Bitachon Accompanies Us Through Challenge and Difficulty
All Emotions Are Rooted in Emunah and Bitachon
The Rebbe Rav Mendele of Rimanov (Divrei Menachem, Parashas Beshalach) elaborates on how all a person’s difficulties are closely bound with his level of emunah and bitachon. He cites a Sefer HaYashar from Rabbeinu Tam, in which he says that the foundation of all middos tovos is emunah and bitachon.
When we speak about “middos,” we are including many emotional problems, including anger and hatred, depression and sadness... they’re all part of the middos of a person. We can call it middos, we can call it feelings, we can call it emotional challenges... but they’re all the same. The way to attain all middos tovos is through emunah and bitachon, says Rabbeinu Tam.
Ahavas Yisrael Is the Essence of the Entire Torah
Rebbe Mendele explains that the mitzvah of כמוך לרעך ואהבת, which is the essence of the entire Torah, is attainable through emunah and bitachon. We see this with our own eyes, he says: When a person loves his fellow like himself, he tends to refrain from stealing, nekamah, and so many other aveiros that pertain to interpersonal relationships.
A person who has ahavas Yisrael has no issues and no problems with other people, and he doesn’t have complaints against anyone. It is therefore much easier for him to fulfill many mitzvos in the Torah. And even mitzvos למקום אדם בין are much easier for him... for he isn’t weighed down. He is healthy in his nefesh.
Loving a Fellow Yid Through Emunah and Bitachon
Continues the Rebbe: “But it is impossible to properly fulfill the mitzvah of ahavas Yisrael with a complete heart without having the middos of emunah and bitachon b’emes. All the mitzvos of the Torah are built upon the foundation of כמוך. לרעך ואהבת And on what is this mitzvah built?! Emunah and bitachon!”
Why is this? Because if you are a person who believes with complete belief that the Ribbono shel Olam runs the world and everything in it, at every single moment, and that the Aibishter will give you everything you need; a person who believes that no one in the world can touch anything that is bashert for you...this will bring you tremendous serenity, and automatically you won’t waste your days and years with worries and efforts to pursue money and wealth, because you believe that nothing will come to you that isn’t ordained from Above. Nothing more, nothing less.
No One Can Cause Me Harm
After a person has absorbed the middah of bitachon, it’s very easy to fulfill the mitzvah of כמוך. לרעך ואהבת He won’t covet or envy anything he sees that another person has; he knows, “Clearly, it doesn’t belong to me!”
Even if another person opens the same business as he has, the ba’al bitachon will not become worried or depressed; he knows that no one can harm him or take anything away from him. He is confident and secure that no one can touch or take away anything that is bashert for him.
Rebbe Mendele concludes: “And for this reason, HaKadosh Baruch Hu gave the mahn to the Jewish People in such a way that it came down every day for that day, and not for the next day, to get them used to having bitachon, not to worry about the next day.”
Infusing Emunah into All Facets of Our Nefesh
We learn an incredible yesod from these words:
When we say Krias Shemah, we say, אחד ה' אלוקינו ה' ישראל שמע, accepting upon ourselves the yoke of Heavenly sovereignty, to believe that the Ribbono shel Olam ordains every detail in the entire world. But, at that point, it remains theoretical: it remains in the mind.
The next step is to ensure that this knowledge permeates every aspect of our heart and soul. Therefore, we immediately say אלוקיך ה' את ואהבת, to love Hashem with all our heart and soul. To ingrain this belief into all aspects of our hearts.
Ahavas Hashem means that every part of our hearts feels the emunah; all aspects of our hearts love the Ribbono shel Olam. This sort of ahavah is indeed the essence of the entire Torah. For as long as a person has complaints or resentments in his heart toward others, even if he is justified and he has good reason, it is a deficit in the ה'; את ואהבת not all of his heart can feel the love for the Aibishter.
Giving Our Feelings to the Ribbono shel Olam
The Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh says the same yesod on the pasuk of בכל לבבך: When a Yid experiences a challenge that pains his heart—for example, if he is childless (here, the Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh is referring to himself, as he did not merit children)—he should take all this weight and all the pained parts of his heart, and with them fulfill the mitzvah of אלוקיך. ה' את ואהבת
He explains the pasuk of לבבך בכל in this way: a Yid must nullify all of his desires and wants, and say, “Nothing matters to me... I accept all these challenges, because I love the Ribbono shel Olam more than anything. I take the most pained parts of my heart, my deepest emotions, and with them I fulfill the mitzvah to love the Ribbono shel Olam.”
Permeating the Heart with Love
Rebbe Mendele is teaching us how we can follow this path. All of these madreigos are much easier said than done... it’s a great avodah. For example, if someone hurt a person, it’s natural that he will feel resentment. Says the Rebbe Reb Mendele: Yes, it’s very difficult not to feel this—but with emunah and bitachon, this, too, can be chased away.
When a Yid reiterates his emunah and bitachon again and again, he takes another problem that lies ensconced deep in his heart, and he permeates that place, too, with emunah and bitachon. He toils so that this place in his heart as well should grasp the ישראל! שמע Now he has mastered yet another level אלוקיך ה' את ואהבת, another part of his heart came closer to the Ribbono shel Olam. Then he sets to work on another area of his heart, and then another... until he has given all his heart to Hashem.
Emunah and Bitachon Have the Answer to Everything
When a person is extremely hurt—someone borrowed 100,000 from him, knowing that he won’t be able to pay it back. He told the borrower ten times that he needs the money back soon, and now he won’t even take his calls... he doesn’t even apologize—it’s clear, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that this person was terribly mistreated. But emunah and bitachon have the answer to this as well! They will enable him not to be aggravated by this... for his heart to remain whole despite the mistreatment.
Bitachon Protects the Heart from Pain
The Sfas Emes of Ger received an enormous dowry at the time of his wedding, and he gave it to an investor so he could sit and learn while being supported by the dividends. The investor, however, proceeded to lose the entire sum of money. Nothing was left. When he was told about this, the Sfas Emes smiled and said: “I knew that there won’t be blessing in money that came to me so easily; for must be earned by the toil of his hands....”
This is what it means for emunah and bitachon to calm the person in every situation; there should be no event in the world that can shake him out of his serenity. One may have mistreated you terribly, but if you will study and toil in your emunah and bitachon, your heart won’t be moved an iota. It’s not easy—but even before achieving perfection, the effort makes life so much better for the person.
Everything Is Chessed and Goodness
In every sort of challenge and difficulty, a person can ask: What does emunah and bitachon have to say about this situation? And the answer is that bitachon says that if this aggravation wouldn’t be bashert, no one would have been able to cause it to happen.
Bitachon says that the person indeed has free choice, but if it wouldn’t be bashert, there is no way that it could happen. And if it happened, it is surely good for me.
Even if the other person has free choice, it is impossible for me to suffer aggravation if it is not bashert for me. The Ribbono shel Olam does only good—and therefore, nothing can upset me.
The Serenity of Bitachon Is a Gift from Above
When we enter the avodah, it is not always easy—for at the end of the day, we’re living in the material world. But if a Yid strengthens himself,
