Today’s class has been dedicated for Iluy neshama of Yosef Ben Nizha - Mr. Joe Gindi
The Madregat HaAdam tells us the following:
The main foundation of Bitachon is that Hashem is your shadow.
The way you act to G-d, is the way G-d acts to you. The more you focus on G-d, the more G-d reciprocates in open and miraculous ways.
He then explains the logical reason behind this, which is important to understand, aside from the Mitzvah of Bitachon and the fact that G-d tells us to rely on Him.
He says to imagine a human being that relies on another human being, just like himself. And he relies on that person only. That in itself is cause for the person to come through; for the fact that he is the only person that the man is relying on. Could it be that a person who knows that he’s the only one that is being relied on, would just let someone that’s counting on him die of starvation? If someone were counting on you, how could you not come through if you were able? That in itself is a cause for reliance.
Of course, this man who is being relied on can still say that he doesn’t want to be relied on, or that he is not able to do what someone is counting on him to do. Or maybe he’s a cruel person and asks why the person is only relying on him. He might say, “Is it my problem that this man decided to rely only on me? Let someone else help him!”
He could also say that this guy relying on him has no brains, and he could question what type of approach to life this is. He could come up with a lot of excuses. So even though it’s logical to rely on a good-hearted person, it’s still not guaranteed.
But what happens if the One that he is relying on (who is actually G-d) is the only power in the world. That would be a very powerful and logical reason to rely on Him. And G-d should come through for you, because you are relying on Him. In this case (and this is the point), it’s not like in the mashal, where you decided to rely on one person, and then he could come through or not come through.
In the case of relying on G-d, there is no one else to rely on. Only He can take care of you. Only He knows what you need, more than you know yourself. Only He is capable of fulfilling your needs.
So, if this is the case, it is logical upon logical to only rely on Him and no one else. And G-d should come through. This, he says, is the fundamental behind Bitachon. However, as we have said, you need to have that factor that you are only relying on Him. This doesn’t mean that you don’t put forth effort where necessary. Rather, it means that in your head, He is all that you’re relying on. Therefore, he says, in this final paragraph of the Madregat HaAdam, in his chapter on Bitachon: a person’s responsibility is to put all his efforts into getting Bitachon. That should be the main effort. We think we have to do our hishtadlut-that we have to call the buyer, call the Shadchan, call the realtor…. we think this is our hishtadlut. But the Madrgat HaAdam says that our main hishtadlut should be to get Bitachon, because that is the foundation of the whole Torah. Your whole life depends on it.
He adds that if a person tries, and puts his effort forth, G-d will help him to become someone that has Bitachon.
He ends with a beautiful explanation of a pasuk that we’ve mentioned many times.
ברוך הגבר אשר יבטח בה׳ והיה ה׳ מבטחו
Fortunate is the one who relies on Hashem, and Hashem is his reliance
We always ask why the wording seems redundant. If you rely on Hashem, then Hashem is your reliance.
But he says that it means that if you are יבטח בה׳, if you put forth effort to rely on Him, then Hashem says, “I will help you have Bitachon, and you will truly have Bitachon in Me.”
Therefore, for those like us that put time in, every day, to listen to hizzuk on Bitachon, they are definitely putting in their hishtadlut. They are listening, trying, and hopefully reviewing or maybe even taking notes, and working on their Bitachon.
And when you work on bitachon, Hashem helps you have true bitachon. When we have true bitachon, there is nothing powerful.
BeEzrat Hashem, we should be from those people that reach true Bitachon
Have a wonderful day.