We have been discussing how the Baal Bitachon is not afraid to share secrets with competitors. We mentioned many scenarios such as sharing the secret of non-sticky pastries and sharing all resources and contacts. All without worrying. There’s a deeper concept beneath all this, which we will study- but first, a story:
Mr. Ralph Tawil a’h was a pillar of the Syrian community. He had been an orphan and was sent to live in an orphanage. He didn’t speak or read English. As a child he often wondered how, despite his frequent escapes, he was always sent right back to the orphanage by the police, never realizing that the name of the orphanage was printed on his pajama top.
B’h he grew up and went on to become extremely successful - religiously and financially. He was a tremendous philanthropist and supported many yeshivot.
He spoke in the Deal Shul about 20 years ago. He explained that he was addressing the younger people in the crowd. He told them that he’d been blessed by Hashem, and that he was very wealthy. (When he spoke about his wealth it was not out of arrogance. He was a great showman and used his flair to prove his point). He related that G-d had blessed him to be very successful. He told the crowd he was going to share the secret of his wealth with them, so they could be wealthy too. His secret, he said, was that he gives maaser -10% of his earnings to tzedaka. You can do it too, he said.
Speaking of secrets, The Hovot HaLevavot teaches us that unlike the alchemist, who must guard his secrets, the Baal Bitachon gives his secret away.
והבוטח באלהים איננו ירא משום אדם בבטחונו, אבל הוא מתפאר בו,
He’s not afraid to share his real secret- which is Bitachon. He’s proud of it.
There’s an interesting story about a rabbi and a king. The king said that he was bothered by something. If there were two countries fighting and each country’s Jews were praying for the success of their respective countries, how could Hashem work it out? How can both side’s prayers be answered if they contradict each other?
The rabbi says that Hashem put the answer in his mouth. He explained that there’s a prayer we say every Shabbat, for the welfare of our government:
הנותן תשועה למלכים וממשלה לנסיכים. מלכותו מלכות כל עולמים
הנותן בים דרך ובמים עזים נתיבה, הוא יברך .......
וישמר ויעזר וירומם וינשא
The One that gives salvation to kings and control to princes, and His kingdom is the kingdom forever....... the One that puts the path in the sea and places in fierce waters a path, He should help, and guard and protect the king.
The rabbi asked, what’s the connection? There is no path in the sea. And what does this have to do with government?
He explained that there are winds that make the paths. If two Jews, one traveling from north to south and one going the opposite way, were each to pray for the wind to blow in their favor, how could Hashem answer both of them? Can wind blow from opposite ends? The answer is: We don’t worry about G-d. He can figure it out. This is the secret of why we aren’t afraid of competition. Just like weather is left to chaos and we can’t understand how weather works- cold fronts, winds, etc, weather reports... somehow Hashem works it out.
That’s how businesses work as well, and how kingdoms work. How can they all be answered? Leave it to G-d. It’s how the Baal Bitachon sees Hashem work; his secret is:
צדיק באמונתו תהיה I live with my Emunah.
We shouldn’t scared to tell everyone our secret-
“I live with Bitachon”- It’s the answer to all of our problems.
So if you want to share something with your friends, family or your competitors, to show them why you’re successful, share your Bitachon… send them a link to this class.