Shaar HaBitachon Lesson 16 with Rabbi Shais Taub

so welcome back um just to recap where we're at i believe this is episode 16. uh hashem uh last week the the end of last week meaning the last class that we had episode 15 was all q a we didn't cover any text and uh tonight i want to cover a lot of text because we're still in the middle of chapter three which is that long long long chapter but before we do and i hope this is not going to uh undercut my plans here i just want to tie up one more loose end from the q a there was a question that was posted as a comment on our youtube channel i should also mention that all of these videos in addition to watching them live on zoom which if you're watching right now you're on zoom um if you're watching live right now um in addition to the live zoom uh these videos get posted on our website soulwords.org they also get posted on torah anytime which is uh one of our partners and they also get posted on youtube so there was a comment that came in on youtube about something that was set in class 14. if you remember we're talking class 14 about the fact that the talking is so powerful that it will work no matter what even if you're not worthy of hashem's kindness you're talking so powerful if that is the only merit you have it'll still work now i mentioned that because it's important to understand that when rebecca says that you should also keep titan mitzvahs it wasn't like a tit-for-tat type of thing that oh hashem is holding you hostage with the mitzvahs by saying well if you don't do the mitzvahs then i won't be nice to you hashem will be nice to you no matter what especially if you have vitohen it's an incredibly powerful tool hashem will still give you kindness to the extent that we said that there could be a person who doesn't do what he's supposed to do he's not keeping misters but he has such strong battalion hashem gives him only goodness and we we mentioned that that baal shem tov the kasir champtov or the balsham says in fact there could be a person who is um he has he's not doing mitzvahs but he has such big talking hashem can't punish him for all the bad things he's doing so what do they have to do first they have to take away his batokin first because if they wouldn't take away usb talking they couldn't punish him because he'd be untouchable because the talking would cause that only good would happen to him okay so i i mentioned that to make a different point the point of how powerful bittoken is right but you know what they say that sometimes uh if you want to teach about an elephant the worst thing to do is to bring an elephant in the into the classroom because then all the students get distracted about the elephant so it ended up making a point that was really the opposite point um but i understand why the person got that impression somebody posted a question on on the youtube you skim over a huge point bone of contention for me hashem takes away our battalion in order to punish us so those of us struggling with our faith are clearly not being assisted on high and that is in order to permit suffering and punishment how can i trust in a god that catches me out when i'm trying yet failing to trust him i should more accurately say he is orchestrating my failure and trust in him okay i hear that so first of all like the medichiver told the atheist young man the same god that you don't believe in i don't believe in either okay god is not orchestrating anybody's spiritual value i'm sorry that that gave you that impression for even a moment and if it caused you any pain or or or any type of negative emotional association in any way it is clear to me at least as a semi-discerning person that a lot of the uh words in that comment again i'm making this up these are assumptions that i'm making i could be wrong it seemed like this was shaking loose a whole lot of old negative associations where people told you precisely these things that god is trying to catch you out that that he's looking for you to slip up so that he can catch you okay god forbid i don't know what god you're describing but remember remember rebecca bakaya already told us how good god is how kind god is how he knows what's good for us he knows better than we know for ourselves what's good for us so clearly that's not what any of that means what it means is the point was that talking is so powerful that even when you don't deserve any kindness even when you're not being nice to god if you still have absolute confidence that he's going to be good to you anyway it would still work technically okay now why does the bashamtv say that hashem would go take such a person like that take their take their battalion first of all let me clarify something it never said that everyone who doesn't have been talking is because hashem took away their talking come on in the vast majority of cases the reason we don't have the talk is not because hashem took it away from us because we didn't we didn't develop it yet because we're still uh we're still working on it we didn't yet develop our but talking yet or as strongly as we could develop it okay so that's first of all don't come to a conclusion oh therefore everyone who doesn't have your tokens because hashem took it from second of all even this case where hashem took the battalion away from a guy because he needed to be punished let's just talk about that a it's clearly to this guy's benefit to punish him okay or hashem wouldn't do it it's not because hashem is vengeful or petty wants to settle a score if hashem's trying to punish this guy then clearly that is good for that person okay but b just remember this we're describing a situation where a guy is being