Chovos Halevavos; shaar haBitachon #3

Thank you so much. So we've talked about since the starting about the Perek Bet where the seven qualities or attributes that one should possess that someone would have trust in that one person or non-person obviously as the case is. And Perek Gimmel he's talking about sort of the preconditions, things that a boteach has to know, has to be aware of to have complete bitachon. So he says that the first is that those seven qualities which he listed off in the previous perek are all to be found by the Ribono Shel Olam. Now the first of those seven was that we would trust that we naturally understand that we should trust in someone who has rachmanus for us, who has love for us, who has profound concern for us. He says,

והם הראשון שהבורא יתברך מרחם על האדם יותר מכל מרחם.

HaKadosh Baruch Hu has more rachmanus on a person than any other person has rachmanus on people. And then, here the Chovos HaLevavos has a very, very beautiful and profound idea.

וכל רחמים וחמלה שיהיו מזולתו עליו כולם הם מרחמי האל וחמלתו כמו שאמר הכתוב ונתן לך רחמים ורחמך והרבך.

So the pshat is like this. He says whatever rachmanus, whatever chemla that we encounter in adam lachaveiro, whatever we're beneficiaries of rachmanus, of chemla coming from another person, that person as it were is acting as HaKadosh Baruch Hu's emissary, as HaKadosh Baruch Hu's shaliach to impart that rachmanus, to bestow that rachmanus and chemla upon us. Maybe just to illustrate and try to explain a little bit better. There's a very amazing gemara in Kiddushin. Gemara in Kiddushin says that Rav Yosef כי שמע קל כרעי דאמיה. Rav Yosef was blind. So when he would hear his mother's footsteps, he had very acute hearing. So when he would recognize his mother's footsteps, he would say איקום מקמי שכינה דאתיא. Says I should get up, I'm gonna get up because the Shechina is approaching. So what does that mean? What does it mean that when his mother's coming into the room, the Shechina's coming into the room? So the vort is like this, that's what the Chovos HaLevavos is saying. The vort is like this. Again we sort of just take things for granted and we have these words, these phrases that we use that we just sort of take things for granted and dismiss them and fail to appreciate them. So we talk about parental instinct, maternal instinct. So a mother has a maternal instinct. So a mother gets up in the middle of the night for her child and she has lots of patience for her child. She has her maternal instinct. Says says Rav Yosef, what do you mean she has a maternal instinct? What do you mean? The pshat is the Ribono Shel Olam wants that the child to be taken care of. Ribono Shel Olam is looking out for the baby. So how does the Ribono Shel Olam do it? So like virtually everything else, Ribono Shel Olam does it through camouflage, as the Chiddushei HaRim and then the other sifrei chassidus say again olam the world is milashon he'elam hidden, the Ribono Shel Olam is hidden in the world. HaKadosh Baruch Hu does it in hiding, so he gives the mother, he gives the parents again this instinct of rachmanus and chemla for that child and in that way the Ribono Shel Olam takes care of the child. So that's what Rav Yosef says, now if a mother lives up to her shlichus, akim hashlichus doesn't happen automatically, the fact that the Ribono Shel Olam endowed parents with that capacity. The fact that the Ribbono shel Olam appoints parents as his shluchim to nurture the child and to love the child and raise the child doesn't necessarily mean that it doesn't override one's bechira chofshis in carrying out that shlichus, but when one does carry out that shlichus, so one's drawing upon again that divine endowment of rachamim v'chemla. And that's what the Chovos HaLevavos here is saying:

וכל רחמים וחמלה שיהיו מזולתו עליו הם כולם מרחמי הקל וחמלתו.

