Bitachon Is a Nekudah Within Our Hearts
Let us conclude with two practical points:
The Chovos HaLevavos writes here that the essence of bitachon is that one’s heart should be reliant on the One upon Whom he relies. This means that bitachon is a feeling in the heart.
The same word is used in HaMaspik l’Ovdei Hashem, authored by Rabbi Avraham ben HaRambam—a sefer that establishes many important tenets of bitachon. He writes: להשמר משאלותיו בהשגת יתעלה ה' על נשען הלב שיהא תועלת איזה ולהשיג ההיזק מן, the heart should be reliant and supported on Hashem in attaining one’s desires, to be shielded from damage, or to achieve any benefit.
We also see this word in Tehillim in relation to bitachon. לבי בטח בו ונעזרתי, in Him my heart trusted and I was helped (Tehillim 28:7), and לבו נכון בה' בטוח, his heart is firm, confident in Hashem (ibid. 112:7).
The Heart Can Feel Either Pain or Kirvas Elokim
The heart of a person is the place where all his problems originate. The heart causes fear, jealousy, worry, anxiety, etc. All our unpleasant feelings result from a lack of chiyus to the heart, and from this stems worry, pain, and sadness.
But when a person has bitachon, he essentially takes his heart and throws it onto the Ribbono shel Olam. He thinks proper thoughts, and he remembers that he has already seen the ה' יד so clearly so many times. This returns the chiyus to his heart! Now, he no longer feels all the unpleasant feelings. On the contrary, he feels the pleasure of closeness to Hashem!
Every time a Yid experiences situations that cause him pain but refo- cuses that pain and thinks thoughts of emunah and bitachon, this brings him new chiyus from Hashem, and all the pain leaves his heart.
The Heart That Hashem Wants from Us
This is the deeper meaning of the words in Chazal, בעי ליבא רחמנא, the Ribbono shel Olam wants our hearts (Sanhedrin 106b). A person cannot give his heart completely to the Ribbono shel Olam without being a true ba’al bitachon. Only after one has acquired complete bitachon can his heart be wholly given over to the Ribbono shel Olam. This is a life’s work, and this is what Chazal refer to when they say that Hashem desires our hearts.
How can we tell if a person has given his heart away to the Ribbono shel Olam? When he has many reasons to be pained, and he simply doesn’t go there. He’s not sad or worried, and he also doesn’t turn to foreign sources of chiyus in order to soothe himself—not by turning to humans for security and not by distracting himself from his troubles. His entire chiyus and comfort are derived from remembering the truth and relying completely on the Ribbono shel Olam. This is what it means to give our hearts away to Hashem.
