We've been discussing how constant repetition about the principles of Emunah and Bitachon is of paramount importance. In the world that we live in, for the most part, it is much easier to relate to things that are physical and tangible, and I am able to see the accomplishment of my efforts. So, usually when I study a subject, once I have completed learning and perhaps remembering the information that I have studied, I am now able to move on to the next subject. Whereas when it comes to Emunah, our core purpose in this world, although certainly we do have to learn the information as a starting point, but by no means does it end there. The real work of Emunah is taking the information that we might have learned many many times previously and trying to truly internalize that information to be able to live according to their values.  So let's go ahead now and discuss some of the concepts that we've discussed many times previously with the objective of not only reminding ourselves about this information, although that too is a worthwhile endeavor, but perhaps to make an extra effort to take whatever information and growth that we might have made whilst being exposed to Emunah and Bitachon and to try and apply it to areas of our own lives, everyone in their own way. So the very first question that needs to be discussed is if I believe that there is a God, a Creator, a Being who is certainly not limited by needs such as the ones we have, the question is why did Hashem decide to create this world in the first place? Anyone who has studied any Torah information about God understands that Hashem is completely independent of anything else that exists in the entire universe and in existence in general. And that being the case, why did Hashem decide to create the entire universe, with all the spiritual worlds as well as the physical world that we live in?  Just as an aside, the question that we are discussing here is certainly the most important question for anybody that accepts that there is a Creator. There are many ways that people arrive at this conclusion, that there is a Hashem overseeing our world, and our discussion here does not revolve around proof for the existence of Hashem, although that is certainly a worthwhile discussion in its own right and there is much information available for a person who is sincerely seeking, but has many questions about the existence of Hashem in general. But assuming that one has accepted that there is a God in the world, that Hashem does exist, then the most important question that needs to be delved into becomes, why did Hashem, a being who does not lack anything, decide to create the world? It almost seems superfluous to do such a thing. Imagine for a moment the wealthiest person in the world, a multi-billionaire, who has everything financially available to him. Would it make sense for this individual to be involved in a project that would only produce him one dollar? Of course, it is easy to understand why he would not do so, seeing as he has all the money in the world available to him. And similarly, why would Hashem decide to create a world when He does not lack anything and does not need anything?  And although we are trying to illustrate this point with this analogy of the billionaire, however truthfully this does not portray the concept of how Hashem does not need anything. Because since we are human beings, by definition, we have needs, and although a billionaire might not need another dollar, but the extra dollar might nevertheless bring a slight smile to his face and the like, whereas when it comes to Hashem, He is completely perfect and does not need this world in the least. So that being the case, why did Hashem create this world? And again, although we might have explored this topic many times previously, it is so worthwhile to go over it again and again, to digest the concept, not just to know the information, but to truly internalize the information and b'ezrat Hashem, thereby be able to truly internalize the information, live according to their values, and transform your life.

Usually, when one is trying to study a subject, after a certain amount of time of delving into the content of the subject matter, one will be able to master that subject and move on to a different topic. We've discussed many times about what the Torah's sources teach us is our purpose in this world - to make efforts to build and internalize our emunah and bitachon - our faith and reliance on Hashem more and more each day. And in a sense, one might ask, "I've learnt about this topic so many times, so why do I need to continue to delve into the topic of emunah each day? Is it not perhaps time to move on to something else?" It is so important to remind ourselves of what many of the Torah greats teach, that although in a sense one is able to graduate from knowing the information about emunah and bitachon, because after continuous study, one will certainly gain much information from the Torah about what it means to live a life of emunah and bitachon, but as many of the Torah greats point out, when we are taught that our ultimate purpose in this world is emunah and bitachon, it certainly does not just mean knowing the information of emunah and bitachon, but rather, as they teach, the distance between just knowing emunah in one's head, as opposed to truly internalizing it in one's heart, is greater than the distance between heaven and earth.  Just like we can clearly understand that there are miles and miles apart between the highest heavens and the earth that we live on, in a similar vein, when it comes to emunah, although it is certainly a tremendous accomplishment to be making an effort to learn the information of what it means to have emunah, because without knowing the information we certainly can't move forward to try to internalize that information, but it's also so important to highlight that ultimately our purpose in this world is not just to know the emunah in theory, but rather, our purpose in this world is to take that information and truly transform the way that we live to be according to the values of emunah and bitachon. And as we've discussed many times, it's an obvious equation that it's not going to be an easy task that can be mastered overnight. Because as many commentaries that we've discussed, such as the Ramban at the end of Parashas Bo bring to our attention that our main focus and job and purpose in this world is to grow in our bitachon. And as we've pointed out many times from many many Torah sources, that ultimately the purpose of all the mitzvos, of Torah learning and everything we do in our lives is in order to build our emunah. Emunah is the core of everything we do in our lives. So seeing as this is the ultimate purpose for our existence and our focus of what we're supposed to be doing in this world, it's obvious that it's not going to be a simple task that can be mastered overnight, but rather, a lifetime of constant effort in order to grow in this area as much as possible.  And therefore, constant repetition of the same concepts that one might have studied many times before is highly recommended. Because in the world that we live in, most of our experiences are surrounded by things which could be potential deterrents from living a life of emunah. And understandably so - it's supposed to be that way, because again, our purpose in this world is to try find the emunah, and if it wasn't a challenge, then what is our purpose of being here? Without making a conscious effort to be mindful to live according to the values of emunah, one will certainly fall to the normal way of the world, which is certainly not a life according to the values of emunah. And because we are constantly surrounded by things which might attempt to deter us from a life of emunah, we are certainly called on to constantly revise the concepts of emunah and how we are able to apply them in our own lives in a practical way and b'ezrat Hashem, each day, we will thereby be able to be living lives truly according to the values of emunah.

We've been discussing the idea that Torah commentaries bring, that an extension of emunah - believing in Hashem, is to believe in ourselves. If Hashem believes in me, not only do I have the license to believe in myself, but I am obligated to believe in myself, because if I neglect to do so, I am in a sense denying Hashem's will. True humility does not mean to deny the truth. If Hashem made me a good businessman and I am doing my best to use my talents in service of Hashem, really trying to work hard and use the money for good causes, if I am complimented that I am a good businessman and trying to be humble, I deny that fact - that is not humility - that is just speaking words of untruth. And in a similar vein, if you know yourself to be a kind and warm individual, and when complimented on how nice it is to see someone so warm and kind, one denies that fact, again that is not humility, that is just speaking words of untruth. Some commentaries explain that true humility means, when I am able to write about myself, "I am the humblest of all men." What exactly does this mean? We know that a verse in the Torah which Moshe Rabbeinu wrote himself states, "I, Moshe Rabbeinu, am the humblest of all men." And when Hashem told him to write so, he did not argue with Hashem and say, Hashem let's leave this line out of the Torah. And the commentaries explain, because Moshe Rabbeinu was a man of truth, he knew that he was the humblest man that will ever exist and therefore he was able to write that verse down. But at the same time, he was able to attribute his successes, talents and abilities, not to his own doing, but completely relating it to the gifts that Hashem has given him. If I am able to realize that any talent I might have is a gift from Hashem, and not because of my own cunning and doing, I am then able to acknowledge my talents and gifts that Hashem has given me, and believe in myself and use them to the highest degree, whilst at the same time never falling to arrogance, believing that it is only because of my cunning and doing that I am successful in these areas, God forbid, but only because Hashem has given me these gifts.  Let us remind ourselves that any and every deed that we might perform has ripple effects beyond anything we can imagine. Firstly, in this world, we do not see the spiritual effects of our actions and if we do a mitzvah, from the smallest to the biggest mitzvah, perhaps giving one coin to charity, giving somebody a smile, learning Torah for 30 seconds, saying a short prayer, to doing these mitzvos in their ideal manner, such as giving a large amount of tzedakah, or learning Torah for a long period, or making a long prayer; if we are able to humble ourselves to believe that we do not understand and we do not see in this world the impact of our actions, and when we perform a mitzvah there are spiritual worlds being affected to degrees way beyond anything in this world can be affected, then we will certainly be motivated to realize that we should believe in ourselves and we can make a huge difference.  Sometimes Hashem does decide to show us a little bit of inspiration, again to motivate us. Let's say a person decides to give a relatively small amount to charity. I decide to give $18 for a certain cause because this is what I can afford in this particular situation. But in passing, when I tell somebody else about this cause and how I donated to it, they decide that they are going to donate $1,800 to this cause on a monthly basis. I might never find out that the ripple effect of me giving my little one-time tzedakah affected many thousands of dollars being donated to this cause. Sometimes we do experience where an individual will approach one and tell them how the effect of their mitzvah had a tremendous ripple effect on them. "Thank you Hashem for teaching me that my main purpose in this world is to develop my emunah, ultimately trusting in You, and by extension, in the words of the sages, and extending it one step further, to believe in myself."

We've been discussing how Torah commentaries bring that one of the extensions of what it means to have emunah in Hashem is to believe in myself. If Hashem believes in me to the extent that He blessed me with certain abilities and talents, so certainly following the path of emunah and believing in Hashem, I am called on to always in any endeavor reach out to Hashem and ask Him to bring me success, and thereafter believe in myself that I can do it. Let us remind ourselves that the whole purpose of this world is emunah, specifically to believe when I don't see. Just like I can't see Hashem, but I am called on to live a life where everything revolves around Hashem, even though I can't see Him, again based on emunah, based on belief, similarly, when it comes to my actions, I am not allowed to see the true effect of those actions in this world, because again if I was able to see the true spiritual impact of my actions, that would not be emunah anymore.  When I give a coin to charity, I don't see any particular change in the world. When I give somebody a smile, learn a word of Torah, make a prayer, or any one of the many mitzvos that we have, much of the time we might not even feel any inspiration or change whatsoever, and that being the case, without building our faith in Hashem, our faith in ourselves that we are making a difference, a huge difference, bigger than anything we can imagine in this world, we will not be motivated to the correct degree. Many Torah commentaries outline this idea as a basic fundamental principle to the Torah.  One of many stories that some of the Torah greats tell is the following. There was an individual who passed away, and when he came to the heavenly court, as we know, there is a heavenly accounting, and of course these are spiritual ideas, but to put it in terms that we can understand, a whole lot of white angels appeared corresponding to the mitzvos that this person fulfilled. And thereafter he saw some black angels coming, corresponding to the sins committed in this world. And slowly but surely, the side of the scale with the black angels started to get heavier and heavier, and eventually outweighed the white angels. And the man was panicking, because when the scorecard is such that there are more black angels than white, that means trouble.  And suddenly, from far, again in our terms, just to give us a little bit of an understanding within the vocabulary we use, the man noticed that a huge bus was approaching, and soon the bus joined the white angels on their side of the scale. And the scale completely tipped in favor of the white angels - of the mitzvos. And the man was ecstatic, and when he asked for an explanation, he was told that this huge bus was filled with white angels. And even though he could not see how these mitzvos were related to him, they explained to him that there was just one time in his life where he had an opportunity to view something inappropriate, and because he fulfilled the tremendous mitzvah of guarding his eyes, as opposed to committing the sin of viewing something inappropriate, in the merit of that, Hashem decreed that a certain terrorist attack that was supposed to take place in another city, against an entire bus full of Jewish people, was saved due to His one action. And therefore, the merit of all the mitzvos that these people did throughout their lives came to help Him to outweigh the aveira on His scorecard.  We have no concept of what it means to do a mitzvah, and likewise to do an aveira. We are taught that when a person does a mitzvah, we create spiritual worlds beyond anything we can even imagine can be encompassed within this world, and likewise with regards to the negative effect of our aveiros. What a privilege we have to view the world from the true lens of Emunah, not based on our understanding, which so much of the time can be misleading and mistaken, but rather from the true perspective, Hashem's perspective, which as discussed many times, is portrayed to us throughout the vast amount of information that we have through the Torah commentaries and leaders that Hashem has given us - Emunah.

We've been discussing the three types of emunah that the Torah commentaries bring. The first one, our life's work that we are most familiar with - making our maximum effort to take the emunah and bitachon that we've learnt about and trying to transform that to truly living our lives according to their values. The second type that we discussed was emunas chachamim - believing in the words of the sages, not just based on our understanding, but also appreciating that because of their holiness and closeness in their relationship to Hashem, Hashem has commanded us to follow their guidance. And again, just like when it comes to emunah and Hashem Himself, we don't do so because we understand, but rather we follow Hashem based on our emunah - our belief, similarly, when it comes to emunas chachamim, we are called on to build our emunah in the words of the sages.  When we read a section of the Torah, of the Gemara, of the Shulchan Aruch and the like, our job is to build our emunah, that just like we would be so inspired and motivated if Hashem would tell us that information Himself, in a sense this is the same thing when we read these passages, because the oral tradition was given to Moshe Rabbeinu by Hashem, and just like at the giving of the Torah, we know that Hashem Himself revealed Himself to the Jewish people for the first two of the Ten Commandments, but because the experience was so overwhelming, the Jewish people requested that the rest should be transmitted only to Moshe Rabbeinu, who would then relay the information to them. Perhaps this is one reason why Hashem doesn't reveal Himself to every one of us in an obviously revealed manner the same way that He did to Moshe Rabbeinu, and there may be many other reasons, but the bottom line is that the words of the sages come directly from Hashem, and our job is to build our emunah chachamim. And the third type of emunah that the Torah commentaries bring is emunah in oneself - belief in oneself. And as we discussed, self-confidence can come from two different places. When self-confidence comes from the place of, "I am able to do this", and I forget to bring Hashem into the picture, although if I have certain strategies, I might be able to portray or feel what people usually refer to as self-confidence, however in truth, this is certainly not something that we should aim at. The true self-confidence - emunah in ourselves, that we should be aiming at, is again an extension of emunah in Hashem. If I believe in Hashem, and Hashem believes in me, then certainly I should believe in myself. And therefore whatever opportunities Hashem has presented me in my life, whatever abilities He might have given me, after praying to Hashem and asking Him to help me in my endeavor, I should certainly feel confident that I can do it.  "Hashem my Father, thank You so much for teaching me this incredible Torah teaching about how important it is to believe in myself. Because the truth is, Hashem, that if You believe in me, I have no right not to believe in myself. Hashem, sometimes I say to myself, what is my Torah learning even worth? I barely have a background in Torah learning. I struggle so much with basic Torah learning, whereas there are so many people that have had so much more exposure than me, and their Torah learning is at a level much higher than mine. Hashem, please help me to remove these terrible thoughts from my heart and mind.  Because Hashem, if You believe in me, and You've told me that there is a mitzvah to learn Torah, and that's applicable to everyone, just like I believe in You whether I understand it or not, I also believe that if You commanded me to learn Torah, regardless of how much value I might feel that may have, I don't want to do things because of my understanding; I want to do it because of emunah. Please Hashem, help me to believe in myself, that even if I am able to read just a few passages from Torah literature in English on a daily basis, that I should treat that time with absolute highest priority, and realize that like the Gemara teaches, "bishvili nivra haolam" - the entire world was created just for me. And when I go ahead and learn Torah in those few moments, that is the core reason that You created the entire world for, including everything encompassed within it.  Hashem, at times it is difficult for me to feel confident to go ahead with the ideas that I have in myself, of what I believe I can contribute to the world. Please Hashem, help me always, first and foremostly, to reach out to You and not fall in the trap of looking at other addresses to try to find my self-confidence, but rather always coming to You and begging You for help and success. And after I have done so, Hashem, please help me to be so confident, because if You believe in me, I have every reason in the world to believe in myself."

We've been discussing how the Torah commentaries break down emunah into three parts. The first one, simple emunah and bitachon, placing our trust and reliance on Hashem, as we've discussed much about. The second one, emunas chachamim, where we extend our belief in Hashem to belief in the words of Moshe Rabbeinu, and by extension, the sages, where the tradition was passed down early to, from generation to generation. And the third category of emunah that Torah commentaries outline is having emunah in yourself. Rav Tzadok HaKoen, as well as many other Torah commentaries, discuss this idea.  When we wake up in the morning, the first line we are supposed to say is "modeh ani", which ends with the words "rabba emunasecha". One interpretation of these words is, "Hashem, your emunah in me is very great." We are declaring that Hashem has a lot of faith in me. Hashem created me in the first place, and He decided that today I should wake up again for a new day. If there was no purpose for me in the world today, and I believe that Hashem orchestrates every single detail in the world, then why would He have given me another day of life? There is no question in the world that if I woke up today, I have a very specific purpose that nobody else in the world can fulfill.  And in the words of the Gemara, every person is obligated to believe, "bishvili nivra haolam" - that the entire world was created just for me. Let's just take those words to heart. All the people in the world, all the investments, all the projects, the sun, moon, and stars, and we can go on. It was all created for one purpose; just for me. Digesting that idea should help motivate me what a tremendous opportunity I have in this world. But not only that, what a tremendous responsibility I have in this world. Because in Hashem's greatness, He is able to create everything exclusively just for you, and He is able to do that with regards to everyone. Now if Hashem decided to create this entire world, including everything comprised within it, just for you, there is no question He believes in you, and you have a purpose in this world that nobody else can fulfill.  If Hashem believes in you, and you decide not to believe in yourself, in a sense one is denying Hashem. Hashem is saying X, and I am saying Y. By the fact that Hashem gave me the abilities in what I have to contribute to the world, from the smallest of the smallest ways, to the biggest of the biggest ways; if I have the ability to give somebody a smile, which is one of the greatest mitzvos, or perhaps I am in a position to give charity, or perhaps I am able to learn Torah, or perhaps I am able to pray, talking to Hashem in my own words, and the list goes on and is tailor-made for every individual - every single one of us has our unique talents and abilities, and we are therefore called on to believe in ourselves. When a person commits a sin, one might feel, maybe I am not worthy anymore, but again, if I woke up today, Hashem believes in me. Even if it was the worst of sins, Hashem believes in me, that there is potential for me to do teshuvah and rectify what I did wrong and become great. Just like when it comes to emunah, one can never tell the true level of somebody else's emunah. Sometimes, two people who are presented with a potentially anxiety-provoking situation may respond in a similar manner. They both might be very calm. It could be that the one individual's natural tendency is just to be calm, even though they might have barely worked on their emunah and bitachon. And certainly this is barely an achievement, because this is just the way Hashem made them. It could be the other individual naturally leans towards feelings of anxiety, and because of this individual's growth in emunah and bitachon, is now able to feel calm. And in a similar vein, when it comes to people who appear to be self-confident, it can come in one of two different ways. Sometimes that self-confidence can come from a place completely contrary to the values of emunah. Sometimes people believe in themselves because they believe they are the master to their own destiny, and because they have been successful in some areas of their life, that leads them to arrogance and sometimes can be viewed as self-confidence. Whereas another individual who is on the path of true emunah and bitachon might be led to a place of true self-confidence, not because of arrogance, God forbid, but rather because if Hashem believes in me, I can certainly believe in myself.

