The root of the word בטחון is the three letters ת"חי ת"טי ת"בי. The Bas Ayin (Bamidbar) notes that all three letters have the letters ת"י in them when they are spelled out in full. The gematriya of י"ת is (410) ש"קדו. iח"בט hints to קדוש. It tells us that with bitachon, one can achieve kedushah.
4. The root of the word בטחון is טח, which means to cover. Kidneys are called בטוחות (see Tehillim 51:8, חפצת אמת הן בטוחות), and the Metzudas Tzion explains that this is because בחלב ומכוסות הטוחות בכליות, the kidneys are covered and concealed under the fats.
5. A person was standing on a pier, casting out his fishing rod, when someone came by to watch him. He noticed that instead of putting bait on the hook, this person attached a clock. "Why are you casting a clock into the water?" the observer asked in wonder. "Why don't you put bait on the hook?"
"It is a great secret," the fisherman responded. "I learned it in fishing school."
"What's the secret? Please tell me."
"No. I paid a lot to learn this secret and will not give it away for free."
The man watching replied, "I am willing to pay to learn the secret."
The fisherman said, "For one thousand dollars, I will tell you, and believe me, that is a low price compared to what I paid to learn this secret."
The man paid a thousand dollars, and the fisherman divulged the secret: "Fish always keep their eyes open, and biologists (ichthyologists) discovered the reason: There is no clock in the water, making the fish wonder what time it is. That is why they swim about, with their eyes opened, looking for a clock."
"Amazing," said the new student. "So, when you put a clock into the water, all the fish come to see the time, and you can catch them."
"Exactly," said the fisherman, putting the thousand dollars he just received into his pocket.
"Tell me,” said the student, "how many fish did you catch today?"
"Today, I caught eight fish... You are the eighth one."
The nimshal is that when you access the internet to earn money, you think you gained money. Actually, it isn't money that was caught. It is you who was caught. It is the yetzer hara's clever scheme to draw you into its trap.
The Bas Ayin also teaches that בטחון comes from the word ח"ט, which means cover. This is because the cover that protects kedushah is bitachon. The explanation is as follows: Many forms of livelihood involve tests in kedushah. With bitachon, one knows that he can guard his eyes and even sometimes give up financial opportunities when necessary. This is because he believes that Hashem supports him.
The Shach (Reb Shabsi Kohen) is one of the primary poskim in Shulchan Aruch (Yorah Deah and Choshen Mishpat). The Shach was approached by his father-in-law, who told him, "I can no longer support you. I want you to try your hand at business."
So, when the market came to their city, the Shach engaged in some business activity and was highly successful. A few weeks or months later, the market returned to their city. His father-in-law said, "You did so well last time; I’m certain you will succeed again this time."
"I will not do business this time," the Shach replied.
"But why not? You can be wealthy. You have a good mind for business."
The Shach explained that his initial success emanated from the yetzer hara, to lure him away from studying Torah. "The yetzer hara wants me to spend a lot of time doing business. And then, after he stole all those hours from me, he will take the money away as well. I will be left without money and without Torah."
The Shach said that this is hinted at in the words (Shemos 15:9) שלל אחלק אשיג ארדוף אויב אמר ידי תורישמו חרבי אריק נפשי תמלאמו. The pasuk can be read like this: אויב אמר, the enemy is the yetzer hara. He says, אשיג ארדוף, I will catch the Yid in my net. How will he do so? First, שלל אחלק, the yetzer hara will give him a lot of money and make him feel like a successful businessman. And then, ידי תורשמו חרבי אריק, the yetzer hara will take out his sword and make him poor. He only made him wealthy to pull him away from Torah study. After he succeeds, he will take away the money, too.
But with bitachon, one doesn't fall prey to tests. He knows that designating firm times for studying Torah and being cautious with his kedushah won't detract him from his parnassah.
6. A yungerman travels from Eretz Yisrael to Europe every two weeks to deliver a shiur in a yeshiva. He generally flies on planes that don't have video sets. When the only flights available are with screens, he prefers a daytime flight because then he can immerse himself in Torah study and not see anything happening around him.
Once, he had to take a night flight on a plane, and there were video sets on the plane. He was distraught, but what could he do? He had to take this flight. So, he took along sleeping pills, and as he davened minchah in the airport, he asked Hashem to help him protect his eyes.
Then a miracle occurred. He sat between two goyim, and neither of their screens worked. They called over the steward, but he couldn't fix their sets either. His tefillos were answered. He was able to travel without sacrificing his kedushah.
