He's in good hands. He’s in the most protected bomb shelter; he knows that Hakadosh Baruch Hu is at his side, watching over him and protecting him.
And therefore, there's nothing to worry about. He is guaranteed to be protected. This is the power of bitachon. Bitachon brings Yeshuos. Bitachon brings guaranteed protection. And someone who lives with bitachon won't have any worries and won’t be afraid, because he knows that he's going to be protected.
One might ask, one second. Who says that I'm guaranteed to be protected if I have bitachon in Hakadosh Baruch Hu? Me? I'm not a tzaddik. I’m not so good. I’ve done aveiros. I don't have so many good deeds. I don't deserve to merit Hakadosh Baruch Hu's protection. So how could we say that he's guaranteed to be protected just by having bitachon? And the answer to this is, that the pasuk tells us, “One who has bitachon in Hashem is surrounded by chessed.”
When it comes to bitachon, we rely on the Ribono Shel Olam. Why? Because we deserve it? No. When we rely on Hashem, we're relying on His chessed to surround us. Chessed is unconditional; even though we don't deserve it.
And the Midrash adds: “Even a rosha, even someone who did aveiros, even that person, if he has bitachon, Hakadosh Baruch Hu will take care of him.” Bitachon isn’t conditional on deserving it. Bitachon means we're going to merit Hakadosh Baruch Hu's chessed, even though we don't deserve it.
When someone needs to go to a doctor, when they get to the doctor's office, before the appointment, before they even see the doctor, the office is going to ask, “Do you have insurance? How are you going to cover this visit?” If someone needs a medical procedure, the doctor's office is going to make sure the insurance will cover it. If not, you're going to pay out of pocket. That’s the first question: how are you going to pay?
This is when it comes to a doctor's office. Business is business. Before the doctor will see you, they have to make sure you're going to pay.
But imagine, you're sitting around with a number of people, and all of the sudden, someone just collapses on the floor. You'll immediately jump up and take your phone and call Hatzolah. And Hatzolah will come and help out and take care of whatever is necessary to be done. Is Hatzolah going to charge you? No. How do you know that they’re going to come? Because that’s Hatzolah, they want to do chessed, they want to help you.
The Hatzolah members joined Hatzolah because they like helping, they like doing chessed. And you have no doubt if Hatzolah is going to come. You know they will come. You're not paying for Hatzolah to come. But you know they will come. It doesn’t matter who you are. When it comes to Hatzolah, they're ready to do chessed, even though you don't deserve it.
When we turn to Hakadosh Baruch Hu and we're relying on Hakadosh Baruch Hu that he's going to protect us, we're relying on Hakadosh Baruch Hu that he'll send us yeshuos. We are relying on Hakadosh Baruch Hu’s chessed. Why? Because we deserve it? If we're relying on Hakadosh Baruch Hu because we deserve it, then we need to pay up, like the doctor's office. You want services? Pay up. And if we're going to rely because we deserve something from Hakadosh Baruch Hu, then we need to be concerned, שמא י גרום החטא, maybe the fact that we’re not such good Jews will ruin it.
But the pasuk tells us when we rely on Hakadosh Baruch Hu, when it comes to bitachon, the principle is that, “one who trusts in Hashem is surrounded by chessed.” It’s like Hatzolah; we know they will show up, they will come to help out, because every member of Hatzolah wants to help, they want to do chessed. This is what bitachon is all about.
We rely on Hakadosh Baruch Hu that he'll do with us chessed, even though we don't deserve it. And this is what we could merit if we have bitachon in Hakadosh Baruch Hu. We can be guaranteed to be protected. We can be guaranteed that we'll see yeshuos. And this is what the Torah is telling us what we should strengthen ourselves in at the time of war.
The Torah is telling us, at the time of war, there's a prohibition in the Torah, לא תירא מהם, don't be afraid. You know why? Because Hakadosh Baruch Hu is at your side, watching over you, protecting you from the enemy. This is what you should strengthen yourself in at a time of war. We should strengthen our bitachon in Hakadosh Baruch Hu, and this will be a zechus to protect over us, and our families.
