Discovering the Secret

Translated from Rabbi Arush’s feature article in the weekly Chut shel Chessed newsletter. The articles focus on his main message: “Loving others as yourself” and emuna. 

The Fruit of Emuna  

Last week we brought the astonishing statement of Vilna Gaon that the main point of giving the Torah to Yisrael is “so that they will place their trust in Hashem, because the main thing is the complete bitachon (trust) and that includes all the mitzvahs”. This is an amazing statement that places trust in Hashem at the top of the Jewish value system. According to the Vilna Gaon, trusting Hashem is the summary of all of Torah and mitzvahs. 

The Gemara says that the prophet Habakkuk based all of Torah and mitzvahs on the mitzvah of emuna. “The righteous man lives on by his faith.”¹ And now the Vilna Gaon comes and fills in the Gemara, in practical terms: What does it mean that everything stands on emuna? It means to trust in Hashem practically. 

Because trusting Hashem can come only on top of a stable and strong emuna. Emuna is a wonderful tree and bitachon is the fruit of the emuna tree. If you don’t have bitachon – there is a weak point in your emuna! 

You can believe in Hashem, but when the critical test comes, your emuna will not be strong enough; it won’t strengthen your soul, in other words, it won’t give you bitachon! And so, when a person whose emuna is not strong is tested, his emuna fails. And that is expressed by his failing in simcha, in tefilla, descent into depression and anxiety, loss of hope.  

But when you say that someone trusts in Hashem, it means that he possesses a complete and perfect emuna, as we brought in our wonderful booklet, “Hinneni Beyadcha” [Editor’s note: This booklet is not yet in English], that there is a reality of emuna without bitachon, but there is no reality of bitachon without emuna, because bitachon is the fruit of emuna and its perfection, both theoretically and practically.  

Another Step Up 

The great novelty of “Hinneni Beyadcha” is that the bitachon is on a higher level even than emuna because a person can believe in Hashem and still think that he will have a bad life because he deserves to be punished, or for whatever other reason. But a person who trusts in Hashem is certain that nothing bad will happen to him for any reason at all, even if he deserves to experience things that are not good. 

Yes, yes, you are hearing right: He who trusts Hashem, even if he isn’t a worthy person, and even if he deserves punishment – will have only good! Only good – literally! Revealed good that we can see and understand. 

These amazing things were brought in our booklet in the name of Lubavitcher Rebbe, who  writes them clearly, explicitly, and precisely with sources from the books of the Rishonim and the Acharonim (earlier and later scholars), and we have already received many responses to this from many readers who received great chizuk (strengthening) of their emuna  and bitachon, and were filled with hope and simcha (joy) and light for their soul from the simple statements and from the clear-cut definitions of the middah of bitachon and its advantages brought in the booklet. 

The amazing thing is that this entire wonderful daat can be summarized in a single sentence: 

Hashem yitbarach always loves me and I will always have only good. 

The heart of emuna is: Hashem yitbarach always loves me. 

The heart of bitachon is: I will always have only good. 

G-d’s Closeness Is Good for Me 

Our bitachon that we will have only good relates not only to material matters – good health, wealth, and zivugim (matches), but also and even more in our spiritual life: to trust in Hashem that he will grant us emuna, Torah and tefilla, yirat Shamayim (fear and awe of Hashem), ahavat Yisrael (love of our fellow Jews), and experience true spiritual light – we, our children, and our children’s children. 

After all, this is our purpose in life; this is the true good, the absolute and eternal good. 

We learned that with bitachon we can merit every yeshuah (salvation) and abundance in material matters, because Hashem loves us and wishes to give and to pour endless abundance and good on us. And if that is true for physical needs, how much more so is it true in our spiritual issues – Hashem, who loves us, wishes to give us all the spiritual goodness for which He created us! And therefore, trusting Hashem in spiritual matters is the most powerful tool, allowing us to grow spiritually and merit every spiritual advantage. 

If you want power and strength to do everything in the service of Hashem and to go from strength to strength, strengthen yourself in your bitachon in Hashem. Know and believe with complete knowledge that of course Hashem loves you! Trust in Hashem that He certainly loves you, wishes to bring you closer to Him, to give you the merit of doing His will wholeheartedly, and learning Torah and knowing it. He wants to give you the merit of becoming a prayer and a true servant of Hashem, repenting completely. He wants to give you the merit of good middot (character traits) and to release you from all base desires. 

