The Gaon of Vilna tells us that that there are three terms referring to different approaches or types of Bitachon.
We say in our Amidah, מלך עוזר ומושיע ומגן
G-d is /עוזר helps, /מושיע He saves and מגןHe shields.
What exactly are these three terms referring to?
The term -עוזר Ozer, means a person does things and G-d helps, as we say, B’ezrat Hashem- with G-d’s help. We go to work and with G-d’s help we will see success. Any time we do any type of hishtadlut, we say, with G-d’s help. That’s one situation of Bitachon.
/מושיע Mosheah, means to be saved from danger. Unlike with G-d’s “help”, the person doesn’t do anything at all himself, G-d is his savior. In this case, the person finds himself in trouble, and G-d saves him.
The third situation is when the person puts himself in danger, and G-d protects him, Magen is a shield.
These are three situations where relying on G-d comes into play. Ozer, Mosheah, and Magen
The Gaon of Vina goes further and tells us that these three terms apply to our three Avot.
Working backward, the term Magen refers to Avraham Avinu. We use the term Magen Avraham- the Shield of Avraham. Avraham jumped into a fiery furnace. He wasn’t just in a situation that G-d saved him from. Rather, he put himself into a dangerous situation and G-d shielded him.
Yitzhak is associated with the term מושיע Mosheah,saving . He was in a dangerous situation- the Akedah, (but he didn’t put himself into it), and he was saved. In the second beracha of the Amidah we use the words רב להושיע Rav L’Hosheah G-d is great for saving. This beracha represents Yitzhak Avinu; when we are in trouble, we are saved by Hashem.
The third situation is about Yaakov Avinu. He was known for Hishtadlut more than any of the Avot. We hear more about his efforts, working for Lavan, working for his wives, working for his sheep, dealing with Esav, Yosef, and Dinah. Yaakov Avinu was surrounded with challenges and he actually did things that pull himself out of the challenges. This is why we find that the term “Ozer/ to help” is used on Yaakov Avinu more than for the other Avot.
One example, as the Zohar says in Parashat Vayakel, (pg 198) is that David HaMelech says in Tehilim,
אשרי שאל יעקוב בעזרו שברו על ה׳אלקיו
Fortunate is the one that the G-d of Yaakov is his help and his
hope. The term the “G-d of Yaakov” is used, because Yaakov Avinu was in those types of situations.
Another case is after Yaakov Avinu was robbed of all his money. It was now time to find a wife and he didn’t know how he’d get there. He says אשא עני אל
ההרים מעין יבא עזרי
I’ll lift my eyes to the mountains, where is my help going to come from? He’d do his hishtadlut and look for G-d’s help.
At first glance it seemed like the situation of Avraham calls for a higher level. He jumped into a fiery furnace. The situation of Yitzhak too, seems like a higher level, being saved from the sword.
Yaakov Avinu is going to work. Yet, the commentaries explain that in a way, the situation of Yaakov might be a greater challenge. Yaakov Avinu was doing something. And when you’re doing something, even if you say “With G-d’s help,” you still might think you’re doing it on your own. “G-d’s help”is a strong term. I once heard a Gadol say that we shouldn’t even say “be’ezrat Hashem,” because it may seem like Hashem is just helping, while we are doing something. He said we should say, “Im Yitzrah Hashem- if Hashem wants”
But we do say Be’ezrat Hashem, and the source might just be Yaakov Avinu, because Hashem is Ozer- He does help. So, what does this help mean?
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Although it may seem on the outside that we are doing something, it’s really only with G-d’s “help.” Of course, He’s actually doing it all, but the term Ozer is used in a situation where there is a certain sense of human involvement.
Avraham Avinu had no question that G-d was saving him. Yitzhak saw the sword coming down on his neck, and we know his soul left him and came back, so of course he had no involvement. But Yaakov Avinu was actually doing things. And he realized very clearly that, as we will discuss tomorrow, Hashem is doing everything, even though we are involved in our activities.
We are supposed to learn from Yaakov Avinu. As the Tanna D’Eliyahu says, a person has to say, “When will my deeds reach the deeds of my forefathers?”
We can see one little example of the strength of Yaakov Avinu’s Bitachon from the re-negotiations of his contract with Lavan. First he worked for one wife, then the second wife, and then the sheep, etc. When they were discussing the sheep, Lavan asked “What should I give you?” Yaakov answered, “לא תתן לי מאומה Don’t give me anything.”
The Sforno asks how Yaakov could have said, “Don’t give me anything?” Isn’t he entitled to a salary?
He explains that what Yaakov was really saying was that it wasn’t Lavan who was giving him anything. If he found favor in G-d’s eyes, G-d would give him, and it wouldn’t t take a drop away from Lavan. It wouldn’t limit Lavan’s profits. As the Gemarah in Masechet Yoma לח says,
אין אדם נוגע
במובן לחברו
No one can touch what his friend is supposed to get.
This is great technique for a salesman negotiating with his boss for more commission. If the boss says it would be taking too much away from him, the salesman could say,” לא תתן לי מאומה״ Don’t give me anything. It’s not coming from you. It’ll come from someplace else.” That’s how Yaakov Avinu spoke to his boss.
(Please, Bosses, don’t complain to me)
To be continued.
Have a a good day.