We've been discussing what the Torah commentaries divide into three types of emunah, and whilst our main focus is always revolving around the core of everything - emunah and bitochen in Hashem, it is certainly worthwhile to also delve into the other areas that the Torah commentaries discuss. We spoke about the second type of emunah - emunas chachamim, where we are called on to believe in the words of our sages, starting from Moshe Rabbeinu who received the oral tradition directly from Hashem and was passed down from generation to generation.  And as we spoke about, the Midrash brings down that we are supposed to reach such a level of emunas chachamim, of belief in the words of the sages, that with regards to the Sanhedrin, the great beis din of times of old, even if they were to tell us the right is the left, or the left is the right, we are supposed to aim to reach such a high level of belief in their words, that we will listen regardless of our understanding. Jjust like we do not understand Hashem's doings and we are called on to believe and place our trust in Him, by extension, we are called on to believe in the words of the holy sages who have a special close relationship with Hashem, and Hashem has designated to be guides for us in our lives.  As mentioned, the Rambam outlines that the oral tradition that was given to Moshe Rabbeinu directly from Hashem was passed down from generation to generation to specific individuals. The Mishnah in Pirkei Avos teaches, that one is supposed to make for themselves a rabbi. Part of the purpose of doing so is that when a question arises in halacha that I am not able to investigate and find the answer to myself, I am now able to seek the guidance of an authentic talmid chacham who is well-versed in all areas of Torah and is able to guide us when it comes to halacha.  Another fundamental principle is the concept of da'as torah - that when a person needs to make a decision - of course much of the time I am able to find the answer myself, but with regards to certain areas of my life where I have a question mark, besides doing research and as discussed many times, talking to Hashem and asking Him for clarity, we are called on to seek guidance from Torah leaders who are authentic talmid chachamim and tzaddikim who are able to guide us in the right direction. In times of old, the concept of a personal rabbi was very different to how it is today. Because the oral Torah was not written down, most of the Torah information I received was from the Torah teaching of my rabbi. And that being the case, there were very many serious laws with regards to the respect of one's Torah teacher. One example, as brought in Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah section 242, is that anybody who argues with his rabbi - and again this is a rabbi in times of old who one is learning all the Torah information from, and there was no Torah literature available in books - it's as if he's arguing with the shechina.  And there are many other similar statements. There is a lot of Torah literature available about emunas chachamim, and one is certainly encouraged to pursue this topic further. For our purposes right now, it is worthwhile to mention that Torah commentaries bring that one of the extensions of having emunah in Hashem is building our belief in the words of the sages - emunas chachamim, which of course starts with Moshe Rabbeinu and was passed down from generation to generation all the way through to the sages of the Gemara.  In today's times, where it is not always as clear as to who exactly that chain was passed down to. In order to fulfill this advice of the mission in Pirkei Avos which says one ought to make for oneself a rabbi, one of the greatest things we can do in trying to make an effort to find them is ask Hashem and say, "Hashem, please can you help me to fulfill the mitzvah of emunas chachamim - of belief in the words in the sages, to the highest degree, and even in our day and age today, Hashem, please can you guide me and help me to find the rabbi, talmid chacham, and tzaddik, who could be most suited for my situation and guide me in the most ideal way for my life."

Torah authorities explain that emunah can be divided into three different segments. The first one is to build our emunah and bitachon in Hashem, which is the main focus of this daily inspiration that we've been discussing every day. The second type of emunah that the Torah authorities discuss is emunas chachamim, to believe in the words of the sages. The Midrash teaches that we are supposed to reach such a high level of belief in the words of the sages that even if they would tell us that the right is the left or the left is the right, something completely counterintuitive to our understanding, we should believe their words.  Now of course, to reach such a level of faith in the words of the sages needs to be based on understanding why I should do so, and also it needs to be defined who is considered part of the sages. Let's discuss the Ramban at the end of Parashas Bo, who explains the following: In times of old, there were three types of idolaters. Some of them denied Hashem's existence at all, whereas others admitted that Hashem does exist but assumed that He doesn't know what's going on in the world. And a third category of people admitted that Hashem does exist and knows what's going on in the world, but according to their mistaken approach, Hashem doesn't care about what goes on in the world. And all these approaches are types of avodah zarah, of idol worship.  And as the Ramban there explains, because Hashem wanted to give people the opportunity to move away from these forms of idol worship and rather move towards a real meaningful life according to the values of Emunah, Hashem changed the laws of nature when He performed the miracles at the exodus from Egypt, such as the plagues and the splitting of the sea. And the Ramban explains that after this happened, people now had the opportunity to clearly believe that Hashem runs the show and the world does not just operate according to the laws of nature, but rather Hashem is orchestrating every single moment. However, Ramban adds an additional point which was gained through this episode, in that Moshe Rabbeinu, the leader of the Jewish people, predicted the miracles before they transpired at the exodus from Egypt. And therefore, after the miracles happened, not only did the people gain a belief in Hashem, but they also gained a belief that this Moshe Rabbeinu had a particularly close relationship with Hashem and his advice must be heeded. So just like the people were able to acknowledge Hashem's existence after this experience, similarly they were able to acknowledge Moshe Rabbeinu's role as a leader of the Jewish people. It is well known that the Torah was given to Moshe Rabbeinu in two forms, one is the written Torah and secondly, he was given many teachings orally. The Mishnayos in Pirkei Avos discuss how from generation to generation, those laws that were transmitted from Hashem to Moshe Rabbeinu directly, were passed down from generation to generation via specific leaders who were chosen to be the leaders of those generations. And the Rambam, in the introduction to the Mishnah, outlines all the leaders, even in times much closer to ours, that their chain of tradition can be traced all the way back to Moshe Rabbeinu, who received it directly from Hashem. May we all merit to excel in all the different forms of Emunah that the Torah commentaries teach us ultimately stem from Emunah in Hashem. Of course in our Emunah and Bitachon endeavour itself, to grow in our belief and reliance on Hashem, but also by extension, to believe in the words of the sages. For whatever reason, usually in today's day and age, Hashem does not reveal Himself to us in an openly revealed manner, but rather, the way He communicates to us is via the information that He relays to us in His Torah, both in the written Torah as well as in the oral Torah.  Let us then appreciate that all parts of the Torah, both the written Torah, as well as the entirety of the oral Torah, including all of the words of the sages, are ultimately the words of Hashem. And just like we are called on to build our belief in Hashem Himself, let us also make our maximum effort to build our belief in the words of the sages - Emunas Chachamim.

As the festival of Chanukah comes to its culmination, let us remind ourselves of what the Ramban writes about open miracles, that although usually the world operates under the veil of nature, however when Hashem performs open miracles, one of the main objectives is to give us the opportunity to derive inspiration and motivate us to living lives according to the values of emunah and bitachon - that ultimately every single moment of our lives, although they might appear to be moving according to the laws of nature, are actually being orchestrated directly and personally from Hashem Himself.  We discussed of what Rav Yosef Albo in the Sefer Ha'ikarim writes, that the opportunity to rely on Hashem and reach out to Hashem for help, as opposed to going to a different address, is part of the laws of nature of how Hashem made the world operate. If one chooses to rely on Hashem, Hashem will come through, and in the words of Rav Yosef Albo, just like we know the sun is expected to rise tomorrow, to the same extent if I rely on Hashem, I can expect that He will come through for me. Although on the one hand, when we take to heart the miracles of Chanukah, it can be inspiring and motivating to live our lives according to the values of emunah and bitachon, however on the other hand, it can sometimes be disheartening when we bring to mind those miracles, because after all is said and done, most of us in today's day and age do not experience such outright miracles. Does that mean, perhaps, that the opportunity to have emunah and bitachon is only available to super-righteous individuals, and maybe it's not applicable to me?  There could be many reasons why in general Hashem wants the world to work under the veil of nature. One reason that many commentaries mention is to give us the opportunity to have emunah and bitachon, and believe, specifically when we aren't able to understand why He is doing what He is doing. But as discussed, there are times where Hashem decides to come through in a more apparent way, sometimes in an outright miraculous manner, such as in the episode of Chanukah, and at other times perhaps more relevant to each one of us, although it might not be in an absolute outright miraculous manner, but there are times where we might make a prayer and see Hashem come through for us in the way we requested, and the like.  One might say, "okay, I understand, Hashem certainly does exist and runs every detail of the world, and certainly He can do miracles and break the laws of nature, because ultimately He created nature and runs every detail of the world. But that's very nice for people who have reached a high level of righteousness. But what about me? How is this applicable to me? Why would Hashem come through for me in my life? Perhaps I've even committed many sins." Let us remind ourselves of one of the most fundamental, but sometimes most misunderstood principles when it comes to bitachon. The opportunity to have bitachon and rely on Hashem is completely independent of our actions. As the Ramban in his sefer Emunah Bitachon, explains, the verse states, Betach b'Hashem va'aseh tov, trust in Hashem and do good. The Ramban points out that the verse specifically states, "trust in Hashem" first, to teach us that one is able to trust in Hashem independent of our actions. And this idea that anyone, regardless of our spiritual scorecard, is able to trust in Hashem is brought down by countless Torah sources, from the Midrash to the Rishonim such as Ramban and Rabbeinu Yonah, all the way down to the later authorities such as the Chofetz Chaim in Nefutzos Yisrael, chapter 8, who state that even if a person does not have merits and might even be classified as a rasha, an evil individual, just like the sun rises in the morning, the opportunity to have bitachon is available to every one of us. And if we practice our reliance on Hashem, Hashem will come through for us.  "Hashem, my Father, as we come to the culmination of Chanukah, these holy days that You've granted us, please will You bless me and help me not to fall into the trap of those that trust and rely on other individuals, because as we learn from the Chovos HaLevavos, when one does so, I actually become under their auspices. Whereas, when I choose to rely on You, You will come through for me, and it is completely independent of my spiritual level. This act of relying on You will be the greatest asset that I can have, both in this world as well as for my eternal reward in the next world."

We've been discussing how Chanukah is a tremendous opportunity to springboard a boost in our emunah and bitachon endeavor. Although most of us are not on the level to experience outright open miracles like we experienced during Chanukah, however, when we fulfill the mitzvos of Chanukah and give ourselves an opportunity to contemplate on the reason why we're lighting the Chanukah candles, that we're commemorating the outright miracles Hashem performed for us, be it the oil that burned for much longer than any of the laws of nature would dictate, or be it the unprecedented victory of just a handful of people against a large army - one of the main take-homes of these episodes, and one of our focuses during Chanukah, should be the basic conclusion that many Torah sources teach: bitachon works. It is not something that sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. When one relies on Hashem, it works.  In the words of one of the Rishonim, Rav Yosef Albo, in his Sefer Haikarim, he writes that just like we are sure that the sun will rise tomorrow, to the same extent one can be sure that if you rely on Hashem, He will come through for you. The only qualification to this rule is like the verse in Ashrei teaches, that Hashem is close to all who call out to Him, as long as they call out sincerely. One level of having bitachon is to say, "of course I rely on Hashem and He is my address to go to, however, I have a back-up plan in case Hashem doesn't come through for me." Although it is commendable that one is including Hashem in the picture, however, this is certainly far from the ultimate bitachon. As the Chovos Halevavos writes to the introduction of his Sefer, that when a person places their trust in another individual or circumstance, Hashem actually removes His own providence from that individual and places them in the hands of whoever they are relying on, or whatever circumstance they might think they are bound by.  This is a frighteningly powerful statement. On the one hand, it is clear from countless Torah sources, that when one truly places their trust in Hashem, Hashem will come through for them. And as Rav Yosef Albo in the Sefer Haikkarim taught us, this is a basic equation: Just like Hashem placed it in the laws of nature for the sun to rise in the morning, so too, if one relies on Hashem, Hashem will come through for them. However, on the other side of the spectrum, the Chovos Halevavos is teaching us another principle of how Hashem operates in this world - that if one does choose to rely on another individual or circumstance, then Hashem removes Himself from the situation, and I become bound to the control of this individual or situation that I am relying on.  And of course, there are many levels between these two extremes. Sometimes we rely on Hashem, but at the back of our mind, we have a backup plan in case Hashem doesn't really come through for us. And although that is commendable that we are relying on Hashem to some degree, however, because we are not doing so to its full degree, we then become in the hands of other individuals or circumstances to some degree. The tremendous miracles of Chanukah are teaching us that yes, although we have a mitzvah to make our effort to do our hishtadlus in the world, however, a step before that is to take to heart, without a shadow of a doubt, that Hashem exclusively is orchestrating every single detail in my life. And the more I will choose to rely on Hashem, the more He will come through for me, and the less I will choose to rely on other people and circumstances, the less I will be bound by their auspices. "Hashem, my Father, as we approach this final day of Chanukah, please can You help me to truly place my trust in You, to the extent that I really internalize that anything and everything that happens in my life is completely from You, and I have the constant opportunity to reach out to You exclusively and rely on You. And Hashem, You've taught me in Your Torah sources that if I rely on You exclusively, that is the time specifically that You will come through for me. Hashem, it's difficult in this world, because the way the natural world looks, it seems like I'm dependent on people and circumstances. But the scary thing is, that when I do depend on them, You actually put me in their hands, as the Chovos Halevavos has taught us. Please Hashem, help me to not rely on anyone nor anything except for You exclusively."

The incredible miracles of Chanukah serve to inspire us throughout our lives, that just like Hashem performed miracles against all the laws of nature, such as causing oil to burn for much longer than anything nature would allow, as well as causing a handful of people to win a war completely against any and all of the laws that nature can dictate, when we make an effort to internalize these miracles, it can serve as a tremendous springboard to inspire us throughout our lives and remind ourselves of what we've learned countless times from so many Torah sources: Our purpose in this world is to excel in our emunah endeavor. And what it means to have emunah is specifically to believe when I don't see and I am not able to understand the reason why things are happening. Throughout my life, usually, things play according to the laws of nature. But our job is to constantly make an effort to find Hashem through the natural occurrences and taking to heart the miracles of Chanukah can serve as a tremendous springboard to be able to live our lives according to those values.  Just like Hashem has blessed us with these holy days that serve to inspire us throughout the rest of our lives, that all of nature in essence is an outright miracle, and the same Hashem who caused the mann, the miraculous food that fell from the heavens for the Jewish people during their journey in the desert, is the exact same Hashem who provides for our paranosah today; and the same Hashem who split the sea for the Jewish people when they were surrounded by danger from all their sides and had nowhere to escape, is the same Hashem who has saved us in our personal lives so many times in so many ways. There are people that die daily in car accidents. How many times have I been in a car without having an accident? If we open our eyes, we will see that our life is full of constant miracles of how Hashem comes through for us, but again, our job is to find Hashem in the course of nature.  Without the emunah mindset, one's thought process might be, "yes, although I didn't have a car accident today, however, most people in the world do not die daily in car accidents. Although it does happen to some people sometimes, however, why should I expect that that should be something that could transpire to me, and therefore why should I necessarily be appreciative about that fact?" Whereas when we are able to look past the veil of nature and realize that just like Hashem was the One who so apparently and obviously was our Savior when we were surrounded by danger from all sides and split the sea in a way that there was no question that Hashem was the only One who could do that, and there was no nature to attribute that miracle to, similarly, when we go through a day without a car accident, or the other million miracles that we experience on a daily basis, our job is to link those happenings to Hashem's doing as opposed to just assuming that that is the course of nature, God forbid, excluding Hashem from our lives.  Many people have experienced Hashem coming through for them in their lives in one way or another. Although usually in our times this is not in an apparently obvious and miraculous manner, however countless people have told their experiences of having seen Hashem come through for them in their lives. When a person prays to Hashem for a new business opportunity and it just so happens that a couple days or perhaps even hours later one receives a call from another individual with a new opportunity, or perhaps one is just looking for a parking spot, and just as one makes that prayer and asks Hashem to help them, it just so happens that someone is leaving just then, making the spot available. If we are just to open our eyes, we will quickly see that Hashem is everywhere and we can constantly witness Him under the veil of nature on a moment-to-moment basis. Our job is to open our eyes and through these days of Chanukah we have a special power and energy to internalize that ultimately every single moment of our lives is an outright miracle.

We are so privileged to be able to experience another one of these holy days of Chanukah. Besides the miracle of the oil, which we commemorate with the lighting of the Chanukah candles, where the amount of oil which was only supposed to last for one day, against all the laws of nature, lasted for eight days, again clearly showing that although usually the world seems to run according to the laws and course of nature, however, as the Ramban at the end of Parashat Bo, that we've discussed many times, points out that the reason Hashem performs these outright miracles is in order to inspire and motivate us for the times when Hashem is hidden under the veil of nature, to teach us that there's no such thing ultimately as nature, that ein od milvado, there is nothing else in the world that exists except for Hashem - there is no force or power or individual or circumstance that can dictate even slightly what will occur in my life, except for Hashem exclusively, and as outlined in the Rambam's principles of faith, "vehu levado" - Hashem exclusively, meaning without the help of any individual runs every single detail of nature. And as we've discussed previously, although we do have a mitzvah to make our own efforts throughout life, however, it is so important to never fall into the trap of believing even slightly that my efforts are what cause my successes, because as we've discussed, that could borderline on the tremendously grave sin of idol worship, where I believe that there is some power outside of Hashem, God forbid, and the tremendous miracle of Hanukkah is coming to teach us that just like Hashem is able to come and take oil and make it miraculously burn much longer than it is supposed to according to the laws of nature, so too any and every occurrence throughout our lives are ultimately miracles that Hashem is orchestrating every single moment.  Besides the miracle of the oil on Chanukah, the other tremendous miracle that we commemorate is the war that transpired, which according to the laws of nature, logic and statistics would make anybody laugh at the absurdity of such an attempt. We are taught that it was only a handful of people that decided to take on an entire huge and powerful army. Just imagine in our times, ten people would get together and say, "we are now going to take on this mission to go and destroy our enemy and the entire army of thousands and thousands of people." Besides the fact that we are completely, absurdly outnumbered, we also have very little military training, whereas they, on the other hand, are elite soldiers. If one were to try to take on such a task today, this would be seen as a complete absurdity, and although we do have a mitzvah to not rely on outright miracles, and we are certainly not permitted to put ourselves in dangerous situations, however, we are also to be so careful to never ever fall to the side of Avodah Zarah, believing that the world can only work according to the laws of nature. Because let us remind ourselves, this is the purpose of the world, to test us in emunah, in our belief, where the world is going to appear like it runs according to the laws of nature, but in truth, there is only Hashem pulling every single string. And when we look at the Chanukah candles and remind ourselves of the miracles that took place on Chanukah, and we meditate on the fact that there was only a few people who decided that they were going to rely on Hashem to such a degree that He would help them in a complete unnatural manner, because they had no other choice, and He would help the handful of them to wipe out an entire army, something completely against all the laws of nature, logic, and statistics, when we take this to heart, this can be a tremendous springboard for motivation and inspiration throughout any endeavor we might be dealing with in our lives, to remind ourselves that ein od milvado, that although usually Hashem does opt to work through the laws of nature, however, in truth, there is nothing whatsoever in the world except for Hashem.