You Have Loved Us with Endless Love 

And since bitachon is the purpose of the Torah, there is no better time than the days right before the holiday of Matan Torah (Shavuot) to increase one’s emuna and complete bitachon.  

And not only is the bitachon in Hashem the purpose of the Torah, but it is also the condition for receiving the Torah. Every Kabbalat Torah depends on the midah of bitachon! And bitachon depends on the emuna that Hashem loves me! 

You are probably asking: What is the source for the statement that Kabbalat HaTorah depends on bitachon and on the faith that Hashem loves me? 

We say it every day in our prayers! 

The central blessing in the prayer that deals with Torah study is the blessing of “You have loved us with endless love” – You love us so much, Hashem. And in this blessing, we say, “For the sake of our forefathers who trusted in You, and you taught them the laws of life – so too, may You be gracious to us and teach us.”²

It seems from the wording of the blessing, that our forefathers received the Torah in the merit of their trusting in Hashem. One might ask, what is the connection between their trusting in Hashem and receiving the Torah? 

In the Gemara it is told that a Tzedoki (who believed only in the Written Torah) said to Rava: “You are a rash people, for you accepted the Torah by saying ‘We will do, and we will hear’”. In other words, you first took upon yourself the obligation to perform the mitzvahs and only afterwards did you plan to learn and understand what these obligations entail – this is not logical! How can you sign a contract whose content you don’t know? How can you commit yourselves to do what you haven’t heard of yet? Maybe it’s beyond your abilities? 

Rava answered him: “That is precisely the reason that we received the Torah, for we followed Hashem wholeheartedly. And Rashi explains: As those who do things out of love, because we trusted in Hashem that he will not give us a task that we cannot perform! 

From where do we get this bitachon? We trust in Hashem that He loves us, and a lover will not demand anything that is beyond his capabilities from the beloved. 

Bitachon From Start to Finish 

So, we see that Kabbalat HaTorah, and the statement, “We will do, and we will listen”, is based on the midah of bitachon.  

Therefore, we can understand the connection between the various parts of the blessing of Ahavat Olam: Hashem’s love of the Jewish people, trusting in Hashem, and the receiving of the Torah. 

When Yisrael said, “We will do and we will listen,” the Holy One, Blessed Be He, said: “Who revealed this secret to My sons? There is a very great secret here. 

What is this secret? 

Based on what we have written here, the great secret of Na’aseh venishma is the knowledge of how much Hashem loves us, and the complete bitachon that the Torah is “only good” for us.  

“Hashem yitbarach always loves me and I will always have only good” – this is a secret that no matter how much one shouts it, it is still a secret, and every Jew, the more he will be able to discover the secret for himself, so he will be able to achieve his purpose in life, as well as receive all the abundance in the world, physically and spiritually. 

This is yet another addendum to the previous essay. Last week we wrote that bitachon is also the first thing, the basis, as well as being the last thing – the purpose and final aspiration. 

And we see this in Kabbalat HaTorah, for the receiving of the Torah would be impossible without the midah of Bitachon – meaning that bitachon precedes Torah; and, on the other hand, according to the Vilna Gaon, the midah of bitachon is also the purpose; it is the final aspiration and purpose that the Torah and all of the mitzvot are supposed to lead us to.  

In the booklet “Hineni Beyadcha” we summed it up thus: 

Trusting in Hashem is also the tool allowing us to be successful in our Torah learning and in our service of Hashem –  as well as being the purpose of the Torah and the service of Hashem! 

But the most novel idea in this booklet is that it doesn’t only remain on the level of speech, but, rather the booklet also teaches us a clear and paved way to acquire the midah of bitachon practically – through prayer, hitbodedut, and working on one’s ratzon (will) 

Dear Jews, study this important booklet; it will breathe new spirit into you, a spirit of bitachon and hope, which is the internal spirit of all of Torah and mitzvot, and in the merit of that we will all merit a fresh and renewed receiving of the Torah. 

Shabbat Shalom and Chag Shavuot Sameach! 

Editor’s Notes:

¹ Habakkuk 2:4 

² Last prayer before Kriyat Shema