This past week in the Yad Yosef Torah Center, Rabbi Yaakov Hillel spoke. He said that we're in the parshiot of Yetziat Mitzrayim, which discusses getting out of Egypt. He said Hashem told Avraham Avinu that they’d-go out with Rechush Gadol/ a great wealth. But we know that the great wealth doesn't literally mean money, gold and silver. That's not what we went to Mitzrayim for. The great wealth, he explained, was the Emunah and Bitachon takeaways that we came out with.
We’ve mentioned, in the past, the story of the Brisker Rav. When he got married, his wealthy father-in-law gave him a large amount of real estate in Warsaw. Then World War I broke out and somehow in the middle of it all, the properties were taken out of his name. When he got back to Warsaw, the titles to his properties were no longer in his name, and he lost all the land. He didn't know what to do.
So he took out a Hovot Halevavot Shaar Bitachon and reviewed it many, many times. And then he said, “I always thought someone that was wealthy was somebody that had a block of real estate in Warsaw. And then I realized that someone wealthy is someone who knows Hovot Halevavot and lives by it.”
That's the true wealth.
Rabbi Hillel went on to what should be a well-known Or HaChaim HaKadosh regarding when Hashem told Moshe, “Ma Titzak Elai?
The Egyptians were behind them, the sea was in front of them and Hashem said to Moshe Rabbenu, “Why are you crying out to me?”
The obvious question is, What do you mean? When else do you cry out? This is the time to cry out, when we're in trouble. As David Hamelech says, Min Hametza Karati Ya, and if those prayers aren’t enough, pray even more. Moshe Rabbenu knew how to pray 515 prayers, so why not continue praying?
And he answers that at that time, the Jewish people were under tremendous Midat Hadin/ tremendous strict judgment, and the trait of mercy was not enough to get them out. Hashem was telling Moshe, “If you're going to pray, it's not going to help. I want to do it, but
They are not fit.” There's something called Midat Hadin, which means that even when a person prays, we have to see if he deserves it or not. Does he merit it or not? Therefore, Hashem said, “I'm going to give you an Eitza/advice that's going to take care of everything: Strengthen yourselves in Emunah with all your heart. Go into the sea before it splits, based on your reliance on God (that He’d do a miracle for them) and that will cause a huge surge of mercy.
And as we know, that’s what ended up happening.
Rav Bloch, in his sefer Igeret Al HaBitachon, asks a question: If we need more zechuyot, isn’t prayer also a zechut? And he explains that there's a difference between prayer and bitachon. Prayer works within the confines of this world's justice system. More prayer=more merits, and more prayer=even more merits. But there's a time when the judgments are so strong, and the demerits are so much, that prayer is not going to tip the scale. And as long as you're staying within the confines of this world, using prayer in the regular justice system, is not going to work, because prayer arouses mercy, but sometimes we have too much justice on the other side.
Bitachon is a whole different approach. On Bitachon, it says, “Even if sharp knife is on your neck, don't give up on Hashem’s mercy.” Bitachon does not work with the regular systems. Bitachon is above the regular workings. Bitachon breaks all rules and is above nature. It’s not limited to confines of the regular system. Like we said, there's a concept of God as our Father and God as our King.
The King works within the regular justice system. You can go to the king with all the good lawyers and all the good claims you have, but you're going to lose the case. But if you said, “Hey, you're my father,” that's a whole different story. That's a whole different level. That’s Hessed Hinam/for free, and it has nothing to do with the world of merits. That's just, I'm counting on Hashem and He’ll come through.
Tehilim Perek 56,4 says,
ה׳ י֥וֹם אִירָ֑א אֲ֝נִ֗י אֵלֶ֥יךָ אֶבְטָח
Hashem, on a day that I fear, I will count on You.
And the Malbim says, what does it mean, “On a day that I fear?” A day that I fear means that there's a tremendous amount of justice in the world. And even with all that justice, on that Yom Irah/on that fateful, fearful day, I know that there's something that's going to work above all of that- Bitachon. And Bitachon will help me. Why? To quote the Malbim, “Because I rely on Him, it’s befitting that He should save me, because He saves all those that seek refuge in Him.” That's the difference between Bitachon and Tefila, and that's what they needed when it came to the splitting of the sea.
It’s interesting that the Gemara says that getting married and parnasa are as difficult as the splitting of the sea, which means that we don't merit it, so prayer might not be the way to go. So what do we need to break all rules, to split the sea, get that deal and get that marriage?
That's where Bitachon comes in.
Have a wonderful day.