TRANSFORM YOUR EMUNAH!

Rabbi Reuven Garber
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Short daily inspiration about Emunah and Bitachon with R’ Reuven Garber ”The distance between understanding Emunah intellectually and internalizing it emotionally is greater than the distance between heaven and earth!” Transform Your Emunah! https://transformyouremunah.com/

  1. 6h ago

    623 - Transform Your Bitachon! (Part-60)

    We continue our amazing Bitachon journey. Guys, we're exploring now part four of this Transform Your Bitachon series, where the question is, does Bitachon always work? So I'm super excited, B’ezrat Hashem, to begin looking at these Torah sources inside, which are quite fascinating. Because again, this type of Bitachon is not as commonly focused on. And for me, personally, in my journey of Bitachon, it opened up a whole new avenue to the world of Bitachon. But again, we do have to understand the different elements of how all this works, and therefore I do feel it is worth giving a bit of an introduction to this section before we actually begin to explore the Torah sources inside, which we'll get to very soon, Bezrat Hashem.   One might ask, with the usual type of Bitachon that is taught, where one relies on Hashem that He certainly can do anything, but not necessarily will He do it in the way that I desire. In a sense, that seems like the more appropriate approach to take, because we certainly know that Hashem is much greater than anything that our brains might be able to comprehend. And Hashem has many calculations, so who am I to know that something is necessarily good for me? Whereas when I take the second approach of Bitachon, and I am so confident I need something and I am relying on Hashem that He will give it to me in the way that I desire, in a sense that might seem like I am putting myself in a position where I know better than Hashem. So as always, whenever we visit any question which has a real bearing on our lives, the way you are going to answer the question will just depend on the perspective you are looking at.   I often like to use the example of two people who are sitting across the table from one another, and the one individual is facing a six, whereas from the other individual's standpoint and perspective, he sees a nine. Who is right? And the answer to this question is they are both right, it just depends from which perspective you are looking at. Now sometimes, to look from one perspective is actually wrong, and although an individual looking from that perspective, within his way of seeing things, he is correct, however the reason he is wrong is because he's got the wrong perspective.   We all know we have very limited brains and we certainly make mistakes through many, many situations in our lives, so when making relatively small decisions, it doesn't make all that difference if I get the vanilla or the chocolate, because it's not going to have such a great bearing on my life, whereas when I am now exploring what is ultimately the right form of bitachon to apply, which as we've learned so many times, bitachon is the point of all Torah and mitzvos and ultimately the point of my life, this is a question with not only a little bit of bearing on my life, but this is the ultimate question that certainly begs clarification and to come to the real perspective, the only truthful perspective. And again, where are we going to find that only truthful perspective that we can be so confident that we've got the right answer, and the only place to look is Hashem's perspective which is portrayed to us in the Torah.   Now regardless of whether we understand or not the question that we asked previously or the many other complications that might arise from the type of bitachon that we are applying, the bottom line is that the first step to clarify is what is the Torah's perspective? What do the many Torah sources teach us about what bitachon truly is? Thereafter, we can try to understand the questions that might beg clarification, but the starting point is what do the many Torah sources teach? And as we're going to see in this section, the overwhelming majority of Torah sources teach that true bitachon means to rely on Hashem to such a confident degree that you are so confident He will come through for you in exactly the way that you desire.   So again, let's explore the questions that that might lead to, of who says that's good for me? How do I know I deserve it? Does this not seem like I'm interfering with Hashem's plans and the many other questions that this might lead to? But the starting point before even exploring the questions is what is the truth? What is the right perspective? B'ezrat Hashem, let's move forward in this incredible journey of bitachon together and transform our lives.

