The following story illustrate the heights of Bitachon—faith one may ultimately reach. The Alter of Novardok (see Madreigot HaAdam p.197 and Yalkut Lekach Tov vol.1 p.157) relates a famous incident about Rabbi Moshe Alshich - The Alshich HaKadosh.
There was a man living in Tzefat who was a simple, unlearned Jew. He made his living by transporting sand and earth in an old broken-down wagon that was hauled by his donkey. In a Derasha—speech one Shabbat, he heard The Alshich HaKadosh say that at the highest level of Bitachon no hishtadlut—contribution is necessary. “If one truly trusts in the Almighty, then Hashem will provide him with parnassah—sustenance.”
The man said to himself, “If this is true, why must I work so hard? If there is a level of Bitachon like this, then all my drudgery is unnecessary.” Then and there he made a firm decision to trust in Hashem with all his heart, and he proceeded to sit by the stove the whole day and recite Tehillim.
When his wife and family saw that he had stopped working, they demanded that he return to work and earn some money to support them. He, in turn, scolded them, and said, “G-d forbid! I heard The Alshich HaKadosh say explicitly that if a person trusts completely in Hashem, his livelihood will come to him without any effort whatsoever. If so, why should I slave in the cold and heat when everything is going to come to me anyway? Come join me and say Tehillim, and you’ll see that our parnasah will soon be here.”
His wife finally gave up trying to convince him, and their situation worsened. The cupboard quickly became bare, and the household needed food. Soon she had to sell the donkey and wagon to a gentile so their family could survive.
The new owner used the donkey and wagon to travel around the mountains to dig sand and earth. One day, he happened upon a treasure of gold. He immediately filled his bags with the gold and loaded them on the wagon. Then he continued his excavation of the treasure. Suddenly, a loose boulder rolled down the mountain and killed him. When the gentile didn’t come back, the donkey, hungry and not knowing where to go, lifted its feet and out of habit returned to its original owner. When the poor man’s wife saw the animal, and the wagon loaded with the treasure, she excitedly ran to her husband. “Keep saying Tehillim! Your bitachon worked! We’re rich!”
Upon hearing of this remarkable occurrence, the talmidim of The Alshich HaKadosh came to their Rebbe and complained, “Why is that man so much greater than us? We have been studying with you for many years and our bitachon is surely praiseworthy, yet we remain poor. Then along comes this simple Jew, and after hearing about bitachon only once, he sits by the stove and is given a treasure!”
The Alshich HaKadosh answered them, “When you thrust a stick into hard ground it stands up by itself. However, if the ground has been broken up, and is soft and loose, the stick will fall over. You have to push it in deeper in order to steady it. When this Simple Jew heard about Bitachon, he accepted it without any doubts or fears, as if there was no other reality. You, my dear students are different. You are too smart for that. You want to understand everything. So, you analyze and dissect the situation in order to understand it. This causes you to have some slight doubts and apprehensions. Therefore, you have not yet attained perfect bitachon.
The Baalei Mussar say that the best part of the story is how he reacted to his family when his family asked him to go back to work. His Bitachon didn’t work at first, and the family needed to eat, but he said to them “Are you crazy? The Holy Alshich said that Bitachon alone will bring me sustenance, so why should I waste my time and energy working for no reason?!” Look at the way a real Baal Bitachon deals with negative “reality”!
Reprinted from the Parashat Vayishlach 5785 email of Jack E. Rahmey based on the Torah teachings of Rabbi Amram Sananes.
