We continue with the important mindset that bitachon is a command. G-d told us, “I want you to rely on Me.”
Where does it say so?
Until now we have explored sources other than Hovot Halevavot. The Rambam’s son brought the manna and shemitah as sources from the Torah.
The Hovot Halevavot brings a source from the Navi Malachi. When there was a shortage of funds for the Bet HaMikdash,
G-d said, “Test Me. Bring money for the Bet HaMikdash and I will open up the windows of the heaven and pour blessing on you to no end.”
The words are,
בחנוני נא בזאת
Test Me me with this.
The average learned person associates the phrase “Test Me” with the mitzvah of Ma’aser.
“You give 10% and I will bring beracha”
But the Hovot Halevavot is giving us a tremendous chiddush. He brings this as a source for bitachon! Based on this, says Rav Bloch, in his sefer Igeret Al Bitachon, it’s clear that בחנוני נא בזאת does not mean “test Me in Ma’aser,” it means “ test Me in bitachon.” G-d says, “Try it.”
This is a tremendous hiddush. Giving the 10% is not a magical segula. It’s actually that giving the 10% shows that you have bitachon. G-d says, “You give 10%, trust Me, and I’ll give you more.”
That’s the secret to success. When it says that we can’t test G-d on any mitzvah except this, most Rishonim learn that it’s regarding ma’aser. You can’t say, “I’m going to put on tefilin and I want to see if I make money” Why not?
The simple explanation is, as the Sefer HaHinuch says, it’s because of the rule that
שכר מצוה בהאי עלמא ליכא
that there is no reward in this world for mitzvot.
Therefore you can’t rely on Hashem and get rewarded in this world. So why is ma’aser different? The Sefer Hinuch says a hiddush, that unlike the mitzvah of tefillin, for example, which is a spiritual mitzvah, ma’aser is a financial mitzvah. It’s as if G-d is asking you to lay out money to help the poor man. So it’s like you’re loaning G-d money, and G-d is just paying you back- not for doing a mitzvah, but for the loan. Like it says,
מלוה ה׳ חונן דל
When you give a poor man, you’re lending G-d money.
You’re not getting payed back for the mitzvah- G-d is just paying you back for the loan. Other Mitzvot don’t have that. Ma’aser is the exception. That’s according to the Sefer Hinuch.
According to the Hovot HaLevavot, however, it’s not the ma’aser that is an exception. It’s the bitachon that is the exception. You get paid back in this world for bitachon, not as a reward for a mitzvah, but because you’re relying on G-d. G-d says, “Rely on Me and I’ll take care of you.” It’s not a reward for a mitzvah. If you rely on your father to come get you from the airport, he does. That’s not a reward. It’s built into the system. When you rely on someone, they come through. G-d says, “Test Me. See if I’m reliable. I’m the most reliable. You can rely on your dad, your mom, your wife and Me. I’ll take care of you.”
Who would you call at 2 am to pick you up?
“Test me as see My reliability.”
According to this outlook, testing G-d is not limited to Ma’aser. You can test G-d with Shabbat as well, so to say. You can close the store on Shabbat and rely on G-d for you parnassa. You can do that.
We just expanded the ability to test G-d. G-d wants to show us that we can trust Him.
The people we spoke about last week, that need collateral- the Mashkon guys- they don’t trust G-d. But one of the advantages of trusting G-d is that G-d likes and rewards people that trust Him.
“You relied on Me?”, He says, “Good. I’ll take care of you.”
This is a tremendous eye opener, and this is the Hovot HaLevavot’s source for bitachon in the Torah. But, as he says, the problem is that most people don’t know this.
G-d says “I want to show you I’m reliable. Count on me.”