Creating New Shefa Through True Bittul to Ratzon Hashem
“Life Wisdom” Is the First Step
We have elaborated on the difference between life experience and wisdom (which is also rooted in the Torah, and which generally assures us that things will turn out okay) and true reliance upon Hashem, which comes with emunah and bitachon. Understanding this difference, we can properly navigate life in all the situations it presents us.
The Ribbono shel Olam created every person with a precise cheshbon and a precise plan for the way his life will go. Every person has a pre-ordained journey that he will need to traverse. Certain aspects of his passage bring a person pleasure, while others are less enjoyable... but we must know that prior to coming down to This World, our neshamah agreed to all of it, because it recognized the purpose and the ultimate mission within the journey.
However, when a person finds himself with the negative effects of these life events, he doesn’t want to accept it. “I was enjoying a smooth and uneventful life, and now this unexpected event happened to me,” he complains.
Proper Thoughts of Wisdom
This is where a Yid must employ his “life wisdom and experience.” He must reiterate to himself that he can’t change reality in any case, so he may as well make peace with the situation. Calm down. Don’t invest money or energy into trying to change it—because this is the mission for which you came down to This World. The entire purpose of coming down to This World was only for this challenge. “If so, instead of exhausting my energy on fighting reality, I will accept my situation. There are so many other things going right in my life... I will choose that this aspect of my life will not bother me.”
Then Come Emunah and Bitachon
This is called חיים חכמת, and this is the wise course according to the Torah—because the Ribbono shel Olam doesn’t want us to fight what He has ordained for us. The ratzon Hashem is for us to allow ourselves to be led according to His plan.
But a Yid must ascend to the next level. We haven’t come down to This World only so things won’t bother us... our purpose of existence isn’t simply to “accept our circumstances” and move on. We have come down to the world to recognize that there’s a G-d in the world.
When we encounter a difficult situation and not only don’t we allow it to affect us—we accept it and we “make peace” with it—we are compared to a child whose father punishes him and the child says, “It doesn’t even hurt.” Our true purpose is to embrace the situation—and to remember the One Who placed us in this situation.
I don’t feel pained by the situation, because there’s a higher purpose here, and I rely completely on Hashem that this is good for me. I am joyful despite being in a state of fear or danger. I strengthen myself amid the challenge and assure myself that things will improve—not because “it will be good...” but because the Ribbono shel Olam is a ומטיב טוב, and He will surely do what is best for me.
Striving Higher
A Yid must not be satisfied with simply going through life distracting himself from unpleasant feelings; he must strive for more.
When a non-Jew experiences a difficulty, there are a several ways he can distract himself from it. He may consume alcohol in order to forget his problems. He may take substances that numb his pain, or he may go on vacations to get fresh air and distract himself with fun activities. If his parents have raised him with wisdom, he may even employ the strategy of understanding that nothing good will come from dwelling on the problem, and that it is best to accept the situation and move on.
But if a Yid employs the same thinking—simply skating by through distraction so as not to become depressed by his challenges—he has only accomplished fifty percent of the goal. Yes, he’s not fighting his situation, and his life will be more serene. This is rooted in the Torah. Because if it aligns with the “wisdom of our world” (of which the Torah is a blueprint), then it is consistent with the wisdom of Torah. But a Yid didn’t descend to the world for mediocrity.
A Yid came down to This World in order to be davuk in Hashem, and to connect with the Ribbono shel Olam through the situations in which he is placed. If a Yid were to employ emunah and bitachon in these situations, he will not only be calm and serene, he will attain his תכלית החיים, his purpose in his life.
The Third Step: Drawing Down New Shefa
And then comes the third stage. After a Yid was successful in his emunah and bitachon... he has attained serenity and calm by completely relying on the Ribbono shel Olam... he will have a tremendous secret of the Torah revealed to him, a secret that was revealed to Klal Yisrael alone—a secret is unique to those who have been given the Torah. And what is that secret? That things can change! That there is a solution to every problem, even the most difficult one.
It’s like a person who comes into a very busy attorney’s office with a very complex legal problem, and there are many people in the waiting room. He approaches the lawyer who tells him, “I’m sorry, but I can’t help you.” But then he winks to him to wait until everyone else has left. Later, when the office is empty, the lawyer shares with him, “There is a mehalech for you to extricate yourself from this problem. I just didn’t want everyone to hear it....”
Connecting to the Source of Shefa
After going through the stage of “life experience and wisdom,” that is, our reason and logic that dictate that we shouldn’t dwell on our problems or fight with them... but rather to accept them and move on.... And after experiencing the stage of emunah and bitachon in which a person nullifies himself completely to ratzon Hashem, and understands that it’s what is best for him.... then the secret is revealed to a person how he can change his situation. This secret wasn’t given to everyone—it is only for the Jewish People.
The Torah HaKedoshah has revealed to us that when a Yid becomes davuk in Hashem, he connects with the Source of all Shefa, and through this he draws down a renewed channel of Shefa. A Yid has the ability to create new worlds and new realities of wonderful Shefa.
But this secret can’t be shared with every child... because then, everyone with a complex case would come into the courtroom and yell out to judge that he has a way out of the verdict. Of course, the judge will send him away... because this isn’t meant to be shared publicly. This secret isn’t doled out “over the counter” for everyone who comes in....
Bitachon with Pure Intentions
It is a secret of the holy Torah that when a Yid connects himself to the Ribbono shel Olam with pure intentions—for its own sake—then he will connect to the source of shefa and this will open a torrent of השפעות טובות for him.
But if a person takes these measures simply in order to make his life easier—he uses bitachon, tefillah, tzedakah, segulos, etc. for the sole purpose of extricating himself from the situation, then he won’t attain the maximum benefit that comes with emunah and bitachon.
He won’t even be able to attain basic serenity, because he has invested so much into these measures, and when they don’t work, he will become frustrated with all the segulos.... He misunderstood. He heard that there’s a secret of connecting with shefa, but he didn’t do so with a pure intention.
The secret works only when a person wants to connect with the Ribbono shel Olam. If his entire thought is how can I change my situation, he hasn’t connected with the Ribbono shel Olam or accepted His will. If so, it won’t work. He bangs on the door for the segulah and the shefa, but the door is shuttered, R”l.
