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Translator's Introduction

Part A: Letters

Part B: Talks

   78.
Why was Yosef punished for placing his trust in the royal butler,
for preparing a natural means through which he could be released from the dungeon?

79.
Regardless of everything, Yaakov Avinu went on his way
with a light heart and in high spirits, because he had trust in the One Above.

80.
Even if until that moment such a person was tainted by idolatry,
or perhaps a tinge of it, when Pesach eve arrives he can have complete trust that "now
the Omnipresent has brought us near to His service."

81.
So long as the Yeshivah is their home, students should immerse themselves in their Torah studies
and not be concerned with questions as to how they will eventually earn a living.

82.
The Rebbe Maharash answers his own question:
"People are not lacking a livelihood; they are lacking trust.
Every individual is indeed provided with a livelihood. It's only that by lacking trust,
a person sometimes turns off the tap...."

83.
"Even a little guy like me gave tzedakah to a bedraggled stranger!"

84.
The first time Adam saw nightfall,
he discovered that a man is able to diffuse light even when the world around him is dark.

85.
Before the Sea Splits: Four Responses to the Crises of This World

86.
Faith and Trust

87.
A Jewish farmer "believes in Him Who is the Life
of all the worlds - and sows."

88.
From the Mouths of Babes: Three Modes of Trust

89.
When one has trust in the One on High,
he also has trust in his fellow Jews.

90.
Once the beleaguered King Chizkiyahu heard the words of Yeshayahu,
he placed his trust so completely in the Hands of G-d that he lay down in bed...
for a sweet and tranquil slumber.

91.
Even Bread from the Earth comes from Heaven.

92.
G-d will provide him with all his needs even if he has not yet
tackled his task for the month of Elul - repentance.
Indeed, it applies because he is in that state.

93.
G-d's army - and in our context, the Israel Defense Forces,
whose privilege it is to defend Jewish towns with actual self-sacrifice...

94.
Yosef turned to the Chief Butler
as if his whole salvation depended on him - and this constituted his sin.

95.
This arousal included a heightened trust that Divine Providence
supervises the particulars of every individual's life,
and this in turn empowered the chassid to decide what to do and how to act.

96.
"In G-d we trust" means that one regards G-d as his trustee:
one hands everything over into His Hands and relies on Him in all one's affairs.

97.
When a child is born, his sustenance is born together with him.
Indeed, the birth of an additional child increases the sustenance of the entire household.

98.
The commandment to "be fruitful and multiply" should be fulfilled in a spirit in which G-d's blessings
of sons and daughters are received "with joy and a gladsome heart."

99.
Trusting in G-d does Not Contradict the Belief that Everything is for the Good.

100.
Exactly What is Meant by the Obligation to Trust in G-d?

"A Weighty Task Indeed"
A Thought from the Rebbe Rashab

"When there is still a straw to hang on to"
A Thought from the Rebbe Rayatz

In Good Hands
100 Letters and Talks of the Lubavitcher Rebbe
Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson
on Bitachon: Trusting in G-d
Part B: Talks
99.
Trusting in G-d does Not Contradict the Belief that Everything is for the Good.
Compiled and Translated by Uri Kaploun

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  98.
The commandment to "be fruitful and multiply" should be fulfilled in a spirit in which G-d's blessings
of sons and daughters are received "with joy and a gladsome heart."
Search this book:
100.
Exactly What is Meant by the Obligation to Trust in G-d?  

One[694] of the foundations of our faith and of our Torah is the attribute of trust, bitachon. Plainly and simply, without any artful interpretations,[695] this means that one should trust in G-d that things will work out for the good, and in a way that is visible and manifest. This understanding of the term is apparent from numerous passages in the Shas[696] and in the teachings of the Sages; it is discussed at length in Chovos HaLevavos, Shaar HaBitachon; and likewise in the chassidic discourses[697] that are based on the phrase, "Trust in G-d forever and ever."[698]

This is what is entailed by trust, to the point that even if one sees that his situation is not as it ought to be, according to the indications that one is given from Above or down here below, "one should not refrain from [pleading for] Divine mercy."[699] Rather, he should gather strength in his complete trust in G-d (particularly by means of prayer and good deeds), trusting that the undesirable situation will be transformed to the kind of good that is visibly and overtly good, and indeed, to a level of good that is superior to that of his previous state, "just as light is superior to darkness."[700]

