A Thought on Bitachon
From the shiurim on Kav Hashgacha Pratis
When He Doesn’t Think about How to Profit, His Yeshuah Will Come
“Emunas refers to Seder Zera’im” because the nature that Hashem embedded in the world is that when one plants a seed, it will not sprout and grow fruit until it rots below the surface of the earth. Likewise regarding emunah, so long as a person thinks that his plans are what will help him, he will not see a true yeshuah. This is the connection between planting and emunah, and this reality was clearly evident when Bnei Yisrael received the mann in the desert, without engaging in any business or making any effort. Am Yisrael did not understand in what merit they were receiving the mann, and Moshe Rabbenu told them, “This is the bread that Hashem has given you to eat.” This is how parnassah works: When a person does not think of more ideas about how to profit, but rather strengthens his emunah, then he will see a yeshuah. This is how the King of the world established reality. (Ginzei Yisrael, Beshalach)
With Every Business Dealing One Must Realize that He Will Succeed Only through Hashem’s Chessed
Although there are people who need to engage in some form of business, their dealings need to be carried out faithfully. This is the first question that a person is asked about when he is judged on High (Shabbos 31a). “Emunas” means that he is not like those who deal in business and feel that it is their own abilities that bring them success. Rather, he throws out seeds, covers them with earth so that they do not get lost or die, and waits for Hashem to have mercy on him and bring dew and winds, until he joyfully reaps the results of his harvest and carries off his bundles. This is why zera’im is called emunah. And likewise every form of business should be carried out faithfully, with emunah, meaning that he should believe that when he is buying or selling or lending or borrowing, he is like the person who throws out seeds to the ground – only through Hashem’s chessed will his actions have the desired results. (Sheiv Shematasa, Introduction, 5)
Through Planting We See How Hashem Sustains Us
“Emunas refers to Seder Zera’im.” This means that because Hashem provides a person’s livelihood, it is fitting for him to believe in Hashem for all matters. This concept is expressed in the Yerushalmi as well – that a person “believes in Hashem Who is the Source of all life, and therefore he plants,” meaning that the fact that he is sowing the seeds demonstrates that Hashem provides a person’s livelihood, and when Hashem provides for him, he will place his trust in Him. (Maharal, Agados HaShas, ibid.)
A Person’s Emunah Is Expressed through What Seems to Be Natural
The heiligeh Rebbe of Strikov zt”l said: In Poland, people were accustomed to saying that the words of the Yerushalmi (that a person “believes in Hashem Who is the Source of all life, and therefore he plants”) need explanation, since they seem to imply that only someone who believes in Hashem will plant, and this seems strange, because all types of apostates and nonbelievers work the land and plant things, believing that sometimes they will succeed and sometimes they won’t. So what does it mean that emunah refers to planting?
The explanation is that a Yid who believes in the Ribono shel Olam knows that all his needs and provisions come from Him, and all his work is only hishtadlus, which is demanded of a person because it was decreed that he must work for his sustenance. However, the success of one’s parnassah has nothing to do with how hard he works.
In all other types of work, such as in business, the person himself senses that he needs siyata diShmaya in order to succeed, and he feels the Hand of Hashem sending him his needs, but when a person plants in the ground it is harder to believe this, for it seems as though the more he invests in his field and exerts effort to fertilize and tend to his crops, the more he succeeds, and therefore it seems that in this case his parnassah comes through his own powers.
Therefore the Gemara talks about a person who “works his field and believes in Hashem.” If even regarding something that looks so much like nature, he feels that everything depends on siyata diShmaya, then there is greater proof of the validity of his emunah, and there is a great chiddush in his believing that Hakadosh Baruch Hu sends him parnassah. Therefore, emunah is most clearly demonstrated through his planting. (Daf al Daf)
