Actualizing Our Faith - 002 Higher Kind of Bitachon

The Higher Kind of Bitachon: You already have everything

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[1]. 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 saying, 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 helped 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 give it to him, he has Bitachon, because he wants what he truly needs; anything more than what he actually needs to survive life is not part of this. When a person wants things that he doesn’t really need, and he hopes that Hashem will make it happen, this is not Bitachon, because he is wanting 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.

As long as a person wants something from his very essence – what he needs in order to survive life – he can have Bitachon that he will get it.  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 seems 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 the soul, then he is allowed to 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.

Bitachon in finding a shidduch

Let’s say we are in doubt which kind of Bitachon we should have (the view of the Chovos HaLevovos, or the view of the Alshich). This very question comes from the power of doubt in a person. Our power of evil doubt gets us to doubt even our Bitachon – like, “Which kind of bitachon am I supposed to have?”

Doubts destroy our Emunah (basic belief in G-d) as well as our Bitachon (actualized belief). Our doubts are really the source of all our problems! A person is in doubt if he really needs what we wants; what happens from this? He’s not even sure if he is allowed to have Bitachon or not; therefore, he doubts which kind of Bitachon he should be having, and then he never ends up having Bitachon altogether…

All of us have many kinds of different situations in our life, and we need Bitachon to get by them. Let’s say a person needs a shidduch (spouse). When a person is dating, what kind of Bitachon should he have? Should he believe that his shidduch will definitely happen, or should he believe that his shidduch will only happen if it’s good for him (and if it’s not good for him, then he won’t find his shidduch)? The average person is in doubt which kind of Bitachon to have.

With the lower kind of Bitachon – which is to believe that if the shidduch is good for a person, it will happen, and if it won’t be good, then it won’t happen – it is clear that a person can only believe that his shidduch will happen if it is good for him, and if it isn’t good for him, he will not get his shidduch. That is clear.

But let’s say a person is using the deeper, higher kind of Bitachon (which is to believe that Hashem will definitely send him his shidduch). Does that mean that one’s shidduch is already here next to him, or is it just that his shidduch will “eventually” come? This is a very subtle point.

The answer to this is what we learn from Shabbos. On Shabbos, we cease from labor; “All your work is done.” This means that we are relaxed because we already have the good already next to us. This is the higher kind of Bitachon to have: to believe that all is good, and that it is already here. (Therefore, when having bitachon that one will find his shidduch, he should believe that his shidduch is already here, right now!)

This is really the level we will all be on in the World to Come, which is the perfect calmness we will have.  Right now, our calmness is not perfect, and we cannot have perfect menuchas hanefesh on this world.

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.