What an incredible opportunity to wake up to another one of these holy days of Chanukah. Besides the tremendous mitzvah we have to light the Chanukah candles, one of the core focuses of Chanukah is "Lehodos Ulehallel" - to express our gratitude and praise to Hashem. And as Torah Commentaries outline, it is a tremendously opportune time and place if one is able to do so specifically by the Chanukah candles. "Hashem, thank You so much during the year for giving me the opportunity to believe in You. And as You've taught us from many Torah sources, that believing means specifically taking that leap of faith when I am not able to see and understand Your ways. Because although the Torah is replete with passages along the lines of "Ein Od Milvado" - that You, Hashem, exclusively orchestrate every single detail in my life and in everyone's lives, and there is no such thing as the course of nature and the normal way of the world, however, at the same time, usually throughout the year, You want me to live in a world where You are hidden behind the veil of nature, and my job is to try my best to find You through everything I'm doing. Because again, the point of my existence and my ultimate ticket to eternal pleasure in the next world, as outlined by many Torah sources, is to excel to my maximum degree in my Emunah and Bitachon endeavor, and specifically to believe when I don't understand. Whilst at the same time, thank You so much, Hashem, for giving us those opportunities where we do see You loud and clear in our lives. Because when that occurs, it gives me tremendous inspiration and motivation to be able to see through the veil of nature, throughout the year, when You are hidden.  Hashem, I'd like to just take a few moments now, whilst I have the opportunity, standing by these holy Chanukah candles, to look into my own personal life and appreciate and thank You for all the tremendous ways You've come through for me. Thank You, Hashem, so much for the gift of my health, the ability to breathe without struggle, the fact that I can see, and the fact that so much of the time I experience life without physical pain and suffering. Hashem, thank You so much for the gift to be able to have family, as well as the friends that You've given me, and the opportunity to share experiences together. Thank You so much, Hashem, for providing me from day one of my life, right up until today. Although there might have been times of struggle, and again, that You did for me also for good reasons, to help me grow in my endeavor of emunah and bitachon, however, at the end of the day, You have provided for me since day one, right up until today.  Thank You so much, Hashem, for the opportunity to be involved in a life where I am aware that my main purpose is to develop my emunah and bitachon. Thank You so much, Hashem, for sharing with us Your incredible Torah sources that allow us to grow in this tremendous endeavor. Hashem, I want to thank You deeply for all those times of challenge in my life, because I know that You love me and You created me just to give me good. And if You're sending me a challenge, it's only because You're giving me an opportunity to be able to believe that everything that You do is for the best. When I'm struggling with the pain and suffering of this illness that You've sent me, after contemplating on the fact a little bit, I've realized, Hashem, that You would only send me this out of Your love, because again, that's the only reason that You created the world, to share Your goodness with me.  And although there can be many reasons which are beyond my understanding, but one reason which I know is certainly applicable to me and objectively applicable to all of us, is that by sending me these times of darkness and suffering, You are thereby giving me a chance to practice my emunah and bitachon, that everything that happens is directly orchestrated from You, and You would only send me what is best for me. And similarly, thank You so much, Hashem, for all those times in my life that although I might not have experienced outright miracles, similar to the splitting of the sea or the miracle of the oil on Chanukah, however, I have certainly at times noticed Your divine providence in my life, and those times are certainly springboards of motivation and inspiration for me to live my life according to the values of emunah and bitachon. Thank You so much, Hashem, for these holy and incredible days of Chanukah."

What a tremendous privilege to be able to experience another day of these tremendous holy days of Chanukah. As the well-known Ramban at the end of Parashat Bo mentions: although usually Hashem decides to operate according to the laws of nature, however, at times Hashem decides to break the laws of nature in order to teach us and inspire us that ultimately, the laws of nature are Hashem Himself hiding behind the normal way of the world, giving us the opportunity to believe that Hashem is truly pulling all the strings, and therefore, although in times of old the world was also operating according to the regular laws of nature, however, when it came to the time of the exodus from Egypt, Hashem decided to break all of the laws, turning water into blood, as well as all the other miraculous plagues in Egypt, and culminating with the miraculous event of the splitting of the sea.  And as the Midrashim teach, not only did the waters of the sea split, but in fact, all water at all parts of the world split. Can you imagine for a moment: somebody's having a glass of water, and in an apparently obvious miraculous manner, the water in my cup splits. And when I find out that that happened to everyone in the world, and it was a clear miraculous occurrence, there is then no way to deny the fact that Hashem caused that miracle to occur. And in a sense, although witnessing such an experience is truly awesome, seeing the workings of Hashem so vividly clear, and not having the test of having to try to find Hashem through the veil of nature, however, in a sense, there is no opportunity to believe when one experiences such a miraculous occurrence, because I can see the workings of Hashem loud and clear, and that will certainly motivate me to follow the course of Emunah and Bitachon, and reach out to Hashem about anything and everything, follow His mitzvos with all their intricacies, whether I understand or not, and everything else that a life of Emunah and Bitachon leads to.  Because after witnessing such a miracle, I am living now on the inspiration that it is absolutely clear that Hashem runs every detail in the world. However, as mentioned many times, the Ramban in the same passage at the end of Parashat Bo writes that our ultimate focus and purpose in this world is Emunah, and in fact, there is no other reason that Hashem created the world in the first place, except for giving us the opportunity to express our Emunah. And as the Vilna Goan and many others that we've discussed mention, the purpose of all the mitzvos is to come to having Emunah in Hashem. And that being the case, usually Hashem wants the world to operate in a manner that He is hidden under the veil of nature, and if we do not make an active effort trying to find Him, we will just see nature, and we will not see Hashem. But Hashem in His great wisdom also understood that at certain times, in order to give us motivation and inspiration, He needed to reveal Himself in a more obvious, apparent way, so that thereafter when He goes back into hiding, we can live off the inspiration and motivation that we gained through those moments. One of the main purposes behind lighting the Chanukah candles is in order to publicize the miracle that Hashem broke the laws of nature and caused the amount of oil which usually burns for only one day, to burn for all eight days. Most of the days that we live throughout our lives are not outright miracle days, however much of the fuel that we are able to gain to drive our lives according to the values of Emunah and Bitachon, can and should be derived from these above-nature experiences. What a tremendous opportunity we all have to fulfill the incredible mitzvah of lighting the Chanukah candles. And similarly, what a tremendous opportunity we all have to perhaps spend a little bit of time talking to Hashem around the Chanukah candles, digesting and appreciating the tremendous miracles that Hashem brought about for us during these holy days. And b'ezrat Hashem by doing so, that can be a tremendous springboard for us to take leaps in our journey of Emunah and Bitachon.

We are so privileged to currently be experiencing these eight powerful days of spiritual dynamite. Although usually throughout the year, we certainly are called on to make our maximum effort to grow in our emunah and bitachon, and as many Torah authorities outlined to us, such as the Mesillas Yesharim at the beginning of his book - that the purpose of life is to give us an opportunity to overcome the tests that Hashem sends us.  And in many ways, we are called on to view life as if it were in our own hands, of course, always according to the values of Emunah, such as reaching out to Hashem and asking Him for help, but again, assuming that it is our responsibility to do whatever we can from our side within our maximum capacity to overcome the tests and challenges that Hashem sends us, which are ultimately opportunities to reach our maximum potential for our eternal reward b'ezrat Hashem.  However, at the same time, these opportune moments that we have at different times of the year, where Hashem imbues a certain holiness, where the opportunity for connection is all that much more stronger; let us capitalize on the tremendous opportunity we have during these holy days of Chanukah, where the potential for closer connection with Hashem and for a tremendous boost in Emunah and Bitachon is available to every single one of us. On Chanukah, we express our gratitude to Hashem, celebrating the tremendous miracles that He performed for us in times of old. We have the tremendous opportunity to perform the mitzvah of lighting the Chanukah candles, which ultimately commemorates the miracle which transpired in the Chanukah story. We know that the menorah in the Beis Hamikdash needed oil to be able to be kindled from. And when the Greek enemy destroyed the Beis Hamikdash, when the Jewish people came back and discovered just one jar of oil that was available to kindle the menorah, a miracle transpired and the oil, which was supposed to last for only one day, continued to burn for an entire eight days, an outright miracle.  The message of Chanukah is coming to teach us what we are really trying to work on throughout the year - Emunah and Bittachon - that Hashem exclusively orchestrates every single detail in every single one of our lives. Yes, usually, for whatever reason, Hashem does not decide to come through for us via the means of outright miracles, but He usually rather opts to work through the course of nature; but as the famous Ramban at the end of Parashat Bo teaches: just like Hashem is the One who is able to break nature and go against the usual order of the way the world operates, such as by splitting the sea, causing the miraculous plagues to appear in Egypt, and by extension, when Hashem performs these outright miracles, such as when Hashem caused the oil, which is only supposed to last for one day, to be able to burn for the entire eight days - this is a tremendous opportunity for us to inculcate Hashem's perspective, the only true perspective, the Emunah and Bitachon perspective, that although yes, we are usually called on to work within the laws of nature and to make our maximum effort, as if we are in control, to do the best that we can, however at the end of the day we are never to forget, even slightly, that Hashem exclusively orchestrates every single detail in every single one of our lives.  Just like Hashem was the One to change nature in the past and split the sea, bring about the plagues in Egypt, and more relevant to our times right now, to cause the oil to burn no shorter than eight times longer than it is supposed to according to the laws of nature, the message of Chanukah is coming to teach us that the laws of nature is just Hashem hiding within the normal way that the world operates, giving us the opportunity to look under the veil of nature and acknowledge that ein od milvado - there is nothing in the world except for Hashem.

The first part of Emunah that we've been focusing on and discussing is making our maximum effort to build our belief in Hashem, believing specifically when we don't understand and we can't necessarily make logical sense of many of the happenings in our lives, but nevertheless we are called on to believe that everything Hashem does is for our best; that all the mitzvos with all their precise intricacies have a very specific reason and are to be treated with utmost importance; that when we feel feelings of anxiety and worry, as the verse teaches, we have the opportunity and are called on to take refuge in Hashem and turn to Hashem for our salvation.  And as we've discussed, there are many levels in what it means to do so. Although it is already a tremendously significant achievement when one has acknowledged and internalized to even a very minor degree that Hashem does exist, and therefore when I am experiencing some sort of trouble in my life, I do turn to Hashem, even if it is only for a few seconds or a few moments, instead of trying to go and find my own solutions, if I turn to Hashem and acknowledge that He is the one that can help me, that is a tremendous achievement. However, as we've discussed, there are many levels as to what it means to rely on Hashem. The more we grow in our Emunah and Bitachon, the more we will be inclined to turn to Hashem. And as we've discussed many times, Emunah is our life's work. And although we are certainly called on to make our maximum effort in achieving our life's purpose, in growing in our Emunah, and one of the main ways we can exercise that effort is by exposing ourselves to what the Torah, the only true perspective, Hashem's perspective, has to teach about Emunah and Bitachon, thereby trying to incorporate those concepts more and more into our lives on a daily basis, at the same time, we have learned many times that Hashem only expects from every single one of us to make our maximum effort. Everyone has a different story, a different background, and many other factors that make up who we are. And certainly it is not our place and we cannot tell about the success levels of Emunah of one another. Our only focus is to make our maximum effort in our own lives to grow as much as we can, just a little bit more every day, to have that little bit more Emunah and that little bit more Bittachon. Although on the one hand, throughout the year we are certainly called on to do our best in making an active and practical effort to grow in our Emunah, be it by learning Torah sources, seeking daily inspiration, asking Hashem in our own words to help us with our Emunah and Bitachon endeavor, and the like, at the same time, however, there are certain times and places that our opportunity to connect with Hashem and have an Emunah and Bitachon boost are stronger than other times and places. A basic fundamental to the Torah and to Judaism is that Hashem fills every single space of the world that we live in, and certainly Hashem hears us, whatever part of the world we might be in, as well as whatever time of year it might be. However, we are also taught that the opportunity for this connection is more potent at certain auspicious times and holy places.  Although we all have the constant opportunity to talk to Hashem from our own homes, and we should certainly capitalize on that opportunity, b'ezrat Hashem soon when the Beis Hamikdash will be rebuilt and we will have the opportunity to come to the holy land of Eretz Yisrael and go to the Beis Hamikdash, there is no question that the opportunity for closer connection to Hashem will be all that more potent inside the Beis Hamikdash.  The way I once heard this concept explained can be compared to Wi-Fi connection. The whole world is within Hashem's Wi-Fi vicinity, and there is no question that we are connected, wherever we are, whenever it might be. However, there are certain spots that the Wi-Fi connection is particularly strong, and the connection is therefore faster, more efficient, and the like. And similarly, when it comes to our connection to Hashem, there are certain times that our opportunity for connection has a tremendous boost. We are about to enter the holy days of Chanukah, eight unique days that have a tremendously electric energy in terms of the opportunity of our connecting to Hashem and building our emunah and bitachon. May we all merit to capitalize on the tremendous opportunity we have to boost our emunah and bitachon and connection with Hashem throughout the eight holy days of Chanukah.

Precisely when we don't see and we don't understand, there we have an opportunity to practice our belief, our emunah. I am not able to see Hashem, but I nevertheless have the constant opportunity to grow in my emunah and believe more and more that He is actually there, and when I talk to Him, He is listening to every word. And not only that, but as we've learned previously, the prayers that we make are so precious to Him that as the Midrash teaches, our prayers are taken and used to make up the crown of Hashem.  And again, there are many levels to what it means to have emunah and bitachon in Hashem. A basic level, but certainly a significant level of accomplishment is when we internalize that Hashem certainly exists and can hear what we are saying. And therefore when I am experiencing a challenge in my life, I of course reach out to Hashem as my first address. But again, depending on how strong my belief is, will make all the difference of how motivated I am to continue those prayers to Hashem. A basic level would be to make a short prayer, but one with more belief will devote much more time and energy and passion to their prayers. Because again, this is our objective in this world, specifically to have the challenge of emunah and need to practice our belief when we don't see. If we are currently in the presence of another individual who can help us, it will certainly then be much easier to talk to that individual and request what we need with sincerity and passion. And if they can truly help us, we won't be in a rush to go elsewhere, but rather will be happy to take however much time is necessary to express ourselves adequately. We cannot see Hashem and the only type of relationship that we have is based on belief. The more that we believe, the more that we will take that relationship and opportunity seriously.  And just to remind ourselves of the idea that we've discussed many times, that many many Torah commentaries bring, that the only reason Hashem decided to create the world in the first place was because He desired to share His goodness with us. And this point is so important to remember throughout our lives and throughout our emunah endevour because when we remember that Hashem only created the world just to give to us, then it is easy to understand how the image that is sometimes portrayed of God as this old man with a stick waiting to catch us out, is a terribly mistaken approach and perspective of what Hashem is.  We are so privileged to have the only absolute true perspective. Hashem created us just to share His goodness with us, and that being the case, although it certainly is going to be a challenge for us to grow in our emunah endeavor, nevertheless Hashem would not give us an impossible task. He is not trying to catch us out, God forbid. He's giving us an opportunity in this world to earn our maximum potential for eternal reward in the next world. This world is a world of opportunity where Hashem wants us to choose right, and thereby after us having achieved our maximum potential in this world, we will be able to enjoy His tremendous goodness that is completely beyond anything we can even begin to imagine that this world has to offer - in the next world eternally. So it's important to remind ourselves that when it comes to our emunah endeavor, although we certainly have to make a constant effort to grow just a little bit more each day - every one of us in our own way, however Hashem is not going to judge us in an overly strict manner - anything that is beyond our maximum capacity. All that Hashem requires of us is to internalize that the reason we exist is to build and transform our emunah as much as we can.

Hashem created this world in a way that most things that transpire can be difficult for us to understand much of the time. Because again, we are taught that the only reason that Hashem created the world was because He desired to share His goodness with us. And although we are taught that ultimately that goodness will be experienced in the next world, we might have many questions such as, "if Hashem truly desired to give us of His best, why then did He not send us directly to the next world where we are taught that there the pleasure is so great that it is completely incomparable to anything in this world?"  And although we do have certain answers within Torah literature, however for the most part the main answer is that this world is not a place of understanding. B'ezrat Hashem, in the future when we get to the next world, we are taught that then everything is understood and exactly why things had to transpire with their precise details as they did in our lives in this world makes complete sense; but in this world our job is to believe, specifically when we don't understand.  In Judaism and Torah we are not short of mitzvos that Hashem has commanded us to practice. And for the most part, mitzvos are comprised of many intricacies and details that to the objective, logical mind, who is not coming from a Torah perspective, much of the time does not make sense. Although some of the mitzvos, such as the mitzvah of Chesed - to practice kindness to others, or giving tzedakah - charity, or perhaps the mitzvah to honor one's father and mother, where perhaps by those mitzvos it is easier to understand them, even according to our logical minds, however, when it comes to many mitzvos, such as for example many of the intricacies of the laws of Shabbos, one might argue, "is not the main purpose of Shabbos to be able to contemplate on the purpose of my life and have more free time to also build my relationship with Hashem?"  And that being the case, if I find it more conducive to this, to observe Shabbos in a certain manner, perhaps not exactly in line with what the halacha dictates, I might argue that that should be the ideal course. However, we are taught that this is not the case. Adherence to halacha and following Hashem's instructions, even when that would seem to contradict the reason for the mitzvah based on our logical understanding, we are taught that we are absolutely obligated to follow the mitzvahs exactly as Hashem has commanded us. And again, as always, everything in life ultimately boils down to emunah - to believing in Hashem. Because this world is not a place where we are permitted to understand Hashem's workings and calculations. Our ultimate purpose in this world is to develop our emunah, our belief. Believing specifically when we don't understand.  Whether it comes to the performance of mitzvos that might at times be more difficult for us to relate to based on our logical understanding. Or perhaps when it comes to the opportunity for us to rely on Hashem and try eliminate feelings of anxiety and worry from circumstances that surround us. And also perhaps when it comes to the opportunity of reaching out to Hashem and talking to Him in our own words. In these areas and many others, everything boils down to emunah. And as we've mentioned many times, by constant repetition of the Torah's teachings on Hashem's true perspective, b'ezrat Hashem, that can be a tremendous motivator for us to inculcate these concepts of emunah into our day-to-day lives. "Thank you Hashem for teaching me this golden information of what my true purpose is in this world and giving me the opportunity to be able to grow on a day-to-day basis more and more in fulfilling my purpose in this world."

