The Chovos Helevovos writes that bitachon is the serenity of the soul (menuchas hanefesh) that one has because he trusts in Hashem. This calmness is the depth behind the power of bitachon.
This doesn’t mean that because a person places his trust in Hashem, he therefore feels peace of mind. It’s really the other way around: When a person lives in a world of menuchas hanefesh, he has bitachon.
What is this menuchas hanefesh (serenity of the soul)? It is for a person to realize, “I have already what I want.” The person realizes that although right now he needs something, he will eventually get it, and therefore even before he actually has it, he feels that he has it right now. This is like the menuchas hanefesh we can have on Shabbos, when we recognize that “all your work is done.”
On a deeper note, bitachon is when one realizes that although he doesn’t have something, he knows that it is better that way, because he feels like he has everything he needs; that itself brings one’s salvation.
(There is well-known difference of opinion what bitachon is. The Chovos Halevovos says that bitachon is to know that everything is ultimately good, while the Alshich says that bitachon is when a person is sure that he will get what he wants, because he trusts in Hashem. According to what we are explaining, the Chovos Halevovos is actually addressing a deeper kind of bitachon).
How to Reach This Perspective
How can a person reach the deeper kind of bitachon – to truly feel that one already has everything? Simply, it is because a person says to himself, “This is what Hashem decreed.” However, although this is true, it is only the superficial outlook on the matter. What is the inner perspective?
Our Sages taught, “Kavei el Hashem - Chazor v’kavei” - that one has to keep hoping and placing his trust in Hashem, again and again. This means that at first, a person should place his hope in Hashem, even though he isn’t certain that help will come. He is not allowed yet to believe with certainty that Hashem will send him help. But after a person keeps placing his trust in Hashem, again and again, now he can move on to a higher kind of bitachon, and believe with certainty that his help will come.
From a simple viewpoint, it seems that continuously hoping in Hashem means that a person shouldn’t despair. That is true, but why then is it necessary for the Sages to tell us that one must keep hoping, again and again? The answer is that in order to continuously hope in Hashem, it means more than just not giving up. It is the very means for salvation. A person who continues to hope in Hashem brings about his own salvation!
Let’s say a person believes he can win the lottery; does he have bitachon? Either he is delusional – or he really believes it. If a person would truly believe that he can win the lottery, without any doubts whatsoever, he has true bitachon. Most people, however, do not have such bitachon, even when they believe that they could win the lottery.
This is not an easy level to be on, and in fact, that is why most people won’t really win the lottery - because no one really believes that Hashem will really make it happen...
The Request Must Be Consistent
Bitachon thus has to be chazor v’kavei, to “continuously hope” in Hashem. What does this entail? When we keep hoping that Hashem will bring us our salvation, it has to be the same consistent request.
If a person asks for something else each time, then he is not placing his continuous hope in Hashem; if a person asks for something from Hashem and then he asks for another thing, his second request is not with the same conviction, so he is not “continuously hoping” in Hashem’s salvation. This is not bitachon.
The ability to keep placing one’s hope in Hashem, again and again with the same conviction, is a constant ability we all have. It comes from the inner layer of our soul. It is the true desire of our soul; it is our innermost desire. It is a desire that what we truly want – and need. (We will soon explain what this inner desire is).
It Must Be a Legitimate Need
There are two kinds of things that a person wants. There are things that a person truly wants, and then there are things that we “want,” but we don’t really need them.
When a person has the true bitachon, he wants what he really wants – which is what he needs. Such a person gets help from Hashem, because his desires come from his very essence. Such desires are the true desires of our soul, and Hashem fulfills these innermost desires.
A person who needs food to live, and he truly hopes that Hashem will provide him with food has bitachon, because he wants what he truly needs. Hoping for anything more than what he actually needs to survive life is not bitachon. It is not bitachon when a person wants things that he doesn’t really need, and hopes that Hashem will make it happen. He wants more than what he needs to live.
Also, it can be that a person convinces himself that he wants something, and he doesn’t really need it. It is only in his imagination that he needs it. Such desires aren’t either fulfilled, because they are just imaginary “needs.”
This is also the meaning behind the Alshich’s interpretation of bitachon, which is for a person to be sure that help will come. This kind of bitachon means that a person can be sure that he will be helped, because it is his innermost desire.
A person can have bitachon as long as they are hoping from their very essence for what they need in order to survive life. Anything more than that cannot be included in one’s bitachon. An example of this we see from the bitachon of Yosef Hatzaddik as he went down to Egypt, of which the Sages praise him for having bitachon. He trusted that Hashem would save him, because such a desire came from his very essence.
There seem to be different opinions of what bitachon is, but really they are all correct. How? It depends what the mentality of the person is, what he’s actually thinking.
When a person wants something from his innermost desire of their soul, they can believe that Hashem will definitely fulfill it. (Even the Chovos Halevovos would agree to this.) Only when a person wants something that he doesn’t really need – something that doesn’t come from his innermost desire of his soul – is he not allowed to believe that Hashem will fulfill it. With such desires, if it happens, fine, but if it doesn’t, then it doesn’t. It all depends on what a person truly needs. Only our true needs get answered.
In fact, all worries that people have really come from wanting things that aren’t necessary. Anything more than what we need causes damage to our life.
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But even now, we can have some resemblance to this level, by having some menuchas hanefesh – to realize that we actually have everything good next to us. This is the true depth of bitachon – to connect to Hashem through our calmness.