    4 min

  2. 1d ago

    622 - Transform Your Bitachon! (Part-59)

    Guys, Bezrat Hashem, we're moving forward now to part four, and the question we're going to be exploring in these Torah sources in this section is, does Bitachon always work? And just before we, Bezrat Hashem, begin to explore the Torah sources inside, let's just give a brief introduction to what this section is going to be all about, Bezrat Hashem, which will help us then to understand the Torah sources in a more beneficial way.   So oftentimes when one learns about Bitachon, the way it is usually taught is as follows. Bitachon means to trust in Hashem to the point that He certainly can do absolutely anything. He is certainly not limited by any limitations of nature, nor any other statistics or anything else that runs our physical world, because He created the world and He constantly oversees and controls every single detail. And that being the case, if an individual is sick, or if somebody needs parnassah, or any other situation that one might be going through, when we ask ourselves, is it possible for Hashem to save me from this situation, the answer is absolutely yes, because Hashem can absolutely do everything.   Now although that is probably the most common understanding of what Bitachon is all about, and as we'll learn in a coming section of the Torah sources that we're exploring about that is certainly a type of Bitachon that we are to tap into. However, what's not as commonly taught and explored is the type of Bitachon that we're going to be looking at in this section, and that is, not only do I believe that Hashem can do anything for me, but I become so confident in my reliance on Hashem to the extent that I'm relying on Him that He will do it for me.   Meaning, the first type of Bitachon would say, I know Hashem can absolutely do anything for me, and if I am currently experiencing an illness, that according to all statistics and all laws of nature, it is impossible to find a cure for this. Nevertheless, I absolutely believe Hashem can send me a cure for this illness, even though that would go against all laws of statistics and nature, because again, Hashem is beyond all of that. However, I am not particularly sure and confident that Hashem will definitely send me my cure in the way that I would like, because again, Hashem is much greater than me, and He has many calculations, and who says I necessarily deserve that Hashem should come through for me in the way that I desire? And again, maybe there are other considerations beyond my human understanding why Hashem sending me a cure would be bad for me. So again, this type of Bitachon would dictate, Hashem can certainly come through for me and go against all the laws of nature and everything else that the basics of Emunah teach, but not necessarily that I am absolutely confident that He will come through for me.   And then we have another type of Bitachon. Where not only do I know that Hashem can come through for me, but I am able to get to such a level of reliance on Hashem, of Bitachon in Hashem, where I am actually counting on Him to send me my salvation. Not only to the point that I know that He can send me my salvation, but that He might not necessarily do so in the way that I would like, but rather, I am confident that Hashem will send me my salvation in the way that I desire, and in the way that I am asking Him to send it to me. And in this particular example of someone who is experiencing an illness, even though one might not know of any available cure, according to the laws of nature and statistics, one can reach a level of Bitachon in Hashem that I know Hashem is going to cure me, without any shadow of a doubt, and I am relying on Him to do so.   Now again, as we begin to explore this type of Bitachon, we might have many questions, such as, does Hashem allow me to practice such a form of Bitachon? Is it even what He wants, or would He rather me put it in His boat and say, Hashem knows better. Let me rely on Him to the extent that I know that He can do anything, but not necessarily dictate to Him what He should do. Or would He rather that I rely on Him to such an extent that I am almost telling Him what to do. So B'ezrat Hashem, let's move forward together on this exciting journey and transform our Bitachon.

    4 min

  3. 2d ago

    621 - Transform Your Bitachon! (Part-58)

