Last night, I was on the phone with a friend of mine from Kol Shimshon, who had the most spectacular Bitachon Yeshua. He was telling me about the wonderful progress of his teenage son, which reminded me of the Ness he had about four years ago. His son had a major problem with his learning and his Yiddishkeit, and the outlook was bleak indeed, until my friend decided to work on his Bitachon.
He was told to sit down with his wife for five minutes, and to learn an inspiring piece of Chovos Halvavos, which encourages thankfulness to Hashem. Then, he and his wife would thank for many things, and especially to look for the good points they could find in their problematic son, and to thank Hashem for this son! Then, they would learn (for another five minutes) an inspiring piece from a Sefer that speaks about Bitachon, and start reminding themselves of the many Nissim they had had in their lives. They would discuss their son with words of Bitachon, saying: “We will surely see Nissim with him, and he will improve with Hashem’s help”. They were told to have this small seder for a week or a month, and would see results. AFTER ONE DAY their son mysteriously decided to wear his Tzitzis out, and from that day on everything became uphill.
People are worried about Parnasa and Nachas, and are always concerned about their Kavod and their friends. But who is interested in just plain being close to Hashem? The Rambam says that when you pass by a Mezuzah, you should remember that nothing stays with you forever, except for your knowledge of (i.e., closeness to) Hashem.
Did you ever go to a big Tzaddik and ask for a Bracha for Parnasa, Nachas, Shiduchim, health, Gadlus B’torah? Everyone does. But rarely do you hear a person asking for a closer relationship to Hashem. This is the true Simcha of Olam HaZeh, and the only Simcha of Olam HaBah.
Truth is, the reason for our “pecklach” is because Hashem wants us to be close to Him (since this is the main reason for our existence) and pecklach force us to daven harder and come closer. People who are close to Hashem can get Yeshuos that others cannot get, just as those who are close to the king get special treatment from the king.
My friend was raised in Bais Medrash Bais Yosef in Boro Park. He related that these people were unusually happy and fearless. Although they were big Bnei Torah, their main conversations and interests revolved around their levels of Bitachon and working on Middos. Even those who had pecklach; they weren’t involved in their pecklach, their main focus in life was their personal Avoda. These people were Zoche to very high Madregos; among them were even Baalei Ruach HaKodesh.
רמב"ם הלכות מזוזה [פ"ו הי"ג]
חייב חובת הכל תמיד, וכל זמן שיכנס ויצא יפגע ביחוד השם שמו של הקדוש ב"ה ויזכור אדם להזהר במזוזה מפני שהיא אהבתו ויעור משנתו ושגיותיו בהבלי הזמן, וידע שאין דבר העומד לעולם ולעולמי עולמים אלא ידיעת צור העולם ומיד הוא חוזר לדעתו והולך בדרכי ישרים, אמרו חכמים הראשונים כל מי שיש לו תפילין בראשו ובזרועו וציצית בבגדו ומזוזה בפתחו מוחזק הוא שלא יחטא שהרי יש לו מזכירין רבים והן הם המלאכים שמצילין אותו מלחטוא שנאמר חונה מלאך ה' סביב ליראיו ויחלצם.