We've learnt many times that Hashem is exclusively running every single detail in all of our lives. And with regards to our sustenance, there is no exception to this rule. As the Rambam states in the 13 principles of faith, "v'hu levado" - "and He exclusively orchestrates every detail to my life." And as we learnt from the Mesillas Yesharim, when we approach the topic of hishtadlus - of making our own efforts, we have to emphasize and make it loud and clear to ourselves that our efforts have zero effect on what we are trying to achieve, which sometimes can seem irrational and unrealistic to one not coming from a Torah perspective. Because can't you see? You make an effort and you get what you're trying to achieve; You don't make an effort, you don't get it. The mann clearly doesn't fall from the heavens anymore.  Many people therefore mistakenly might be led to assume that Hashem used to be with us in the past, but He does not provide for us anymore. God forbid! Such an approach to hishtadlus is certainly borderlining on avodah zarah, on idol worship, believing that I am the one who dictates my destiny. And as we know, idol worship is the most severe sin that we have in the Torah, to the point that for real idol worship, one is obligated to even give up their life rather than succumb to it. So when we approach hishtadlus, we certainly don't want to go anywhere near anything that might even borderline slightly on the concept of idol worship. We've also mentioned previously the Sefer HaChinuch, which is quoted in the Biur Halacha in chapter 1 of the Shulchan Aruch, where he states that if somebody does believe in Hashem but believes that there is also some other power that can contribute in addition to Hashem's power, that is idol worship. It is so important when approaching the subject of hishtadlus to internalize the words of the Mesillas Yesharim in 21, that the efforts that we make are just a tax, which means that our efforts have no correlation to the result and income that we bring in.  The Gemara in Pesachim 118a teaches that Hashem's task in providing one's sustenance is equal to the task of splitting the sea, is more difficult than the task of bringing the ultimate redemption, and is twice as hard as the task of childbirth. Now of course, Hashem has access to all the money in the world. So when the Gemara here is teaching us that the task of Hashem providing for us is equal to the task of Him splitting the sea, more difficult than bringing about the ultimate redemption, and twice as hard as the task of childbirth, we are learning here that it is a big gift for one to receive one's sustenance. Although Hashem can do anything, He nevertheless desired that the way the world should work should be in a way that usually we have to struggle to some degree to receive our sustenance.  We all are currently alive and have received sustenance in some form or another till this very day. Imagine for a moment we would have the opportunity to experience Hashem splitting the sea for us in order that we make our way through to safety. Most of us would talk about that and be inspired from that event for a long time. What about the ultimate redemption that we're all praying for to come speedily in our days? And anyone sincerely looking who has witnessed the tremendous miracle of childbirth can see clearly what a tremendous miracle that is. However, this Gemara is teaching us that the miracle of Hashem coming through for us and giving us our sustenance is so big that it is comparable to the sea splitting and greater than the miracle of childbirth and the ultimate redemption. "Thank You so much Hashem for providing for me every single day of my life in one form or another that until this very point in my life Hashem, You have always given me my sustenance. Thank You Hashem for being my exclusive provider."

It's worthwhile to constantly remind ourselves of this passage of the Mesillat Yesharim in chapter 21, where he writes that our efforts that we have a mitzvah to make - hishtadlus, is a tax payment and has no connection whatsoever to success in the endeavor that we are trying to achieve. Ein Od Milvado teaches us that Hashem exclusively runs the world and He does not need our help, nor do our efforts even slightly contribute to the results that He sends us.  The Mishnah right at the end of the Gemara Kiddushin 82b states the following: Rabbi Shimon Ben Elazar says, I never saw a deer work as one who dries figs, nor a lion work as a porter, nor a fox work as a storekeeper, and yet, they earn their livelihood without toil. But all these creatures were created only to serve Me. I, however, a human being, was created to serve the One who formed Me. If these animals, who were created only to serve Me, can earn their livelihood without toil, then is it not logical that I, who was created to serve the One who formed Me, should earn My livelihood without toil? But us humans have committed evil actions and have therefore lost our livelihood. This is another Torah passage where we learn Hashem's perspective loud and clear. Our sustenance comes directly and exclusively from Hashem. If not for the fact that we had committed a sin and are now under the effects of the curse that requires us to make our own efforts, we would then receive all of our sustenance without having to make any effort and be free to devote our time and energy in complete service to Hashem. Whereas because of the curse, we are now obligated to fulfill that curse and make efforts towards our parnassah. But again, just because we have a mitzvah to make an effort does not mean we have a license to borderline avoda zara - idol worship, God forbid, where one would be led to believe that their efforts are even slightly contributing to their successes. It is so important to internalize that yes, we have a mitzvah to make an effort, but God forbid to make any correlation between that effort and the sustenance that I receive. Hashem is our exclusive and sole provider.  It is important to remind ourselves of what our purpose is in this world. Perhaps a worthwhile question would be: if Hashem would remove this curse and thereby not require us to make efforts to receive our sustenance, but rather would just send us our sustenance as He did in times of old, what then would I be doing with my time? The verse states that man was created to toil. The purpose of life is not to reach a place of retirement and pleasure. Rather, man whilst alive is meant to work and as the midrash teaches, if he merits, he will toil in the world of Torah and mitzvos, and if not, he will have to toil in other areas. Ideally, our lives should be devoted as much as possible to talking to Hashem, which as we've learnt many times is a huge mitzvah in its own right, to the learning of Torah, performance of mitzvos, and the many other spiritual areas which are the true reason for our existence. The Midrash Rabbah to Kohellet chapter 1 states the following: Money does not satisfy. When one has ten, he desires twenty. And were a person to have a thousand, he would desire two thousand. As this midrash and many other Torah sources also point out, the nature of money is that we always desire for more. Even were a person to be the wealthiest person in the world, much of the time, if they do not have the proper Torah perspective, their desire will be to be twice as wealthy. We sometimes believe that were we to have a certain amount of money, all our problems would disappear. But as we've learnt many times, that is certainly not the case. The only true source of comfort is emunah in Hashem, because with belief in Hashem, we are always safe and content with our allotted portion.  We need money to live, but our purpose in this world is to serve Hashem, and the only reason we have this mitzvah of hishtadlus which has no correlation to the sustenance we receive is because of the curse that Hashem placed on mankind. And as we learnt from the midrash, we were made to work, and the more we make efforts to dedicate our lives towards serving Hashem, the less we might be required to fulfill this curse. "Thank you Hashem for teaching me your true perspective."

We've discussed the daily mitzvah to recite the parashas hamann and how the Torah commentaries teach that the main purpose behind reciting that Torah passage is to imbue in us Hashem's true perspective, which is apparently different to what meets the eye. In our eyes, we see a direct correlation between our efforts to make money and the money that we receive. However, as we learnt in the Mesillas Yesharim chapter 21, sustenance comes exclusively from Hashem and the only reason we need to work is to live out the curse that was decreed on mankind when Adam disobeyed Hashem's command and ate from the tree. And as the Mesillas Yesharim taught us, we are to constantly be mindful that our efforts are a tax that have no correlation to the results that they might seem to produce.  As we've discussed many times, there are many levels to what it means to have emunah and bitachon, and this certainly applies to the area of parnassah - of sustenance. Although the highest level might be to internalize to such a degree that my efforts have absolutely nothing to do with the sustenance that Hashem sends me, however, as always, the reason we are learning these passages is to teach us where we are to aim, and Hashem is very proud of us and happy with us if we are just doing the best that we can. "Hashem, my Father, thank You for teaching me that You are my sole provider, to the point that You don't need me to make any personal efforts whatsoever. Hashem, please help me to internalize the truth of Your perspective, that my parnassah - my sustenance, comes exclusively from You, and the exact amount that You want me to have, in the exact form that You want me to receive it, is determined exclusively by You. The extent of Your involvement in sending me my sustenance today is no different to how it was when You would send people man from the heavens. The only difference, Hashem, is that because of the curse that You placed on mankind, we are obligated to make our own efforts, and it now seems like if we don't make an effort, we will not receive our sustenance.  And granted, Hashem, that I am therefore obligated to fulfill this mitzvah of making an effort, but please, Hashem, help me to take to heart the words of the Mesillas Yesharim and other Torah commentaries that we've learned, that the efforts that I make have absolutely nothing to do with the sustenance that I receive. And Hashem, I know You don't expect me to be more than I can be, and it is very hard to go to work and imagine that the work that I'm doing is actually not helping me to bring in my sustenance, but rather I'm just going to work to fulfill the mitzvah of performing hishtadlus. Hashem, I'm asking You to help me grow more and more each day, to live with more sincerity by the values of emunah, that You exclusively are my provider, and it is not me. God forbid, Hashem, I don't want to fall into the trap of idol worship in our day and age, where I might be led to believe that it is not You exclusively who provides for me, but rather my efforts help me bring in my sustenance.  And just like in times of old, the forms of idol worship that were available to people was a real challenge, because people were able to go practice a certain magical procedure, and by doing so, would receive the sustenance or other needs that they might have needed. And similarly, in today's times, it makes it quite challenging that You have commanded us to fulfill the mitzvah to make our own efforts - to perform hishtadlus, because it is so difficult to divorce my efforts from the sustenance that I receive, when it seems so apparently obvious that if I don't go to work, You have no way to provide for me. Of course, I am obligated to fulfill the mitzvah and go to work, but if I might be sick, or when I might not be able to perform my hishtadlus for whatever other reason, please Hashem help me to then feel completely calm, that I am not worse off whatsoever, because You, Hashem, are my exclusive provider."

We discussed how although there is a mitzvah to recite the Torah portion of the mann, however the Torah commentaries point out that the main purpose behind this is for us to contemplate on the message of the mann, that just like in those times it was apparently obvious that Hashem was our exclusive provider because the mann fell in an obviously miraculous way from the heavens, and it was absolutely clear that our efforts had nothing to do with bringing in our provisions, so too in today's times, although Hashem doesn't operate in an obviously miraculous manner, the same Hashem who was the sole exclusive provider then is the same Hashem who is our sole and exclusive provider today.  And as discussed, if Hashem is our sole provider, how does it make any sense that we have a mitzvah to do hishtadlus, to make our own efforts? And we mentioned the Mesillas Yesharim in chapter 21, who explains very clearly that although Hashem provides for us exclusively, there is a separate mitzvah completely unrelated to the concept of Hashem sending us our sustenance, where we have an obligation to make our own efforts. And as mentioned, the Mesillas Yesharim compares the need to work to the payment of tax. Just like when I pay tax, it does not help me one iota to bring in more sustenance, it is just an obligation that I have to take care of. In the same vein, my efforts, my hishtadlus, is an obligation that I have to take care of as a result of the curse that was decreed on mankind when Adam initially disobeyed Hashem's command and ate from the tree.  Although we have an obligation and mitzvah to perform hishtadlus and make our own efforts, it is also important to highlight the dangers of hishtadlus, of making an effort, if one does not have the correct perspective. Many Torah sources teach us how in times of old, one of the strongest yetzer hora's, or desire for sin, was in the area of Avodah Zarah, of idol worship. And although, as the Gemara explains, that particular evil inclination was taken away and we today cannot understand the true extent of what it means to have a real, strong desire to serve idols, however, it seems very difficult to conceptualize why is it that the Torah makes such a strong emphasis to say shema twice a day, that there is only one God. For most of us, that is quite an obvious equation, that there is only one God. Some Torah commentaries explain that the way it would work was that there were certain magical procedures that one was able to practice, and by doing so, one would actually receive what they needed. That makes it a lot easier to understand why the Torah would place such an emphasis to not go after those practices, but rather exclusively rely on Hashem. Because imagine, I need money, I know that if I perform a certain practice, be it with a stone or some other form, I will receive exactly what I need. That's one option. Or, I go pray, and maybe Hashem will send me what I need, or maybe He won't. What do I choose?  In today's day and age, as pointed out by Torah authorities, we have a different type of idol worship. When somebody goes to work, the apparent result of that is I receive sustenance from that particular endeavor. And although we are called on to perform the hishtadlus, it is so important to highlight that if one is led to God-forbid believe that that is providing me with my sustenance, and therefore I am turning to that, even slightly, instead of turning to Hashem, that could be a comparable form of idol worship in our times. Let us take the words of the mesillat yesharim to heart, that the only reason we are commanded to work for a living is because we have to live out the curse that was decreed on mankind. Working for a living is a payment of tax that has absolutely no connection whatsoever to how we will receive our sustenance. Our sustenance comes exclusively from Hashem.

We discussed how although there is a mitzvah, according to many Torah commentaries, to recite the Torah passage of the mann every day, however, as the Mishna Berura and others point out, the main purpose behind the recital of the parashat hamann is to internalize the message that just like Hashem was our sole provider in those times where the food would fall directly from the heavens, so too today Hashem is our exclusive sole provider. And although it might appear like an apparent contradiction: if Hashem really does do everything exclusively, why does He need me to work and make my own efforts? And the answer, as explained by the Torah commentaries, is that Hashem does not need me to work. The mitzvah to perform hishtadlus - our own efforts, is just that, a mitzvah, an obligation, that has absolutely nothing to do with bringing about the sustenance that we require. The Mesillas Yesharim in chapter 21 writes the following: "The need to work for a living is a curse that was decreed on mankind when Adam disobeyed God's command and ate from the tree. In truth, sustenance comes exclusively from Hashem. The need to work is only a fulfillment of this curse whereby one is required to make a hishtadlus - our own efforts." The Mesillas Yesharim then goes on to compare the requirement for us having to work to the payment of tax. Everyone knows that paying tax does not help me even slightly to bring in more profit. Paying tax is just an obligation that I have to live with. The Mesillas Yesharim is teaching us that our sustenance comes exclusively from Hashem. There is a separate mitzvah to endure the curse of hishtadlus and therefore make practical efforts for our sustenance. It is not our place to question or ponder on why Hashem decided in times of old to run the world in the way that it ran then, where people were not required to make their own practical efforts and their sustenance came in an obvious, clear fashion directly from Hashem, whereas today Hashem's desire is that our sustenance should come to us in a way that appears to be as if we have earned it ourselves. There are different ideas offered by the Torah commentaries. The bottom line is Hashem in His great wisdom understood that the best thing to do then was as it was then, in an obvious, miraculous manner, whereas today it should not be like that. One of the advantages of living in times of old, where the miracle was apparent and obvious, was that the struggle to attribute one's parnassa to one's own doing did not exist because it was absolutely clear that Hashem was raining down the food every single day without my having to make any effort. We today, however, have a tremendous opportunity, perhaps even more than those who lived in times of old had, because on the one hand we are learning from all the Torah sources that Hashem provides for us exclusively. Hashem does not need me to make an effort. And the same Hashem who provided exclusively in times of old is the same Hashem who provides for me exclusively today.  Nevertheless, this additional mitzvah, to make a hishtadlus - our own efforts, provides us with an opportunity to truly grow in our emunah - our belief, that Hashem is the one who is exclusively providing for us. Because if there were open miracles that Hashem was providing for us, in a sense that's not belief anymore; tt is just clearly seeing Hashem as our sole provider. Whereas today, as explained by the Torah commentaries, one of the main reasons behind the obligation to perform the mitzvah of hishtadlus is to give ourselves the opportunity to make an effort, work hard, and make it seem like I am the one contributing towards my financial success, whereas the truth is that Hashem is exclusively providing for me and does not need my efforts. Just like when I make a tax payment, I know that that does not help me even slightly to bring in more revenue. It is just an obligation that I have to fulfill. In the same way, when I make my own efforts, it does not help me even slightly to bring in more paranasa because Hashem exclusively is my sole provider.

A fundamental belief in the history of the Jewish people is that after the exodus from Egypt, when the Jewish people encamped in the desert, the way that they received their sustenance was by HaShem raining down the special heavenly food, the mann. When the Jewish people were in the desert, it was absolutely clear to them that their sole provider was HaShem. According to many Torah commentaries, there is a daily mitzvah to recite the Torah portion which describes how the mann fell daily for the Jewish people. And as the Mishna Berura in the first chapter of the Shulchan Aruch explains, that the reason for this is to instill in us the belief that it is not our own efforts that bring us our provisions, rather it is HaShem who provides for us exclusively.  Although HaShem has decided that in our day and age we do not have this open miracle of our food falling down from the heaven, however it is important for us to take the message of the mann to heart; just like HaShem was the one who provided for the Jewish people in an openly miraculous way by bringing down the mann from the heavens for them during their journey in the desert, so too, HaShem is our exclusive provider. Although the form that He gives us our food in, in today's day and age, appears to be different, where in the past it was apparently obvious that HaShem was giving us the food, whereas today HaShem gives us our food in a roundabout way, such as a person going to work, earning a salary and then using that money to go to the store and buy their provisions, although to us it seems like a whole different process and for whatever reason in HaShem's calculations, this is the right way for the world to operate - it is the same HaShem that provides for us today to the same degree that HaShem provided for us then, with the mann that fell from the heavens.  We can therefore understand why it is a mitzvah to recite the Torah portion about the mann, and as the Mishna Berura points out, although reciting the passage itself is a mitzvah, the main purpose behind reciting the passage is internalizing the message that HaShem is our sole provider. It is not our wisdom; it is not the boss; it is not the business; it is not our efforts. Although we might have a mitzvah to do hishtadlus - to make our own efforts, it is so important for us to remember what the Mesillas Yesharim and many others teach - that our efforts do not affect the amount of sustenance we will have even slightly. One might feel, if I work harder, then I will make more money. Yes, in terms of the obligation to fulfill the mitzvah of hishtadlus, one is obligated to work hard, and there are many levels to this which we are not going to go into right now.  One who is interested in pursuing this topic further is invited to see our eight-part course on hishtadlus, which was posted at recording number 97. However, for our purposes, what is so vital to remember is that whatever efforts we might be making has absolutely no connection to the results we are trying to achieve and to the provisions we are trying to bring in. Again, if Hashem runs the world exclusively, can He not bring me my sustenance without me having to make an effort? And the answer is, of course He can. One of the reasons that Hashem instructs us to make our own efforts - to perform hishtadlus, is to give us the opportunity to believe, where on the one hand, we have a mitzvah to make our own practical efforts to do whatever we can to be successful, but on the other hand, to be constantly vigilant that our thoughts never take us to a place that we believe we are our sole providers. Even if we are to believe that Hashem helps us 90%, but it is just our little bit that helps Hashem on to give us what we need, that is completely incorrect, because - ein od milvado - means that Hashem runs my life exclusively and provides for me 100%, not 99.9%. And as we read in the principles of faith of the Rambam, "v'hu levado", that Hashem alone, exclusively, pulled every string of my life in the past, is currently orchestrating every detail of my life in the present, and is the One who will dictate the exact and precise course of my life in the future.

We've been discussing the tremendous opportunity that every single one of us has to perform the great mitzvah of giving somebody a smile. And as the Gemara in Kesubos, page 111b states, that a person who smiles at his fellow is better than one who gives him milk, and as mentioned, although we certainly are encouraged to invest both in terms of our time, energy and money to perform all of the mitzvos, because what is anything worth in this world compared to the eternal value of a mitzvah, however, some mitzvos are so easy to fulfill both in terms of our time, energy and financial investment that they are available to us constantly throughout the day, every day.  Smiling at another individual is a huge mitzvah that is available to us constantly. Many a time, just giving a smile to somebody else can turn around their day from feelings of hopelessness and anxiety to just that little bit more upbeat. One of the reasons that it is such a big mitzvah to smile and bring happiness to another individual is because as Torah commentaries teach, when one is in a happy state, we are much, much more productive and able to excel in our endeavors, both with regards to the day-to-day activities that we might need to perform, and in particular with regards to excelling in our spiritual endeavors. When one is not feeling upbeat and happy, it is much more difficult to reach out to Hashem and talk to Him, to learn Torah, to perform an act of kindness and the like, whereas when one is feeling happy and in a good space, much of the time there is much more feeling of motivation to do good. With just a little bit of an effort to give somebody a sincere smile, one can change the day and the life of an individual who is experiencing loneliness, depression, anxiety from whatever challenges they might be going through. The Gemara in Taanis 22a records the following episode and states, Rabbi Beroka often spent time in the marketplace and Elijah the prophet - Eliyahu Hanavi, would appear to him. Once Rabbi Beroka said to Eliyahu Hanavi, "Of all the people who come here, is there anyone worthy of the world to come?" And as the commentary of the Torah Chaim to Sanhedrin 88b explains, that although the overwhelming majority of people do have a portion in the world to come, however for many people there is first a need for suffering in this world and to experience some suffering in Gehinnom in the next world to first cleanse their soul. And what Rabbi Beroka was asking Eliyahu Hanavi was, "is there anybody in this marketplace that is on such a high level that they are immediately worthy right now of the world to come without needing prior suffering neither in this world nor in the next world before earning their eternal share?" And the Gemara continues that Eliyahu Hanavi pointed to two individuals and said to Rabbi Beroka, "These two individuals are currently worthy of the world to come." Rabbi Beroka then went over to them and inquired, "What is your occupation?" They said to him, "We are jesters and we cheer up the depressed."  Let us internalize what Hashem's perspective, the only true perspective is. Although at times it might not seem like such a super mitzvah to make an effort to make other people happy, however in this Gemara we are learning that out of all the people in the marketplace, many of whom may have been involved in great and holy endeavors, there were only two who were on such a high level that they were ready for the next world without a need for any cleansing. And these were two people who were constantly involved in cheering people up, in making people happy. Each one of us is presented with many opportunities in different forms to help others and bring happiness into other people's lives. Let us internalize that whatever efforts we might be able to do to bring happiness to those around us is a huge mitzvah.