    Guys, what an amazing privilege we have to be continuing this journey about Bitachon. We've just wrapped up part three where we've been discussing exactly how important Bitachon is and we saw from many commentaries the tremendous extent Hashem places on Bitachon. But just before we move further to the next section in our Bitachon journey, I would like to elaborate a little bit more on something that we've discussed briefly previously.   In many ways if we think of Judaism, we think of Torah learning and the performance of the mitzvahs and in many circles this is what's ultimately focused on. Now there's no question that Emunah and Bitachon should lead me to treating Torah learning as of highest priority. Just for a little bit of inspiration, imagine you're on your way home and suddenly you encounter a situation where you save somebody's life. They literally were about to drown and you save them from drowning. That certainly would be a big highlight of something that happened in your day and probably in your life. The Gemara teaches us that when you learn a word of Torah that is even greater than that. Now that is just something to digest, our belief in the words of the Gemara that Torah learning is so so so powerful.   And at the same time when it comes to the value of mitzvos there are countless passages in Torah literature which explain the tremendous value to all of the mitzvahs. And there's no question that what will motivate me to do Torah and mitzvos will be Emunah and Bitachon. But as we've explained previously, Emunah and Bittachon is like the root of the tree which then produces many branches, one being Torah, one being mitzvos and all of them are super important and vital whilst at the same time the trunk of the tree is much bigger than the branches.   And similarly when it comes to Emunah and Bittachon although we have many mitzvos to fulfill and that is certainly an expression of Emunah and Bitachon however there are many things outside of the mitzvos that fall under the category of Emunah and Bitachon. Some examples that we learned in the previous passages was that if one is short of funds to the point that I don't even know where I'm going to get my next meal for tomorrow a very important value of Emunah and Bitachon is to work towards getting to a place where I'm so reliant on Hashem that I feel completely calm because just like He's taking care of me today, He will take care of me tomorrow. And similarly we learned that when we thank Hashem for things that is one of the most ultimate and important expressions of Emunah and Bitachon. So certainly it's not a waste of time to turn to Hashem in our own words every day and say “thank you Hashem for the amazing life that you've given me. Thank you Hashem for the family, thank you Hashem for the food and the many other things that we can all do in our own ways.”   And we also learned a powerful statement from the Chofetz Chaim that he said that the ultimate reward that we will receive in the future will be based on the level of Emunah that we had and how exactly do we excel in this level of Emunah. The Chofetz Chaim defined this by saying that if a person is always contemplating and internalizing that everything Hashem does is for the best then that is our ultimate ticket for the reward that is available in the time of their future redemption.   And to make this more real, each one of us in our own words when we're going through a difficult challenging time let's say a person just got fired from their job or any other calamity that we can all relate to in our own lives we have the opportunity now to stop and say to Hashem in our own words, “Hashem, I know that the reason that they fired me is because You desired that that should happen to me and I have no doubt about it that that is good for me. Hashem, I know that You always do only what's good for me. I believe in You, I trust in You. I have Emunah and Bitachon in You Hashem and I want to have more Emunah and Bitachon in You Hashem. The more we do this, the more we make Emunah and Bitachon real in our lives the more our lives will be truly real and meaningful. B’ezrat Hashem, let's move forward in our journey together and transform our Bitachon.

    4 min

  4. 3d ago

    620 - Transform Your Bitachon! (Part-57)

    Let's move forward in this amazing journey together about Bitachon. Bezrat Hashem, today we're going to be wrapping up this section in our Bitachon journey, where we've been discussing the Torah sources, highlighting to us exactly how important Bitachon is.   So let's recap what we've seen in this section. We saw the Beis Halevi who taught us that the obligation to have Bitachon in Hashem is enumerated in so many verses in the Torah that he's not even going to begin to list them because there are too many to count. The Beis Halevi also taught us that somebody who is lacking in Bitachon is committing a grave sin.   And thereafter we saw the Chovos HaLevavos, who taught us that the one item that is more necessary than anything else for someone who is striving to be a servant of Hashem is Bitachon in Hashem Bechol Devarav, is relying on Hashem in all areas of my life. We then visited a passage from Rabbeinu Yonah, where Rabbeinu Yonah taught us that Bitachon is the ultimate expression of all Emunah and Yirah. And as we know, so many Torah passages highlight to us that the whole point of the world is for the sake of Emunah, for the sake of Yirah, and the ultimate expression of that is Bitachon.   We then learned some fascinating passages from the Vilna Gaon, where he writes that Hashem's entire motive in giving us the Torah was for the sake of coming to Bitachon. And as we pointed out, although the performance of mitzvos and the learning of Torah are certainly a very important expression of Emunah and Bitachon, whilst at the same time there are many other things that do not fall under the category of mitzvos, that do however fall under the category of Emunah and Bitachon, and we are called on to excel in those areas too.   For example, the Vilna Gaon brought to us from the Gemara that if somebody does not have any provisions for tomorrow, we are to work towards a place where we feel no anxiety whatsoever, because we know Hashem will take care of us, even if there seems to be no way out and it seems to be against all odds, we are to make an effort to get to a place of reliance on Hashem, that He will come through for us and we are not to worry whatsoever. And furthermore, the Gra taught us that Bitachon is so important, that if one would have to choose between being somebody without Bitachon, where they are careful to avoid all sin, or to be somebody who commits severe transgressions, but they are excelling in their Bitachon endeavor, the latter would be preferable.   We also saw from the Ramban that the purpose of all the mitzvos is ultimately that we come to have Emunah in Hashem, and this is the ultimate purpose for Hashem creating the world in the first place. And as the Ramban again taught us, another expression of Emunah, which will not always fall under the category of an actual mitzvah that we are commanded to do, is thanking Hashem. We're going to move now to a final passage from the Chofetz Chaim in his Sefer Machaneh Yisrael (3:2) where he writes, “A person needs to know that the main reward that we are to receive in the time of redemption is going to be based on the amount of Emunah and Bitachon that we had. That if a person did not succeed in their Emunah and Bitachon, God forbid, they could be lacking tremendously in the future.” But if a person did excel in Emunah, and what is an expression of excelling in that Emunah? Again, notice, not always falling under the category of a specific mitzvah: “And a person always contemplated that everything that Hashem does is always for my good. This will be the ultimate ticket to his place in eternity in the future.” The Chofetz Chaim is teaching us here that the one most important benchmark that we are going to be judged for in the future, and this will determine the level of reward that we are, Bezrat Hashem, to receive, is the level of Emunah and Bitachon that we achieved. “Thank you, Hashem, for teaching us all this incredible information about Emunah and Bitachon. And Bezrat Hashem, let's continue together in this amazing journey and transform our Bitachon.”

