Regarding bitachon, or trust in G-d, a fundamental question arises: does it merely signify a belief in the Creator’s ability to do good and deliver us from trouble, or does it imply a deeper confidence that He will actually intervene, leading to complete peace of mind and an absence of worry?
As explained in Chovos HaLevavos, “the essence of bitachon is peace of mind, complete trust that He will do what is good and right for him in that matter.” However, understanding the basis for such certainty is crucial. Even if G-d explicitly promises something, there is always a possibility the promise might not be fulfilled due to a person’s sins. This concern is amplified when there’s no explicit promise, especially since “there is no righteous person in the land who only does good and does not sin.” Even our forefather Yaakov, despite G-d’s promise, feared that his sins might cause him to forfeit divine protection.
The Foundation of Bitachon
This issue requires further explanation. The foundation of bitachon in G-d is the emunah (faith) that everything originates from the Creator. Therefore, when one experiences difficulty or distress, it is not due to any external control, G-d forbid, from an oppressor; rather, everything comes from Heaven. With this understanding, one can be completely at ease. If a person deserves no harm, the Blessed One will surely save him, even when there appears to be no natural way out, for G-d can change nature.
Peace in the Face of Adversity
Even if a person is not eligible for kindness and deserves punishment, he can still maintain complete peace. This is because he knows with certainty that his distress does not originate from any human messenger, but solely from the Holy One. These troubles occur because his relationship with G-d was somehow lacking. Consequently, such a person fears G-d alone and understands that the situation is ultimately for his good. Even the punishments mentioned in the Torah are acts of kindness from the Holy One, designed to cleanse a person of the blemish caused by his sin. Thus, there is no room for worry or fear.
Reconciling Trust and Sin
It is important to understand that these concepts do not contradict each other. One can completely trust Hashem even while acknowledging the possibility of having sinned and not meriting salvation. This understanding is not inferior to the composure derived from knowing that everything that happens comes from G-d.
Commentators, referencing the Midrash, state that “it is appropriate not to fear.” They interpret this to mean that Yaakov and Moshe, who experienced fear in isolated instances, were afraid of the messenger bringing the trouble, not G-d. Yaakov feared Esau, as the verse states, “And Yaakov feared greatly and was distressed (and therefore) he divided the camp.” Similarly, G-d told Moshe not to fear Pharaoh. This type of fear, they argue, indicates a lack of complete confidence in G-d.
The Deeper Meaning of Bitachon
However, this understanding of bitachon is not entirely sufficient. The true measure of simple trust is not just a state of peace of mind; it is also the certainty that G-d will be good to a person in a visibly manifest way.
But according to this explanation, practicing bitachon in its fullest sense might not apply to the majority of the Jewish people, as “who is a righteous person in the land who does good and does not sin” – who can truly satisfy himself that he is worthy of G-d’s grace? For most, therefore, the practice of bitachon primarily involves maintaining peace of mind, knowing that everything comes from the Creator, even if it is not a visible and manifest good.
According to this understanding, only truly righteous individuals, complete in their divine service, need not fear that they might have sinned. According to this, only they can be confident that visible and revealed good will come to them.
G-d’s Unending Kindness
However, in Chovos HaLevavos (explaining “the causes that make bitachon possible”), it is written: “The One in whom we trust represents the ultimate expression of kindness – to those who deserve it, and to those who do not deserve it – and His way of giving is constant, and His kindness continuous, never ending or ceasing.” If this is the case, then bitachon is founded on the fact that G-d, the Blessed One, is also good “to those who do not deserve it.”
However, further explanation is needed: Although G-d’s mercy extends even to those who “do not deserve it,” it is still possible that one deserves punishment for his misdeeds. What, then, is the basis for bitachon, for a person to be confident that G-d will be good to him, even if he does not deserve it?
“Cast Your Load Upon G-d”
This will be understood according to the words of the Tzemach Tzedek (quoted several times by the Rebbe Rayatz), who answered one who begged him to awaken heavenly mercy for a dangerously ill patient: “Tracht gut – vet zein gut” (“Think good – and it will be good”). It follows from his words that the very thought that it will be good (which is bitachon) brings about good results (openly, manifestly).
