Bitachon 254 - Fear Is The Problem

You're listening to the 254th edition of the Be Taken podcast. We're continuing with the possible in Mishlei Perek Chof Tes Pasuk Chof Hey. The Pasuk says Charedas Adam Yitain Mokesh. The fear of a person makes a stumbling block for him or makes it sets up a trap. U'Vitach Ba'Hashem Yisugav. The one who trusts in Hashem will be prosperous. Okay, so this Pasuk is a very important idea. Right? It's kind of saying in the Pasuk and shot the very thing that we fear is sometimes creates the very thing that we fear. The fear itself is what creates the fear. Brings here the Medrash Rabbah Rus. It says Charedas Adam Yitain Mokesh U'Vitach Ba'Hashem Yisugav. Brings this Pasuk and Rebbi Akiva Solik L'Romei. Rebbi Akiva went to Rome. Amar L'Bar Beisai He said to somebody in his home one of his household members Azal Zaven Li Chad D'Mila D'Shaveh M'Shuka. He said I want you to get me something valuable from the Shuk, from the market. And I would guess that he's going to Rome maybe has to give some kind of offering, something special to the to the Roman leadership. Azal Izei L'Tziparei. The person went and as I'm going to explain in the Medrash instead of actually going to the market the person from his household went and personally caught some birds. Amar Lei Rebbi Akiva Mipnei Mashah Yisalei Tziparei. So he said to him what took you so long to catch the birds? Amar Lei Rebbi Akiva Mishum She'Ein Machrida Eis Ha'Adam. He said because they caught you there's two different explanations here. Either it's that they cause people to be fearful. Right? According to one of the explanations they actually fly into places that are safe for them but dangerous for the human being who's trying to catch them. Or they themselves are afraid of human beings and as a result of the the fear so they are hard to catch. Kar Lei Rebbi Akiva Zeh Charedas Adam Yitain Mokesh. Right? Like the he So Rebbi Akiva said he quoted this Pasuk that the fear of a person is what creates the trap. So it could mean simply that the the birds were right to be fearful. They were about to be trapped. Their fear makes it hard to for the person to be able to indeed catch the bird. But doesn't prevent that thing from happening. We sometimes I I and I would add that we sometimes think that by being fearful of something it's going to stop it from happening. Maybe it will motivate us to prevent that thing from happening. But if it's meant to happen it's going to happen. Brings here the Alkush Shemini which is also based on that same Pasuk in Rus. Charedas Adam Yitain Mokesh. What happened was that Rus had come to Boaz's where where he was sleeping. And she had lied down at the end of his bed. And he woke up to find her there and he was not expecting someone to be at the end of his bed in the middle of the night. So he was fearful and he didn't know what it was going on. Chareda She'Hechridah Rus L'Boaz She'Amar Vayichrad Ha'Ish Vayalfas. Yitain Mokesh. So interestingly in this context the same Pasuk is used to teach us that it could have been something that the fact that she caused him to become fearful could have had a very negative result but Din Hayah L'Yilkalel. He should have cursed her. He should have said something negative to her. Amar Lei U'Vitach Ba'Hashem Yisugav. But Boaz was a Tzaddik. He was somebody who even though he got afraid he didn't allow the fear to overtake him but rather he gave a blessing to her. Natzei Bracha B'Libo U'Veracha. He was able to have and find a blessing in his heart and he blessed her. She'Amar Brucha At Hashem Biti. You are blessed Hashem my daughter. Chareda She'Hechrid Yitzchak Esav Vayichrad Yitzchak Chareda. Yitzchak when he realized that he had given the Bracha to Yaakov instead of to Eisav so he was very fearful. He he shook. He was trembling. Din Hayah L'Yilkalel. And in that context as well he should have cursed him. Amar Lei U'Vitach Ba'Hashem Yisugav. Amar Lei Rebbi Akiva Ha'Kadosh Baruch Hu Berchoi. Interesting thing. Hashem put in his heart to bless him. So Hashem actually took away the the automatic response that was like from Yitzchak and instead Yitzchak blessed him. She'Amar Gam Baruch Yihyeh. Yitzchak said about Yaakov that the blessing that he gave will indeed take hold. So very interesting. So what's the lesson for us? The lesson is that it's possible with Siyata D'Shmaya it's possible and we're talking about the pathway in. It's possible to access a place inside of ourselves where Hashem reassures us that everything's going to be okay. To the point that we can just give a blessing. Say God bless you. To the very person who caused us such fear. Brings here from the Kadosh Ha'Kadosh very interesting thing. Kamah D'Machshavah Zeh Ha'Kinyan. O Yiru Eis Nai U'Derech Hateivah U'Mikreh. Very interesting he