In this week’s Parasha, there is a pasuk, that, according to many, is the Torah source for Bitachon.
תָּמִ֣ים תִּֽהְיֶ֔ה עִ֖ם ה׳ אֱלֹהֶֽיךָ
Tamim Tihyeh, Be complete, with Hashem
your God.
But the word Tamim means simple- Simple faith
Rabbi Yaakov Hillel has a book called Tamim Tihyeh, in which he talks about the mistakes that people make by following witchcraft, palm readers, séances and the like , and even sometimes, false Kabbalists.
A person is not supposed to be searching for the future, and the Torah delineates many sins involved in that. Rather, “Be simple with Hashem your God.”
In the beautiful words of Rashi, we find a tremendous source of hizzuk-
הִתְהַלֵּךְ עִמּוֹ בִתְמִימוּת,
Go with Him with simplicity
וּתְצַפֶּה לוֹ,
And ( if you have a problem) look towards Him
וְלֹא תַחֲקֹר אַחַר הָעֲתִידוֹת,
Don’t start trying to figure out the future
אֶלָּא כָּל מַה שֶּׁיָּבֹא עָלֶיךָ קַבֵּל בִּתְמִימוּת
Whatever comes upon you, accept with simplicity.
וְאָז תִּהְיֶה עִמּוֹ וּלְחֶלְקוֹ
And then, you will be with Him.
So, Tamim Tihyeh, be simple, and that will cause you to connect to Hashem and give you special protection.
We aren’t supposed to try to figure out where tomorrow’s market will be, or what the future will be. We are not supposed to be certain of the future.
But rather, we should deal and live with the uncertainty of the moment, based on this principle of, “Look forward, towards Him.”
The Ramban learns that this is a Mitzvat Aseh/ positive commandment, from the Torah- one of the 613 Mitzvot. That’s heavy. In every situation that you’re in, accept it with simplicity and don’t try to figure out what the future will bring.
The Ramban talks about this three times in his writings. The first time is when Hashem tells Abraham Avinu,
הִתְהַלֵּ֥ךְ לְפָנַ֖י וֶהְיֵ֥ה תָמִֽים
“Go in front of Me, and be perfect.” The Ramban says that Hashem is using the same words “Be perfect,”
telling Avraham not to look into the future.
“Believe that Hashem is all powerful, from the beginning of time to the end. He is the only One that can make things happen. Ignore the stargazers and the like.”
In those times, they were able to look at the stars and understand things. Hashem told Avraham to ignore the signs of the heavens and not believe that what the stars say will definitely happen/ על כל פנים
Today, we don’t have stargazers, but we have all the other negative reports- the weather report, the doctor’s report, the lawyer’s report, the financial report,… it’s all something, but it doesn’t have to be.
What you should do when you hear a negative report is, “Decree in your heart that it is
הכל ביד עליון עליונים
all in God’s hands.”
And that is why Hashem told Abraham that he was above mazal, that he should ignore it, and “Go in front of Me.”
Because the way you act is what makes things happen. (Bereshit 17,a)
Ramban repeats this in Devarim (יח) where he says, on this pasuk, “Don’t believe what they say will happen על כל פנים-
If you hear some thing, you should respond,
הכל בידי שמים
“It’s all in God’s hands.”
He is above all of those natures. Believe that things will change when you connect to God’s service.
In his Sefer Hamitzvot, Ramban brings this down a third time, as one of the 613 Mitzvot, and says that the command is to focus our hearts on Him, and believe that He is the only One that makes things happen. Only He knows what the future will bring. The only way to make things happen, and change things is to believe
שכל הכחות תהיינה אלינו כפי התקרבנו לעבודתו
that all the powers are dependent like we connect to His Avodah.
The Rashba, in his teshuvot, quotes the story of Rabbi Akiva and his daughter. Rabbi Akiva was told by the stargazers that she would die on the day of her wedding. But in the end, she gave charity and she was saved. The Rashba says that this is an example of protecting yourself, and ignoring what the future says, based on getting close to Hashem. He says that it was a hidden miracle that happened because of Avodat Hashem.
As we have said in the past, Hashem gives us these opportunities.
When Lot was in Sedom, two angels came to him. He invited them in, but they didn’t want to come in until
ויפצר בם מאד
Lot begged and pleaded with them. The Rambam says that this happened because Lot needed the zechut/merit of Hachnasat Orchim/ welcoming guests. But he needed a big zechut, and therefore he had to work hard.
In that way, he merited to be saved.
והיו ממאנים
They refused, says the Ramban,
כדי לזכותו
in order to merit Lot.
He needed a zechut, he took advantage of the zechut, and that saved him.
That is the fundamental of Tamim Tihyeh. In any situation in life, you can fulfill a Mitzvat Aseh with this proper attitude.
Have a wonderful day and a Shabbat shalom.