Novardok
The best way to work on Bitachon is to make a joke of the situation. I know a Yungerman who rarely visits a doctor. Whenever he has aches and pains, he plays them down and he laughs at them. Even when they are quite scary and persistent, he continues yelling at himself: “Stop looking for trouble and self-pity”. He has tremendous Hatzlacha, with Hashem’s help. He is a true and fearless: בּוֹטֵ חַ בַּ ה' Baal Bitachon. They say that the Chazon Ish said that if we had made fun of the Haskalah, we would have destroyed it. In Novardok, laughing at the Yetzer Hara was #1.
That’s why they were so pure, practically without any Yetzer Hara, since they saw through the silliness of Kin'ah, Ta'ava, and Kavod. And, of course, the source of the worst evil is exactly this very same Midda of Leitzanus and disrespecting, as the Torah tells again and again: וַיִ בֶ ז עֵ שָ ו א ת הַ בְּ כֹ רָ ה תולדות כה לד Eisav scorned the Bechora. וַתֵ קַ ל גְ בִ רְ תָ הּ בְּ עֵ ינ יהָ לך טז ד Hagar looked down at Sara. וַתֵ ר א שָ רָ ה א ת בּ ן הָ גָר מְׁ צַ חֵ ק וירא כא ט Yishmael was ridiculing. אַ ל יֹ סֵ ף פַ רְ עֹ ה הָ תֵ ל וארא ח כה Paroh, stop making a joke! The main Tayna that Moshe had on Paroh was his mockery, by not sticking to his word.
People don’t respect Avodas Hashem properly. I was told that in Bais Yosef on 49th St. in Boro Park, the Oilam was dead serious on Yamim Nora'im (but yet very happy). When R’ B. Z. Bruk Zatzal spoke in BMG, the Oilam sensed that he was in his own world, and every word he said was very serious. He wasn’t involved in how well the Oilam was listening, or what a great speaker he was.
The words of Mussar that he said were alive and real. He was a true Oved Hashem, not a speaker, etc. He wasn’t distracted by wanting to impress in a strange place and in a giant world-famous Yeshiva. Being commercial and impressing others wasn’t part of Novardok culture. They were truly worried only about what’s Hashem’s opinion, not humans.
When I was in Australia, I had a conversation with an intelligent Arab. He told me that respect is everything, and without respect there is “nothing cooking”. There can’t be any relationship or any seriousness; it’s all worthless. The #1 in a person’s life: RESPECT! Make sure that Zil'zul and: הִ תְ עַ לַ לְ תִ י mockery is utilized in a positive way, i.e., to belittle those who have no respect for the truth of human existence.
The whole problem of Arayos is being cheap without respect (like a Zonah), and: כָל כְ בוּדָ ה בַ ת מ ל ךְ פְ נִ ימָ ה תהלים מה יד the Kavod of a princess is her Tz'niyus (concealment). Tz'niyus means respect for the rules; and Yishmael, Eisav, and Mitzrayim were all notorious in this weakness. A person needs to channel his Geshmak for Leitzanus in the right direction, like the Novardok Shabbos Shuva Drasha where the Alter Zatzal gave a 4-hour Shmuess making fun of the Yetzer Hara (and the Oilam was rolling!)
