Bitachon 277 - In Times of Trouble

You're listening to the 277th edition of the B'tachon podcast. We're continuing in safer B'tachon Hashem. And now we're going to talk about B'tachon in Tzarah. Having trust having faith in Hashem, B'tachon in Hashem in times of difficulties. In our previous episodes, we've talked about what is B'tachon. We've defined it. And we've talked about when it's appropriate to use B'tachon. Right? Which we said according to Rabbeinu Yonah, according to Rabbeinu Bachya, it's appropriate to use it in all situations. Tzrichin l'havin al yedei zeh l'havin emes, we need to add on and say as follows, she mitzvas emunah u'mitzvas B'tachon shayaich es b'ikar b'eis tzarah. The main place, the main time that B'tachon is meant to be employed is when a person is in a state of difficulty. B'adam nivchan. And a person is then tested im b'teiach b'Hashem, whether he trusts in Hashem. Davka b'eis tzarah. And it's specifically in a time of challenge. Why? Right? When a person is in a calm situation, obviously, it's much easier to trust in Hashem. Doesn't require as much strenuous effort. Ach, b'tzarah chamas tzu'chah, kol tzaros, but when it comes to situations where a person finds himself in in trouble, im es hasatan, tzarah gedolah me'od. Let's say a person has a very difficult trial. A very difficult situation. So what's what comes into play? The its hara. The evil inclination of a person He says it's like a the concept of when two like things find each other and they are awakened. Right? If I'm in a state of trouble, I'm in a state of challenge, so my its hara wakes up and says, "Oh, oh, oh, this is my This is where I get to play." In a time of difficulty, the its hara works overtime. And puts into a person all kinds of different fears. He causes a person to worry and brings all kinds of proofs to the person. You have to do everything that you can. >> [snorts] >> Even if the people he's turning to have a very low possibility of helping him. And even if the people he's turning to have a very low possibility of helping him. Surely, it may not really mean anything. It says if I'm not going to be for myself, who will be for me? To the point where the person just acts like a secular individual. As if he doesn't believe in Hashem. He doesn't have God in the picture at all. Right? It's a very difficult situation to be in. It's a difficult situation to be in. The person, the individual, completely occupies himself in physical matters. He thinks that that's what's going to save him from the trouble, from the problem. And this causes that if you know, if you believe in your yourself as the source of your power, you're in for a shock. Or you're in for some reality checks. Because I know and you know that we don't have the power to take care of all of our problems. We just don't. It's not humanly possible. So this brings about more worry and more sadness. So then my spirituality becomes something very shallow. Becomes something that's superficial. Like the like the earlier like the earlier writers hinted to. That the Torah of a person who's a warrior is just superficial. And so through this, the Yetzer Hara has got has got the person. He's he's won. He's won. However, what is the spiritual work of the Israelite person of the Jew? The positive in the Tehillim kuf tav zayin, chapter 116. We say this in when we say full Hallel. I have come across challenges. I've come across difficulties. Kish David haMelech, King David says Sometimes a person experiences one problem after another. He doesn't give up, heaven forbid. Hello, Mishnah Mishnah Yomi Kroll. Rather, he calls out to Hashem. Sorry, again, I'm sorry. Mishnah Mishnah Yomi Kroll. What do I do when I experience challenges? I call out to Hashem. My friend Mordechai Abu Param, my Rosh Yeshiva's son, I spoke to him yesterday. He told me over a little line, which he said was the most powerful line in a sheer he gave over on Shavuos, which was one time he was talking to his father, my Rosh Yeshiva, the kind of the rough he was talking to his father, and he said to me as a certain issue, certain problem, certain challenge, and Rosh Yeshiva said to him, "You know, it's okay to have a little bit of bitachon to deal with your problem. >> [gasps] >> It's okay to have a little bitachon. You know, sometimes we feel overwhelmed by the challenge that's in front of us, and we forget about bitachon. And David Hamelech tells us, "Sarvei Ogen Amcha, I'm going to I'm going to have challenges. It's going to happen. That's it's going to come you know, that's that's part of life. U'shem Hashem Ekra, it's okay to have some bitachon. I'm going to call out in the name of Hashem. You tell bitachon al chazdei Hashem. When