bad to god he's not being nice he's not being a mensch now i know we don't think about hashem that way we think about oh you have to be nice to people you don't have to be nice to god it says who is a hasid who's pious hamish one who acts with hassan with kindness toward his maker yes you do have to act kind you do have to be a mensch toward god imagine a guy who's being not nice to god god tells you to do this he says no i'll do something different god says don't do that he says no i'm going to do it anyway okay he violates every boundary that hashem has given him and he thinks in his mind though but you know what i'm so lovable hashem is gonna you know have to turn a blind eye and don't worry it's not gonna catch up with me and it's gonna all be good okay what would you call somebody who acted like that in a human relationship i can be as abusive as i want to this person and because they love me so much they're never gonna leave me i'm gonna be fine it'll be okay for me you'd call that a sociopath okay so this person's being a sociopath in their relationship with hashem hashem puts an end to it he lets them know that no it's not they're not going to be able to get away with that forever now hashem from hashem's perspective he could have let them get away from with it forever because he's that abundantly compassionate from his side his patience doesn't run out he's infinitely patient he could let them get away with that forever but for their benefit he says no no we can't let this person be a sociopath we're going to take that away from them and they're going to lose their trust that everything will work out even though they're acting like a jerk and then we'll they'll be able to be punished and then we'll be able to you know get a fresh start okay so that's what that meant that's what that meant at any rate that's that's all if if if all of that explanation didn't make sense just understand one thing the bottom line which is hashem's not going around randomly taking away people's batakin that was a very specific case that the balsamic sites which the rabbit then cites in the name of the balshemptiv to make a very specific point but most of us the reason we don't have been talking is just because we haven't developed it yet and and that's why we're learning this safer so that we can develop our token okay i hope that that is clear all right now let's go into the text still in the middle of chapter three the fifth preface let me just back up what was the first preface the first preface was the seven conditions which elicit what was the first preface the first preface was reiterating the seven conditions from chapter two which elicit trust okay what was the second preface you have to know hashem knows everything he knows what's in your heart you can't fake him out he knows exactly how sincere you are what was the third preface that you should not combine your trust in hashem with any other partners so to speak keep it pure just trust in hashem alone preface four was what we were just talking about do what hashem has asked you to do in other words do try to mitzvahs why because if you don't even trust hashem enough to follow his program for a living called the toyota then clearly you're not trusting hashem and that itself is a steera is a contradiction to be talking okay preface five what's preface five you remember preface five no good because we didn't do it yet i was testing to see if you're awake okay preface five hamish is the fifth preface she is it should be clear to you that the completion of all matters which come to be in this world after creation meaning since creation come to be in one of two manners ahmad the first way is that it's the decree of the creator maybe may he be exalted and due to his desire that these things should immediately come into existence in other words organic natural made stuff god just decrees that these things should be the way he wants them to be stuff that you find ready made in nature the hashemi and the second thing the second way things come into being when there are causes and intermediaries the thing is not readily found in nature but it has to be processed it's a it's a product some of those ways are immediate some of them are distant uh mayhem neglim mayhem started some of them are revealed some of the ways are revealed some of the ways are hidden in but they all have one thing in common they all hasten to complete that which he hashem has decreed should be and how these things should appear while the almighty helps them do this okay so to put it in a little bit different uh terms but the same two concepts bread from heaven and bread from the earth bread from heaven the mon came pretty much ready made all you had to do is is is gather bread from the earth requires all the different farming and then all the different preparing of the grain in the in the baking so there are things that come to us ready-made and there are things that we have to put in work okay and that's a that's a muscle for all of life um there are things that just they are because hashem made them that way and there are there are other things that require human effort many times multiple steps of human effort to make them be a certain way okay let let's continue you'll see why this is important the demian has an example of the immediate causes he's going to give an extended metaphor here to imagine the way things come into being in this world so the sibes crevice the immediate causes of things would be like what ketos the gal goldberg it's like the drawing of water from the depths of the earth by means of a pulley system and a jug which is tied to it which draws water out of the well what would