In the introduction to Mesilat Yesharim, written by the famous Rav Moshe Chaim Luzatto, it explains the need for studying the topic of Yirat Shamayim/ Fear of G-d. He pushes this point because there are people, he says, that think that fear of G-d is something emotional, something easy, something that doesn’t really need in-depth study. They think that you need to study if you want to be a judge, or a Posek, or a teacher or rabbi. But to them, fear of G-d seems to be natural and instinctive. So, the Mesilat Yesharim wrote this introduction, which is almost like a thesis, disproving this notion.
One of his proofs is a pasuk in Iyov, where it says, הֵן -In truth,
יִרְאַת ה' הִיא חָכְמָה"
Fear of G-d is a wisdom. “
It’s a topic of study. We have to study Yirat Shamayim
He says that the Gemara in Masechet Shabbat says הֵן" which means “אַחָת -the only”הֲרֵי שֶׁהַיִּרְאָה הִיא חָכְמָה, וְהִיא לְבַדָּהּ חָכְמָה
Fear of G-d is the ultimate wisdom.
וּוַדַּאי שֶׁאֵין נִקְרָא "חָכְמָה" מַה שֶּׁאֵין בּוֹ עִיּוּן.
You can’t call something wisdom if it doesn’t have depth and analysis.
Therefore, הָאֱמֶת הִיא , the truth is, as he says,
כִּי עִיּוּן גָּדוֹל צָרִיךְ עַל כָּל הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה לָדַעַת אוֹתָם בֶּאֱמֶת, וְלֹא עַל צַד הַדִּמְיוֹן וְהַסְּבָרָה הַכּוֹזֶבֶת:
One needs a lot of depth to truly understand this, not an imaginary grasp or false logic.
It takes true depth. He wants to dispel the notion that Yirat Shamayim is simple. It isn’t. It’s a deep topic. Some subjects in school may be considered easy, like music or art. But they aren’t. Fear of G-d is not one of those easy subjects. Yirat Shamayim is a very deep concept.
What does this have to do with Bitachon? You signed up to hear Bitachon classes. What does this have to do with it?
Rabbenu Yonah points out, in two places, that Bitachon is the ultimate of Yirat Shamayim.
In the first, in Berachot, Rabbenu Yonah says, -והבטחון הוא עיקר היראה והאמונה ולפיכך זוכה בסיבתו לחיי עולם הבא:
Bitachon/ Reliance on Hashem is the essence of fear and faith- and therefore, through Bitachon, one will get to Olam Habah. (This is only a partial quote, but the words are beautiful)
So the essence of Yirat Shamayim is Bitachon.
And Rabbenu Yonah says, in Igeret HaTeshuva,
אגרת התשובה לרבנו יונה -ע
לֹא יָמוּשׁ מִתּוֹךְ לֵב הָאָדָם הַבִּטָּחוֹן בַּשֵּׁם יִתְעַלֶּה
A person should never remove from his heart reliance on Hashem
וְהַתּוֹחֶלֶת אֵלָיו
And the hope to Him,
כְּמוֹ שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר, בִּטְחוּ בוֹ בְכָל עֵת וְגוֹ',
Like it says, “you should be relying at all times”. It’s constant.
וְנֶאֱמַר, נַפְשִׁי לַה' מִשֹּׁמְרִים לַבֹּקֶר.
My heart is waiting for Hashem-like the night watchmen waiting for morning to come.
That’s constant waiting, which is constant reliance.
And he ends with the words:
וּלְפִי רֹב הַיִּרְאָה יֶחֱזַק הַבִּטָּחוֹן
The more Yirah/fear of Hashem you have, the stronger your Bitachon is.
So that means if Yirat Shamayim takes a lot of deep study, as the Mesilat Yesharim says, and the more fear you have, the more Bitachon you have, it’s not so simple to have Bitachon. And he quotes pasuk:
שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר, יִרְאֵי ה' בִּטְחוּ בַה':
“Those that fear G-d will rely on G-d.”
So, the prerequisite of Bitachon is Yirat Shamayim.
As Rav Wolbe and Rabbi Miller have said, the word יראה -Yirah (fear) comes from the word ראה-to see.
The ר and אcomprise the main part of the root of both words.
Therefore, the commonality is that fearing G-d is seeing G-d. So, the more a person sees G-d, the more he relies on Hashem.
When a person doesn’t sin because he has Yirat Shamayim, that means he’s aware that Hashem is here.
There’s a famous Chafetz Chaim story of when he traveled with a wagon driver whose horse was hungry. He had no food for it, so he planned to steal from the fields on the side of the road. He didn’t want to get caught stealing, so he told the Chafetz Chaim call out if someone was looking. Of course, the Chafetz Chaim called out right away, and the man moved on. But a few miles down the road the same thing happened again, and again the Chafetz Chaim called out. The man started to get suspicious after the third time, because he didn’t see anyone. But the Chafetz Chaim told him Hashem was watching.
That is Yirat Shamayim. Hashem is watching. And the Chafetz Chaim was a super-Baal Bitachon, because just as Hashem is watching, He’s also supervising and taking care of us as well. They go together.
The point of all of this is that although we get a five-minute Bitachon class every day, one shouldn’t think that it’s enough to just get little bites of information. A little inspiration or a small charge is nice and good, but we must know that Bitachon needs to be understood in depth. It’s a deep topic. It’s worthwhile to take out a sefer and learn bitachon in depth with a chavruta.
Of course, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be listening (or reading) these shorter bitachon lessons-inspiration is great. We like it. But understand that there is more to Bitachon than listening to or reading a nice class or “pick me up”. People like that. We love the daily email or lesson-day WhatsApp, but Bitachon is more than that.
Likewise, it’s nice to listen to a ten minute daf, or do an hour daf, but imagine spending 4-6 hours on a daf, learning it b’iyyun - in depth. That’s a whole different story. There is a tremendous difference between that and doing it b’kiyut- covering ground.
That is our point.
According to the Mesilat Yesharim, we need עיון גדול, great depth, for Yirah, which means we also need עיון גדול for Bitachon.
Have a great day.