“Raising Ourselves on Bitachon”
The Torah tells us that there are certain people who must leave the army when it fights the milchemes mitzvah, the wars that Klal Yisrael would wage. One of them is the ירא ורך הלבב, the fearful and the faint of heart. Rabbeinu Yonah explains why such a person cannot be part of the war effort. It is “because such a person has not ‘raised himself in the ways of bitachon,’ he hasn’t fine-tuned his middas ha’bitachon in the years leading up to the war” (Mishlei 3:26).
What happened? Why are you so lost? Why are you so fearful of the war? It must be that you haven’t worked on your bitachon concerning all the “small things,” and now that a big event has come, you have no tools with which to navigate it—you do not have enough emunah and bitachon with which to strengthen yourself.
Bitachon Begins with the “Small Things”
Bitachon doesn’t begin when things are difficult—but rather, much earlier. Elsewhere, Rabbeinu Yonah writes an addendum to this point: The pasuk says: Trust Hashem with all your heart, and do not rely on your own wisdom; know Him in all your ways, and He will smoothen your path (Mishlei 3:6).
Explains the Rabbeinu Yonah: People think that bitachon is reserved for “difficult situations,” for the “big things.” When they find themselves in difficult situations, then they remind themselves about bitachon. But this is wrong, says Shlomo HaMelech. Rather, בטח בה’ בכל לבך...trust Hashem with all your heart—when? Continues the pasuk, בכל דרכיך דעהו, know Him in all your ways, not only in regard to the big things, but we must remember Hashem in all our affairs.
Why We Forget
There are two reasons that people tend to forget Hashem in their small affairs, continues Rabbeinu Yonah, and we will analyze his holy words here:
Know that there are people who turn their eyes toward Hashem for their larger affairs (knowing that they are in His hands for these)—for example, when they set out on the seas for business or in a caravan through the desert—however, for the small challenges they do not remember Hashem. And there are two reasons for this: 1) For these events are easy in their eyes, and it is clear to them that they will succeed, 2) or because they don’t have too much at stake (and failure in this regard wouldn’t be catastrophic. Either way, they don’t feel the necessity to turn to Hashem).
Strengthening Bitachon in the Lesser Situations
Says Rabbeinu Yonah: Such a person is wasting an opportunity to grow his bitachon in these lesser situations so it can be there for him in the bigger situations! The avodah is to practice our bitachon when the stakes are low, when it’s easier to trust—thus becoming a true ba’al bitachon—so we are fortified for the more difficult situations in life.
The way to grow in our bitachon is by recognizing Hashem even in the “small” situations—internalizing the fact that we need Him even then, not only in more difficult situations.
When something doesn’t go our way—even a small thing—one must habituate himself to remember that this, too, is from Above, and there is a reason it went this way. It’s not an accident. This is the way that our bitachon will grow and become fortified.
Meriting Sweetness
According to this Rabbeinu Yonah—and according to the aforementioned Maharal, who teaches us that when we have bitachon, everything is transformed for the good—when one toils for his bitachon and invests in his bitachon, recognizing Hashem in all his affairs (even the lesser ones), this will fortify him to be able to trust even when things are more difficult, enabling him to accept Hashem’s will even in those situations, and by acceptance, he will merit a sweetening of those things, as we have outlined above: הבוטח בה’ חסד יסובבנו, one who trusts in Hashem will be surrounded by loving-kindness.
After one has trained himself to accept the small things, and he has fine-tuned his middas ha’bitachon, he will be zocheh that even in more difficult situations, he will be ready to accept Hashem’s will—because “the remedy for yissurim is acceptance”—and it will truly be חסד יסובבנו.
Proof from Life Itself
The greatest proof that Hashem wants us to work from the bottom up, beginning with the smaller things, is from life itself.
We find that Hashem has designed our lives in a way that the worries and challenges only grow as we get older. Life begins quite simply for a child, and as the years pass, there is much more to worry about (childrearing, marrying off children, health concerns that come with age, etc., etc.).
This is because HaKadosh Baruch Hu wants us to grow in our bitachon slowly-but-surely—beginning with the small things and fortifying our middas ha’bitachon gradually. When a small thing doesn’t go your way, remember that it was designed that way by Hashem, and accept it b’ahavah. This will make a person a vessel to have bitachon when he ages and life inevitably brings more severe challenges. And you will be ready—and it will be as natural to you as when you endured the smaller challenges—because you have gradually fortified your bitachon.
Assuring Us All the Way to Salvation
In the same vein, we find an incredible pshat from Rabbi Avrohom ben HaGra in the words that we say in Shemoneh Esrei משען ומבטח לצדיקים, Hashem is a support and a source of trust for tzaddikim:
Even before the salvation arrives, Hashem, in His kindness, gives us smaller assurances that it will ultimately come. Hashem is a support to us so that we don’t lose our bitachon until the yeshuah arrives.
We find this in Mitzrayim, where Hashem made miracles even before the Bnei Yisrael were liberated, in order that they should have the bitachon to follow Hashem into the Wilderness, and the same is found in the Purim narrative, where Hashem elevated Mordechai even before the final salvation—all in order to give hope and assurance; משען ומבטח, in order for us to trust.
Our Bitachon Grows Together with Our Challenges
To whom is Hashem a support and an assurance? To the tzaddikim who trust in Him! As noted, life is designed to go from easier to more challenging. At first, Hashem gives us an easier “test,” because He wants to reward us. If one has bitachon and he remembers Hashem in those easier situations, he will 1) be helped, and 2) gain stronger bitachon that will be there for him in more difficult situations.
Then comes a second, more difficult test. And since a person has grown through the smaller challenges, he is prepared to take on this challenge of acceptance b’ahavah—because bitachon has become a habit for him.
And so it goes, step-by-step, gradually becoming more challenging as his bitachon grows and he is able to take on these challenges—and a Yid is rewarded in kind, in greater and greater measure.
Advancing Age—Opportunities for Growth
This yesod from Rabbeinu Yonah—that life works in gradual stages—helps us understand a phenomenon that we often observe. Sometimes it seems that as people grow older, their problems increase. One problem comes, and one thinks, “OK, this will be my life’s challenge. After all, everyone must go through something.” Then comes another problem, and a third, R”l.
And the same is true of people around us: It seems to us that as they become older, their challenges increase, and we begin to understand why people’s beards become white with age....
But, in fact, the opposite is true!
From Above, our lives are designed to have opportunities for growth in bitachon in a gradual way, from the bottom up. When a Yid has a small problem, and he remembers Hashem and trusts Hashem, this enables him to grow in levels of bitachon—opening the door to greater and greater light and reward. And this is why the challenges increase with age, because by then our bitachon has been honed to a higher level, and we are able to take on more difficult challenges with true faith and trust.
Afraid to Trust....
This also explains the phenomenon that some people are afraid to have bitachon because they perceive that sometimes ba’alei bitachon are given greater challenges. They would prefer to remain at that same low level of bitachon—because they perceive that they’ll be tested with a more difficult nisayon according to their level.
But the truth is that what they are really observing is the exact opposite.
This person who is observing the ba’al bitachon from the sidelines sees greater and greater pain—pain that he cannot fathom—and he says, “Who would ever want to be in that situation?” But in reality, these smaller challenges don’t even hurt the ba’al bitachon—not emotionally, because he has learned to accept it with love—and not even physically, because it doesn’t hurt him as much as it would someone who doesn’t have that bitachon.
When we hone our bitachon through accepting the smaller challenges, those situations cease to hurt us: We are strong and fortified against pain, and the growth in bitachon—as “the remedy for yissurim is acceptance”—only continues to grow.
