R' Shloimke Zviller Zatzal gave his house over to a Novardok Yeshiva in Yerushalayim, and he was responsible for their food supply. When Novardokers crossed over from Russia to Poland, they stopped off at Zvill to tell the Rebbe about their dangerous journey. He would go to the Mikva, and would come out telling who will make it safely and who won’t.
I was told that after a while the Novardokers stopped coming to him, and relied more heavily on their constant involvement in working on Bitachon, since if you are a true Baal Bitachon you can succeed even when it was originally decreed in Shamayim that you won’t be Matzliach.
My Rebbe, R' Ozer Schwartz Zatzal was in French court, and he came out clean, with Nisei Nissim. It was total Bitachon. Guess which day he was in court?? Tisha B'av! Although in Halacha we need to avoid such a situation, a Baal Bitachon doesn’t get scared even if he’s stuck being in court on Tisha B'av, and he knows that the power of Bitachon overrides everything.
The Novardokers believe that if you live your life without working hard on Emuna and Bitachon, you could have plenty of Kefira in your system, Chas V'shalom. You don’t realize how much deep down you rely only on a Basar V'dam. The people around you control your life, and that’s why you are so worried about the impressions you make all day long.
R' Chaim Halperin Zatzal told me that people don’t realize how their heads have thoughts about Kin'ah Ta'ava and Kavod “draying a kup” 24/7! Learning Mussar “washes your brains” and gives you a periodic spring cleaning to remind you that Hashem is the only one who’s important in your life, not your “holy” Kavod. That’s why Novardokers become B'simcha after a long Mussar Seder. They just got rid of all the “dirt” of their depressions, or fake Simcha that Kavod causes.
