Bitachon Weekly פרשת יתרו תשפ"ד
Books on Gedolei Yisroel are precious. However, they can make you stuck with your admiration for them, instead of insisting that you may be even superior in some ways, and then you grow much more! R' Yerucham Levovitz Zatzal encourages a person to write his own Mussar Sefer, since this will help you the most!
STORY
Many years ago, a friend of mine in Lakewood had a Chashuva Shteler as a Maggid Shiur in New York. Suddenly, he lost his job. Getting jobs in those days was scarce indeed, and I was worried about him. Within a few months, he got another Chashuva job in New York as a Maggid Shiur! I asked him what happened? He told me that he learned Shaar HaBitachon for a half hour daily, until it worked!
Bitachon works for everybody. What’s unique about Novardok? I’ll tell you a true story about a friend of mine who had a serious physical problem which was incapacitating him. His Rebbe was a famous Adam Gadol and a major Tzaddik, with lots of Si'ata D'shmaya in his life, even L'maala Min HaTevah. He kept davening about his Matzav and getting Brachos from his Rebbe, but things didn’t improve. He learned plenty of Sifrei Bitachon, but to no avail.
Finally, his Rebbe told him to accept reality. For the rest of his life you won’t be able to function normally; so just make the best of your situation. He told me his unfortunate plight, and I recommended that he call an old Novardoker about his Matzav. The Novardoker laughed at his situation, and told him that without a question, Bitachon can cure him completely. “But I already worked so hard on Bitachon, and nothing happened! Obviously, this is a Gezeira Min HaShamayim and I have to accept it!”
The Novardoker told him that when Mussar doesn’t work, do you know what you do? Learn more Mussar! Sometimes it may take away from your Torah or Chesed, or other important things in your life. But if you really care enough, then keep learning Mussar! Mussar is magic, and especially with Bitachon. הָעַקְשָן יַצְלִיחַ The stubborn one will be Matzliach. Hashem can do anything! The Alter said that learning Mussar is like turning over a fallen wagon.
You keep at it, until you turn over your Her'geishim state of mind, and automatically your situation improves (the wagon is back on its wheels). So this person learned lots of Mussar. He had a new spirit, since he knew that this Novardoker lives what he says. The Novardoker’s entire life had become much easier, since his huge doses of Mussar always save him from his own issues.
Needless to say, he was eventually completely cured! Even before he had his complete recovery, he noticed many positive things were happening to him that made it easier to bear his difficult situation. Like when Yosef was sold to Arabs who were selling sweet smelling spices (they usually sell kerosene) to lighten his ordeal. This Novardoker told him that all his positive thoughts were causing this “easing” of his Matzav, even though at that point he still didn’t have a complete Refua.
You may not be getting exactly what you want, yet your thoughts of Bitachon bring you some sort of goodness into your life. And when you persist with learning Inyanei Bitachon, you eventually get exactly what you want. The Ramchal says that the Tefilos of a Baal Bitachon are much more powerful and Chashuv in Shamayim than the Tefila of a regular person.
אוצרות רמח"ל (דרוש בענין הקיווי , עמ' רמו )
ועולה בלי אמצעי, לא ע"י מלאך, אלא "לישועתך" דייקא, וכל המקוה תפלת, לא על ידי שליח, כי הוא קו הבוקע ונוקב ועולה עד ה' ממש. כמו שמדבר לנוכח