be a distant an example of a distant cause that would be like the person who ties the animal to the rope of the animal which pulls the rope should draw the water from deep down in the well sometimes many steps then there are those causes which are in between the person in the vessel which are being used to draw out the water which are intermediate causes between the two matters and they're the animal the wheels which move one another and the rope if there is a damage to any of those steps loyal then the entire intended goal will not come to be as as intended likewise when it comes to other actions that come to be they do not come to be as a result of people's actions or through any other entity rather they all exist due to the decree of god and his preparation of the means through which the action will be completed kamehameha like it says to him to hashem all the causes have been counted the ummer and it says who is great and counsel and master in carrying it out the um like it says also hashem it was something brought about by hashem the tiena sibes if the means would be lacking nothing would come to be as a result of the natural activities so you think about the world and you know what we kind of referred to this in already a couple of in a couple of our classes we talked about the rube goldberg machine remember that metaphor that was my metaphor of the the review i called the rube goldberg machine the same idea basically that you have the way the world works is there are many things that happen in the world some of them happen directly just you know push one button so to speak i mean i'm saying from hashem's point of view and then other things he hashem sets a chain of events in motion okay so far so good okay i think we all understand what that means all right the cashtacob so when one will come contemplate the needs of a person how he is required to engage in various means and to exert himself in order to obtain his needs then we will clearly observe this to be the case without the various means the matter will not come into actuality that's what it's saying in for instance a person needs food you put in front of him the food that he needs if he doesn't pick up the food to his mouth and chew it he won't sate his hunger he has food in front of him but he won't pick it up to his mouth and chew it so obviously having the food in front of him is not going to have its intended effect likewise somebody who's thirsty is in need of water he has to take the water in the cup and lift it up to his mouth and drink it it doesn't it doesn't quench your thirst just to have the water in front of you the call chicane betrina of elishava fear of all the more so if effort is neat is needed if the food's not ready for him yet to eat so that he's required to exert himself to prepare it by grinding the flour and eating the dough and baking the dough into bread and the like so any food even if it's completely ready to go you have to do some amount of action you have to lift it up you have to put it in your mouth you have to chew it you have to swallow it okay sometimes you have to put in even more work or in our in our case we go out you get a job they put some money in your in in your in your bank account and you take a plastic card and you swipe it and you put stuff in a basket and then and then you take the stuff home you have to bring in the groceries okay even today you have to do all there are these different steps that have to go into it and obviously in the olden days when people were agrarian so you have to plant and you have to reap and you have to process the food but the point is everything you have or most of the things we have you're not a plant it's not like you can go out and photosynthesize right you know how a plant eats so a plant eats sunlight so a plant just you know the sun shines on the plant and it breathes in what the carbon dioxide that we breathe out and with the water and the carbon dioxide and the sunlight it photosynthesizes so a plant doesn't have to go anywhere which is convenient because plants can't really go anywhere they're not very mobile they're they're very rooted um but for us in order to eat to get nourishment and to meet our needs we have to do a bunch of stuff the yes sir gilgamesh there's more exertion required let's say if he has to go out and buy stuff he doesn't even have the food that he needs he has to go out and buy it he has to earn money in order to buy it and then even more exertion if he doesn't have the money to go buy it the historically gilgal of goddale namaste is and if he doesn't have the money he has to go to even far greater exertion and involvement in various means than what we mentioned earlier because then he has to either go out and hire himself for work or he has to sell some of his possessions or the like okay so effort is inherently required in meeting our needs okay again we're not plants we can't just photosynthesize there's all these there's all these uh different actions that we need to take in order to meet our needs that's the way the world is and the reason [Music] why a person has to go running around pursuing the things that he needs in order to have a livelihood le shnei upon him are two there are two reasons why hashem made the world in such a way that you got to go and do a bunch of stuff in between not having what you need and getting what you need echoed mayhem one reason the first is because hashem in his wisdom decided to test the person he wanted to test the person in a matter through which it will be evident what his priorities are by making him need things that are outside of him hashem set up the world in such a way that we need