    4 min

  5. 4d ago

    619 - Transform Your Bitachon! (Part-56)

    We've been looking at some fascinating passages from the Vilna Gaon with regards to Bitachon, that the whole motive for Hashem giving us the Torah was ultimately for the sake of our placing our reliance in Him. This gives us real direction as to what Hashem truly desires from us. One might ask, what exactly is Bitachon? If I'm doing my best in learning Torah as well as doing my best in fulfilling the mitzvos, is that not the ultimate expression of Bitachon? Now there is no question that Emunah and Bitachon need to absolutely lead to making our maximum effort to learn Torah as much as we can, as well as to fulfill the mitzvos with all their intricacies to the best of our capacity, whilst at the same time it is super important to highlight that the expression of Emunah and Bitachon is not limited only to the learning of Torah and performance of mitzvos. It is much more vast.   The Vilna Gaon gave us an example here based on the Gemara, that if somebody is out of to the point that he has his last meal and he has no idea where he's going to get his meal from for tomorrow. Now one might say, this person is continuing to learn Torah and do his mitzvahs as best as he can, all he's doing wrong is worrying about where his parnassah is going to come from for tomorrow. The Vilna Gaon is teaching us that not only is that considered a sin, but that is ultimately the whole point of the Torah to get to a place where we don't worry because we're trusting in Hashem. This is so important to digest. Again, I'm not going to get there today, but I need to understand where am I aiming at heading. The whole point of the Torah is Emunah and Bitachon and as we've learned from previous passages, fear and worry and anxiety is ultimately the opposite of Emunah and Bitachon. Hashem has always looked after me and He'll certainly always continue to look after me.   We move now to the next Torah source that we're going to be looking at. The Ramban (Shemos 13:16), writes, “the purpose of all the mitzvos is that we should have Emunah in Hashem”. And continues the Ramban, “And the purpose of all the mitzvahs is that we should thank Hashem that He created us.” And again, we're seeing here examples that in a sense are not limited to the practices we have of the limitations of the mitzvos and Torah learning itself. As we've highlighted, and it's important to highlight it again and again, there's no question that learning Torah and performance of the mitzvos are of paramount importance and anyone who's serious about Emunah and Bitachon will certainly be doing their best to excel in Torah and mitzvos, whilst at the same time, the world of Emunah and Bitachon is way larger than Torah learning and performance of mitzvos itself.   As we saw in the previous passage, to get to a level to not worry about tomorrow, even if I'm in trouble and have no idea where my provisions are going to come from. Although that's not fulfilling any particular mitzvah, but that is a very important expression of Emunah. We've learned previously from Rabbeinu Yonah and others that when one fears, that is ultimately the antithesis of Bitachon. And here we're learning in the Ramban that the point of all mitzvahs is that we should come to thank Hashem for creating us. So certainly we should do all the mitzvos and treat them with highest priority to fulfill all the intricacies, whilst at the same time to realize that the purpose of all the mitzvos is to thank Hashem, because that's one of the main expressions of Emunah in Hashem.   And continues the Ramban, “And this is the purpose of creation, because there's no other reason for Hashem creating the world in the first place.” The purpose of the world is Emunah and Bitachon. There is no shortage of potent and powerful Torah sources that explore the topics of Emunah and Bitachon. We are just exploring a few here to give us the right direction of where we're supposed to be aiming, of how powerful Emunah and Bitachon is, how much emphasis we're supposed to be placing in our journey of Emunah and Bitachon. B’ezrat Hashem, let's continue this incredible journey together about Emunah and Bitachon and transform our lives.

