The next advantage of Baal Bitachon is that
הבוטח בה' ישיג תועלת הממון, רצה לומר פרנסתו, ותימנע ממנו טרדת המחשבה של בעל הממון והתמדת דאגתו לו,
He will get the benefits of money- the parnasa, but he won’t have the preoccupation, thoughts and constant worry that normally come with money.
The Hiddush here is that some benefits in life come with collateral damage.
For example, steak tastes very good but sometimes it causes acid reflux and discomfort at night.
We’d like to enjoy the nice aspects of life without the drawbacks.
There’s a great story that happened to Rav Yeruchem Levovitz- the famed mashgiach of Mir in Europe, who passed away in the 1930s. He had a heart problem and was told by his doctor to stop drinking coffee. Just around that time, Sanka came out with decaffeinated coffee. An American student who had been visiting the States brought a jar back for the rabbi and explained that the bad part, the caffeine, had been eliminated. The rabbi couldn’t believe it. The coffee itself isn’t the bad part? He wondered. But the student explained that it wasn’t.
The rabbi had a cup and sure enough it tasted like coffee!
Rav Yerucham was a big Baal Mussar as well as a Baal Machsheva- a great thinker.
After this experience he gave a long discourse in his yeshiva on the topic, using decaffeinated coffee as a mashal. We think we need the “poison” to enjoy the good in life. But we can take worldly pleasures and decaffeinate them!
Imagine a “decaffeinated” steak, with all the benefits of the steak, the protein, minus the reflux.
Imagine “decaffeinated” ice cream- we could enjoy the taste, the benefits, the calcium and the nutrients without the weight gain!
We could live life to its fullest, decaffeinated.
Why should all good things have to have negative side effects?
The Hovot HaLevavot says this is the secret to Bitachon.
Money is like anything else. It has great benefits. We all want money. But we all hear what happens to people who win the lottery and suffer the collateral damage. They have the benefits but end up broke and miserable.
So we want to have money but we want it decaffeinated.
The most negative side effect of money, believe it or not, is the constant worry that comes with it.
Money brings worry
It’s a rule: מרבה נכסים מרבה דאגה
The more assets you have, the more worry you have.
We want decaffeinated money. Millions and billions, without the worry.
But there’s only one way to do this- with Bitachon.
Rav Ades tells a story about a young man he knew who became billionaire at 40. The man says he wishes he could have the sleep that he had at 19. Now, as a billionaire, he needs sleeping pills to sleep.
Kohelet teaches us that:
מְתוּקָה שְׁנַת הָעֹבֵד, אִם-מְעַט וְאִם-הַרְבֵּה יֹאכֵל; וְהַשָּׂבָע, לֶעָשִׁיר--אֵינֶנּוּ מַנִּיחַ לוֹ, לִישׁוֹן.
The working man has a sweet sleep, but the satiation of the wealthy man doesn’t let him sleep. Wealth sometimes causes lack of sleep. This is a side effect of wealth.
So we want our money decaffeinated. We can get that - with Bitachon.