The Pauper Can Have Gan Eden on This World
Poverty May Be Part of His Life’s Mission
As we learn the sugya of bitachon as it relates to parnassah, we must emphasize a point that we have not yet touched upon. It is an extremely important point, for if we don’t know this, it may cause people to conclude that bitachon doesn’t work, chas v’shalom.
There is a concept that a person may have been born with the mehalech and mission that he will be poor his entire life. Even if he makes all the effort possible, even if he has tremendous bitachon, it may remain his mission in life to be poor—and this is no contradiction at all with the feeling of serenity and good fortune that comes to the ba’al bitachon.
All for Your Ultimate Purpose
Chazal have already told us in the Mishnah (Kiddushin 82b): ... one should ask for mercy from the One to Whom all wealth and assets belong—for neither wealth nor poverty comes from the trade in which you are engaged. Thus, even if he’s occupied with the finest, most profitable work, it is still possible that a person will remain poor.
If it is ordained for a person to be poor, R”l, it doesn’t mean that he will die of hunger, R”l. And if a person did die due to hunger, it means that his time to depart the world had arrived in any case. But in general, the Chovos HaLevavos confirms: We are assured by the Ribbono shel Olam that every person will have everything he needs in order to live. However, sometimes, when it is ordained for a person to be poor, this shefa will come to him with great restriction and lack, which will cause the person incredible difficulty and pain.
All of this is the result of Heavenly calculations. Just as the Hashgachah Elyonah ordains that a person should be born to the parents that he has, or with a specific health situation, or with other challenges, so too, the Hashgachah will sometimes ordain that a person be born with the nisayon of poverty. Despite the fact that he is upstanding and pious, and possesses much bitachon, this person will be poor. No matter what he does, he will not succeed in changing this, because this is his purpose on This World.
The Pauper Who’s Surrounded by Success
What will happen when this person becomes a ba’al bitachon? If it was decreed for him to be poor, no amount of bitachon can change that—but thanks to his bitachon, he will live a Gan Eden on This World.
The pauper who is a ba’al bitachon will assent to the ratzon Hashem with love and acceptance. He won’t argue and fight the decree—because fighting the express desire of Hashem distances a person from the Ribbono shel Olam, and it causes a person many problems. The Ribbono shel Olam will give him success in everything in his life, because if he accepts his lot with love, it will mitigate many other tzaros.
A Blessed Life Despite Poverty
We see it often regarding people who are indeed poor, but they see tremendous blessing in everything else in their lives. They live a life of Gan Eden! Sometimes, they have special success with their children. Other times, they’re blessed to be very well liked. Or they may have other blessings that cause them to have a pleasant life—despite the fact that they have been given the challenge of poverty.
This person didn’t fight his ordained lot in life. Thus, he hasn’t separated himself from the Ribbono shel Olam. He remained tethered to the Source of shefa, and we can see that he is indeed being showered with shefa! He has so much siyata diShmaya in so many other areas, despite this nisayon of poverty.
A Good Life
So many tzaddikim were extremely poor, because this was their mission on This World, but they merited exceptional success and siyata diShmaya. They reaped the reward of bitachon in This World!
Some people don’t understand this entire concept—because we have become so accustomed to thinking that money is everything, and therefore we don’t see the entire picture. And then people still ask questions: “This person has bitachon, yet he still has no money...” What is the question here? If we look at the whole picture, we will see clearly that while this person doesn’t have money, he l’maiseh lives a wonderful life without it. And sometimes, he doesn’t even feel his poverty because he feels so lucky and fortunate in life!
Poverty Doesn’t Bother Him
Another reason the ba’al bitachon is so serene and fortunate, even if it was decreed for him to have the nisayon of poverty, is because his poverty doesn’t even bother him. If he works out his bitachon, then poverty will be far less of an issue.
