Through Ironclad Emunah, We Receive the Gift of Menuchas Hanefesh
The Way to the Heart is Through the Mind
We have been speaking about acquiring the incredible serenity and menuchas hanefesh that bitachon provides—but how do we acquire bitachon in the first place? The answer is: By strengthening ourselves with thoughts of emunah, as the Ramban writes (sefer Emunah uBitachon, Perek Aleph) “Emunah is the tree, and bitachon is the fruit.”
This means that the feeling of bitachon is an outgrowth of emunah, and the more a person internalizes the emunah, the belief, that the Ribbono shel Olam runs the entire world, that He is good and He does good, and the more he will work with these thoughts every day, the more he will merit the wholeness of the soul that comes with bitachon.
Every Yid can elevate his mind over his heart, הלב על שליט מח. His heart must become serene, his nefesh complete, and the way to accomplish this is through the mind. When we inculcate our minds with thoughts and knowledge of emunah and bitachon, they will make their way to our hearts. The conduit for reaching our hearts is through our minds, which influence our hearts to live with a proper bitachon in Hashem.
Ruling the Heart
It is well known that during the war between the Emperor Napoleon and Russia, there was a debate among the tzaddikim of the generation regarding whom they wanted to win. The Ba’al HaTanya famously wanted Russia to win, and he sent his devoted chassid Reb Moshe Meislish to work as a spy in Napoleon’s army. In this capacity, he met Napoleon on a number of occasions, and once, the French ruler suspected him of being a spy.
To test Reb Moshe, Napoleon shouted, “You’re a spy!” and then he immediately placed his hand on Reb Moshe’s heart to see if it began to beat more heavily. But Reb Moshe kept his cool, and his heart didn’t race even a beat faster. When he was later asked by chassidim how he was able to remain so calm, he answered simply; “Didn’t the Rebbe teach us that our minds must rule our hearts?”
Every Yid Can Have This Gift
The concept of הלב על שליט מח, the mind rules the heart, an work for every person—even in a situation where they find themselves in great fear. Bitachon can bring the nefesh tremendous wholeness, so that he doesn’t worry at all.
The more a Yid thinks about the yesodos of emunah, the more his heart becomes complete. By reviewing and remembering the yesodos of emunah in his mind, his heart will not become scattered, even in the most difficult circumstances that would ordinarily overtake him and confuse him.
Gather the Facets of the Soul Through the Magnet of Bitachon
Generally, the nefesh of a person is scattered in numerous places. It’s like a person who has lent money to multiple people, and when he needs a large sum of money, he must gather the funds from numerous places, and it takes him months to collect the money from all the places where it has been scattered. The same applies to the nefesh of the person; it is scattered. From the outside he may seem calm, but there are parts of his soul that are scattered in many places.
Now, when he wants to gather his soul, the Torah says to him: You don’t have to wear yourself out trying to gather your nefesh from all the places where it has been scattered. Don’t go anywhere! Take a magnet... begin working with the proper thoughts of bitachon, and in this way you will draw together all the facts of your nefesh. Through the emunah in your mind, you will gather all the facets of your soul, and your nefesh will become whole, you will attain הנפש שלימות, serenity and calm.
Wholeness of the Soul When Learning Torah
There’s an incredible teaching from the Tiferes Yisrael (a commentary on Mishnayos), on the Mishnah in Pirkei Avos that teaches us תורתך עשה קבע, make your Torah learning a fixed practice. He enumerates several ways a person can make his Torah learning constant.
While the simple understanding is to make our learning a fixed practice—not missing even one day of limud haTorah—the Tiferes Yisrael explains that קבע also denotes being fully present when learning Torah...as if to say that the person is here to stay. He is fully here in his learning. For learning with a scatteredness is extremely damaging to the acquisition of Torah and to the memorization of Torah. This is especially true if a person is scattered due to worries; he cannot learn properly, because he lacks הנפש. שלימות
“Making our learning קבע, permanent,” says the Tiferes Yisrael, means having our entire nefesh and being calm regarding any worries, so as to properly concentrate on learning. Because הנפש שלימות doesn’t simply mean being serene—although serenity is a part of it—it means being fully present when learning.
Being Fully Present
The Tiferes Yisrael further states that even when a person is overly joyful, he can’t learn properly—because his excitement takes away his concentration... his nefesh is not fully present. It is occupied with other thoughts and feelings.
And this is the point we’re discussing here: The true definition of menuchas hanefesh is when a person has all parts of his nefesh in any given situation that he finds himself. Because excessive worry, and even excessive excitement, causes a scattering of the nefesh that interferes with Torah and avodas Hashem. A true ba’al bitachon can always have the proper meunchas hanefesh and be fully present, no matter the circumstances. This is the definition of menuchas hanefesh.
With Bitachon We Can Always Access Our Entire Nefesh
When we understand this, we can also answer the following question: How can we say that a person should always have menuchas hanefesh? Aren’t there times when a person must become excited? To feel fear in the proper time... to feel warmth in the proper time...? How can we say that a person should always be serene?!
This question is valid only if we think that menuchas hanefesh means that we’re apathetic, and we don’t move from place—to be an unfeeling person. But if we know the truth, that menuchas hanefesh means to always have our nefesh in its completeness then there is no question at all, for the nefesh can be present in all its parts, no matter the situation, despite what we feel.
There are several ways to awaken the nefesh. Sometimes, the nefesh and the heart must be aroused to love Hashem, and sometimes they must be awakened to fear Hashem; it’s not always the same situation. But a Yid who had menuchas hanefesh always finds himself with a complete nefesh; he has complete ahavah, complete yirah, etc.
The Entire Nefesh Pines for the Beis HaMikdash
Foe example, sometimes a person must be in a state of yearning and pining for the Final Redemption and the building of the Beis HaMikdash. He sings with tremendous yearning for Hashem to return to His sanctuary on This World. He is in a state of completeness of his soul as tears of yearning run down his cheeks—because his entire nefesh is present in that state.
In general, it is known that song is the pen of the soul. A song can express the innermost feelings of the soul, whether when he is joyful or when he wants to daven for something or yearn for something. His singing gathers all the parts of his nefesh and unites them into one expression of his feeling.
This is the definition of menuchas hanefesh. For, beyond his nefesh not being scattered, menuchas hanefesh also means that a person is aware and cognizant of which way he is meant to be awakened at any given time— always being prepared and able to place all the parts of his nefesh and essence into that feeling or endeavor.
Only Through Bitachon
And to attain that level of completeness and menuchas hanefesh, one must possess much emunah and bitachon, which enable all the parts of his soul to remain together and untouched. Bitachon that everything will be provided to him gives a person the calmness—not being rattled by anything from the outside—to hold together all the parts of his nefesh, ensuring that they all present completely in whatever a person must be doing at any given time.
It is only through emunah and bitachon that a person can attain completeness of the soul.
