Having Nothing but Hashem
Who Is Wealthy?
Sometimes, true wealth comes not from money or assets, but from the bliss of bitachon, as the following story illustrates:
The Brisker Rav was bequeathed an entire street of homes in Warsaw by his wealthy father-in-law, so that he’d be able to sit and learn with peace of mind. When he saw that collecting the rent and dealing with other matters related to the apartments caused too many distractions, he hired someone he thought was a trusted property manager to tend to the real estate.
In the meantime, World War I broke out, and the Brisker Rav escaped. When he returned to Warsaw, he learned that the property manager had since passed on—but not before he had transferred all the apartments to his own name, swindling the Brisker Rov out of his entire fortune!
Devastated, the Brisker Rav sat down to learn Chovos HaLevavos, Sha’ar HaBitachon—dozens of times—and then he said: “Until now I thought that a wealthy person is one who owns an entire street in Warsaw. Now I know that a truly wealthy person is one who constantly learns Chovos HaLevavos—for the serenity and the joy that bitachon brings cannot be attained by even an entire street in Warsaw!”
The Brisker Rav understood that had he remained with the street in Warsaw, if he’d been asked about his financial situation, he would have answered, “Nu, nu”—just as we find people today who have 50 million or 100 million in the bank, and they’re still crushed by the weight of business responsibilities and concerns, always looking over their shoulder so that they shouldn’t be taken advantage of; as Chazal taught us, דאגה, מרבה נכסים מרבה one who increases his belongings also increases worry. But now that he had acquired the Chovos HaLevavos, he acquired bitachon; life is good.... There is no one more blissful; as David HaMelech told us, בך, בוטח אדם אשרי fortunate is one who trusts in You.
Hope, and Hope Again
Indeed, the Brisker Rav, who had internalized the bliss and the joy of reliance purely on Hashem, said the following peshat on the words אל קוה ה›, אל וקוה לבך ויאמץ חזק ה› hope to Hashem, strengthen your heart, and hope to Hashem. Why are we told twice to hope to Hashem—and he explained:
One who trusts purely in Hashem has tremendous pleasure from this. The reason that one whose bitachon is so strong has so much pleasure is because he has only this: his trust in Hashem. He has no “street in Warsaw.” For had he had a “street in Warsaw” [i.e., assured income and assets], he would trust a little bit in those assets... not purely in Hashem. It is only because he has nothing but Hashem, and he trusts purely in Hashem, that he achieves so much pleasure in Hashem.
Therefore, Hashem doesn’t give him a “street in Warsaw,” so as not to blemish the person’s pleasure of absolute trust in Him. He doesn’t provide him with his parnassah forty years in advance—for this will rob him of the pleasure of absolute trust.
And this is why we say to “hope to Hashem” twice: If someone places his hope in Hashem, the Ribbono shel Olam places him in a situation wherein he must strengthen himself and then again, קוה ה', אל he will live with the pleasure that comes with hope and trust in Hashem for all his life.
This is a yesod that we must constantly internalize. Once a person recognizes that he has nothing... he has no ideas and no methods... he feels completely dependent on Hashem—then he lives with the feeling that his entire chiyus comes only from Above, for there is nothing else that can give him life.
There are many levels regarding this, and it isn’t black and white—but as a rule, when a person finds himself in a situation in which he doesn’t have what he needs, and he relies only and completely on Hashem, his eyes and his heart are turned only to Him, then he is connected to HaKadosh Baruch Hu, and when someone is connected to HaKadosh Baruch Hu, he experiences the greatest pleasure possible on earth.