Let us clarify the meaning of these words:
The duty to trust G-d, which we are commanded, is not merely a detail (or automatic result) of the belief that everything is in the hands of Heaven, and that G-d is merciful and compassionate. If it were, there would be no need for a special mitzvah regarding this. Rather, this obligation is a separate form of divine service unto itself. Its essence and definition are that a person trusts and relies on G-d, to the point where he entrusts his entire fate to G-d, as the verse says, “Cast your burden on G-d, and He will be your support,” for he has no one else in the world to lean upon for support besides Him.
One could say that this is the intention of the Chovos HaLevavos when it describes bitachon as being “like a slave imprisoned in his master’s dungeon,” where the prisoner’s only hope is in his master, who “is completely in control of him, and no one can hurt him or help him besides his master.” Therefore, it is understood that this belief in G-d is such that the natural situation makes no difference whatsoever, and even if according to the ways of nature one cannot be saved, he still trusts in G-d, Who is not limited by the laws of nature.
Bitachon Requires Effort
And this in itself is the basis for a person’s confidence that G-d will benefit him with visible and revealed goodness, even if he is not worthy of this grace.
The meaning of bitachon is not that one believes that since G-d is without measure or limit, whether towards the worthy and the unworthy, therefore, he will receive the grace of G-d without any effort on his part (because this would negate the entire concept of reward and punishment). Rather, bitachon is work and effort inside the depths of one’s soul, and it is what brings the grace of G-d that comes as a result of this effort to have trust in G-d.
As a result of the person truly and deeply trusting in G-d alone, to the point of not worrying at all, then this awakening itself works so that G-d reciprocates and acts with him in this way, to benefit him (even if otherwise he would not be worthy of it).
And so it is explained in the Ikkarim: “Even if he is not worthy on his own, the path of bitachon draws down undeserved kindness to those who trust in G-d.”
“If one would hope properly, the kindness would not be withheld from G-d.” And so in Sefer Kad Kemach it says: “One who trusts in G-d will be saved from the trouble as a reward for his bitachon, even though he deserved the tribulation to come upon him.” And further in Yalkut Shimoni Yeshayahu: “There are among you fearers of Heaven; trust in My name, which will stand for you. Anyone who trusts in My name, I will save him.”
And it says in Keser Shem Tov: “When it is necessary to punish one who deserves it, then his capacity to trust G-d is taken away from him.”
This, then, is the meaning of the commandment, “Trust in G-d” – that a person should cast his trust on G-d, the Holy One, Who will benefit him with visible and revealed good. When he trusts solely in G-d (without making calculations whether it is possible for him to be saved, etc.), then Heaven acts towards him measure for measure: G-d protects him and has mercy on him even if, according to his calculations, he does not deserve to be benefited with visible and revealed good.
This is the meaning of the Tzemach Tzedek’s words, that bitachon itself will bring good results; it is not merely a side issue to have trust in G-d, but rather, that is the very definition of the bitachon that we were commanded.
Practical Lesson for Life – and Redemption
From this, we also learn a practical lesson for life:
When a person encounters obstacles and setbacks to keeping the Torah, he must know that eliminating these obstacles and setbacks depends on him and his behavior. And if he has complete confidence in Hashem, that He will help, that He will be good, until he is completely calm, with no worry at all (and of course, along with this, he does everything that depends on him in the natural way to eliminate these obstacles) – then we have been promised that “Tracht Gut Vet Zein Gut,” (think good – and it will be good), that indeed, it will actually be so, that all the obstacles and hindrances will be removed, and it will be good for him in practice, in the visible and revealed goodness, to our physical eyes; revealed good in this world.
And just as in the redemption from Egypt it is said that “in the merit of bitachon Israel was redeemed from Egypt,” so it is in this redemption from our last exile, as stated in the Midrash that “they are worthy of redemption as reward for the bitachon itself,” – so it will be for us, in the merit of bitachon of the sons of Israel, “My salvation is near to come,” we become worthy that the Blessed G-d will redeem us, in the true and complete redemption, very soon in our own days.
Based on the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe.