    4 min

  6. Jun 18

    618 - Transform Your Bitachon! (Part-55)

    We continue on this amazing Bitachon journey. We looked at a most fascinating passage from the Vilna Goan yesterday, where he writes that the entire purpose and motive for Hashem giving us the Torah and the point of all the mitzvahs is ultimately for the sake of Bitachon. We're going to look today at a different passage from the Vilna Goan, which takes the severity and importance of Bitachon to a complete another level.   The Vilna Goan in Evan Shlema (Chapter 3), writes “And the point of everything is Bitachon.” Okay, that's a bit of a summary of what he also writes in Mishlei, “The point of all Torah and mitzvahs is for the sake of Bitachon.” But now he writes “And somebody who is lacking Bitachon, his Torah will not last in his hands.” Again, because the whole purpose of all the Torah and everything is for the sake of Bitachon. So if I'm missing the foundation, even the Torah that I learn will fall and not make its true sincere impact on me, because the point of all the Torah ultimately is for the sake of Bitachon. And he continues “And this concept known as Histapkus”, which he'll define in a moment, “is ultimately the foundation of the whole Torah. And what exactly is Histapkus? This is the confident belief and trust in Hashem and to not worry whatsoever about tomorrow.”   The Vilna Gaon is coming from a Gemara which says that somebody who has provisions for today, but has no idea where he's going to get provisions for tomorrow. If he reaches the correct level of emunah, he will have not a worry in the world. Because I have belief that just like Hashem provided for me to this day, so too He will always provide for me, even if I see no way according to the laws of nature, and it seems to be against all odds, I trust in Hashem that He's always going to look after me. Just imagine for a moment, you're completely penniless. But that means I don't even have an item to sell. I've got nothing to my name. And I'm currently eating dinner this evening. But I have absolutely no idea how I'm going to get any food for tomorrow, for myself, for my family. And there does not seem to be any possible avenue open to give me some sort of promising direction forward.   Now of course we're not discussing the mitzvah of Hishtadlus. We have an obligation to try our best to find opportunities that could create a vessel for Hashem to shower His bracha on, and we'll discuss Hishtadlus when we get there. But even before Hishtadlus, regardless, let's say there is no Hishtadlus to do, I have no options available. Or even if I do, I've done what I can. How worried am I about tomorrow? Our job in this world is to work towards getting to such a confident place of trust and reliance on Hashem that even if I have no idea where my next meal is going to come from, and I have nothing to my name, I feel completely calm, as the Chovos HaLevavos taught us, true bitachon leads to menuchas ha-nefesh. Hashem is the master of the universe. He's always looked after me, and He's always got my back. So what that I don't see a way according to the laws of nature? Ultimately, in truth, He's way beyond that.   And in this passage, the Gra is teaching us that the foundation of the whole Torah is to reach this level of emunah of bitachon, that even if I have no idea where my provisions for tomorrow are going to come from, I am to work towards getting to such a place of reliance on Hashem that I don't worry whatsoever. And continues the Gra, “And if somebody is excelling in the mitzvah of bitachon,e ven though he is committing grave transgressions, he is better than somebody who is lacking bitachon.” We've quoted this passage numerous times in our previous teachings because it is so powerful for anyone who's even a little bit familiar with Torah literature.   We know that committing a transgression is not a small thing. There are very real and sincere consequences. Committing an aveirah chamurah - which is considered a very serious transgression, one certainly has to do anything and everything to stay away from committing this grave sin. But here he's teaching us something so powerful that bitachon is so important that our emphasis on it should be even more than the emphasis we place on staying away from sin. Not to God forbid underplay the importance of staying away from sin because ultimately a very important expression of Imun and bitachon is doing our best to stay away from what Hashem tells us to stay away from. But even more important than that is doing our best to truly succeed in bitachon. B’ezrat Hashem, let's continue this fascinating journey together and transform our bitachon.