things that are outside of ourselves and he gives examples food and drink and clothing and shelter and cohabitation the desire for intimacy receiver is and then he tells people to pursue these things and to obtain them through means which he prepared for them but only in specific manners and in specific times what does that mean so the mafoshima and specifically the paslachem the table of honoring they explain within the bounds of halacha so hashem made all these things that you need he made you have to need them he made them outside of yourself so you'd have to go through different various processes in order to obtain them and then he put limits on you how you're allowed to obtain them you're not allowed to just do anything in order to get these needs met and yet you need to meet these needs these are you can't you can't not meet these needs these are basic things for survival and why does hashem put these things outside of you and then give you rules for ways that are permitted in ways that are forbidden to obtain these things one reason is in order to test you to see what your priorities are to see what you really care about um so those things that hashem decreed that the person will obtain your government he will obtain them as a result of hashem making available all the means that he requires vashallah gaza league ibrahim and the things that hashem did not decree the person should successfully obtain lawyer governor he won't be able he won't manage and hashem will withhold the means to obtaining those things the nether baked explains what does it mean that hashem will or will not provide his dominus hasibis the opportunity for the means of obtaining something or not obtaining it the nether because says that if hashem presents the means to obtaining something then that's a sign to the person that that's something he can obtain or he's allowed to obtain or it's hashem wants him to obtain it but if there's no means to obtain it and by no means to obtain it i mean no kosher means obviously right that's understood then that's a sign that it's not for him and he shouldn't worry about not obtaining it because it's not meant for him as a result it will become clear if he wishes to serve hashem or to disobey him and then on account of that he will incur either reward or punishment waffle aloy gamma bahama even if he doesn't successfully carry it out based on his choice of the means with which he chooses to obtain his needs let's say he sinned in order to accomplish something to obtain his needs and then he didn't even obtain his needs he's a double loser okay so therefore he loses the test because he misused his free will he made a decision he wants to obtain his needs more than he wants to follow hashem's rules okay so there you see where his priorities lie remember when i mentioned that you get a sakuras in one of the earlier classes i mentioned the letter la skill habina remember i said that it's recommended to achasa to learn la skill habina so over here he says similar things regarding the first reason rabbina bachaya is saying why hashem made things that we need require effort and and various different steps to obtaining them that it's in order to test and to see what what our priorities really are look at this overnight i meet this person who's truly faithful is not going to be bothered by any suffering at all and and with respect to mundane matters yes and no we're all the same to him in true equality true equanimity ah but what about what about a person for whom it's not all the same in other words if i get what i want or i don't get what i want really does bother me misha in chavenlite he shows that he's one of the mixed multitude that do for themselves they're not interested in hashem they're selfish he wants to leave from under the yoke or under the hand of hashem and live a non-jewish life bishvil because of self-love and that's why he wants the life of the flesh of children and sustenance because it's good for him in such a case it's better he wouldn't have been born what's this saying everybody likes these things such a crime to like these things it's not the point that's not what it's saying the point is you know my grandfather although sheldon told me a joke and i'm warning you right now none of his jokes were funny but i'm still repeating them after uh long after his passing okay he said there was once a lady went to a psychologist and said my friends think i'm crazy and he says why why do they think you're crazy she says because i like donuts so he says well that's not crazy i also like donuts she says good come to my house i have a whole closet full of them i told you it wasn't funny okay at any rate what's the point we all like life of the flesh we all like to have bonnet we all like those things right children sustenance health that's not the point the point is where a person is so uh dead set that he has to get these things that he's willing to go against hashem's will for him in order to obtain them so in that case we see where his true priorities lie and that's one of the reasons we said there are two reasons and we're not going to be able to get into the second reason tonight but we said there are two reasons why hashem makes us need things and then requires many different steps in order to acquire those things one reason is to see what we're willing to do meaning what morals values principles ethics we really really hold uh in a sincere way what we're willing to compromise in order to go obtain those things so that that's that's the first reason okay all right um fine we're going to have to stop right there we're going to pause there and hashem we're going to continue tomorrow night