A person sits comfortably in his home and trusts that Hashem will do everything for him and will send him all his needs.
If this is how things were meant to be, we wouldn’t need to invest so much in learning emunah and bitachon. Indeed, the reality is different. We have the obligation to do hishtadlus – this is a must. We do not have the right to exempt ourselves from it. On the other hand, our bitachon in Hashem needs to be only in Him, as though we ourselves haven’t done anything.
The melding of bitachon and hishtadlus is the work of our lives. We need to learn to recognize the fine line between necessary hishtadlus and extraneous hishtadlus, and we need to differentiate between true bitachon and what might be laziness or apathy. There is much work to be done!
In the beginning of the fourth chapter of Chovos Halevavos, Rabbenu Bachyai explains that a person is obligated to try to do things that will lead toward his goal and to choose the way that seems to bring him there, but at the same time, he must recall that Hashem will do what He has already decreed.
Let us take, for example, a farmer: He heard about bitachon, and he decided: Why should I work the fields? I’ll sit at home, and my good Father on High will send His blessings, and the fruits will grow. He sat and waited a day, then two, a month, then two months, but nothing grew in his neglected field. He did not plant, and so he did not harvest.
We learn that this is not the proper way. Whoever received a plot of land for his parnassah from Hashem is obligated to work the field or to send workers to do the work. He cannot expect anything if he does nothing. The field is, obviously, just an example. It can be a store, a business, a certain skill that can be used to earn parnassah, and more.
A person is obligated to do hishtadlus as his logic indicates, when it is clear to him that Hashem yisbarach is pleased with his work. How do we know this? When the hishtadlus is in sync with Hashem’s laws, as stated in the Shulchan Aruch, then it is correct to invest his thought and deeds in order to attain the results he wants, with Hashem’s help.
At the same time, one must remember at every stage that what happens ultimately is what the Creator Alone determined!
When does a person know if he is doing the right thing? When he is tested, he can find out. Sometimes Hashem sends obstructions to block a person’s efforts: Merchandise that came in late, a competing business, a nisayon with a mitzvah while working, a problem with one of the workers or with an acquaintance. Then the person can see how he reacts: If he forgets that parnassah is min haShamyim and shows how he believes in his own hishtadlus, if he gets angry, if he blames various circumstances, if he worries about what he doesn’t have, if he worries about what will be in the future, if he eats himself up over the past.... He is filled with blame and regret – why did I allow this, why did I think that, why did I do this or that, or take that, or sign that... His whole life is filled with pain and worry.
But the person who remembers that his hishtadlus is simply an obligation and a decree of the Creator, and in truth there is no connection between his hishtadlus and his success – his reaction to the problem will be completely different. He takes every difficulty in stride. If parnassah comes at the price of halachah, he refrains from doing anything, for he believes that the desirable hishtadlus is the one that is in sync with the Shulchan Aruch. He isn’t lazy; he does what needs to be done, acts logically, and awaits Hashem’s yeshuah. If, for example, he’s dealing with a medical issue, he won’t say, “Whatever will be will be; I’m not going to a doctor, or, I won’t do what he tells me. Hashem will save me.” Rabbenu Bachyai teaches that Hashem wants us to do what we need to do. But if an appointment with a certain doctor is canceled, we remain calm, for we know that everything comes from Hashem yisbarach for our good.
Chazal have always taught us that the acts we do as hishtadlus are meant to hide Hashem’s miraculous hashgachah with our actions. Nowadays as well, when the Creator does miracles and wonders for us, we need to take action in order to be blessed in everything we do. It is good advice to repeat, while doing hishtadlus, “Cast your burden on Hashem, and He will provide for you.” When we do this we will merit to see the enactment of the passuk in Parshas Re’eh: “Hashem will bless you in all your deeds and in all the work of your hands”; amen.