    5 min

  7. Jun 17

    617 - Transform Your Bitachon! (Part-54)

    Let's continue this amazing journey about Bitachon. A very quick recap of what we've discussed in this section. The Bais HaLevi taught us that the outright obligation that the Torah places on us, that Hashem places on us, to have Bitachon is in so many pesukim, there are too many to count. And somebody who is lacking in Bitachon is committing a grave sin. Again, to remind ourselves, it's not about getting there, it's going to take time. But it's about being on the journey. If we realize it's a super great sin to not have Bitachon, we will do everything in the world to do the best we can to get more and more Bitachon each day.   We also learned the powerful words of the Chovas HaLevavos right at the beginning of the Shaar HaBitachon where he writes that he is going to discuss now Bitachon, which he calls the one item that is the most necessary for somebody who wants to become a servant of Hashem. The most necessary item of all the Torah, of all the mitzvos, is Bittachon. We then looked at a passage from Rabbeinu Yonah where he taught us that Bitachon is the ultimate expression of all Emunah and all Yirah. And as we've learned many times, the Torah is replete with passages about Emunah being our ultimate purpose in this world. But the main expression of Emunah is Bitachon. And in a similar vein, there are so many passages in the Torah that teach us that ultimately everything boils down to fear of Hashem, Yiras Shamayim. And again, Rabbeinu Yonah teaches us that the ultimate expression of Yirash Shamayim is having Bitachon in Hashem.   We're now moving forward to the next passage that we're going to be looking at. The Vilna Gaon in his commentary to Mishle (22:19) writes, “The main purpose that Hashem gave us the Torah, is so that we should place our Bitachon in Hashem.” We have to really digest these words of the Vilna Gaon. He writes for us, black on white, that the whole point of Hashem giving us the Torah is so that we should come to practice Bitachon in Hashem. Period. This is a summary of this whole topic. Bitachon is the point of the whole Torah. The point of everything. So certainly, it's worth our while to make an effort to understand better what Bitachon is truly all about, and thereafter, b’ezrat Hashem be able to incorporate it more and more each day in our lives.   And continues the Gra: “And this is because, again, the foundation of everything is complete Bitachon in Hashem. And this is the foundation of all the mitzvot.” In this short little passage, the Vilna Gaon states loud and clear that the whole motive behind Hashem presenting us with the Torah is so that we will have Bitachon in Him. Just to realize and digest just how important it is to have Bitachon. It's not just another mitzvah. It's the only reason Hashem chose to give us the Torah. And the purpose of all the mitzvos ultimately is to place our Bitachon in Hashem.   The reason it's so important to highlight a passage such as this is because unfortunately in many circles, the whole concept of Bitachon and Emunah falls by the wayside. And it's almost seen as an added benefit. If you have extra time on top of your normal Torah learning, then bring in this subject as an extra subject to explore. However, we are learning here from the Vilna Gaon a very profound idea. The whole point of all of Torah, the whole point of all of the mitzvos is ultimately for the sake of Bitachon.   So, B’ezrat Hashem, let us all just take to heart that the more efforts we're making in our Bitachon journey is ultimately making more of an effort to fulfill the reason that Hashem chose us as His nation for; that Hashem gave us all the mitzvos with all its details. It's all for the sake of Bitachon, so certainly to do our best to understand this mitzvah as best as we can and do our best to grow in this journey is more than worthwhile. B’ezrat Hashem, let's move forward in this incredible journey together and transform our Bitachon.