We've been discussing what the Torah commentaries teach with regards to the tremendous benefit of living a life of happiness. And as pointed out by the Vilna Gaon to Mishlei, chapter 18, verse 14, as well as other Torah commentaries, when one is in a happy state, even when illness strikes, God forbid, one will come out of that illness due to the state of one's happiness. And as we've been discussing, much of the time, feeling feelings of happiness as opposed to anxiety is an extension of living a life of emunah and bitachon. Because the more I believe that I am in Hashem's hands exclusively and there is nothing to worry about because He is in absolute control and He only does what is best for me, the more I will feel feelings of calm, serenity, peace and tranquility. Because if I am learning about emunah, although I might know that in truth I am immune to circumstance and other individuals, but to truly internalize that knowledge is our life's work, as we've discussed many times. And as mentioned, we are only called on to make a little bit more effort each day to try and grow more and more to living a life of true emunah and bitachon, which will lead to a life of true happiness.  The Gemara in Kesubos, page 111b, states that a person who smiles at his fellow is better than one who gives him milk. Imagine for a moment that someone were to go around giving people free milk every day. That would certainly be a notably commendable act. Whereas when someone walks around just smiling at those around them, instinctively it doesn't appear to us like such a commendable act. From Hashem's vantage point, smiling at people is considered even greater than going around and giving people milk. We've discussed previously how to internalize the concept of what it means to go to the next world, to Olam Haba, in comparison to this world. There's a famous analogy offered by Torah commentaries. Imagine you have a large stadium filled to the top with sand, and every 1,000 years a little bird comes and removes just one grain of sand. Let us try conceptualize how long it will take to empty out the stadium. This is not a number that can fit on the calculator, it is so big. When we compare 120 years of living in this world to what it means to live for eternity, our lives in this world is not even like one grain of sand in that stadium. Certainly then, when it comes to the opportunity to performing a mitzvah, even though we might have to invest financially in terms of our time or in other areas, in order to be able to perform this mitzvah, one with the right perspective will certainly be prepared to do so, because again, what is the point of all the money or all the time in this world compared to the eternal reward and blessing of one mitzvah in the next world? However, after all is said and done, we do have to choose into where we're going to invest, both in terms of our time, our money, and the like, because as human beings we are limited. For many mitzvos, there might be a great time investment, as well as it might cost a lot of money to have the opportunity to perform them. And although we are certainly encouraged to do so, as mentioned, we are limited and won't be able to do that on a constant basis. Whereas there are some mitzvos, such as giving somebody a smile, which is so easy, doesn't cost anything, and nevertheless the Gemara is teaching us that giving somebody a smile is more of a mitzvah than giving him milk, taking the time and investing the money to bring him his supplies. We are certainly encouraged to help out in all areas, even when we do have to invest time and financially. However, it is motivating to internalize that each one of us has the constant opportunity to perform a huge mitzvah many times a day, just by giving somebody a smile.

We've been discussing how Emunah and Bitachon is something available to every single one of us. It's tremendously encouraging to take to heart what the many Torah sources teach us, that Emunah and Bitachon are completely independent of our actions. And although we are certainly called on to do our best to avoid sin and do as many mitzvos as we can, nevertheless the opportunity to have Bitachon and rely on Hashem is completely independent of our scorecard.  Sometimes the evil inclination makes us feel that only when we are thriving spiritually, then we have a license to talk to Hashem to help us succeed in all areas of our lives. But as we've learned many times, that is not the case. The opportunity to rely on Hashem is available to every single one of us, regardless of our actions. And as the Ramban, Rabbeinu Yona, Rav Tzaddok HaKohen, and other Torah commentaries point out, that even a thief who certainly knows he's doing the wrong thing by making an effort to go and steal from another individual, if he stops for a moment and chooses to rely on Hashem to some degree, Hashem will help him in his endeavors.  The power of Emunah and Bitachon is beyond imagination, and it is so important to realize that it is available to every single one of us. And therefore, we all are called on to make use of this tremendous gift that Hashem has given us. We've been discussing how the more Emunah and Bitachon we bring into our lives, the more feelings of calm, serenity, and happiness we will feel. Torah commentaries teach that at face value, there are more times of challenge and difficulty that we all experience throughout our lives than times of calm, peace, and tranquility. And without an attitude and perspective of Emunah and Bitachon, much of the time we will instinctively fall into feelings of depression, anxiety, and worry. And again, although we are certainly not to feel feelings of guilt for having these emotions, because we are human and Hashem created us, seeing the right perspective helps us to aim in the right direction.  If I am currently looking for a marriage partner, and the years are passing, and for whatever reason Hashem has not yet blessed me to find my marriage partner, without making a concentrated effort to moving towards living a life of true Emunah and Bitachon, which will lead to feelings of happiness and serenity, instinctively, this situation will cause feelings of anxiety, depression, and the like. Just taking one step towards a life of more Emunah and Bitachon can transform our lives to degrees beyond our imagination. "Hashem, Master of the Universe, thank You so much for giving me the opportunity to talk to You. I know that truthfully, the only thing that can help me in my situation to feel more feelings of calm and less feelings of anxiety, is if I reach out to You. Because although I've learnt Your perspective and the real truth of the situation, that You Hashem are completely exclusively running the show, and if I have not yet found my marriage partner, that is because You have not yet sent him, and regardless of what efforts I might make, if You choose to not send him to me, there is no way I can find him, and at the same time, when You decide it is the time for me to find my marriage partner, there is no question that I will find my husband without even a second delay after the time that You have decreed, and if I am able to take this to heart, Hashem, there is no question that I will feel much less anxious about each moment that passes without finding my marriage partner. At the same time, Hashem, much of the time, I am feeling tremendous feelings of anxiety and it is tremendously painful. Please Hashem, help me that You do send me my marriage partner as soon as possible. And additionally, Hashem, please help me that in the interim, until You do send me my marriage partner, that I remain in a place of true emunah and bitachon, and each day I grow more and more to living by Your perspective, that You are exclusively running the show, and thereby, Hashem, please help me each day to move more towards living a life of true happiness."

We've been discussing how when one lives a life of true emunah and bitachon, there are tremendous benefits to the quality of our lives. When circumstances present themselves that might instinctively lead towards feelings of anxiety and depression, the more we move towards a life of true reliance on Hashem, internalizing that no individual nor circumstance can contribute anything towards my life, because I have learned in the verse that ein od milvado - there is nothing else except for Hashem, and ultimately everything that transpires throughout my life and to the world at large is completely an expression of Hashem Himself personally orchestrating every single detail, and that being the case, knowing that Hashem only wants the best for mem and there is no individual nor circumstance that can even slightly impinge upon Hashem's plans, there is nothing to feel anxious and upset about.  It is so important to highlight that when we learn these Torah passages, the objective is to realize that emunah is our life's work, and it's so important to encourage ourselves that even the slightest step that I might take is a true success story. Hashem expects from us to take the inspiration that we are learning and just become a little bit better each day. So if I am currently employed and financially comfortable, but my contract expires in a year's time from now, and I might have feelings of tremendous anxiety, perhaps sometimes having sleepless nights, or perhaps at other times going into long periods of depression and worry, I may not be expected to climb to such a level of emunah and bitachon, where I feel no feelings of anxiety; but perhaps if I am able to just take a few minutes to myself to try and contemplate on the fact that Hashem was the one who gave me this job opportunity in the first place, and just like before I found this opportunity, I had no idea what my future course was going to be and even though it appeared like I suddenly received this opportunity due to luck or due to my connections, I know that in truth, Hashem was pulling all of those strings, and He was the one who made the situation present itself as it did, and just like He provided for me then, He will not abandon me in a year's time.  "Hashem, I am feeling tremendously anxious. I know that You are the one who has run my life up until now, and You are the one who gave me my current job opportunity. And even though in truth, Hashem, I am trying to work towards a place of internalizing, that You will always come through for me, and in a year's time when my contract expires, You will help me and provide for me with the next opportunity that You will send me, however, I am feeling tremendously anxious. Hashem, please help me to internalize that it is You exclusively who runs my life, and just like You came through for me previously, You will come through for me again."  And although I am now called on to make a practical effort to try to find a new opportunity for the coming year, however, when I am able to internalize that my efforts are not what is going to provide me my opportunity, and even if I feel like I might have not found the right solution to my problem, but if I am able to internalize that only Hashem exclusively is the one who is able to find a solution to my problem, I might then be able to move towards a slightly less anxious life. As we have learned many times from Torah sources, emunah and bitachon is available to every single one of us. Hashem created us and has tailor-made all the details to my life to be best suited exactly for me. And regardless of my spiritual level, I have the constant opportunity to reach out to Hashem to help me for more emunah, for more bitachon, and for more simcha.

We've been discussing one of the tremendous fringe benefits of living a life of emunah and bitachon, that not only do we thereby gain the highest place that we can for ourselves in the next world, which is ultimately the purpose of being alive, but additionally, the quality of our lives can be transformed completely when we choose to live a life of true emunah and true bitachon. Because again, if I believe that I am slave to my circumstances or people around me that might be more powerful - perhaps I might be dependent on them in one way or another, then, when my situation seems to be quite dire, and this individual, who has always been the one to help me, might have had a change of heart, or perhaps the army, that I might have always relied on to be unshakable and unbreakable, had a huge breach in an unthinkable way, if I forget to bring Hashem into the picture, it is very easy to fall into feelings of hopelessness, sadness, and depression.  And similarly, if I have been married for numerous years and always dreamed, hoped, and prayed for the opportunity to be able to mother a family, but for whatever reason, Hashem has not blessed me with children, of course we are allowed to feel our feelings of pain. And in fact, the halacha is that when a close family member dies, we are supposed to mourn. However, the halacha also dictates that after the period of mourning, we are supposed to make our maximum effort to continue with the happy and vibrant lives that we have the opportunity to live, and if I as a mother have not been blessed with children, if I do not have it loud and clear in my heart and mind that Hashem is absolutely in control of every intricate detail in every single one of our lives, it might be quite easy to fall into a depression and feelings of hopelessness. It seems unfair. Why is it that so many around me, with barely any effort, perhaps they didn't even pray for it, but they had the privilege of mothering many children, and me, after many hours of prayer, it seems to be that Hashem is not listening to me. Does that seem fair?  As we've discussed many times, there are many levels to what it means to live a life of emunah and bitachon. And of course, the highest levels would dictate that a person is happy to the point of singing and dancing throughout their lives, regardless of what might be transpiring, because they are so clear that everything that is happening during their lives is completely and exclusively ordained by Hashem. However, we are not expected to be more than we can be. All Hashem does expect from us is to make our maximum effort to be the best that we can. And every day we have the opportunity to grow a little bit more, in relying a little bit more on Hashem, and moving more towards the direction of feelings of calm and happiness, regardless of my circumstances. "Hashem, my Father, I am reaching out to You because of this terminal illness that You have diagnosed upon me. My instinctive response, Hashem, is to feel feelings of panic and anxiety. Hashem, please help me not to panic, and to truly internalize that I am not dependent on the doctors nor on the medication. Hashem, just like You brought this illness upon me, in a flash You could take it away, even if statistics have predicted otherwise. Because I know, Hashem, that You are not bound by the normal laws of nature, but rather You are the one who creates nature every single moment. And if You would decide to make me better, You could do so in an instant. And therefore, Hashem, I am begging You, please will You heal me.  However, perhaps even more importantly, Hashem, I am begging You to help me to remain in a state of true emunah and bitachon, that regardless of what I am going through, please, Hashem, help me to truly internalize that it is exclusively coming from You. Although You have given me a mitzvah to make a practical effort at times to see doctors and medication, however, please, Hashem, help me not to fall into the trap of believing that that is what is helping me. Thank You, Hashem, for giving me the opportunity to work towards a life of true happiness."

Although the main benefit of living a life of Emunah and Bitachon is that we thereby are fulfilling our purpose in this world, which is ultimately for the sake of our reward in the next world, however, as discussed many times, one who lives with Emunah and Bitachon gains tremendous fringe benefits in terms of the quality of one's life in this world itself. Many Torah commentaries, such as the Vilna Gaon to Mishlei, chapter 18 verse 14, as well as the Metzudas David to Mishlei, chapter 17 verse 22, write that when an individual is always in a happy state, even when illness strikes, God forbid, that individual will come out of the sickness due to his state of happiness. Happiness is a cure for the body, whereas low spirits cause illness.  Many Torah commentaries bring this idea on similar lines - that when we keep in a state of happiness, not only does that prevent us from falling to illness, but even if one is currently ill, being in a happy state might be one of the greatest medications that we might try and seek out. And again, when one is living a life without Bitachon, there is so much reason to feel feelings of fear, anxiety, and depression for many of the things that are transpiring. When one takes a look at the news and sees the tremendous suffering that so many are experiencing, without an attitude of Bitachon, one realizes how there is actually so much reason to feel anxious, depressed, and other bitter feelings.  And similarly, with regards to my own life, if I don't have it loud and clear in my heart and mind that Hashem is running every minute detail in my life, there is so much reason to fall to depression and anxiety much of the time. Whereas, when I truly internalize that Hashem is exclusively pulling every single string in my life, and I internalize that Hashem is incomparably greater than any other being that exists in our human world, regardless of how much power they might seem to have, I am then able to move towards a life of complete calm and serenity and happiness. The more emunah and bitachon that we build in our lives, the more serene, calm, and happy we will feel.  And as discussed, perhaps two of the main factors that can contribute to our growth in emunah and bitachon is firstly, to constantly expose ourselves to Torah study, and perhaps in particular, Torah inspiration about emunah and bitachon, because when doing so, we then learn Hashem's perspective and are able to contemplate on those ideas throughout our day; and secondly, we have the tremendous gift to reach out to Hashem about anything. And always, the solution to all problems that is available to every single one of us is the opportunity to ask Hashem, the Creator of the world and the One who guides each moment of our lives and everybody's lives, to help us in what we are trying to succeed in.  "Hashem, please, can You help me to succeed in living a true life of emunah and bitachon. I know that this is ultimately the real reason that You created me for - to be close with You and experience my true reward in the next world. And as You've taught us by many Torah sources, the main way to do so is by me making efforts in growing in my emunah and bittachon. Hashem, please, can You help me to really grow and be sincere in living a life of reliance on You, and not relying on anybody else, nor anything else.  And at the same time, Hashem, You've taught us that when one does live a life of emunah and bitachon, that will then lead to a life of true happiness. Because why should I worry about anything when I know that You are completely running every single moment and every single detail to my life, so what is there to worry about? Even if at times it might seem like the situation might be dire, however, I know, Hashem, that You exclusively are running the show and You will only do what is best for me. Please, Hashem, help me to truly internalize the values of emunah and bitachon, and thereby live a life of true happiness."

The Shulchan Aruch in Ohr Hachaim chapter 287 states that although on a weekday, when one encounters an individual who is unwell, it is a mitzvah to wish them a refuah shleima - a complete recovery, however on Shabbos, under normal circumstances, one is not supposed to wish another individual a refuah shlema. And the reason for that, as explained by the commentaries, is because when somebody is ill and I wish them better, I am also supposed to pray that they have a complete recovery, and sometimes whilst doing so, that might cause me to have sad feelings when I contemplate on the pain and suffering that this individual might be experiencing. And therefore on Shabbos, when we are not supposed to give ourself reason to feel feelings of sadness, instead of wishing somebody a refuah shleima, the halacha outlines that we are to say, "shabbos hi milizok urefuah kerovah lavo" - that I have no need to daven for you, nor wish you a refuah shlema, because Shabbos is so powerful that it will heal you itself. Although in general, we are highly encouraged to talk to Hashem about anything and everything, as we have discussed many times, both with regards to perhaps more spiritual things, as well as with regards to more mundane subjects, although usually there are no limitations as to what we should talk to Hashem about, and Hashem has given us the incredible opportunity to have a green card to be able to reach out to Him about anything and everything at any time, however, the halacha tells us that davening on Shabbos has different halachic parameters than regular weekday prayer. To briefly summarize what emerges from the halacha, which the Shulchan Aruch and other halachic commentaries in Ohr Hachaim chapter 288 state: prayers in the form of praise and gratitude to Hashem are always permitted even on Shabbos, whereas when it comes to the type of prayer that we make in the form of requests, then the halacha outlines to us that there are three categories that are permitted on Shabbos. The first is when we are dealing with spiritual matters. Although asking Hashem for more money, or for recovery from illness, or success in a mundane endeavor that I might be involved in, is problematic on Shabbos under normal circumstances, however, to ask Hashem that He help me in overcoming my anger challenges, or perhaps to ask Hashem to help me to be more diligent in my mitzvah observance, or being more committed to talking to Him on a regular basis, that would be permitted on Shabbos under all circumstances.  The halachic commentaries bring that a second category that would be permitted on Shabbos: when a person prays in his mind rather than actually mouthing the words, then say many commentaries that one is actually permitted to pray for anything, both with regards to spiritual endeavors as well as with regards to even mundane things. Although the midrash does teach that in general when praying, one should make an effort to mouth the words of one's prayer rather than just thinking it, however on Shabbos, seeing as one is not supposed to pray for mundane things, the halacha outlines that if one wishes to do so, one is permitted to, as long as they do so only by thinking so, and not praying the words with one's mouth. And the third category is any case where a Jew's life might be at stake; just like we know the halacha permits us to even violate Shabbos under such circumstances, certainly then we are permitted to pray, say tehillim or whatever else for people whose lives might be in danger. We are so privileged to be able to constantly have a personal relationship with Hashem. Although on Shabbos the laws of praying do differ to how we may pray during a regular weekday, nevertheless we are so privileged that at every single moment of our lives we always have a way to have a personal relationship with Hashem and talk to Him.

