We continue with the theme that there is no bitachon in the first two steps of religion; the areas of choosing what we want to do and committing to do it. In those areas, there is no bitachon.
Bitachon comes in at whether it will come to fruition or not.
As we said, we choose to go to shul every morning, and we commit to go to shul. Then we have bitachon that the car will start.
Why isn’t there bitachon in the first two areas and only the third?
The Hovot HaLevavot explains that there is a big difference between serving G-d, and everything else in the world. For everything else in the world, he says, we don’t know what’s good or bad for us. We look for the proper siba (intermediaries) to get us where we have to go, but we don’t know what’s good or bad. Whether it’s a certain license, a job, a particular doctor or even a flight, we don’t know if it’s right for us, so every step of the way, we have to constantly say
בשם ה׳ נעשה ונצליח-With Hashem’s name we should have success.
So, we have to rely on G-d that we should make the right choices.
We make choices all day, and we have no idea what we are doing. We have to know that. You think you’re smart out there in the business world?? The smartest thing is to say, “I have no idea what I’m doing.” Things twist and turn all the time. What was good this year could be bad next year. We have no idea. But we go to work, and we rely on G-d.
The one area where we know what we are doing, is religion. You know that when you get up in the morning and pray, that is absolutely good. Kissing the mezuzah and thinking, “Shema Yisrael Hashem Elokenu Hashem Echad” is definitely good.
The only guaranteed good we know we did or will do today, is Torah and mitzvot.
You gave charity, went to shul, put on tefilin, prayed, did an act of hessed, smiled at someone, complimented someone- these things are good, G-d told us.
The Hovot HaLevavot quotes a pasuk:
G-d commanded us to do these statutes;
לטוב לנו כל הימים-These are good for us forever.
There’s no question. It’s definitely good. We don’t need to rely on G-d for those choices. He told us what’s good. We need to relying G-d in all other areas.
Furthermore, he says, anything in this world can flip-flop. It can start off good, and then turn bad. We have no idea.
The Rambam brings down a story, one of my favorites (some of you may not feel the same way): A pious man was once asked what the happiest day of his life was.
He explained that regarding anything physical, he couldn’t answer the question. He had no idea.
Rabbi Miller expounds on this and explains that if someone had asked John F Kennedy what his greatest day was, he would have said becoming President- but then someone put a bullet in his head. It was his worst day!
The same with Charles Lindbergh. He might have said his greatest day was the day he flew across the Atlantic. It made him world- famous. But then his child was kidnapped and killed (because he was rich, they wanted ransom). So we don’t know what great thing might turn out to be the worst, and vise versa.
There are stories of people who were beaten up on Kristalnacht, so they left the country. They may have said that was their worst day, but it caused them to leave the country, thus saving their lives. The ones that didn’t get beaten may not have left.... that may have thought it would blow over.
So, we don’t know is what is the worst or best.
The mother of man that assassinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin once said that she cursed the day her son was born. But a month prior to that, she might have said it her best day. We just don’t know how things will turn out. We don’t know what’s good or bad. We have no idea.
So, the pious man continued answering the question. Spiritually, he said, he could tell them that his greatest accomplishment was the time when he was laying in baggage class on a ship. A wealthy man came by, looked at him as if he were garbage, and then relieved himself on this pious man (there were no restrooms aboard in those days). The pious man woke up to this and related that he felt no negativity towards this brazen, wealthy fellow. He didn’t get upset, and because of the fact that he was able to stay calm despite the way he was treated, that was the greatest day of his life.
So, because we don’t really know what is good or bad regarding physical matters, we must have bitachon. We need Bitachon because we don’t know what will be good for us.
But in spiritual matters, we don’t need bitachon. We don’t need bitachon to put on tefilin. We know that’s good.
Have a great day.