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We're now in the Bet Halevi Artscroll edition, letter 1.
The Bet Halevi just told us that lack a lack of bitachon is, in his words, an Avera Gedolah. It's not just a sin, it's a big sin. We have to know exactly why this is a big sin, as opposed to other sins, and exactly what the sin of not having bitachon is.
We mentioned that it's a positive command (we still have to discuss that source for that), but besides the positive command, the Bet Halevi tells us it’s also a negative command. The most common source for this is Rabbenu Yona in Shaare Teshuva (Shaar 3 letter 23), where he quotes, a pasuk which is talking about war.
כי תצא למלחמה על איבך וראית סוס ורכב עם רב ממך לא תירא מהם כי ה׳ אלקיך עמך
When you go to war against your enemy, and see their horses and chariots more than yours, don't be afraid of them because Hashem your God is with you.
Lo Tirah means don't be afraid, and although this is seemingly talking about war, Rabbenu Yona applies it to any situation of challenge or threat, whatever it may be..medical, physical, spiritual… not just war.
Don't be afraid of them.
Why does it say, “if you see a nation or an enemy that's more than you?” Why not just say, ‘When you go out to war, don't be afraid.’
I saw a beautiful explanation (I don't remember where, my apologies) that says if you go out to war and you're not afraid, if you say, “Piece of cake, we can handle them. We know what we're doing. We have a strong army, we have good intelligence. We're not afraid of them,” that's a problem.
But when you go out to war and say, “Oh my gosh, they're much more than us! How are we going to handle this?” you have to calm down. You are not handling anything. You never handle anything. It's Hashem that handles it. Once you realize that physically and naturally you don't have the ability to do so, you’re in a better position. When you start getting cocky and overconfident, that's when we have an issue.
As to why it's an Avoda Gedolah, the answer that the Bet Halevi gives is that when somebody is not relying on Hashem, it means that basically, they forgot about Hashem. If you know Hashem is standing there with you, ask Him for help. That's a negative commandment.
השמר לך פן תשכח את ה׳ אלקיך
Beware lest you forget Hashem, your God.
That is one of the most severe sins, as the Semag says in his sefer on Mitzvot-that forgetting God is possibly the most severe sin. Lack of bitachon means you forgot about God.
As a mashal, imagine a young and inexperienced doctor who just received his first job in a hospital. On his first day, the medical director approachs him and says, “If you are ever unsure about something, make sure you call one of the more experienced doctors for assistance.”
Several days later, the new doctor is treating a critically ill patient, and although he knows that he should call for help, he feels uncomfortable about doing so, and therefore begins to operate on the patient himself. Unfortunately, the operation is unsuccessful. The patient does not survive. Moments later, the medical director irately asks, “What were you thinking? Don't you remember what I told you?”The new doctor sheepishly replies, “I did remember, however, I was uncomfortable asking anyone for help.”
The director shouts, “I didn't give you the option to ask for help.
I told you, you must ask for help!”
The same is true with Hashem. Not only does Hashem want us to rely on Him, He commands us to do so, and therefore, if one does not have Bitachon, not only is he losing a great opportunity, but he's also actually committing a great sin. In the mashal, the new doctor was alone in the emergency room and didn't ask for help. An added nuance is that new doctor is in the emergency room and the chief surgeon is sitting right there at the nurses' station. When they ask him, “Why didn't you ask for help?” he says, “Ooh, I didn't realize that the chief surgeon was sitting at the nurses station! I forgot about him.” That is what a lack of bitachon is-forgetting that God is there to help you. Of course, you have to ask Him, but you forgot He’s there!
He’s sitting there! Don't you see Him? Don't you see the chief operator waiting to help?
Oh, you forgot about him? That's a bigger problem. That's the sin of Lo Tishkach and that's the severity of the lack of Bitachon.
All of this is obviously quite related to the times that we're in today.
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