut. He explains, that's the explanation in the Midrash Raba, where it says that
אַ֥שְֽׁרֵי הַגֶּ֗בֶר אֲשֶׁר־שָׂ֣ם יְ֭הֹוָה מִבְטַח֑וֹ
Fortunate is the one who puts his faith in Hashem refers to Yosef.
And,
וְֽלֹא־פָנָ֥ה אֶל־רְ֝הָבִ֗ים וְשָׂטֵ֥י כָזָֽב
and does not turn to the arrogant.
Also refers to Yosef, because he said the words “Remember me,” and two years were added.
What's going on? We just finished saying Yosef HaSaddik is the one that relies on Hashem, now we talk about his improper hishtadlut? The answer is that only someone on such a high level of Bitachon like Yosef would be expected not to rely on the Sar HaMashkim, and not to put any extra effort in or rely on an arrogant man.
Yosef HaSadik should not have relied on him. Everyone has their own level of what their hishtadlut should be, and everyone has what's called excessive or inappropriate hishtadlut. We're supposed to learn, on our level, to stay away from inappropriate hishtadlut. For us, it's obviously thievery and trickery. But any shenanigans is improper hishtadlut. But at the level of Yosef, even something that's totally innocuous and legal could be improper hishtadlut, because it was considered too much.
As the Bet Halevi says.
For Yosef HaSaddik to rely on somebody that is the Baal Ga’avah/arrogant, that's improper. The Chazon Ish adds a little slightly different twist and says that relying on this arrogant and dishonest man reflected, on a small level, an act of desperation. Irrational efforts, the Chazon Ish explains, do not fall under the category of hishtadlut. Sometimes someone grabs at straws. We see this, lo alenu, when people are in a difficult situation. They'll try alternative medicines; they'll grab at anything. Rabbi Yaakov Hillel wrote his book, Faith and Folly ( English) or Tamim Tihyeh ( Hebrew) about improper Mekulabim improper Segulot, because he said, when people are in trouble, lo alenu, they just grab at anything in desperation. Grabbing at things in desperation is not hishtadlut. Hishtadlut is something that is normal and accepted.
Grabbing a desperation, could be grabbing a segula.
I've seen horrific outcomes of people that just grab this or do that, whatever it may be. The doctor said he has 24 hours to live and people will desperately grab at something- and that's not called hishtadlut. That's called desperation. And the Chazon Ish says that's what was going on with Yosef HaSaddik.
The basic rule is that you can never do improper hishtadlut and expect to benefit from it. One of the classic examples of this is Akedat Yitzhak. Hashem told Avraham Avinu to slaughter Yitzhak.
But hold on. I want have children! Logical hishtadlut would seem to say, “Don’t listen.” But that’s improper, because Hashem said to slaughter Yitzhak.
But how could slaughtering Yitzhak, which would end all chances of having a child, be okay in this situation?
The Or HaChaim Hakadosh answers that Yitzhak did not have a soul that was fit to have children. If Abraham would've passed on Akeda and found Yitzhak a wife, Yitzhak never would've had children. But because Avraham Avinu put the sword to Yitzhak’s throat, it says that God made Yitzhak’s soul leave and come back.
That's why in the Amida, where the first three Berachot correspond to the three Avot, Magen Avraham is obviously Avraham, Atah Kadosh , at refers to Yaakov because Yaakov was considered the holy one, and, by the process of elimination, obviously the second one, Mehayeh Hametim, is Yitzhak Avinu. Why? Because when Yitzhak Avinu’s soul went out and came back to him, he said, Mehayeh Metim. But the soul that came back to him was a different soul. It was a soul that was able to have children. So we see from this beautiful little story that improper hishtadlut does not get you what you need to get. If Avraham would've decided not to slaughter Yitzhak, that would've been improper hishtadlut and he would not have come to the, so to say, promised land of having a grandchild through Yitzhak Avinu.
That's our important lesson from the Bet Halevi on improper Hishtadlut.
Again, improper hishtadlut is very broad. It could be a sin or it could be doing hishtadlut that is considered excessive, or hishtadlut that goes under the category of grabbing at straws. This is all hishtadlut that doesn't work, and that's not what Hashem requires from us.
Have a wonderful day.