The poor ba’al bitachon may have a small home—he doesn’t have nice tiles in his kitchen, his children’s weddings are hosted at a lower standard—but he knows “this is my mission, to have this life.” He doesn’t become broken by this; in fact, he is filled with joy. And he has so much success in so many other areas of his life, as we see clearly.
The Twofold Loss of Lacking Bitachon
Conversely, things are just the opposite for one who doesn’t have bitachon, or one who has told himself that bitachon must necessarily make him rich, as though the meaning of bitachon is to become rich, and as long as he doesn’t have money, he will go to war in order to attain it: “I don’t want to hear stories; I want money!”
Such a person loses out in two ways. One is that he will experience what the pasuk says, לב מחלה ממושכה תוחלת, a drawn-out hope brings sickness to the heart (Mishlei 13:12)—he will constantly hope for something that will never come. The fact is, if the nisayon of poverty has been decreed, nothing will help. Forget about it; you’re not going to have it. But this person continues to work on things that will never reach him, and thus he becomes broken and disappointed. This brings the person great pain.
But in addition to this, he has lost out because he has distanced himself from the Ribbono shel Olam by arguing with His plan. He walks around filled with complaints against the Aibishter. When he davens, he is upset because he performed a segulah yesterday and “it didn’t work...,” and, because he has gotten into a “disagreement” with the Ribbono shel Olam, things begin to go sideways, R”l. More problems come his way, because when we have complaints in our hearts, we become untethered from the Source of shefa, the Ribbono shel Olam.
Tefillah Cannot Be a War
This last point is crucial—as we learn from the following Gemara:
The Gemara (Berachos 63a) tells us, לפני מועטין אדם של דבריו יהיו לעולם המקום, one’s words before Hashem should always be few. he Maharsha explains that when a person experiences a tzarah, he should minimize his tefillah, he shouldn’t daven so hard. For often, a person seeks to change his situation through excessive tefillah, but perhaps it has been ordained that he must remain in this state of poverty and when he sees that his tefillah doesn’t change things, he will develop complaints in his heart, and chas v’shalom, begin to doubt the ways of Hashem. We must always reflect on whether we’re not waging war with the Ribbono shel Olam! We must think very deeply whether we’re not becoming angry with Hashem because we want something very much—even though it is contrary to Hashem’s decree.
One may ask: How can I know if it was bashert for me to be poor? The answer is, it doesn’t matter so much! We needn’t be so busy with this question in the first place. The Chovos HaLevavos tells us: Don’t seek to attain something that’s not in your hands. Wealth and poverty are not in your hands in any case. Rather choose an ונקיה קלה אומנות, an easy and clean vocation, and the Ribbono shel Olam will lead you to your ordained destination. We must only truly submit ourselves to the Ribbono shel Olam and constantly reflect on whether we’re complete in our bitachon. Then we will see that everything falls into place.
When Poverty Is Ordained, There’s No Way Out
A Story About the Rosh and the Ba’al HaTurim
In relation to this, there’s a incident that transpired with the Rosh, who was wealthy, and his son Rabbi Yaakov, the author of the Tur, who was extremely poor. (The Tur writes in a number of places about his poverty and the halachic questions that arose because of it.)
People would come to the Rosh and complain to him that he isn’t helping his son—but he would answer them that even if Rabbi Yaakov were to have a great job, it wouldn’t change his financial state an iota. But the people persisted, unwilling to accept his answer. And so the Rosh said, “I will prove it to you.”
The Bundle of Money
The Rosh knew that his son would never accept a handout from him, fulfilling the pasuk יחיה מתנות שונא, one who abhors gifts shall live, so he placed a bundle of coins on the steps leading to his son’s home. He then summoned his son to him. He assumed that Rabbi Yaakov would find the money, and he would rightfully take it.
But when he arrived, his father asked him, “Did you find anything on your way?” The Tur said, “no, I didn’t find anything.” But I placed something in your path,” his incredulous father exclaimed. “How can it be that you didn’t see it?”