We discussed the law which is stated in the shulchan aruch, Yoreh Deah section 335, where we learned that in order to fulfil the mitzvah of visiting a sick person - bikur cholim - according to halacha, one is required to visit the individual, help them out with whatever they need and also pray for their welfare. And the halacha taught us that if one neglects their obligation to pray on behalf of the sick individual, one forfeits the mitzvah of Bikur Cholim. We can learn many things from this law. One important point is to internalize that we are always to follow halacha exactly as Hashem dictates, regardless of our own understanding. Because although sometimes logic may dictate to us differently, nevertheless, we ought to humble ourselves that we cannot understand Hashem's calculations and therefore, the wisest thing to do would be just to follow exactly what He told us, whether we understand or we don't. And another important point we learn from this law is the tremendous potency the Torah places on prayer. Although our logic would seem to dictate that fulfilling a mitzvah where you help another individual is of utmost importance, which again, according to the Torah, it is; however, our logic would also dictate that prayer is not as important because we don't see the immediate effect that prayer has. Whereas when you help another individual, such as you visit a sick person and you help them out, you do see the immediate effect. But again, the Torah sources, which is the only true real perspective that we have, teach us otherwise - that even when we don't experience what we think to be meaningful, we are called on to do exactly what Hashem tells us to do. We've also mentioned previously the Gemara in Brachos 12b which states that if one knows of another individual who is experiencing some form of hardship or trouble and one does not daven for that individual, the Gemara says one is called a sinner. And Rav Moshe Feinstein explains further that even if an individual sees themselves as a not particularly righteous individual or perhaps even as a non-observant individual, we are obligated to pray on their behalf because one never knows the heavenly calculations of whose prayers will be accepted and therefore, even if one sees themselves as an unimportant individual, every single one of us is obligated to pray for one another.  The Gemara in Bava Kamma 92a states that when we pray on behalf of another individual, and in actual fact we are also in need of the item we are requesting for the other individual, we will actually be answered first. Now, of course, when we pray for another individual, the right motivation should be to pray because we really care about them and as a fringe benefit, the Gemara tells us that we will be answered for what we need. However, it is motivating to know this fact, that ultimately when we care about others, in return, Hashem will care about us and give us what we need.  "Thank You, Hashem, for giving us the tremendous opportunity to be able to speak to You, even though we might not have any background in Torah education, and even if we do have a tremendous background in Torah education, thank You for teaching me that this is one of the greatest mitzvos that can exist, and it's available to all of us in an easy form, where we can just open up our heart and talk to You. Hashem, thank You also for giving me the tremendous opportunity to pray on behalf of others, and teaching me the tremendous potency that my prayers can make, that I might just be the only person who can make a real difference in this situation. Sometimes it might be that I'm supposed to make the difference in a practical way, but much of the time, the main difference I will make is by praying to You. Thank You, Hashem, for the gift of tefillah."

One of the great mitzvos that Hashem has given us the opportunity to take part in is the mitzvah of Bikur Cholim. When someone is sick we have a mitzvah to go and visit them. However, what is sometimes not as well known is that the halacha in Yoreh Deah chapter 335 states that just like by all mitzvos we find that there are certain technicalities one needs to follow in order to fulfill the mitzvah in the correct way, in the same way when it comes to the mitzvah of visiting the sick, besides actually going and visiting the sick person and of course asking them if there is anything we could help with which is part of the mitzvah, the halacha also stipulates that one is obligated to pray on behalf of the sick person for their recovery, to the point that the Ramah in the name of the Ramban states the halacha that if one visited a sick person and neglected their obligation to pray on their behalf, one has not fulfilled the mitzvah of Bikur Cholim.  One might argue, although it might have been the ideal course to follow the halacha perfectly and pray for this individual, but come on I spent many hours visiting the individual trying to help them out, surely I kind of did the mitzvah almost perfectly even if I didn't pray for their recovery? The reason this is a very wrong approach is because firstly as mentioned many times, Hashem is the only one who knows the details of why every mitzvah needs to be done in the precise way that He has designed. And if He has said that these are the specifications of how this mitzvah works, we need to make sure to listen to exactly how He has outlined the law.  As we've discussed previously, Torah authorities teach us that although sometimes we might be given some of the reasons as to why we perform the mitzvos, however for the most part the real reasons behind the mitzvahs we have no idea as to their true essence. And therefore, just because to us it might seem like the main component of visiting a sick person is in order to make them feel better and to help them out with anything they might need, however if we might be missing the component of praying on their behalf, we might be missing one of the main, most important parts of the mitzvah; again to the point that the halacha stipulates that if we visit a sick person and one neglects to pray for their welfare, one does not fulfill the mitzvah of Bikur Cholim.  And another reason this would be a very mistaken approach is because again, everything always boils down to emunah. It is much easier to appreciate when somebody goes ahead to visit a sick individual and takes the time to go and help them out practically, and of course this mitzvah should not be undermined whatsoever because it is a tremendous mitzvah to take of one's time and energy to help another Jew and especially to visit a sick individual and help them out in whatever way one can. However it is much more difficult to relate to the potency of the prayer that I might make for them because again, when I might be visiting them or helping them out in a practical way, I don't need to believe anything. I can see that I'm helping them out and I can see that they feel better by me being there. But thereafter when I go and make a prayer for this individual, I don't see any effect of my prayer and the only thing I have is to believe, to have emunah that my prayer is making a difference.  The bottom line is that it is difficult to relate to the effectiveness and the potency that prayer has because in this world we are not allowed to see the effect that prayers have on a situation. However we are taught from the only true perspective that can exist regardless of what our own logic might dictate, which again could of course be mistaken at times, that the power of prayer is so important. Our prayers make a big difference if we would be able to see what the Torah sources teach us that every time we utter a word of prayer we are creating worlds in the spiritual realms to degrees that we can't even imagine, it would be impossible to stop praying but in this world we are not allowed to see because the purpose of our existence is specifically to believe when we don't see; emunah.

We've been discussing the tremendous opportunity we have to communicate with Hashem in both the form of our personal prayers, every single one of us in our own way, with our own words, at our own time, in our own place, as well as the tremendous opportunity we have to recite the prescribed prayers which were authored by the great sages of times of old through divine inspiration, and how each letter is imbued with tremendous holiness beyond anything we could imagine. In both of these forms of communication with Hashem, our job is to build our emunah - our belief.  When I talk to Hashem in my own words, He is really listening to every word. And as we pointed out from the Torah sources, the Sefer Chareidim and the Shelah cite the masters of Kabbalah, that when I speak to Hashem in my own words, the potency of that has seven times more effect than even that of Torah learning, and we know the great value of Torah learning, where the Mishnah teaches us that the value of Torah learning equals all of the mitzvos put together, yet, talking to Hashem has more of an effect on the neshama than even that; and at the same time to build our emunah, that when we recite the prescribed blessings throughout the day, to have more intention and meaning, and perhaps recite them slower, to be able to truly focus on what we are saying, and not miss out on the opportunity of tapping into the tremendous power of these prescribed words by the holy sages.  We spoke about how in the times of the future, although all of the animal offerings will cease to exist, nevertheless, we are taught that the korban toda - the animal offering of thanks, will always exist, because the prayer of thanks is something so important and fundamental to us, that although we will climb to such spiritual heights in the future not needing the other forms of animal offerings, nevertheless, we will always need the animal offerings of thanks. And in the same vein, we are taught by Torah sources that all songs will cease to exist in the future, because again, we will be beyond what songs can achieve for us, but the one song that will remain is mizmor lesodah, is the song of thanking Hashem, because when we thank Hashem, that is ultimately the highest expression of our emunah, because if we truly believe that Hashem would only do what is best for us, then ultimately we'll just sing to Him and thank Him and praise Him for everything He does for us all day long.  Although ideally we are called on to make every effort to say all of the prescribed prayers and blessings with the best intention and meaning that we can, and as we spoke about when it comes to the verses of psukei dezimra, which were initially designed to be songs for Hashem, the ideal course would be to say all of those prayers in form of song, praising and thanking Hashem, however, in particular, when it comes to the paragraph of mizmor lesodah, the Shulchan Aruch in section 51 outlines that we are called on to sing the chapter of mizmor lesodah, which is the song of gratitude, because again, expressing our gratitude to Hashem is such a fundamental principle.  There is a fascinating observation of the Maharsha to the Gemara in Brachos 32b, where the Gemara states that since the time of the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash, prayers are not as readily received by Hashem. However, there seems to be an apparent contradiction from the Gemara elsewhere, where the Gemara in Pesachim 85b states that even were there to be an iron wall separating us from Hashem, our prayers would always make their way up to Hashem. And the Maharsha resolves the contradiction as follows. He says that the first Gemara refers to when we make requests from Hashem. When doing so, yes, sometimes we need to pray again and again and again until our prayer will make the desired effect. Whereas the second Gemara we spoke about, says the Maharsha, is referring to prayers of praise and gratitude.  What a tremendous privilege we have to reach out to Hashem about anything and everything, in all forms of prayer, both the prescribed prayers as well as our personal prayers, both in terms of requesting from Hashem as well as prayers of praise and gratitude. Let us capitalize on the opportunity to pray to Hashem in all areas, and perhaps in particular, to make prayers of praise and gratitude to Hashem, which is the highest type of prayer that can exist.

We've been discussing the tremendous opportunity that every single one of us has to talk to Hashem in our own words on a constant basis. Besides for talking to Hashem in our own words, we all also have the tremendous opportunity to pray the prescribed prayers on a daily basis. We know that the prescribed prayers were authored by the Anshei Knesset HaGedolah through divine inspiration and every single letter that is uttered has tremendous holiness and potency. Everything in this world is about emunah, belief. When I read the prescribed prayers, maybe some days I might feel motivated and inspired for whatever reason, but perhaps much of the time, especially that it's a repetitive exercise that the same words are recited every day, it can become monotonous. We are called on to make every effort to build our belief that every word that we utter of the prescribed prayers that were authored by the Holy Anshei Knesset HaGedolah through divine inspiration, is making a tremendous effect in the spiritual worlds.  We should make every effort when we recite brachas throughout the day as well as throughout the prescribed prayers to say the words with meaning, concentration and intention. Although life is busy and everybody is in a rush, the more we believe in the potency and power of these words, the more we will be inspired to say them slowly and with concentration and meaning. After we say the morning brachos in the shacharis prayers, the next section of the davening is the psukei dezimra, which means the verses of song. This whole section is ultimately many songs of praise that we are called on to sing to Hashem and in an ideal world where there was more time, we would spend perhaps many hours just singing and singing these songs to Hashem. Again, just like there are many levels to emunah, there are also many levels to what it means to believe in the words of prayer. Perhaps the highest level would be to spend many hours singing these songs that David HaMelech and others composed towards praising Hashem. But again, we are not expected to be what we can't and to reach levels that are beyond us, but what Hashem does expect from us is to make our maximum effort to grow as much as we can. Perhaps when we say psukei dezimra, we could choose one paragraph which we say with more song and enthusiasm and concentration, and that itself is already a tremendous effort in growth in our belief in the potency of the words of the sages. And in the same vein, when we say bracha throughout the day, perhaps we could choose one bracha that we will say it slightly slower, trying to think about the meaning of the words.  We've mentioned before that in the future there will be no more animal offerings, except for one, and the reason for that is because we will have reached such a level in terms of our spirituality that the animal offerings in general will not anymore be needed in order to enhance our service to Hashem. However, the Torah sources teach us that the korban toda, the animal offering of thanks, will always be active even in times of the future, and the reason for that is because it is such a fundamental cornerstone of our essence to express our gratitude to Hashem that even in the times of the future when we will reach such tremendous spiritual heights, we will nevertheless always need that form of service to Hashem. And similarly we are taught that in the times of the future, all songs will cease to exist except for one, and that is the song of thank you, because thanking Hashem is such a tremendous foundation of what it means to be a Jew and to live by the values of the Torah.  Every single one of us has the constant opportunity to thank Hashem for things that are obvious that we should thank Him for. The gift of eyesight, the ability to hear, the fact that I can walk today, the fact that I might have had some food available to eat today, the fact that I might have family, friends, a job, the fact that I have the opportunity to learn Torah, to be exposed to emunah - to be exposed to the real reason that I exist and be given Hashem's perspective about what my life is truly about, and so many other things that we can all think about in our own personal lives. "Thank you, Hashem, for the gift to be able to praise You and thank You for all the tremendous things that You do for me."

We've been discussing one of the greatest opportunities that we have, to constantly converse with Hashem about anything and everything, and of course, it is not easy to keep up the practice on a constant basis, because as Rav Pinkus points out, many people struggle to talk to Hashem because they don't truly believe Hashem is listening to them; whereas the more one builds their emunah, that Hashem is truly there, and every single word that I utter, as the Midrash says, it's as if I'm telling it to Hashem directly in His ear, the more one is motivated by the truth of what is truly going on, that Hashem is listening to every single utterance that I make, the more motivated I will be to prioritize the time that I speak to Hashem about any area of my life.  When I need anything, certainly my first address will be to reach out to Hashem, and the discussion we've been focusing on is emunah in general, being our main purpose and focus in this world, is something that does not come easy, and is our life's work. And one of the main efforts that we can make towards growing in our emunah endeavor is to reach out to Hashem Himself and ask Him for help. Every single one of us has the opportunity to talk to Hashem in our own words, asking Him to be successful in our emunah, in our bitachon, and in anything else that we see as a priority in our lives.  We mentioned that many Torah commentaries refer to personal conversations with Hashem as hisbodedus, which simply means secluding oneself away from other people and other distractions, and talking to Hashem in one's own words. And we mentioned the rare expression used by the Mesillas Yesharim in chapter 15, where he says "hisbodedus is more precious than anything else." We also spoke about the statement of the Masters of Kabbalah, which are cited by both the Sefer Chareidim in chapter 65, as well as the Shelah Hakadosh, in Yoma, ner Mitzvah, Beis, that "the effect that hisbodedus has on the soul is seven times greater than the effect of learning Torah." This is a very potent statement because there are countless Torah sources that highlight the tremendous value that Torah learning has, and as we recite every morning the first Mishnah in Peah which says that the value of Torah learning equals all of the other mitzvahs put together; yet here we learn that the effect of talking to Hashem is so potent that it has a seven times greater effect than even that of Torah learning. The Chofetz Chaim in Likutei Amarim, chapter 11, writes, "The reason that we do not merit salvation from all the hard times that befall us is that we do not pray and cry out to Hashem enough." He continues, "It is not sufficient to daven Shmoneh Esrei three times a day, rather, several times a day whilst alone, a person must pour out his heart in prayer to Hashem from the depths of his soul. Since one is accustomed to the daily recital of the Shmoneh Esrei, one does not say these prayers with absolute sincerity. On the other hand, when it comes to speaking to Hashem with our own words, in our own way, this type of prayer emanates from the depths of one's soul with true sincerity, and this type of prayer will without question not be denied by Hashem."  Much has been written about His bodedness and one's personal relationship with Hashem, and one who'd like to research this topic further will be able to easily do so by the many fantastic sefarim and online resources that are available to us in today's day and age. Ultimately, however, no external resource can give over the precise details of what it means to have a personal relationship with Hashem. Just like one cannot be robotically directed as to what to discuss or when, where and how often to connect with one's spouse or best friend, in the same way, when it comes to our relationship with Hashem, ultimately it is your personal relationship with Hashem. One does not need to be a scholar or have a diploma in order to enter into a relationship. Hisbodedus is a relationship. It's your own personal relationship with Hashem.

We've been discussing the tremendous opportunity that every single one of us has available to us at every single moment - to talk to Hashem in our own words. If I believe that Hashem exists and is able to hear any word that I utter, then certainly the more I believe, the more I will reach out. Both when it comes to times of struggle in my life, the true address I will reach out to more than any other address, more than any other human being, or any other effort that I might be required to make, my main effort will be to reach out to Hashem Himself and ask Him for help. And when it comes to our life's work, when we realize and internalize how our main focus in this world is to grow in our belief in Hashem, to feel calm when anxiety-provoking situations arise, and all the other many things that a life of true emunah and bitachon leads to, we will certainly make our maximum effort to talk to Hashem as much as possible, to help us to be successful in our endeavor.  Although talking to Hashem is a very obvious equation for one who believes in Hashem, however as always, much more important than what our own logic dictates, is what the Torah sources teach us, because that is truly Hashem's perspective, the only unmistakable perspective. We mentioned the Mesillas Yesharim in chapter 15, who writes that the early pious sages would practice Hisbodedus and bond with Hashem in seclusion; and he writes that David HaMelech spoke approvingly about the practice of Hisbodedus, and that the prophets Eliyahu and Elisha would spend large amounts of time secluded in the mountains practicing Hisbodedus with Hashem. And to quote this very rare expression used by the Mesillas Yesharim, which highlights the tremendous power and effectiveness of Hisbodedus, "Hisbodedus is more precious than anything else." The Sefer Chareidim in chapter 65, as well as the Shlah HaKadosh in Yoma, Ner Mitzvah 2, both cite the masters of Kabbalah that write, "the effect that Hisbodedus has on the soul is seven times greater than the effect of learning Torah." Now let us just take these words to heart. Every morning we recite a Mishna which states that the value of Torah learning is so profound that it equals that of all the mitzvos put together. Yet the Sefer Chareidim and Shlah HaKadosh teach us over here that the effect of Hisbodedus on the soul is seven times greater than even that of Torah learning.  "Hashem, my Father, thank You so much for giving me the tremendous opportunity to know what life is truly all about. Thank You, Hashem, for teaching me that my ultimate focus in this world needs to be to grow as much as possible in my emunah and bitach and endeavor. And at the same time, thank You, Hashem, for teaching me via your Torah sources the only absolutely true perspective, that one of the greatest endeavors that we could involve ourselves in is to practice Hisbodedus, is to be alone with You and talk to You about anything and everything that we might desire.  Thank You, Hashem, for making it so easy that we don't even have to pay any amount of money to be able to have the opportunity to talk to You, and that there's no limitation in what we're allowed to say. We're allowed to talk to You about anything and everything at any moment. Thank You, Hashem, for teaching me that I am never alone, because whatever I'm experiencing throughout my life, I always have the opportunity to reach out to You, to ask You for help, and there is no greater address to go to.  Yes, although in this world sometimes people see it as a weird thing to do, to talk to something you can't see and something that doesn't give you a response, but ultimately that's because this whole world's purpose is to test us in our emunah. I do not see You, Hashem, and it's difficult, because I wish I could hear a response from You. But again, my purpose in this world, as You've taught us loud and clear from countless Torah sources, is to believe in You. And believing in You means that I cannot know that You're there, and I cannot necessarily experience that You're there, but I do believe that You're there. Thank You so much, Hashem, for the constant opportunity to have a personal relationship with You."