says. Not like the Alter of Novardok. But as we've said previously there's lots of opinions. He says that even when the Jewish people are in a state of nearness to Ha'Kadosh Baruch Hu, we're in a state of connection to Hashem still Klal Yisrael is Misnaheg we behave in a natural way. We don't rely on Nisim. We don't act in a way which assumes that we're going to automatically get what we want. K'ilu Adam Lo Mashah Lo Asah Eis Mashi'hu B'Yado. A person should put in efforts the things that make sense for the person to do. Right? I got to pick up the fork and put them up the food in my mouth. The Alter says that as well. U'Mashah Yaniach B'Yedei Shamayim. Things that I can't are clearly out of my control I should place that into Hashem's hands as it were. She'Im Lo Kein Lo Hayah Yitzchak Noach She'Asah Teivah. Lo Hayah She'Yikra Lifnei Yisrael. If not if not for this fact so so Noach wouldn't have had to create an ark. Wouldn't have had to build an ark. And the Jewish people didn't really need to have the Yam Suf open up for them. You know, that's topic of the day right now in Pesach. Why do we need the Kri'as Yam Suf? Why do we need the the sea to split for us? Yachol Ha'Kadosh Baruch Hu Yachol L'Afroach M'Avir L'Atzilam. Hashem could have just lifted them up into the heaven. Shouldn't have to do a real Nes. He lifted them up. He saved them that way. Brought them out of their location. V'Lo Hayah Hayah Yisrael Misnaheg B'Yedei Mikreh V'Teivah V'Meitzos Ach K'Shem Zeh Ha'Kinyan. Still Hashem had to do something within I mean obviously you know splitting the sea is not not very natural to say the least. But to lift them up into the heavens versus having them walk through the sea on dry land that's a different type of Nes. Or the fact that Noach built a Teivah and he was saved miraculously in the ark but still there was something that was done that wasn't like so supernatural that it was out of bounds. U'Chein Amar Ha'Melech Ba'Hashem. So says King Solomon that's our Pasuk. Charedas Adam Yitain Mokesh U'Vitach Ba'Hashem Yisugav. So he says what's the P'shat in our Pasuk? The fear of the person is what causes the person to become trapped and a person who trusts Hashem ends up prosperous. Ha'Chareda She'Hechrid Ha'Adam U'Simas Ha'Cheit. The fear that a person has the trembling that a person has is a cause for sin. Ve'Eilu She'Ein Yir'as Ha'Kadosh Baruch Hu Sheleimah. And it shows that a person does not completely fear Hashem. If I'm scared it's cuz I know I've done something wrong. U'L'Kach Hu Ra'ui She'Yihyeh L'Mokesh. And it really should cause the person to get trapped. She'Yigrah Lo Ha'Oyev. And that the enemy should be able to overcome him. Af Al Pi She'Lo Hayah Ra'ui L'Yigrah Lo Ha'Oyev. Even though even though the the even though he shouldn't have been attacked by his enemy the fear itself creates the problem. Why? Because it shows that I recognize inside of myself that I'm not deserving of Hashem's help. I was thinking of a little bit of a K'Neitzach Nisayon. I'm not sure if somebody says it later on here. But we can say it here. If we say it again we'll remind ourselves. But the very fact the very fact that I am afraid requires me now to to put in some kind of natural effort. To be in a space of trust in Hashem sometimes I need to do something. There's a book called the six steps of bitachon, which I believe I mentioned a while ago. But in that book he he offers to us a way of getting to a space of bitachon that might involve hishtadlus, but a little less hishtadlus. So enough that we feel like now we can trust. But guys, a person just doesn't have it all the way. We don't have that full bitachon. We need to think, what do I need to do? And of course, I need to leave space for Hashem, as it were, within myself, that Hashem should do it. But sometimes I have a charada, I have a fear. Why is saying it? Because I've done something I know is wrong, and I don't deserve it. I feel like I don't deserve it. It's very much dependent on my feelings. Okay, brings here from the Radak. Maybe this is where he says it. When a person is afraid, when something bad comes, so it creates another trap. Because a person is not does not have his wits about him, it's easy to trip and make a a a simple mistake. But it's easy when a person is confused, afraid, you know, you just have that fight or flight feeling. So when you trust in Hashem, he doesn't allow himself to become overly fearful. So, he'll strengthen himself even from this thing that happened. He'll be able to overcome it. He won't be won't be stuck in the issue. So I'm checking to make sure that the microphone is on here. All right, I think that was wrong. So the the person makes sure to turn even in the moment of challenge, of difficulty, of the thing that's making him nervous, in that moment to turn