Closed Eyes
And the Tur explained: “When I heard that my father was calling me, I immediately contemplated the great mitzvah of kibbud av, and then I said to myself: What will I do if I will, chas v’shalom, lose my eyesight? How will I be able to come to my father and honor him? Therefore, I closed my eyes as I walked all the way here, in order to become accustomed to walking here without using my eyes.”
Said the Rosh to his challengers: “Do you see? This is his mission on earth. He came down to This World to be poor, and nothing can change that!”
If the Ribbono shel Olam Doesn’t Want...
A similar story is told by the Sar Shalom of Belz, which really underscores the idea that every person has been ordained a specific mission in life:
Once, a very poor Yid, with tattered clothing, came to the Belzer Rav, and upon leaving, the Belzer Rav stood up and escorted him some distance. This aroused great wonder in the court, for the Rebbe didn’t show such honor for just anyone.
Among the bystanders was the Rebbe’s son, Rav Yehoshua, the Mitteler Belzer Rav. Later, the Sar Shalom told his son, “Surely, you’re wondering about my behavior towards this Yid earlier today. You should know that he is a master in kol haTorah kulah—Talmud Bavli, Yerushalmi, Tosefta, Sifra, Sifri, Midrashim, Zohar, and all the sefarim of the great masters. He could have been a rav in any of the great kehillos, such as Lemberg and Krakow, but instead he is forced to make the rounds collecting money... because if the Ribbono shel Olam doesn’t want, He doesn’t want.
The Sar Shalom continued, “If not a rav, he could at least have been a dayan in a great kehillah. But we must conclude that... if the Ribbono shel Olam doesn’t want, He doesn’t want.”
He further continued, “If not a dayan, he could have been a maggid in a Yiddishe city, but if the Ribbono shel Olam doesn’t want, He doesn’t want.”
The Rebbe concluded, “If not a maggid, he could at least have been a melamed somewhere, and he would not need to collect for himself. It must be that if the Ribbono shel Olam doesn’t want, He doesn’t want.”
Years later, when the Mitteler Belzer Rav would retell this story, he would add, “It always bothered me... my saintly father supported so many ‘yoshvim,’ men who would sit in the Beis Medrash completely devoted to Torah and avodas Hashem. Knowing the caliber of this Yid, couldn’t he have offered him a place in his Beis Medrash?! It must be,” concluded the Mitteler Belzer Rav, “that if the Ribbono shel Olam doesn’t want, He doesn’t want.”
The Main Difficulty of Poverty Is When We Fight It
Not the End of the World
This is a tremendous yesod that we must remember, for if we don’t, we may question the entire idea of bitachon: “How can it be that this ba’al bitachon is so poor...?”
We must therefore remember that poverty, in and of itself, is not the end of the world. Poverty is a nisayon, just like every other nisayon in life. The reason people are so fearful of it is because they have seen poor people who have added an entire litany of problems to their lot—because they have argued with their lot and didn’t accept their lot with love.
Poverty, in and of itself, does come with that much difficulty; a person must live under strain and suffer from other inconveniences. But those who “argue” with the decree of the Ribbono shel Olam make things much worse, because they add other problems on top of their poverty. Sometimes, they have gone into immense debt because they refused to live modestly, in accordance with their means—or they incurred any number of tzaros because they have distanced themselves from the Ribbono shel Olam out of a refusal to accept His plan.
A Nisayon Like Any Other
It is just like the parents who were given a gift from Heaven, a child who is unwell. They know that they can’t change this, the child was born with this nisayon, and the parents can continue to live a sweet life, strengthening themselves with emunah.
The same applies to any Yid who submits to the plan of the Ribbono shel Olam. He says, “I know one thing; if I will be connected to the Ribbono shel Olam, it will be good—and not the type of good that we, with our human comprehension can think of, but far better good, the likes of which only the Ribbono shel Olam can fathom. But only on the condition that I will be connected to the Ribbono shel Olam, for He is good and He does good, and He wants it to be good for every person, not only in the Next World but also in This World!