I think, I didn't look up I can't give you the exact line now, I think he said this already earlier in Shaar HaBechina as well. It's this insight, and again, the pashutus is it's pshat in the Gemara in Kiddushin. So this insight provides a perspective הן מצד הגומל חסדים, hein mitzad ha-nigmal. Mitzad ha-gomel, so it means that we have to have, we should have an awareness, the perspective we should have when there's an opportunity for chesed or engaging in the chesed is that we have both the incredible zchus as well as responsibility of acting as HaKadosh Baruch Hu's shaliach here to to be mechazek an oni, an umlal. So it means that the Ribbono shel Olam is making us as it were his shliach to impart his rachmanus and his chemla. It's obviously if that perspective would remain clear in our minds, it it can have an incredible transformative effect in terms of our attitude towards chesed, in terms of how we do chesed, in terms of the zerizus and in terms of the sense of humility that a person has instead of feeling that עס קומט מיר א יישר כח, so a person should be humbled by the fact that the Ribbono shel Olam is allowing him to act as a shliach to impart rachmi ha-keil v'chemlaso. Hein mitzad ha-nigmal, we're always looking to see, we always want indications of the Ribbono shel Olam in in our lives. If we would recognize again that the mother getting up in the middle of the night, yeah, it's her bechira chofshis, but it's her bechira chofshis to draw upon that capacity the Ribbono shel Olam gave her, and whatever the analog, whatever the counterpart to that is in every other time some where we're beneficiaries from some act of chesed, to feel the kirvas Elokim that's being expressed through that through that act of chesed, through that benefaction. If you get a letter in the mail, the mailman delivers a letter and then the letter says you won the lottery. Okay, so mistanma you'll be so happy, you'll jump up and down and you'll wring his hand and give the mailman a yasher koach and he's not going to know what hit him. Mistanma it will even spill over and encompass the mailman as well, but it's not going to be the ultimate shevach v'hoda'ah is not going to be to the mailman, but to the mailman for delivering the mail, it'll be a yasher koach there also, there should be a yasher koach there also, but it won't be the ultimate yasher koach. Again, the first pre-condition, the first understanding that we have to have to have bitachon is to recognize again that the seven qualities of Perek Bet of Shaar HaBitachon are all to be found in Hakadosh Baruch Hu. So the fifth of those is that not only is again Hashem mashgiach and not only is he able to take care of us, but to recognize that no one else can. In this context, the Rabbeinu Bachya has a very, very interesting line. Hachamishi. Again, this is the first pre-condition where he's reviewing the seven tchunos that one looks for before placing one's trust.

החמישי שאין ביד אחד מהברואים להועיל לנפשו ולא להזיקה ולא לזולתו כי אם ברשות הבורא יתברך.

So he says that not only can one not help or harm another without the reshus of Hakadosh Baruch Hu, but listen to this, rabbosai. Again, now we're talking, we're not talking spiritually. We're talking physically, in the physical realm. אין ביד אחד מהברואים להועיל את נפשו ולא להזיקה. A person can't even help or hurt himself. Again, we're not talking about mitzvos aveiros, הכל בידי שמים חוץ מיראת שמים. We're talking about the first half of the statement. כי אם ברשות הבורא יתברך. So Rav Elchonon has a... it's in Kovetz Shiurim, I think. I don't remember exactly, I think it's in Kesubos, but maybe look it up and... he has a, he says the pshat in this Chovos HaLevavos is, he says, rachmana litzlan, he says, a person can't commit suicide unless it's nigzar min hashamayim that he should die at that moment. He comments there's a Tosafos which says farkert. There's a Tosafos which says no, that that is within the realm of a person's bechirah chofshis. And he says no, he says he doesn't know why Tosafos said it. He says he would have said like the Chovos HaLevavos says.

שאין ביד אחד מהברואים להועיל את נפשו ולא להזיקה כי אם ברשות הבורא יתברך,

and he says that there's no exception made for... he's not just talking about stubbing your toe. He's talking about even rachmana litzlan the ultimate hezek. Now again, none of this, right, obviously, none of this is a cheshbon in how a person exercises his bechirah chofshis, right? I can't go outside and make a snowball and throw it at Mordechai and say nothing to worry about, if it's not bashert that'll hit him then it won't hit him and I'll miss, I might as well give it a shot. So obviously it doesn't translate into that. Because whatever is bashert taki will happen to him, but whether or not it's going to happen through my agency or through some other agency that Hakadosh Baruch Hu will employ, so that isn't nigzar. So the same way this Chovos HaLevavos doesn't let rachmana litzlan a rotzeach off the hook, it doesn't change, it doesn't change the severity of me'abed atzmo lada'as, rachmana litzlan. But in terms of what the... in terms of the hashgacha pratis shebo, so that that's what Rav Elchonon says is the view of the Chovos HaLevavos. Again, he quotes this apropos of a Tosafos which says farkert. A little bit further on, again also just talking about the Chovos HaLevavos has again what... In in in in recent times many many many many have adopted in terms of the view of Hashgacha Pratis, of an all-encompassing Hashgacha Pratis on on on all of us. So he says that again the seventh of the qualities that one would look for before placing one's bitachon,

השביעי שיתברר אצלו כי לכל ההויות שבעולם הזה מעצם ומקרה גבול ידוע ולא יוסיף ולא יגרע על מה שגזר הבורא יתברך בכמותו ואיכותו וזמנו ומקומו.