I have bitachon in the kindness of Hashem, Shazal directly put them out of yeush. Malachi said so. This is the only way to get out of a person naturally feels meush, he feels hopeless. The the troubles keep coming, snowballing, chos v'shalom. So, how do you get out of that sense of of hopelessness? The way out is through bitachon. I have bitachon Hashem is going to do kindness for me. Shema Yisrael Hashem Elokeinu Hashem Echad. K'vi she chazal kamal pasuk, like they can't write in the possuk. Is there such a Libya came I kill? As it says in Aicha. This I shall place on my heart. And therefore I will have hope. How is the killer salmon? Which is actually quite beautiful if you think about it in the context of Aicha is lamentations for the destruction of the temple. And it's one problem after another described over there. But it's not a cause to give up. So hear me all I know of you. Jeremiah the prophet tells us don't give up. Even when the troubles come I still have hope. I shall be kindness always endures. It never ends. But suddenly I might I should be mission of Libya taking a soul. He means to say says the Karim. That what I [clears throat] think about what I remind my heart. What I awaken inside of myself. Is that even when I'm in the darkest depths of my troubles. Because I shall be someone. Kindness of a sham is never ending. He like a lot of them. There's no end to his kindness. There's no end to his compassion. Can build the ball tackles. I shall be infinite. So his kindness is infinite. But he is not going to a sham. Someone will not allow things to get worse and worse forever. That's just not how it is. Kim I got or I can't read this. Kim I got we come. Correct some of Rather I shall be with compassion. Because of his great kindness. As the possuk says in Aicha there. So in the third chapter. So come on and all of them in base. I kein Ain emes yashar letzei min hatzaros. Therefore, I do not give up hope from getting out of my troubles, getting out of my problems. Vetzar kli mai shibain eisav likach. We need to say that in addition to this shibitachon baShem meisiro es hayeush umeslavel et hatzaros. Bitachon in HaShem takes away the hopelessness that a person often feels when he's faces when he faces troubles. Ki hu gam meisiro es hatzara atzma. Doesn't just take away the hopelessness, it takes away the problem. Kishigai zeh HaMaral, like the Maral writes, "Kishibah davar ma al adam shini'era." When something comes to a person, something happens to a person that seems to be bad. Uvitach baHashem he trusts in HaShem shimeisaviv es hatov tzei min hatov umitaviv es hatov tzei min hatov uvitach baHashem. The bitachon has the power to take the thing that looks bad and turn it into something good. This is incredible. I don't remember speaking about it in this way. But bitachon basically says I believe and my beliefs aren't just wishes. I wish. That's not what bitachon is. Bitachon has a causative power. That's what we're saying here. It has a causative power to change the situation which looks bad into something good. He doesn't I don't know if he quotes the pasuk here, but you know, "Hafachta mispedi limachol li." King David says, say it every morning. You changed, you transformed you flipped over the eulogy I was saying into a circle dance. I mean, it doesn't get stronger than that. It turned out that the thing that I thought was terrible turned out to be awesome. Turned out to be good. But this is we see this all the time that the does his best to get the person when they're in a difficult situation to nail that person to to take us down because of the pain and the and the the wounds that we have. So on top of the wounds and the pain the tries to get us to feel down, to feel hopeless. And he takes away our in Hashem. It's a self-destructive force that wants us to to to be destroyed until the end. Heaven forbid. Brings here that when a person Hashem wants to take a for whatever reason, let's say a person has done wrong, so Hashem Hashem will sometimes cause a person's heart to be stopped up to not believe that there's hope. And then indeed that's what happens. And you can fall down to a very low place cuz he didn't trust in Hashem. Therefore the writes A person needs in a time of difficulty to redouble his efforts to to beg Hashem to to call out to Hashem. The request is coming from Hashem who is good. To request to to to ask for a free gift from Hashem who is good. Hashem, don't take away my faith in you. Don't take away my faith in you. He can strengthen himself. As he applies as Hashem. Then he will see wonders. He will see wonders with Hashem's help. I heard from somebody spiritual teacher I heard that the moment something negative