We've learned countless Torah sources, emphasizing the tremendous focus the Torah places in directing us to make our maximum effort to excel in our emunah and bitachon. And as we've discussed previously, one of the greatest efforts that we can make is to talk to Hashem Himself and ask Him for help, because again if we believe that Hashem exists and listens to every single word that we are saying, we can talk to Him about anything.  And just like we can and should talk to Hashem about any and all of the happenings in our lives, because certainly there is no greater address than going to Hashem Himself, the Creator of the world and the One who orchestrates every detail in every single one of our lives, but perhaps one of the most important areas that we ought to make our maximum effort to constantly communicate to Hashem about, is to help us succeed in our emunah endeavor.  If we take to heart what we've learned from countless Torah sources, that emunah and bitachon is the most important thing that we ought to focus on in this world, then certainly we should internalize how important it is to treat personal prayer to Hashem, specifically in the area of growing in our emunah and bitachon, with utmost importance. Because just like Hashem created the world, constantly runs every detail in everybody's lives and is ultimately the One who calls every single shot, so too certainly He is the One who can help me in my life to grow in my emunah and bitachon. And as many Torah sources teach, Hashem does not require from us anything more than our maximum potential. How successful we might be on an objective scorecard depends on many factors that are often beyond our capabilities. If Hashem did not make me particularly smart or motivated, or perhaps I didn't have a background in Jewish education, or whatever other reason, I might not be able to objectively be on a higher level than an individual who does have those things. However, Hashem does not care about the objective results.  Hashem has tailor-made my life to achieve my maximum potential. In this world, it is me against me. There is no comparison to one another. We all have completely different lives, completely different makeups, with many intricate details that only Hashem knows. Hashem only desires that we make our maximum effort in truly trying to excel and succeed in the areas that are important. And as we've learned by countless Torah authorities, there is nothing more important than emunah and bitachon. Certainly then, we are all called on to make our maximum effort to grow in our emunah and bitachon.  Although many Torah authorities outline how talking to Hashem in our own words, which by many is referred to as hisbodedus, is one of the greatest efforts that we can make towards growth in our emunah and bitachon, and b'ezrat Hashem, as we'll continue to discuss, we find many powerful statements throughout Torah literature about the tremendous potency of our personal conversations with Hashem, it is noteworthy to highlight that just like emunah with Hashem has many levels, and our life's work is to grow and climb the ladder of emunah as much as possible, in a similar vein, if one of the most basic expressions of emunah is talking to Hashem because I believe he exists, there are obviously many levels of what it means to talk to Hashem and have a personal relationship with Hashem. We are not expected to climb the ladder in one day, nor necessarily get to the top. But we are expected to make our maximum effort. It is noteworthy to point out that the opportunity to talk to Hashem is available to every single one of us, regardless of our backgrounds or what we've been exposed to. Because just like we all are able to talk to another individual, Hashem has given us this tremendous privilege to be able to talk to Him about anything and everything, including asking Him for help to succeed in our endeavor to grow in our emunah and our bitachon.

We've been discussing how although many Torah commentaries point out to us that our sole mission and purpose in our life is to make our maximum effort to grow and excel in our emunah and bitachon, but seeing as emunah means to believe, and what we see in front of us on a day-to-day basis, much of the time presents values exactly the opposite to what the Torah teaches about emunah and bitachon, there are many different paths of how people come to believing in Hashem and by extension to believing in His Torah and the Torah sources as being His word.  Some people perhaps were brought up with Torah education. Others might have been motivated by a certain moment of inspiration. Some others might have had the opportunity to explore sources outlining the validity and reason why one should believe that the Torah is an extension of Hashem's word. But taking for granted that one does believe in Hashem and one does believe that all the Torah sources that we have are an extension of Hashem's word Himself; we are taught loud and clear that our ultimate purpose and focus in this world is to make efforts to believe in Hashem. We've discussed that one thing we can do is to constantly expose ourselves to Torah teachings about emunah, which is available to all of us in many forms, regardless of our level, in today's day and age. We've also been talking about that perhaps one of the highest expressions of true belief in Hashem is acknowledging that if He does exist and He listens to everything that I'm saying, it is a simple equation that I should be in constant communication with my Creator. Even if I don't need anything in particular, if I believe Hashem exists and is there, I should be communicating with Him, and certainly if I am currently experiencing some hardship or challenge, my address to find a solution should not be to turn to another individual or circumstance, but rather to Hashem Himself.  The more one believes in Hashem, the more one will make an effort to talk to Hashem. The challenge with communication with Hashem, in contrast with communication with another individual, is that when I talk to someone else, usually I hear a response, and therefore that will motivate me to continue talking to them. Whereas as we discussed, when I talk to a wall, it is quite boring, because I don't feel like the wall is listening. But again, if I send somebody a voice message, although I know that they're only going to listen to this message in a few hours' time, and I might not even receive a response, because maybe they'll decide not to respond, or for whatever other reason, nevertheless, when I'm dictating my voice note to them, the reason I will send it is because I believe that they will receive my message, even though I'm not experiencing any communication. And we can compare that type of communication to the way we speak to Hashem. For whatever reason, Hashem does not openly reveal Himself in this world. But if we have emunah, we believe that He is absolutely listening to every single word that we utter. And just like we would send a voice note to someone else who we believe they will receive our message, so too when we speak to Hashem, we believe that He will listen to us. A basic equation of simple emunah - If I believe Hashem exists, if I believe that Hashem is listening to every word that I am saying, certainly I will talk to Him. And seeing as emunah is the challenge, is the test of my life, because as mentioned countless times, this is the main way that we earn our place in the next world, so obviously it's not going to be an easy task. Although we've discussed that exposing ourselves to constant inspiration from Torah sources and the like is certainly conducive to helping us remain in the mindset of constant emunah and bitachon, but perhaps even more powerful than that is to reach out to Hashem Himself and ask Hashem to help us to be successful with our emunah.

Once we have internalized that our sole mission and purpose in life is to make maximum efforts to strive to excel in emunah, how are we to practically go about daily living with simple and sincere emunah? Of course, there are many different forms of serving Hashem, such as the performance of mitzvos, Torah study, making effort to improve one's character traits, and the like. All forms of service to Hashem are important and are ultimately based on having emunah in Hashem.  We shall now explore one of the most potent forms of applying and living emunah in a practical way, perhaps the strongest course in developing our personal relationship with Hashem. When I talk to a friend, I do so because I know that he will listen. Talking to a wall is dispiriting because it is futile. On the other hand, when I send a message to someone, I communicate as if that person is in front of me, even though he may currently be on the other side of the globe, offline and unresponsive. Why? Because I believe that he will hear my words, even though we are not currently together.  If I sincerely believe in the existence of Hashem, talking to him is like leaving a voice message for a friend. Most of us do not experience direct revelations from Hashem. We do not experience His presence in the tangible way that we experience communication with another human being. But if we believe that God permeates the entire world and that He is listening to every word that we utter, we should certainly communicate with Him, at the very least, in the same way that we communicate with another human being. Talking to Hashem in one's own words and thereby developing a personal relationship with Him is often referred to in Torah sources as Hisbodedus. The Mesillas Yesharim in chapter 15 writes that the early pious sages would practice Hisbodedus and bond with Hashem in seclusion. He writes that as early a luminary as David HaMelech spoke approvingly about the practice of Hisbodedus and that the prophets Eliyahu and Elisha would spend large amounts of time secluded in the mountains practicing Hisbiodedus with Hashem. To quote the Mesillas Yisharim, "Hisbodedus is more precious than anything else." The Mesillas Yesharim is explaining to us that by isolating ourselves from society and practicing Hisbodedus with Hashem, we clear our mind and heart of mundane matters, thereby creating room for success in our spiritual endeavors. Our lives involve serving Hashem in many ways, expressing our submission to and love for Him. We observe many mitzvos with all their intricacies. We have chesed, we have Torah study. All of these are extremely important. It is fascinating however to note this potent and rare expression used by the Mesillas Yesharim which highlights the power and effectiveness of Hisbodedus, as he stated, "Hisbodedus is more precious than anything else."  We've seen many Torah sources who have highlighted to us that ultimately the fundamental core of the entire Torah and mitzvos and our main focus in this world is to grow in our emunah. And as we've pointed out, there are many levels to what it means to live a life of emunah. We learnt in the Gemara that if we've only got enough food just for today but have no idea what we're going to do about tomorrow, it is possible to reach such a level of emunah that I feel completely calm knowing that Hashem will take care of me.  As we've discussed previously, the Mesillas Yesharim and many others point out that life is meant to be a test, to give us the opportunity to pass and succeed in something that there was also a potential to fail. Every day we all experience many tests that Hashem is giving us the opportunity to pass and succeed, thereby earning our highest place in the next world, Bezrat Hashem, and we are called on to place our highest focus on our endeavour to pass the test of emunah and bitachon, where everything around us in this world that we live in seems to dictate the exact opposite of the values of emunah and bitachon that we are taught from the Torah. But again, this is an opportunity that we have, and the more that we choose to invest in our endeavour to grow in our emunah and bitachon, the more of a success story we will be in the true world, in Olam Haba.

We mentioned the Gemara in Sota, which states that a person who has sufficient provisions just for today, yet feels anxious about tomorrow's supplies, is considered a person of little faith. We also mentioned the Chofetz Chaim in Machanei Yisrael, Chapter 3, who writes that the foremost consideration of how much reward we will receive in the time of redemption is based on how much emunah we lived with.  We furthermore spoke about the Vilna Gaon in Even Shleima, Chapter 3, who writes that emunah and bitachon are the core of the entire Torah, and one who commits severe transgressions but nevertheless excels in bitachon is better than one who does not transgress, but does not have bitachon. And we also spoke about the Ramban at the end of Parashat Bo, that states that the purpose of all the mitzvos, and in fact the only reason for Hashem creating us, is that we come to have emunah in Hashem.  We spoke about how when we read Torah passages such as these that we've just quoted, it's important to realize that the Torah is teaching us Hashem's perspective, where we are supposed to aim at, but we should never feel disheartened by the fact that we are not holding by these levels, because Hashem does not expect us to be who we are not, but He does expect us to make our maximum effort. Nobody can know the true level of emunah and bitachon about the individual next to them, because we all have different makeups, different backgrounds, and many other factors that contribute to our personality that makes it impossible to see our true emunah and bitachon, and the only one that truly knows is Hashem Himself. Our only job in this world that Hashem will truly judge us for, is are we making our maximum effort within our capabilities and potential to grow to our highest degree in emunah and bitachon. The Torah authorities make it very clear that emunah and bitachon is available to every single one of us, and when a person has thoughts such as, these ideas are very nice, but I guess relevant to very holy people, or people completely immersed in a life of Torah learning, and the like, those thoughts and ideas are really being planted by the yetzer hara, the evil inclination, because we are taught very clearly that to fulfill our mission in this world, to succeed in our emunah and bitachon, is available to every single one of us, regardless of our capabilities, regardless of our background, and regardless of all the other factors that might contribute to our lives.  Sometimes when trying to succeed in our emunah endeavor, it can be disheartening, because I might feel like I'm continuing to fail, and feel anxious, even though I would like not to. I ideally would like to rely on Hashem more, but I'm just not able to. And again, let us remind ourselves of what many Torah commentaries teach, that the only reason Hashem decided to create the world in the first place, is just to give us pleasure. Hashem did not create this world to make it an impossible task to succeed.  The opposite. He did make it a challenge, because as we've explained previously, if there is no challenge, we are not earning anything for ourselves. And Hashem desired that we earn our place for ourselves in the next world, by giving us a challenge with potential for both failure and success, we now have an opportunity to truly succeed, but Hashem is not going to make that task impossible. And the levels that we might be required to climb in order to achieve success will vary from individual to individual. Hashem knows our full makeups, and will certainly give us a fair challenge, only what is within our capabilities. Every single one of us has the constant opportunity to make an effort to grow more and more in our emunah and bitachon each day. One way we can do so, as we've been discussing, is by constant exposure to the Torah ideas of emunah and bitachon via the many platforms available to us in today's day and age. And by doing so, that will also give us the opportunity to be able to be mindful and aware of these Torah ideas about emunah, to be able to apply them in a practical way throughout our day. When a difficult situation does arise, although my instinctive response might be to feel anxiety, and perhaps even at times to get angry, but the more we constantly expose ourselves to emunah and bitachon, the easier it will be to constantly live by their values.

As we've discussed many times, our ultimate purpose and focus in this world is to make our maximum effort to grow in our emunah and bitachon. We mentioned the Gemara in Sota 48b, which states that a person who only has sufficient provisions for just today is called on to not feel anxious about what's going to happen because just like Hashem has come through for me so many times in the past, so too He'll come through for me tomorrow.  We need to remind ourselves of the tremendous gifts that Hashem gives us on a constant basis. If one were to be blind for one day and have a prognosis that this is going to continue for the entire next year without being able to see anything for an entire year, how much money would a person be prepared to pay just to be able to regain their eyesight for this year? Everyone I've discussed this question with has replied that they would pay everything that they have, they'd be prepared to sell their house, sell their belongings and anything they might own just to regain their eyesight, even if it's just for a one-year period. Most of us have been given the privilege to be able to see 24 hours a day with an automatic cleaning system, without pain.  When we are called on to make our maximum effort to apply the values of emunah in a practical way, and a challenge has presented itself, and in our example from this passage in the Gemara, I don't know where I'm going to get my future provisions from; although my instinctive response might be to feel anxious, but if I am able to make an effort to stop and think about all the many things that Hashem has given me; in the countless ways that He's come through for me; how many times did He give me a meal in the past? How many days have I lived with fantastic eyesight? How many times have I been able to go to the bathroom and relieve myself without pain?  In a sense, the principles of emunah are quite easy and intuitive to internalize when we become more in touch with the world of emunah. We owe the world to Hashem. Hashem comes through for us 24 hours a day in so many areas, and sometimes just because that is the norm that He does for so many people, we fail to acknowledge that this is a gift from Hashem's doing, that He has personally orchestrated to every single one of us. When we make an effort to think about all the areas that Hashem does come through for us in, besides for being appreciative and grateful to Hashem for the many gifts and areas that He's come through for us, which is a mitzvah unto itself, it is also a springboard for inspiration and motivation to be able to have faith that in the future everything is going to work out just perfectly according to Hashem's plans, and there is no reason to feel anxiety, because just like Hashem's come through for me in so many ways in the past, and just like right now He's the one who's helping me to see and to go to the bathroom and the many other million things, so too He will come through for me in this area too. He is the only one who can help me in this predicament that I am experiencing.  Again, emunah is not something that we can just pick up a book or press a button and suddenly we will be completely transformed. It is our life's work and the more effort that we make to expose ourselves to the Torah concepts and internalize them and think about the Torah ideas, Hashem's perspective, of how to live a life of emunah, the more growth we will achieve, which is ultimately all Hashem expects from us. The Chofetz Chaim in Machaneh Yisrael, part 3, writes, "The foremost consideration of how much reward we will receive in the time of redemption, is based on how much emunah we lived with. If we are sincere in our belief, and regularly reflect on the knowledge, that every detail that transpires in our lives is orchestarted by Hashem and is always for our best, our reward in the future will be exeedengly great, filled with goodness." Here is another Torah passage we are reading from the Chofetz Chaim, one of the greatest Jews ever to live, who is again teaching us that the foremost consideration, how Hashem will judge us in the time of the future, will be based on how much emunah we lived with.

We've been discussing the Gemara in Sota 48b, which states that a person who is so short on their sustenance, that they only have sufficient provisions for today, with no idea of how they're going to obtain basic supplies for even tomorrow, one is called on to trust in Hashem, that just like He came through for us so many times before, He will once again come through and provide us with what we need.  There are many reasons to make efforts into growing in our emunah and bitachon. Most importantly, that is what the Torah commentaries teach us, is our ultimate ticket to our place in the next world. As the Ramban at the end of Parshas Bo that we've quoted many times states, that the purpose of all the mitzvos, and in fact the only reason for Hashem creating us in the first place, is that we come to have emunah in Hashem.  And besides the fact that taking the principles of emunah and applying them in a practical way using bitachon, is an outright obligation from the Torah, and Hashem blesses those who rely on Him and curses those who rely on other means, and many other things that we've learnt and discussed about emunah and bitachon, additionally, when a person moves more towards relying on Hashem sincerely, it is the greatest anti-anxiety medication that one can find. When we rely on other things, there are so many things to be scared of, so many things that can transpire that are true reason for fear, be it other individuals who might have more power than us, or certain situations which may be unpredictable. But when we work towards relying on Hashem more and more, the less anxious and more calm we feel about anything and everything, because we know just like Hashem was the initial creator of the world, and just like Hashem continuously dictates what will happen at every single moment to the whole world at large, as well as to every single intricate detail in every single one of our lives, seeing as He is controlling, guiding, and dictating everything that will transpire in my life, what am I to worry about?  However, as we've been discussing, there are many levels to emunah, and when we read these Torah passages, our job is to internalize that yes, to truly internalize the values of emunah and bitachon is going to be a tremendous mountain to climb, and a difficult challenge, because again, that is ultimately the reason that we exist in this world, so obviously it can't come easy. But again, the only reason Hashem created us in the first place is to give to us, is to be kind to us, and Hashem does not give us impossible challenges. Hashem does not expect us to be angels or something beyond what our maximum potential would allow us to be. We are only called on to make our maximum effort to grow in our emunah and bitachon, and Hashem sees our efforts.  The more we make an effort to be more exposed to the Torah sources and inspiration about emunah and bitachon via the many platforms available in today's day and age, the more we are truly being successful in our endeavor to climb the ladder of emunah and bitachon in this world. Although we have discussed many Torah sources and passages that emphasize the great importance of emunah and bitachon, each time one learns Torah sources and inspiration about these concepts, it helps us to be constantly mindful to make an effort to grow to our maximum potential in these areas.  The Vilna Gaon in Even Shleima, chapter 3, writes that emunah and bitachon are the core of the entire Torah, and he thereafter goes on to explain that having emunah and bitachon, which is the core of the entire Torah, refers to the Gemara that we've been discussing, that one who only has provisions just for today nevertheless does not feel anxious about tomorrow's supplies due to their faith in Hashem. We've also mentioned numerous times how the Vilna Gaon in the same passage, in Even Shlema, chapter 3, writes that one who commits severe transgressions but nevertheless excels in bitachon is better than one who does not transgress but does not have bitachon. The core and source of the whole of Judaism and all of our service to Hashem is emunah.

We mentioned the Gemara in Sota 48b, which states that a person who is going through a severe financial struggle, to the point that although they do have food for today, they literally do not know how they are going to manage for tomorrow, and nevertheless the Gemara had stated that if one feels anxious in such a situation, they are considered a person of little emunah. As we've discussed many times, seeing as emunah is our ultimate purpose and main focus whilst we are alive in this world, it is easy to understand how this is going to be our life's work. The goal is not to master emunah overnight and perhaps even over many years, because there are many many levels. Our goal on a day to day basis and the way we achieve true success is by making our maximum effort in growing as high as we can in our emunah and bitachon efforts.  When the Gemara states that if I only have food for today and I have no idea what I'm going to do for tomorrow, that I'm supposed to feel calm because I know, just like Hashem has always looked after me in so many other ways, He'll come through for me again; perhaps there are only a few people that after many years of growth in their emunah and bitachon can reach such a level that were they to be in such a dire situation, they would feel completely calm with no anxiety whatsoever because they are 100% clear about the fact that their sustenance is completely independent of their job, of their efforts or anything else going on in their life, but rather is exclusively dependent on Hashem Himself and just because to my limited human eye it seems like I am in trouble, but let me remind myself, Hashem is the one that created the world and He created me and if He created me He obviously has a plan for where my sustenance is supposed to come from. If I internalize that Hashem is truly the one who is exclusively providing for me, then there is no reason to feel anxious.  Again, such a high level is probably not relevant to most of us today, but the Gemara is teaching us where to shoot at. This is the ideal level and course of living that we're supposed to aim at. Our goal is to make our maximum effort to grow higher and higher in our reliance on Hashem in feeling more calm and less anxious when troubles seem to present themselves. If there is potential reason for me to feel anxiety because of my financial situation, whether in the extreme case like the Gemara is outlining to us that I might not even have food for tomorrow, or perhaps I know what I'm doing for the next month but thereafter I feel like I might be in a bit of trouble. Even if before learning about Emunah and Bitachon my anxiety level would be at a 10 and now by learning Emunah and Bitachon and trying to take these messages to heart and apply them in a practical way, I would only have an anxiety level of 9 - that is a tremendous accomplishment. If we are to take to heart what the many Torah commentaries write, that our main focus in this world should be directed to our Emunah and Bitachon efforts, we should certainly treat it as highest priority to make our maximum effort to be exposed to Emunah and Bitachon as much as possible. Baruch Hashem, in our day and age there are many recordings available, there are many books available, for all levels, and our effort needs to be to find what inspires us the most, to grow in our Emunah and Bitachon, and the more time, energy and effort that we put into learning about Emunah and Bitachon and thereafter taking the concepts that we might have learnt and contemplating on them, trying to take them to heart and live by their values in a practical way throughout our lives, the more we will be achieving our purpose in this world.

