Let's continue our Bitachon journey. Okay, so we're dividing this up into 15 parts, just in terms of explaining the questions to give us a bit of a direction of where we're going to be heading, not only to gain the daily inspiration about Bitachon, but also to give us clarity and direction. Again, this is a journey. It's not going to take one day, but we're going to get there, B’ezrat Hashem. Before even exploring the Torah sources, as mentioned, I'd like to first go through the questions in an orderly, organized way to give us clarity and direction, B’ezrat Hashem, in our Bitachon journey. So we mentioned part number one, we're going to be discussing what exactly is Bitachon. Part number two, what is the source for the mitzvah of Bitachon? Part number three, how important exactly is Bitachon? Is it just another regular mitzvah? Is it a super mitzvah, or is it ultimately the point of all the mitzvos and all of Torah? Part four, does Bitachon always work? Can I be confident Hashem will come through for me in the way I desire and the way I see it? Or is it just that I know Hashem can do anything, but not necessarily will He come through for me in the way I desire? Part five, why must Hashem come through for me. If it's true that I can rely on Hashem to such an extent that He will for sure come through for me in the way that I desire, why does He owe me that, that He must come through for me? Who says there's no other considerations, that maybe He shouldn't come through for me? And again, B’ezrat Hashem will elaborate on these points further as we move forward into the Torah sources of each of these sections. But for now, we're just going through the contents to again, give us clarity and direction and raise some of the questions before we explore the Torah sources. Part number six, does Bitachon have a prerequisite to be effective? And as we mentioned, this is so important, and one of the reasons that perhaps this is not so widely taught, where one relies on Hashem to such an extent that He will come through for me in the way that I need, in the way that I desire, is because an absolute prerequisite for this to happen is that one's Bitachon has to be 100% sincere, and this is a very high level to achieve. Now, as we'll discuss, it's not even about getting there. It could be that we will get there in certain aspects of our lives, and certain times we may be able to tap into this form of Bitachon and even receive the things that we are relying on Hashem for in the exact way that we desire. But not necessarily is that even the goal. It's just about taking a step forward to the right direction. There are many levels in Judaism, and it's not about getting there, not in one day and not even in 100 years. It's about just taking the steps forward to moving in the right direction. So yes, to get to a level of 100% sincere reliance on Hashem is not an easy endeavor. But at the same time, to aim to get to that level and just to climb higher in our sincere reliance, even just a little bit higher, that is ultimately our goal, just to grow in Bitachon. What does it mean to be sincerely reliant on Hashem? So let's use an example just to illustrate this. Imagine you have an uncle who is so extremely wealthy. He's a billionaire beyond. But not only that, he's a very good-hearted person, and he wants to help people. But not only that, he is particularly fond of you. And he calls you up one day and he says to you, As you know, I am extremely wealthy, and giving out money is very easy for me. And in fact, I like to give out money. But not only that, he says to you, you're the one person that I particularly want to help in any and every area I can. And he says to you, if at any point you need money, please come over to me. Now one time it happens, you need money, you go over to him, and he so willingly and gladly helps you out exactly with what you need. And he says to you, please, if you ever need this again, come over immediately. And it happens again that you need money, and you go over to him, and he helps you graciously with everything that you need. And you do this 10 times, and each time he helps you graciously and tells you to please come back any time you need. It happens one night, you're speaking to a friend, and you're currently in a situation where you need money. Now you know that tomorrow you're going to pick up the phone and you're going to call your uncle. Are you pretty confident that he is going to give you exactly what you need? Or are you feeling doubtful about it? Meaning are you saying to your friend, listen, I'm going to call my uncle, and I think he'll help me, but you know, if he won't, then this is the other avenue that I have. Now although there is some reliance on one's uncle, but that won't be classified as 100% sincere reliance, whereas if one says, after these 10 times that he's helped me, I have no doubt about it that he is going to help me, that can just give us a little bit of an indication of what it would mean to rely on Hashem with 100% sincerity. I have no doubt about it, He'll come through for me. So let's continue to discuss and explore these most fascinating topics about bitachon.