Moreover, in addition to trusting that G-d will certainly grant him good that is recognizably and manifestly good, this must also be requested: "There is a positive commandment to pray...; one must request and plead for the fulfillment of his needs...."[701] These requests are made in the way they are detailed in Shemoneh Esreh, where what is intended is the plain meaning of the words that address the One Who "heals the sick" and "blesses the years," and the like. The same is true of other, private requests that every individual can make in the course of the blessing that begins Shema Koleinu (in addition to its standard wording).[702] What is common to all these requests is that they relate to visible and overt good.

On the other hand, when (G-d forbid) an undesirable incident takes place, then after the event[703] "one is obligated to recite a blessing over evil [tidings] just as one recites a blessing over good [tidings], as it is written,[704] 'You shall love the L-rd your G-d with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might....' [The Sages understood the last term[705] to imply that] with whatever measure He metes out [your fortunes]" - and Rashi explains: 'whether it be a kindly measure or a harsh measure' - "thank him." Not only that, but one is also directed "to accept [a misfortune] with joy" - "like the joy in a visible and obvious good, for it, too, is for the good...."[706]

In this spirit, the Sages taught that "whatever the Merciful One does, He does for the good." Or, in the Holy Tongue,[707] Gam zu letovah - "This, too, is for the good." However, the difference between these two teachings is not merely that in one phrase "for the good" is in Aramaic (letav) whereas in the other phrase "for the good" is in the Holy Tongue (letovah). The difference is also one of substance.[708] As may be seen from the examples and narratives that the Gemara cites, "letav" is used to indicate merely the prevention of harm, whereas "letovah" is used to indicate that [for example] the dust that replaced the precious gems proved to bring a benefit more valuable than actual precious gems!

Accordingly, a Jew must place his trust in G-d and request that He provide all his needs with the kind of good that is plainly and recognizably good. Nevertheless, even if (G-d forbid) his prayer was not effective, he knows that "this matter has come from G-d,"[709] and, without a doubt, "whatever the Merciful One does, He does for the good." Moreover, "This, too, is for the good," even though it is not the kind of good that can be discerned by fleshly eyes.

   

Notes:

  1. (Back to text) From a sichah delivered on 20 Menachem Av, and published in Toras Menachem - Hisvaaduyos 5745 (1985), Vol. 5, p. 2719ff.

  2. (Back to text) In the original Yid., on pshetlach.

  3. (Back to text) Acronym of Shishah Sidrei [Mishnah] - lit., "the Six Orders [of the Mishnah]," but in fact a synonym for the Talmud in its entirety.

  4. (Back to text) Biurei HaZohar of the Mitteler Rebbe, beginning of Parshas Vaeira, p. 37d ff.; Biurei HaZohar of the Tzemach Tzedek, p. 188ff. See also Likkutei Torah, Shemini Atzeres, p. 90d ff.

  5. (Back to text) Yeshayahu 26:4.

  6. (Back to text) Berachos 10a.

  7. (Back to text) Koheles 2:13.

  8. (Back to text) Rambam, Hilchos Tefillah 1:1.

  9. (Back to text) The Alter Rebbe's Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim, sec. 119:1.

  10. (Back to text) Berachos 54a and Rashi, loc. cit.

  11. (Back to text) Devarim 6:5.

  12. (Back to text) I.e., noting the similarity in the Holy Tongue between meodecha ("your might") and middah ("measure").

  13. (Back to text) Tanya, ch. 26. (See Lessons In Tanya, Vol. 1, pp. 346-7.)

  14. (Back to text) Taanis 21a; Sanhedrin 108b ff.

  15. (Back to text) See Likkutei Sichos, Vol. 2, p. 393ff.

  16. (Back to text) Bereishis 24:50.


  98.
The commandment to "be fruitful and multiply" should be fulfilled in a spirit in which G-d's blessings
of sons and daughters are received "with joy and a gladsome heart."
Search this book:
100.
Exactly What is Meant by the Obligation to Trust in G-d?  
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