The Gemara in Sota 48b states that a person who has sufficient provisions for today, yet feels anxious about tomorrow's supplies, is considered a person of little faith. This passage in the Talmud is teaching us that if someone is so impoverished that he only has money for a meal tonight, with no resources to provide for tomorrow, he should nevertheless not worry nor feel anxious. Rather, he should feel calm in the belief that just like Hashem came through and provided for me today, so too He will not let me down tomorrow nor at any other time in my life. We've discussed many times how the only absolutely true perspective that can exist is when we're looking from Hashem's viewpoint, which ultimately He has expressed to us in the Torah by the many Torah sources that we have available to us. In this passage, the Gemara is teaching us that we are called on to aim to reach a level of such faith in Hashem that even if we would only have food just for today and we have no means to get food for tomorrow, although our instinctive response might be to panic and be very anxious about where we're going to receive our future sustenance from, in this passage, Hashem's perspective is teaching us that the right approach is to aim to reach a level of feeling calm, that just like Hashem took care of me yesterday, the day before, as well as as far back as I can remember, so too Hashem will come through for me in the future and give me the sustenance that I need, even if it might seem like a very dire situation with no solution. Let us remind ourselves about what the Torah commentaries teach us, that ultimately Hashem created this world just to be good to us and to give to us, and ultimately the true destination where we will receive that good and pleasure that Hashem has in store for us is in the next world, in Olam Haba. And as the commentaries teach, we're in this world to earn our place in the next world. And of course there are many things that we can do in this world that can contribute to how we earn our place in the next world, but ultimately if we would have to sum up into one word, the exact process of how we earn our place in the next world to the maximum degree, as the Ramban in his final commentary to Parashat Bo writes, that the purpose of all the mitzvos, and in fact the only reason for Hashem creating us, is that we come to have emunah in Hashem.  Ramban is pointing out to us that the main method that we achieve our purpose in this world, which ultimately will lead to earning us our highest possible place in the next world, is by making our maximum effort to grow in our emunah. We've also discussed previously how the Mesillas Yesharim and many others write that one of the fundamental purposes of Hashem creating us in this world is to give us the opportunity to pass the tests and challenges that He presents us, and by doing so, giving us the opportunity to earn unimaginable reward in the next world. There are many tests that we experience throughout our lives, but again, if we'd have to sum up the test of life into one word, the answer would be emunah. Because everything in the world that we live in, the way that the human eye sees it, and that the human body experiences it, seems to contradict many of the values of the Torah and of emunah.  If one were to only have money, just for today, with no idea how they will even get their next meal for tomorrow, and certainly no plan what they're going to do in a month's time, the standard approach of logic in this world, and that many people would take, would be to panic, and perhaps to justify the reason for one's panicking, but again, we are so privileged to have Hashem's perspective, that we are called on to work towards having such solid belief in Hashem, that even if we have no idea to where we're going to receive our sustenance from, our job is to have emunah, that just like Hashem has come through for me so many times before, He will come through for me again.

We've discussed some of the details and the different approaches that the Torah commentaries take when it comes to bitachon. The bottom line is that Hashem has given us the most incredible, tremendous opportunity to rely on Hashem for all of our needs. We ought to constantly remind ourselves that Hashem is continuously orchestrating every single detail to every single one of our lives, and it is absolutely absurd to place our trust in any other individual or circumstance. Not only that, as the Beis HaLevi taught us, when one does place their trust in another individual or circumstance, or give some form of credibility to fear and anxiety that one might be experiencing, one actually attracts that fear to come about, God forbid.  Besides the tremendous benefits that we reap in this world from having bitachon in Hashem, having the protection and security and anti-anxiety stronger than any other, as well as the outright obligation we have from numerous verses in the Torah that command us to have bitachon in Hashem, as well as the tremendous sin it is to live a life without bitachon as discussed previously, when we do choose to make our maximum effort to place our bitachon in Hashem, we are fulfilling our ultimate purpose in this world, because remember, the only reason Hashem created us is to be good to us, and as Torah sources teach, that takes place in the next world, and the only reason we're in this world is to earn our place in the next world. And as we've discussed many times, the Torah sources teach that the main way we achieve earning our place in the next world, and therefore our main focus in this world, is to have emunah and bitachon, and develop our emunah and bitachon as much as possible.  The Beis Halevi writes further that when an individual encounters some distress, God forbid, or a shortage of sustenance, his approach should not be to increase in hishtadlus, but rather, he should examine his improper deeds that have brought about the situation for him, and repent from his evil deeds. He should pour forth his supplications before Hashem, that Hashem should save him, and pray to the One who wealth and property belong to. He should fortify his heart with bitachon and place his hope in Hashem. He should confirm in his heart that there is no other one than Hashem from whom to seek help from.  There are many resources that we have available today, giving us the opportunity to make more and more of an effort to grow in our emunah and bitachon. The Beis Halevi on Bitachon by Artscroll is one fantastic example, and as mentioned previously, I highly recommend whoever is able to get a copy to do so, and reap the tremendous benefits from going through the many different examples and angles and wealth of Torah information that one will gain by doing so. The verse in Yirmiyahu states, "Cursed is a man who trusts in another individual." Whereas the other verse states, "Blessed is the individual that trusts in Hashem." "Hashem, Master of the Universe, thank you so much for the privilege to be learning about emunah and bitachon. Thank you, Hashem, for teaching me that it is such a tremendous sin to live a life without bitachon, that you have an explicit verse cursing one who does so. Whereas the opposite is also true. Thank you, Hashem, for teaching me in your verse that when I place my trust in you, the verse calls me a blessed individual."  May we all merit to grow to our highest potential, both in emunah and bitachon. And b'ezrat Hashem, may we all merit to be in the category of the verse, "Blessed is the individual who trusts in Hashem."

We have been discussing the approach in bitachon that many Torah commentaries outline, where one can be so confident in relying on Hashem about something, to the point that according to this approach, one who is sick can have bitachon that they will get better; one who is short of money can have bitachon that they will find the sustenance they need; one who is searching for a marriage partner would be able to be confident that they will for sure find the one that they are seeking.  The question is, if bitachon is so powerful, and as we are taught - independent of our actions and available to every single one of us, then certainly when it comes to the very righteous people, the tzaddikim, why is it that so many of them do undergo suffering? If they would just practice their bitachon, then they would be able to be saved from their suffering.  There are many approaches offered by the Torah commentaries to resolve this question. The bottom line is, there is no question in the world that when one relies on Hashem, Hashem comes through for them. We will mention four approaches that are cited in the appendix of the Artscroll Beis Halevi on B'tachon.  One approach to answer this question is that of the Vilna Gaon. He writes that although one might have strong bitachon, it might not be strong enough to protect him from the suffering that he is undergoing. According to the level of danger or suffering that is present, one might need a stronger bitachon to remain calm through even this dangerous situation.  A second approach is that of the Brisker Rav, who says that many people think they have bitachon, but in truth their relaxed mood is as a result of not being aware of the seriousness of the danger they are in. Had they known how dire their situation really was, they would indeed have been very afraid.  The Leshem outlines two more approaches. In the one he explains that there are times when Hashem makes the drastic decision to suspend a person's free will in order to carry out his decree, and sometimes for reasons concealed from us, he will issue a harsh decree that needs to be executed, but if the individual would have bitachon in this situation, the decree would not be able to be executed, and therefore what Hashem does, He interferes with the individual's ability to have bitachon in order to allow this to happen.  And the Leshem offers another approach, where he says that the great sages were on such a high level of bitachon that they accepted everything Hashem did, and did not even have a desire to be relieved of any pain or suffering.  Although this approach of bitachon that we've been discussing is less conventional and perhaps less well known, it is certainly worth learning about it, as many Torah commentaries do bring it down as a valid approach, and it can certainly be relevant at different times to our lives. However, what is super vital to remember and internalize is that having bitachon in Hashem should never turn into a test to see if Hashem will come through for me, then I will decide to continue in the path of serving Hashem. If that is the level that one is holding on, then this path of bitachon would certainly not be relevant to my current spiritual level. One's approach needs to be that before the fact, one davens to Hashem, one hopes to Hashem, and one might at times even be able to practice bitachon - reliance on Hashem, to the point that they are confident Hashem will come through for them in the way they desire. However, after the fact, whether I received what I was requesting, or also if I didn't receive it, it is so vital to always live with the understanding that everything Hashem does is for the best, and if He did not come through for us in the way that we desired, it is nevertheless for sure for the best for us, because Hashem always does only what is best for us. In fact, one of the great early commentators, the Smag, followed by the Aruch HaShulchan, writes that just like there is a mitzvah to judge another Jew favorably, and if you see somebody else doing something that might appear suspicious, we have a mitzvah in the Torah to judge them favorably, in the same vein, we are obligated to judge Hashem favorably. When things transpire throughout our lives, we have a mitzvah to try to find reason why Hashem would do that for us, and even though we of course can't understand Hashem's reason for doing things, nevertheless we certainly can give ourselves reason to justify that everything Hashem would do for us will always only be for our best.

As mentioned many times, Torah sources teach, "HaShem Tzilcha" - HaShem is your shadow. Just like if one puts out one finger into the sun, the shadow that you'll see is that of one finger, whereas if you put five fingers out, then you'll see a shadow of five fingers, in the same way, when it comes to reliance on HaShem, the more one relies on HaShem, the more one will see HaShem come through for them. We've mentioned the approach of bitachon that many Torah commentaries bring, that one relies on HaShem about something that they might be lacking, to the point that they are absolutely certain that HaShem will give them exactly what they have requested. And again, there are many levels. There might be times where it is more appropriate to say, "HaShem, I know You can do anything, but I don't expect anything in particular. Whatever You decide, that's what I want to go with."  And at other times, one might feel it more appropriate to say, "HaShem, I really need this job opportunity to come through. Until now we've really struggled and I'm not even able to perform mitzvos in the ideal way because of our lack of funds. HaShem, I really would like to be able to rely on You, that You will come through for me because I really believe that there is no other force in the world except for You. You exclusively orchestrate every single detail in my life. HaShem, I know You will come through for me." Whichever approach of bitachon one is taking, it is absolutely vital to do our best to work towards being sincere in our reliance on HaShem and in what we are requesting from Him. There is a story told about Rav Yisrael Salanter. He was once sitting with another great Torah leader and they were having the following argument. Rav Yisrael Selanter insisted that with bitachon one can obtain anything he wants, while the other great Torah leader argued that this is not the case. To prove his point, Rav Yisrael said that he will have bitachon to receive a gold watch. And at that moment, there was a knock at the door; a man walked in and handed his watch to Rav Yisrael.  There is no question in the world that bitachon works, and there is no question in the world that we believe what the Torah sources say - that bitachon is not related to our deeds. It is available to every single one of us. Yes, we might not all be on the level of Rav Yisrael Salanter to need a watch and be able to rely on Hashem to the point that we receive it a few minutes later, but there are many levels in between where we might currently be and where our maximum potential might be at.  "Thank you Hashem for teaching me that relying on You is so powerful that it works to the point that many Torah authorities write, that if I rely on You for something, I will for sure receive that item. Now Hashem, I know that there are many levels and there may be many reasons why I might not receive something that I choose to rely on You for. If I am fully sincere in my reliance, maybe at times I might be able to be in this category, but maybe sometimes I am insincere. Please Hashem help me to move towards a bitachon where I am able to rely on You with absolute sincerity, with absolute reliance, that You exclusively provide for me, can send me everything and always have my best interest in mind.  And Hashem, even though You've taught me that bitachon is completely independent of my actions, and if I rely on You, You will come through for me even if I have a messy scorecard, however, at the same time, please help me to remember my priorities. It's not about what I want and then using the power of bitachon to live life in the way that I would like, but rather first setting my priorities right. What is important in life? Is it just about making efforts to rely on You to get the new car that I want? Sometimes there is a place for that, but much more important than that, my priorities should always be to receive things that I need in order to enhance my service to You. Hashem, You know the reason that I would like more money. I would like to fulfill the tremendous mitzvah to be able to give more charity. And I'm going to have bitachon in you, that this particular venture that I'm exploring, that You are going to make it successful so that I should be able to get more money in order to fulfill Your mitzvah of giving charity in the best way possible. Thank You Hashem for the incredible gift of bitachon and the incredible gift to talk to You on a constant basis."

We've been discussing the two approaches the commentaries outline with regards to bitachon. Although the conventional understanding is to rely on Hashem that He will always take care of us and do what is best for us, the other approach to bitachon that many Torah authorities outline is to rely on Hashem so heavily and confidently that He will give me exactly what I have asked for.  As we mentioned in the words of the Beis HaLevi, "Bevadai yasig ma shechaser mehitztarchuto" - that one who places their reliance on Hashem will for sure receive what they have requested. And as mentioned, many Torah sources teach that this applies regardless to one's spiritual level and scorecard; even if one has performed many sins, the power of bitachon is so great that when one relies on Hashem, Hashem will come through for them.  We mentioned the Gemara which states that there was a poor man who came over to Rava and requested a more extravagant meal than would usually be suitable for a poor man. And although initially Rava had suggested that when asking other people for funds it would not be appropriate to ask for anything more than the bare minimum, after the episode, the Gemara concluded that it was not out of place for the pauper to ask for the type of meal that he was used to, because ultimately all of our sustenance comes exclusively from Hashem.  This idea can be illustrated further by another passage in the Talmud. The Gemara in Brachos 60a states that once as Hillel was on his way home, he heard cries of anguish from his neighborhood and he stated with confidence that these cries were not coming from his house. And the Gemara questions how was Hillel able to be so confident that the tragedy that had befallen was not coming from his own family? And the Vilna Gaon explains that the reason was because exceedingly righteous people live with full confidence that they will never suffer any harm.  And one more passage in the Talmud to highlight this idea. The Gemara in Taanis 19a tells the story of Nakdimon ben Gurion, a wealthy Jew who lived in the time of the second Beis Hamikdash and who during a time of severe drought wanted to provide water for the Jews traveling to Yerushalayim for Yom Tov. He borrowed wells of water from a Roman individual promising that they would be refilled by a certain time and if not then he would fill them with gold. Nakdimon took a very big risk yet he remained fully confident that Hashem would enable him to fulfill his promise. Sure enough, at the last moment heavy rain began to fall and the wells were all filled. Although some might argue that being so confident that Hashem will come through for an individual might be saved for the righteous, we see from many Torah commentaries that that is not the case and that this mode of thought may at times be applicable to many of us even during our times. And as always in any area of doubt, after trying our best to learn Torah passages and seek guidance from Torah leaders, the most advisable thing to do is to talk to Hashem and ask for clarity.  "Hashem you have taught me this most precious information about bitachon. Thank you so much for teaching me that the opportunity to have bitachon is available to every single one of us regardless of our actions and how we are doing in terms of our spiritual scorecard. Hashem thank you also for teaching me the different types of bitachon that the Torah authorities offer us. Of course always praying to you and hoping to you for the best the way we see it in our eyes, but sometimes thereafter letting go and accepting that whatever you do will for sure be the best, whilst at the same time appreciating the other mode of bitachon, that the power of relying on you is so strong that at times it might be appropriate for us to rely on you to such an extent that we are sure that what we need and what we are asking you for will come about. Please Hashem will you guide me to be able to apply the bitachon that I am learning and truly rely on you under every and all circumstances throughout my life."

We mentioned that the Torah commentaries cite two different approaches to bitachon. The first, more well-known and conventional approach to bitachon is that we are all called on to rely on Hashem exclusively, expressing to Hashem that we know that He is the exclusive orchestrator to every happening in our lives, and we are called on to hope and pray that Hashem will provide us with the things that we need, whilst at the same time we accept that not necessarily will Hashem come through for us in the way that we desire, but rather that whatever He does decide to do, we trust that that is for sure the best for us.  The second approach to bitachon is where one is so confident in what they are hoping and asking Hashem for, to the point that they are now asking Hashem in the form that they will for sure receive what they are asking for. We are taught by many Torah commentaries, such as Rav Chaim Vital, the Beis HaLevi, Rav Dessler, the Steipler and many others, that the power of bitachon is so strong that relying on Hashem causes Hashem to give us what we are relying on Him for.  Not only that, the Midrash teaches that even a wicked individual who relies on Hashem reaps all the benefits of bitachon and following suit to this Midrash is the Ramban and others who again teach that even a thief or some other wicked individual who chooses to rely on Hashem, Hashem will come through for that individual. The bottom line is that bitachon is completely independent of our scorecard. Although we are of course called on to make every effort to stay away from sin and do as many mitzvos as we can, nevertheless, the power of bitachon is something completely independent to our scorecard. Even if a person is tainted with tremendous impurity from many transgressions and sin, of course as the Torah sources teach us, there will always be consequences for those actions unless a person repents for them; nevertheless, when one chooses to practice bitachon and rely on Hashem, it does not matter anymore what one's scorecard is, in terms of the bitachon being able to work and Hashem coming through for the individual. The many Torah commentaries that mention this type of bitachon where one is able to rely on Hashem to the point that they are certain Hashem will give them what they are asking for can be illustrated further by some passages we find in the Talmud. The Gemara in Kesubos 67b cites a story about Rava who was once approached by a needy person asking for food from the communal charity fund. "What do you like to eat?" Rava asked. "Fattened chicken and aged wine", the man said. "But you're taking from the public charity fund", Rava replied. "Do you really expect to receive such extravagant food and wine when you're relying on charity?" "What do you mean?" The man said. "I get what I need from Hashem." And the needy man quoted a verse to support his statement that it is not Rava who is providing for him, but rather Hashem exclusively is his sole provider.  The needy man said, "Hashem does not provide sustenance in a general manner, but rather provides each individual with his needs. If so, if one relies on Hashem, he will receive everything exactly how he wants it." And the Gemara goes on to say that just then Rava's sister, who he had not seen in many years came to visit him and she brought him as a gift - fattened chicken and aged wine. Rava then gave over the chicken and wine to the pauper and acknowledged that the pauper was right and it was now absolutely clear that the sustenance that was due for the pauper was not even slightly coming from Rava, but rather exclusively from Hashem, and therefore Rava acknowledged that the pauper was correct in that although he was seeking funds from others, it was proper to still consider his own self-worth and dignity.  When one is not living a life of bitachon and one has to take a favor from another individual, the Torah approach is to always be appreciative. But if one feels like this individual is my provider, that sometimes leads to flattery and other sins which the Torah prohibits us from committing because again, that is not my provider, that is just the messenger; the only provider for every single thing in my life is Hashem Himself.