We are up to the fourth difference in the attitude of the Baal Bitachon as opposed to the one without Bitachon.
The Tzror HaMor compares two characters from Tanach to illustrate this point: David HaMelech and Naval HaCarmeli.
We will discuss David HaMelech, the Baal Bitachon, first:
When he has extra money, he spends it generously, with a good heart, and he has no problems, because he has the following attitude:
David HaMelech said
כי ממך הכל ומידו נתנו לך
Everything is from You And when I give charity, I’m giving from Your hand to You.
This is like going to a wealthy man, who is holding a wad of bills in his right hand, taking the money and moving it to the wealthy man’s left hand.
This is what David HaMelech said, at one of the last gatherings of his life (if not the last,) after he had collected all the money necessary for the building of the Bet HaMikdash (although he didn’t actually get to build it).
We say these words every day in our Shaharit prayers in VaYebarech David.
As we’ve mentioned in the past, there is a powerful lesson in it.
וַיְבָ֤רֶךְ דָּוִיד֙ אֶת־י-ה-ו-ה לְעֵינֵ֖י כָּל־הַקָּהָ֑ל וַיֹּ֣אמֶר דָּוִ֗יד בָּר֨וּךְ אַתָּ֤ה ה׳ אֱלֹקי יִשְׂרָאֵ֣ל אָבִ֔ינוּ מֵעוֹלָ֖ם וְעַד־עוֹלָֽם׃
David blessed G-d in front of the whole congregation.
Notice that the first four words of this pasuk start with the following letters ו, ד, א, י- which spells ודאי -Conviction
David is speaking with conviction. He is sure of what he’s going to say. And he continues,
“Blessed is Hashem, the G-d of Israel, our Father forever and ever. “
G-d has greatness, and power, and glory, and victory, and shining, because everything is His. All kingdoms, all levels of greatness, all wealth and honor are His.
וְאַתָּה֙ מוֹשֵׁ֣ל בַּכֹּ֔ל וּבְיָדְךָ֖ כֹּ֣חַ וּגְבוּרָ֑ה וּבְיָ֣דְךָ֔ לְגַדֵּ֥ל וּלְחַזֵּ֖ק לַכֹּֽל׃
You’re in charge of everything
(we give charity at this point in the prayer, to show that we understand this)
You have the control over power and strength. You can make everyone great, and we thank You”
The tefila ends there, but the pasuk continues...
וְכִ֨י מִ֤י אֲנִי֙ וּמִ֣י עַמִּ֔י כִּֽי־נַעְצֹ֣ר כֹּ֔חַ לְהִתְנַדֵּ֖ב כָּזֹ֑את
Who am I and who is my nation, that we should have the strength to make such an offering?
How did we do this? What gave us the power? He wonders.
מִמְּךָ֣ הַכֹּ֔ל וּמִיָּדְךָ֖ נָתַ֥נּוּ לָֽךְ׃
It all came from You, and it is Your gift that we have given to You, from Your hand.
כִּֽי־גֵרִ֨ים אֲנַ֧חְנוּ לְפָנֶ֛יךָ
For we only are sojourners in the land
Our life goes by like a shadow.
Imagine a billionaire who dedicated a large building and got up to speak saying, “G-d, how did I do it? Who gave me the zechut? It was all you. You gave it to me”
No glory, no arrogance, no honor... that’s David HaMelech, and that’s the Baal Bitachon.
He gives charity easily.
Rabbenu Yonah says this is the secret of the people who are able to give and overcome the human nature to be stingy.
They understand that it’s all a deposit. It’s all from G-d.
On the flip side, we have Naval HaCarmeli. He thinks that it’s all his. It’s his money, and he worked hard for it. Why should he give anyone? Why share with anyone else? When David HaMelech was on the run and asked him for food, Naval told him, “Why should give you? I worked hard.”
The Tzror HaMor quotes the pesukim:
שחשב הכל שלו
“It’s all mine - I should take from my bread and wine and give to a stranger?”
That’s a heretic
That’s the wrong attitude of Naval.
This attitude is so negative that it can ward off all blessing.
There’s a pasuk that some people say on Saturday nights:
“ואמרתם כל לחי
You should say this alive next year
ואתה שלום וביתך שלום וכל אשר לך שלום”
“You should have peace, your house should have peace, your family should have peace.”
It’s a beautiful blessing.
For those that recall their old Navi Tests, we can ask:
מי אמר אל מי?
Who said this to whom?
And the answer is that this was a blessing that David HaMelech gave to Naval HaCarmeli. David was on the run and needed help, so he asked Naval for help, and gave him this blessing.
Naval’s response was to say, “I should give my hard-earned money to you? Who are you?”
Naval HaCarmeli died ten days later.
The question is asked: He got such a beautiful blessing from David HaMelech!! How can it be that he died?
The answer, says the Sefer Hinuch, is that nothing wards off blessing more than this attitude of “I made it, I did it.”
With this attitude, you can get a Beracha from none other than David HaMelech and you won’t see success.
We have to have the positive attitude of
מּמךָ֣ הַכֹּ֔ל וּמִיָּדְךָ֖ נָתַ֥נּוּ לָֽךְ׃
Everything is for You. Whatever charity I give, is going from one hand to the next.
Have a great day.