to bitachon lightens lightens the fear. The Even Ezra says simply, a person who is afraid and doesn't place his faith in Hashem, so then it will bring upon him the the very thing that he fears. The Rav Bog says like this, who am I right to be afraid The fear of a person and his fear about something that he shouldn't really be fearful of can cause him a trap and damage. For a mashal, Let's say as an analogy, a person finds as he's going along there's someone bad he meets on the on the way. Right? Guy's walking along and he sees a a bandit, a robber. As soon as the bandit sees that you're afraid, the bandit knows, "Oh, I got this guy." He can take away all of his money. Like he right, he can find a school. He knows he can already overcome him. Brings here in the note of the Maharal, if you do share a good day, says beer is out of dark eye. It's Baba Metzia daf lamed gimmel amud base. Hashem explained that the very fear brings the the thing that he fears. Key you got a lot. He gives an example of somebody who let's say wants to get across a river, so he has a a a board, a wooden board. He puts it on the river in order to go from one end to the other. If he's trying to try to surf on this, maybe it's saying, so he's much more likely to fall. But that same exact board, if he was standing on the earth, on the land, he wouldn't fall. It's because the very thought that a person has of falling is what creates the problem. Because the mind is what creates things. We create with our minds. We can actually create the thing that we fear with our minds. The Rav Bog continues, talking with her. But a person a person who trusts in Hashem and is not fearful because of the power, the strength of his bitachon in Hashem, doesn't allow himself to get afraid even of something that he should be afraid of. He instead places his trust in Hashem. He knew who he spoke of. So that person will be prosperous. He'll be strengthened to escape from the evil. As we find by King David, he strengthened himself in his God to run after the the members of a foreign army, for Ziklag, that they had burnt his city where he was staying. They had come back. Here he explains in the bottom of Amalek and your Ziklag. The the show nation they took the women captive. They were crying incessantly until they had no more power to cry. King David's two wives were captured. But he was very upset. People were extremely upset, all the men that were with him, about their children that had been kidnapped. He finishes off and says that King David strengthened himself in Hashem. He redoubled his bitachon, his belief that Hashem would take care of him. And they ran after the Amalekim, and they were able to destroy the Amaleki people who had taken their and captured their family. They were able to bring back the captured. He brings here from the Kaddish Kemach. Possuk says in regards to going out to war, that if someone feels weak in their faith, someone feels weak and and is scared to go out to war, they they should go home. They shouldn't go out to war. Because that person feels that the the people who he's fighting against are very strong. He sees their powerful encampment. Could be he believes intellectually that everything is in Hashem's hands. But because of his lack of bitachon, he hasn't developed his trust in Hashem to the point where he feels calm. Rather, his heart is weak. His nature is is is calling him really away from the war. It's even a loss of voice. The possuk says that he needs to go back. And that's our possuk, that the fear of a person and that's our possuk, that the fear of a person creates a trap. You know, Adam. A person is afraid of people, it's a sin to his soul. And it says like my kish, and it creates a trap. Like there's a eye of a love. Caramel satura love. And strengthens the enemy on him. And brings the problem to him. Because a person should not be afraid of the strength of a human being. We should not allow ourselves to fear. But a person who trusts in Hashem will be prosperous. He'll be saved. He'll be saved from the difficulty, from from the trouble that he's in. And because of the reward for his bitachon. We should be happy with our world and our love. Even though the thing that this thing that he was afraid of shouldn't have come. But if a person it shouldn't have happened to him. It shouldn't have caused damage to him. But if a person has bitachon, a person has faith, so then the very thing that he fears, originally strengthens himself with bitachon, the thing that he fears is released. It gets away. When I release my fear and I place my trust in Hashem, it opens the channel for Hashem, as it were, to be able to come into my life to take away the very thing that seemed like it would cause me damage. Thank you so much for listening. See you again next time.