There’s a beautiful Bitachon thought in Mishleh that I would like to share with you: Shlomo HaMelech tells us ( perek יא, pasuk כח) בּוֹטֵחַ בְּעָשְׁרוֹ הוּא יִפֹּל וְכֶעָלֶה צַדִּיקִים יִפְרָחוּ
Someone who relies on his wealth, he will fall-And like a leaf, the righteous will blossom.
There are a few lessons hidden in his pasuk.
As Rabbenu Yonah and others point out, Mishleh often presents a concept in pairs of opposites, with positives and negatives compared to each other.
In this pasuk, the opposites are the
בּוֹטֵחַ בְּעָשְׁרוֹ - the one that relies on his wealth , and the Sadik. This tells us that the Sadik is the Baal Bitachon, because he is the opposite of the one who relies on his wealth. So, the definition of a Sadik is a Baal Bitachon; as it says, צדיק באמונתו יחיה
The Righteous man lives by his Emunah
That means that by working on your Bitachon, you’re becoming a Sadik. That’s a beautiful concept, and it’s our first lesson from this pasuk.
The Gaon of Vilna makes a beautiful diyuk/ point, which is our second lesson from this pasuk.
בּוֹטֵחַ בְּעָשְׁרוֹ - the one that relies on his wealth, הוּא יִפֹּל “he” will fall
וְכֶעָלֶה צַדִּיקִים יִפְרָחו
And like righteous blossom like the leaf.
We know that the tree is the ikar/ main point, and the leaf is a side point.
So why does the pasuk, when it mentions the man who relies on his wealth, say “he” will fall- not that “his leaves” will fall, whereas when it mentions the righteous man, it says the leaves will blossom.
The Gaon of Vilna answers this with a beautiful thought. For the man who relies on his wealth, his wealth becomes the ikar/main point. Therefore, when his wealth falls, he falls.
When a person doesn’t rely on Hashem, and looks at his assets as his strength and power, his assets become him. That’s why, in America they say, “How much is he worth?” And the answer might be, “He’s worth 3 million dollars.” That what his houses and his stocks are worth-but is that what he’s worth? That’s what happens. A person becomes one with his assets. When his assets go up, he goes up. When his assets go down, he goes down. His whole sense of worth is tied to his level of success and wealth.
On the other hand, says the Gaon of Vilna, the Sadik’s wealth is like a leaf. It’s not the ikar/ main point. When a tree loses its leaves in the winter time, it reblooms in the spring. The tree hasn’t changed its essence. The Sadik looks at all the things around him, and realizes those things are not him. He is his service of G-d, he is his mitzvot.
This is a tremendous additional advantage of Bitachon. Bitachon allows us to realize that our sense of being is not defined by what we make or do, because we didn’t make or do anything. A Baal bitachon realizes it’s all from Hashem. But the man who prides himself on his wealth and his success allows these things to become him.
There is a famous explanation in Yonah, ( perek א, pasuk ט) where the sailors ask Yonah, Tell us,
מַה מְּלַאכְתְּךָ וּמֵאַיִן תָּבוֹא מָה אַרְצֶךָ וְאֵי מִזֶּה עַם
אתה
What is your work, and where do you come? What is your land? And what nation are you from?
They want his background, his job....
וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵיהֶם עִבְרִי אָנֹכִי וְאֶת ה אֱלֹקי הַשָּׁמַיִם אֲנִי יָרֵא אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה אֶת הַיָּם וְאֶת הַיַּבָּשָׁה
And he tells them,
I am a Jew and I fear the G-d of heaven who made the earth and the land
When he was asked who he was, his answer was that he was a servant of Hashem, and a Jew. That’s who he was. That doesn’t change in any situation. A person can be in the depths of a whale, and nothing changes. That is one of the Bitachon lessons of Yonah: Wherever you are, Hashem is there. You can be on the bottom of the ocean and Hashem can save you. That’s a powerful advantage of Bitachon. Bitachon allows you to realize who you are, and therefore, if you fall, you didn’t really fall. That’s why the Gaon of Vilna says, on the pasuk ( כד,טז)
שֶׁבַע יִפּוֹל צַדִּיק וָקָם
A righteous man can fall seven times but he gets up again. Why does he get up again? Because he didn’t fall. The leaves fell. He realizes that he never made the money to begin with, and he didn’t do anything.
Who am I? My essence, and my existence, is that I am a servant of Hashem. That is who I am. That is a beautiful addition to the advantages Bitachon.
שֶׁבַע יִפּוֹל צַדִּיק וָקָם
A righteous man can fall seven times but he gets up again.
And the pasuk goes on to say,
וּרְשָׁעִים יִכָּשְׁלוּ בְרָעָה
And the wicked stumble on the one bad. Once they fall, they don’t get up again.
This is an additional advantage, that we have never shared: Bitachon causes the outlook of who you are.
בּוֹטֵחַ בְּעָשְׁרוֹ הוּא יִפֹּל
Someone who relies on his wealth, when his wealth falls, he will fall,
because he identified himself with his wealth.
Whereas the Sadik identifies himself as a servant of Hashem, who is the One that is caring for him. His wealth is not who he is, and does not define his essence.
Have a wonderful day.