Rabbi Yosef Zalman Bloch, in his introduction to his sefer Egeret Al HaBitachon, asks why it is that there is a proliferation of sefarim on Bitachon in our generation, more than ever before? It was never that way. There was the sefer Hovot Halevavot on Bitachon, and that was it. They didn’t have Bitachon sefarim constantly being published like we do today.
He explains that the reason is that in the days of old, they didn't need to have a sefer in Bitachon. Bitachon was so simple and clear to every Jew that they didn’t need a book on it. But, he says, now in our generation, as we get weaker and weaker, we need to actually delve into and learn the subject of Bitachon. We need to analyze it and quote it and learn it like any other topic of the Torah, which is something that was not necessary in previous generations.
He says that for someone to have bitachon, technically they don't need a lot of knowledge.
Our grandmothers and grandfathers probably had much less knowledge than we do, and yet they had tremendous levels of bitachon.
There is the famous story with the Al Shech: A simple man once heard his derasha that have to rely on Hashem, and he decided, “That's it. I'm going to rely on our Hashem.” He was not going to do anything. He went home. and he told his wife, “That's it. I'm learning all day. Hashem is going to send... I heard a speech from the Rabbi.” She thought he was crazy and didn't know what to do. He wouldn’t budge. After a week or so, she decided that at least she’d sell his donkey and wagon that he’d used as a wood chopper. At least she'd have something to live on. So she went to the market and sold it to an Arab. The Arab then went out digging in the forest, hit something hard and found a treasure. He loaded the treasure on the donkey and headed home, but on way, a large branch fell off a tree, hit him in the head and killed him. The donkey, who was trained to go to his previous master's house, went right to the Jew's house. There was the treasure, and the rest was history! The Alshech’s students asked him what was going on- they all had Bitachon and these things didn’t happen to them. He told them that the man had simple bitachon. They were getting too analytical and too intellectual. Bitachon is very simple. Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz used the say, in the name of Yerucham Levovitz, that Bitachon doesn't have to be very deep. It's very simple. As long as you feel that you're relying on Hashem and that He’ll help you, He'll help you. That's the whole story. But he said, that simplicity was in the days of old when things were more simple. One of the reasons, he says, that our bitachon is weaker, is seemingly counterintuitive. He says, it’s because life is so good and we don't have the decrees that they used to have in the days of old. We're not living in a ghetto and we're not being persecuted the way they were.
It's much easier to be successful and much easier to feel Kochi V’Otsem Yadi Asa li Et Hayil Hazeh/My strength and my power made the money. Therefore, we don't see God's hand as much in our lives. Tosafot says that the farmer had tremendous Emunah because he was taking his seeds, and putting them in the ground without knowing if there would be rain. He relied on God and went forward. We don't necessarily have that same connection and feeling that the farmer does. Farming in Shemitta is an unbelievable experience. We don't have that. There's a line that the Brisker Rav used to say, “I understand how the poor man survives. He has bitachon, he has to rely on Hashem because he doesn't know where his food is going to come from. But how does the wealthy man, who doesn't have bitachon, survive?”
Of course, he was saying this in jest, but the point is that sometimes when things are tougher, they're really easier, because you're strengthening your bitachon muscles. And when things are easier, they're really harder, because you don't have that tool of bitachon.
That is our message for today.
In our times, we need to work on bitachon even more because
1-Our connection to Hashem is different than the previous generation. We're living in a new westernized world. We moved from countries of old to new countries, and therefore we’ve lost that old time flavor.
2-We're living in a time of plenty.
So for these reasons, we need to start writing books on bitachon and working on bitachon in ways that we didn't need to in the past.