A person can't increase, can't decrease, can't accelerate, can't decelerate. אין מרבה למה שגזר במיעוטו, if HaKadosh Baruch Hu said there should be a little bit of something, whatever it is, money, whatever it is, a person can't, doesn't make a difference, all the hishtadlus in the world can't change that ולא ממעיט ממה שגזר בריבותו, and conversely if HaKadosh Baruch Hu said there should be a lot of something, a person isn't going to be able to downsize that לא מאחר למה שגזר להקדים, a person cannot postpone what HaKadosh Baruch Hu said should happen earlier ולא מקדים למה שגזר לאחר, a person can't advance what HaKadosh Baruch Hu says should happen later. He says the reason that we don't recognize this, the reason that this isn't sort of empirically intuitive is because וכל הגזרות הקודמות בידיעת הבורא סיבות ולסיבות סיבות, that the way HaKadosh Baruch Hu, the way HaKadosh Baruch Hu exercises his control, his hashgacha over the world, again he operates through again seemingly causes and and the later causes have earlier causes. ומי שאינו מבין ענייני העולם יחשוב, a person who doesn't understand HaKadosh Baruch Hu's governance of the world will think כי הסיבה המתחדשת מחייב שינוי העניינים והתהפכותם מעניין לעניין. A person will think well listen, economies are cyclical, they have they have their times when when things are up and then things overexpand and then economies go into recession and when economies go into recession so then Rachmana Litzlan people lose their jobs. So we look at the immediate causes, we look at the sibos and we think that those sibos are what are koveia. And we think that if only, if only there would be a difference in the, if only there would be a difference in the siba, so then the then the result would be would be would be different. If only we could restore consumer confidence so then everything would be different. And what we don't recognize is that that siba, it's not that that siba is is the gorem. No, the reason that siba came about is for another reason, another, another reason going back to the Ribbono Shel Olam who wasn't subject Rachmana Litzlan to to economic laws and and and patterns. And then he has a very beautiful explanation. He says it's almost as if HaKadosh Baruch Hu again on the one hand he does operate this way through again a whole chain, chain reaction of of causes but on the other hand it's as if HaKadosh Baruch Hu waves a red flag to tell us not to be deceived by that. He says look at at the at how again causes function in the world. He says you take a little seed. He says and and you you put it in the ground and then what results from this little seed is peiros and pirei peiros l'dorei doros. He says can you really think that that the siba is koveia? HaKadosh Baruch Hu again he has such a the result is is so disproportionately greater than than what the siba really than than what one would intuitively. to conduct the world and to administer the world. If you associate again a tree, peiros and peri peiros, with the Ribono shel Olam, you understand where it comes from. But we’re given again that our intuition says, how can a little seed result in all this? V’hachovos HaLevavos says you’re right, a little seed can’t result in all this. It’s Ribono shel Olam’s way of, again, acting me’achorei, me’achorei hapargod. The one then when he reiterates this again he says Tirdas HaNefesh, he says all the exertion that we engage in להקדים מה שאיחר הבורא יתעלה ולאחר מה שהקדים to try to advance what the Ribono shel Olam wants to happen later, to try to postpone what the Ribono shel Olam says should happen now, להמעיט מה שהרבה בקנייני העולם to decrease again in mundane matters what Hakadosh Boruch Hu said should increase, he says all this is hevel, is futility. That’s pshat in what Koheles is talking about when he says לכל זמן ועת לכל חפץ תחת השמים. And then he says, of course, the glaring exception to all this is מבלי סובב על קיום מצוות עבודתו וקיבול תורתו. That when it comes in terms of Torah and Mitzvos, so that ein hachi nami, there it’s taka for a person to be poel, for a person to determine, for a person to dictate how much I’m going to learn, how much time I’m going to spend learning, how much I can know, so there I do have a determining effect on everything. But outside of the realm, again, broadly defined of yiras shamayim, of Torah and Mitzvos, so then that’s where the Chovos Ha-Levavos again, his understanding of hashgacha is all-encompassing. Very much like what a few hundred years later what the Sefer Ha-Chinuch says as well, that kol siba she-teva.