This Yid knows that he must do everything required of him in the way of the world. He takes on an ונקיה קלה אומנות, he doesn’t waste his time at work—but he doesn’t seek to escape what has been ordained for him by looking for harder work or undertaking risky investments. He doesn’t quarrel with the Ribbono shel Olam’s decree.
Emunah Informs Us of Our Mission and Purpose
This is also the peshat in the Gemara (Berachos 5a): עליו באין יסורים הרואה במעשיו יפשפש, one who sees that suffering comes upon him, he should make a reckoning of his deeds. That is, if a person sees that he is poor, he should reflect and see whether he’s preoccupied with quarreling about his situation or looking for more difficult work, or if he is connected to the Aibishter and accepts his situation with love.
And when a person lives this way, with a closeness to the Ribbono she Olam, he will, with time, attain the clarity to know whether he is one of those people for whom poverty has been ordained. Just as with any other nisayon, it is clear to a person that this was sent to him, and this is what he must rectify; this is his issue; he was born with it, and it’s not because of some sin that he committed—so too, he will know with clarity that poverty is his mission and purpose on This World.
Led from Above
The clearest path that one can possibly follow is to listen to the Chovos HaLevavos, who instructs us to take an ונקיה קלה אומנות, which will leave enough room in our heart for Torah and avodas Hashem. When a Yid will strengthen his emunah and bitachon, he will daven to the Ribbono shel Olam to lead him in the right way, he will not pursue ותחבולות עצות, schemes and tactics, then he will slowly but surely come to recognize his mission and purpose.
He will know whether he must now engage in other parnassah pursuits in order to supplement his livelihood, or whether to simply strengthen his bitachon in Hashem in order to obtain more parnassah, or that nothing at all can change his lot but his mission is to be poor, and he accepts this decree with love and joy.
Surrounded by Lovingkindness
This is one of the reasons we can’t ask why some ba’alei bitachon remain poor—because we never know the entire cheshbon and the entire picture.
The Chovos HaLevavos establishes a yesod: You should know that “neither poverty nor wealth stems from any specific work that a person engages in.” It may be that this person is indeed a ba’al bitachon, but it has been ordained that for his avodas Hashem he must be poor. When he says the berachah of צרכי כל לי העושה, He Who provides me all my needs, this means that the Ribbono shel Olam provides 100 percent of what he needs. And if he needs poverty for his נשמה שורש, then this is his mission and need. He gives thanks every day for the poverty that he has been given, and he asks no questions.
The reality is that the ba’al bitachon for whom it was ordained that he should be poor will feel that יסובבנו חסד בה' הבוטח, ne who trusts in Hashem will be surrounded by lovingkindness, just as much as the next person, and he will see success and blessing in so many other areas of his life. He will see that poverty itself doesn’t destroy him. He will feel the siyata diShmaya accompany him, and he will experience clear chessed and Hashgachah in all his affairs.
If Nothing Works, Get to the Root
If a person sees that in addition to his poverty, many other areas of his life went sideways, it is generally a sign that he has severed his connection with the Ribbono shel Olam. And the first thing he must do is to see how he can repair that connection.
When a person sees that an electronic appliance in the home doesn’t work, and then another appliance, and then the lights in the house aren’t functioning... he understands that he must go to the source; the main fuse popped, and it must be turned back on.
It may be that it was decreed for this person to live in poverty. But if nothing works, if the person is bitter and unhappy, it is generally a sign that he must work on his bitachon. The fuse must be replaced and then everything will become illuminated.
It Doesn’t Matter One Way or the Other
To conclude: A Yid must always live with the feeling of humility and submissiveness to Hashem: He doesn’t know the whole picture. The only thing he must do is to throw himself onto the Ribbono shel Olam—secure in the knowledge that He will help in every matzav. A Yid must work to attain a level where it doesn’t matter to him whether poverty or wealth has been ordained for him. He will always be calm and serene because he is in the Hands of the Ribbono shel Olam.
