Up until now we have been discussing the benefits of Bitachon. As we’ve said, the first benefit is that you don’t rely on people and therefore you are not confined to the abilities of people. The second benefit is that you don’t have to flatter people so you can do what you want. And the third benefit is that you are like the alchemist and more. We will spend some time on this third benefit, which is comprised of a list of 10 advantages that the Baal Bitachon has over the alchemist, who is the one that can create precious metals from junk.
The first advantage:
א)תחילתם - שבעל הכימיה צריך לדברים מיוחדים למלאכה, לא יוגמר לו דבר זולתם, ולא ימצאם בכל עת ובכל מקום
The alchemist needs the raw materials in order to make his gold. He can’t always find these materials, and he can’t make something from nothing.
The alchemist needs something to make something. The Ba’al Bitachon, however, is connected to G-d and so he access to a super power that Hashem used when creating the world. There is mass called יש מיש (something from something) and mass called יש מאין (something from nothing). Hashem made the world something from nothing, referred to in Latin as ex nihilo. We can’t fathom what that means, that Hashem didn’t need any material. We can’t possibly see this happening , that we could make something from nothing, but the Hovot HaLevavot says the Baal Bitachon is working on a different plane:
והבוטח באלהים טרפו מובטח לו מכל סיבה מסיבות העולם
His parnassa is guaranteed to him and he doesn’t have to focus on causes or materials (or what we’ll call conventional means).
Of course the Baal Bitachon to do his hishtadlut but he doesn’t have to be limited to conventional ways, because the One who’s directing everything is using a force that is not confined to conventional ways.
The source the Hovot HaLevavot uses to prove this concept is the manna. As Jews we have a daily responsibility to remember the manna. The manna is proof that regardless of what’s going on, we will all get what we are supposed to get.
למען הודיעך כי לא על הלחם לבדו יחיה האדם(דברים,ח,ג)
You should know that man doesn’t live in bread alone
Twenty years ago, when I was was new to the community, I was curious about what people knew, so I took a little survey. I presented the above statement: “Man doesn’t live on bread alone” and asked people two questions. The first question was: Who said man doesn’t live in bread alone?
Some people said Mark Twain, others said Shakespeare.
But that answer is, as we now know, Hashem said it. Man doesn’t live on bread alone, and Hashem gave us the manna to let us know that.
I then asked - If not on bread, what does man live on? Some people said love, some said water, but the correct answer is found in the continuation of the pasuk “Whatever emanates from the mouth of G-d.
כי על כל מוצא פי ה' יחיה האדם,
You live on what emanates from the mouth of G-d.
That means, when you eat a price of bread, don’t think the bread is giving you life. In the bread is the word of G-d. We don’t see it but it’s keeping us alive. It’s the יש מאין the “something from nothing”. This, we will see, works with everything in life. What we need is non-conventional.
For example: Before penicillin, people were dying like flies, from things as simple as small shaving nicks. Then suddenly Hashem brought about penicillin. From what? From someone leaving a culture out overnight accidentally, from which some mold grew and lo and behold, by mistake- penicillin! Something from nothing! How many lives have been saved by this?
G-d does not work in conventional ways. Once you know that, your ability to count on Him is much stronger.