We are discussing the reasons that even after person worked on his Bitachon, he may still be at a disadvantage or lose out, and the Hovot HaLevavot mentioned different mistakes people make.
The Hovot HaLevavot now discusses the error people that make because they don’t understand how sibbot/ causes work.
For those of you who haven’t been with us since the beginning of this series, the Hovot HaLevavot dedicates a lot of time to discussing how Hashem works through intermediaries. We used the mashal of the Rube Goldberg machine, which takes a simple task and performs it through a series of complicated steps. We always have to realize and understand that even with all the steps that occur, and all the gears that move, ultimately (in this the mashal) it’s the human being at the beginning of the system that makes everything happen. The domino effect doesn’t work, and none of the dominoes can fall, without the person pushing down the first one.
Hashem, kav’yachol, is the one that hits the first domino.
The Hovot HaLevavot explains that regarding sibbot/intermediaries, people tend to make the mistake of relying on the sibba- cause that is closest to them because that’s what they see. They don’t realize the fundamental concept that the closer the sibba is to you, the less power it has, and the further away it is, the more ability it has. He gives the mashal of a king who wants to punish a servant. The king tells his second in command, who tells the minister, who tells the police officer, who tells punisher to pick up the whip and whip the man. The closest cause to the man’s pain is the whip, but it has the least say in the matter. It has no power at all. You can’t talk to a whip that would be a waste of time. If the man talks to the whipper he might have better shot, but going to the police officer would be better. Even better than that would be talking to the minister, and better than that would be the viceroy. Of course, speaking to the king directly would be best of all. He made the decision. If he wants, he can forgive. That is really what a pasuk tells us, when it says how people are silly for talking to the whip. It talks about Ashur- which G-d says is the “staff of My wrath.” In anything that happens to us, the person seemingly involved is really the whip, the underling. He can’t make anything happen.. If you get a ticket, you try and talk to the police officer, because it seems like he’s in charge, but he really has no say. He has a certain level of authority, but once he writes the ticket, there’s a judge and others who have more power than him.
We often talk about Mr. Rubashkin, a classic example of Bitachon, who was in jail for a white collar crime, but received much more than the average sentence for his crime. He could have looked at the attorneys or the judges as intermediaries, but ultimately, he was freed by the only person with the real power- the President of the United States, who pardoned him. These things happen, although they are rarities. But even in this case, President Trump was still only an underling. The ultimate One that pushes the button is Hashem. He wants us to deal with Him , and rely on Him, and not get caught up with everything in the middle. That’s a challenge. In life, we are surrounded by “forces” that really look like they are the forces.
G-d is called Elohim - and the Shulchan Aruch says that this means Baal HaKohot Kulam- the One that is in charge of all forces and energy.
There are forces out there that look powerful. They can be disease, lo alenu, a lawyer, a judge or your competition. These things really look like they’re making things happen. That is confusing. One of the hardest things to do is to ignore all of that. That’s why when we say Shema Yisrael Hashem Elokenu, we say — Hashem Echad, - He’s the only One (this is one of the 6 constant mitzvot). He’s the one that pushes the buttons. Our commentaries tell us that we say this with our hands over our eyes because everything we see is contrary to that belief, so we have to close our eyes when we say this.
If ever you get a ticket and you want to practice your En Od Milvado (there is no one but Hashem) skills to get rid of your ticket, just close your eyes and focus on Hashem Echad, and realize that whomever is giving you the ticket can’t do anything.
That’s the power of Hashem Echad, and that’s the difficulty, because the whole world is full of intermediaries that send us a contrary message.
Have a wonderful day.