happens, before I have a chance to react, before I have a chance for my heart to fall, immediately turn to Hashem and say, "Hashem, I don't want this to affect my relationship with you." Immediately. Hashem, I want I I'm making a conscious decision that it's not going to affect my relationship with you, God. Or here he's saying he must follow that it shouldn't. Daven that it shouldn't. Pray that it shouldn't. Being sad and being hopeless, feeling hopeless does not solve our problems. The other way around. When a person is troubled. When a person is sad, person feels hopeless, right? It's okay to be sad. The hopeless part is the the part that's that's concerning. So then, a person's mind is is preoccupied and confused. Can't see the way out. They don't see it. They're in a constricted consciousness. When a person strengthens his on Hashem, what does it do? Then maybe Simcha. It brings him joy. It takes him out of that constricted consciousness and brings him into an expanded consciousness. Like we already mentioned in the pasuk, In him my heart will rejoice because I trusted in his holy name. And that calms the person down. I can calm myself down. I can talk to the Hashem, talk to the master of the world. Shem, help me rejoice in you. I know that you can do anything. You can save me from any trouble, any problem. She has right. And then the person comes to understand and recognize that it's not the things that are on the surface that might look like they might help him, that's not what's going to help him. Hashem. So, I have to to engage my spiritual capacity. I have to say, "Okay, what is it that I can do spiritually at this moment to solve my problems?" There might be particular actions I can take, but before that, learn to learn by a pasuk. First thing I need to do is to learn, to learn Torah. To learn a bitachon. To face it with hope. To learn, to daven, to pray. And then that person person fulfills that which the pasuk says, or this pasuk is fulfilled in him. But I made call to you. I called out to you from a constricted place Hashem. I called out to you from the straits. You answered me in an expansive place, an expanded way Hashem. This is something that is not just true for the physical challenges that we might face, but it's also true of spiritual challenges. A person is in the lowest place spiritually, the 49th level of impurity, the lowest place. Person might be in a state which is described in the passage in Job in Job chapter 15 verse 22. I don't believe that I can ever get out of this darkness. Right, that's what a person sometimes feels. A person thinks I can never get out of my spiritual darkness. My my my distance from Hashem that a person is trapped in. I'm already I'm already a lost case. I'm hopeless and he falls further and further. Now, stop right there. Stop right there. Trust in Hashem. Hashem can get me out of this darkness. Who created the darkness? Hashem did. Who created the light? Hashem did. I have to believe Hashem's never-ending kindness. My salvation will come. I have to put in some effort. I can't give up. So, I have to do whatever I can in Torah and feel. I can't I can't throw away my spirituality and say, you know what? I'm I'm I'm lost. Forget it. I'm not going to learn anymore. I'm not going to dive in anymore. No. I have to go back to Torah. I have to go back to feel. Until with Hashem's compassion the possuk will be fulfilled and Hashem will shine upon you. Possuk says that the light of Hashem will shine upon you. Rema not a double Z. He brings here a nice hint to this matter, this concept. We talking about the word mem tes. Havaya You look at the gematria of the word bitachon. So, it's mem tes, which is 29. And you'd gave up ke, 26. 29 + 26 Sorry, 49. I said it wrong. 49 + 26 49 of the So, you need to be talking about shigam shalom nitzu mem tes shari tuma. Achmad on side. This hints to the fact the word bitachon itself hints that even if a person is in the 49th level of impurities, seems so far from Hashem. Heaven forbid. I feel like he miskazi bitachon by viabachu. You can still be connected to Hashem even in that place. There's no place that's so far away from Hashem that you can't access Hashem there as well. And bitachon itself is the gematria of the word bitachon hints to that because it's mem tes. The 49th and then you'd gave up ke. Hashem's name is right there with you even in that dark place. So, he's offering us that no No we are, no matter how difficult things are, we can always come back to Torah and tefillah, to prayer and to to the study of Hashem's wisdom. He teaches us again, reminds us again what a relationship with him looks like. Thank you so much for listening. We'll see you again next time.