    4 min

  8. Jun 16

    616 - Transform Your Bitachon! (Part-53)

    Guys, we discussed previously, the Beis HaLevi taught us, somebody who is lacking in bitachon is committing a great sin. It's not just that the main thing in Yiddishkeit is learning Torah and doing the mitzvos and bitachon is a by-the-way thing. Unfortunately, in many circles, bitachon is not focused on to the correct degree that it is deserving. And while certainly mitzvos and Torah and everything else is of paramount importance and ultimately is an expression of emunah and bitachon, whilst at the same time there's so much of emunah and bitachon that in many ways can be expressed outside of learning of Torah and outside the performance of the mitzvos.   For example, a person might be thriving in the Yiddishkeit and learning Torah and fulfilling mitzvos but when a situation that triggers anxiety appears in one's life, not always is one even educated to know that not doing one's best to remove the fear and remove one's anxiety is actually considered a sin. Not only a sin, but actually the exact opposite of bitachon. There is so much to learn about bitachon, it is a whole world on its own and it is so important to realize that this is the foundation of all Torah and mitzvos and to treat it with highest priority.   We're now moving forward to look at the next passage, B’ezrat Hashem. Rabbein Yonah to Maseches Barachas, towards the beginning (2b) writes “The main expression of fear of Hashem as well as the main expression of emunah in Hashem is bitachon.” Before the Transform Your Bitachon series, Baruch Hashem for about two years we spent a long time going into the many details about emunah and how ultimately really emunah is the source of everything. However, Rabbeinu Yonah is teaching us here that the ultimate expression of emunah is bitachon. So although the point and purpose of all of Torah and mitzvos is ultimately for the sake of emunah, however the true expression of emunah is bitachon.   And as we explained previously, emunah can be summarized that I know and I believe that Hashem can do anything. Hashem is the all-powerful, He created the world. He is certainly not limited by the laws of nature. He can certainly come through for me in any and every area that I might need. Whereas bitachon is taking the next step, not only believing that information, but actually taking practical steps to relying on Hashem. Bezrat Hashem, as we continue in this series, we'll look at more Torah sources and bring more examples in how this can apply practically in each one of our lives.   But just for a moment to refer back to an example we've given previously. Consider a person who's very sick and needs the treatment of a very specific doctor. One is led to believe that this doctor can certainly help me. That would be emunah in the doctor. Whereas bitachon would be now, I'm not just going to know that information and then continue with the rest of my life doing nothing about it, but rather I'm going to take practical steps to actually go and visit this doctor. And if he then tells me to follow certain protocols and procedures, I will follow that advice because I'm not only knowing that he can help me, I'm now placing my reliance on him. Of course if I have questions of how I should act, he will be the one I will ask for help because I'm not just stopping at the point of emunah, of just knowing that he can help me, but I'm actually taking the next step to rely on him practically.   And the other point that Rabbeinu Yonah mentioned was that bitachon is ultimately the main expression of Yirah. Anyone who's even a little bit familiar with Torah literature knows that the concepts of fear of Hashem, yiras shamayim, are literally all over the place. For example, a passage like”Reishis Chacham Yiras Hashem” - The starting point of all wisdom is fear of Hashem. Rabbeinu Yonah here is teaching us that what is the main expression of fear of Hashem is Bitachon. Let us continue this most incredible journey together and b'ezrat Hashem, transform our bitachon.

    4 min
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Short daily inspiration about Emunah and Bitachon with R’ Reuven Garber ”The distance between understanding Emunah intellectually and internalizing it emotionally is greater than the distance between heaven and earth!” Transform Your Emunah! https://transformyouremunah.com/

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  • Creator
    Rabbi Reuven Garber
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    623
  • Rating
    Clean
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    TRANSFORM YOUR EMUNAH!

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