Rabbi Cantor Alison Wissot, Bitachon- Trusting the Path, in Block, Rabbi Barry H.. The Mussar Torah Commentary: A Spiritual Path to Living a Meaningful and Ethical Life (pp. 101-102). CCAR Press.
How do we know we are heading in the right direction?
Sometimes our path is so winding and long that it feels like we took a wrong turn somewhere. Even the giant signposts that once indicated that we were on the right path ultimately only go to show that up until that moment, we were headed in the right direction. Similarly, the Children of Israel experienced the walls of water, an extraordinary miracle, as a sign that so far, everything had gone well.
But then what? After the experience of an extraordinary miracle, how can we know in which direction to turn now? How do we know how to continue on the right path? A wise teacher of mine once made a comment to an irate man who missed his flight, “I don’t think you were meant to be on that plane.” “Why? What do you know?” the man belligerently seethed. “Because . . . you are not on that plane.” Bitachon (בִּטָּחוֹן), the middah we translate as “trust,” means believing that somehow, the path we are on is the one meant for us.
How do we know we are heading in the right direction?
Sometimes our path is so winding and long that it feels like we took a wrong turn somewhere. Even the giant signposts that once indicated that we were on the right path ultimately only go to show that up until that moment, we were headed in the right direction. Similarly, the Children of Israel experienced the walls of water, an extraordinary miracle, as a sign that so far, everything had gone well.
But then what? After the experience of an extraordinary miracle, how can we know in which direction to turn now? How do we know how to continue on the right path? A wise teacher of mine once made a comment to an irate man who missed his flight, “I don’t think you were meant to be on that plane.” “Why? What do you know?” the man belligerently seethed. “Because . . . you are not on that plane.” Bitachon (בִּטָּחוֹן), the middah we translate as “trust,” means believing that somehow, the path we are on is the one meant for us.
(יז) וַיְהִ֗י בְּשַׁלַּ֣ח פַּרְעֹה֮ אֶת־הָעָם֒ וְלֹא־נָחָ֣ם אֱלֹהִ֗ים דֶּ֚רֶךְ אֶ֣רֶץ פְּלִשְׁתִּ֔ים כִּ֥י קָר֖וֹב ה֑וּא כִּ֣י ׀ אָמַ֣ר אֱלֹהִ֗ים פֶּֽן־יִנָּחֵ֥ם הָעָ֛ם בִּרְאֹתָ֥ם מִלְחָמָ֖ה וְשָׁ֥בוּ מִצְרָֽיְמָה׃ (יח) וַיַּסֵּ֨ב אֱלֹהִ֧ים ׀ אֶת־הָעָ֛ם דֶּ֥רֶךְ הַמִּדְבָּ֖ר יַם־ס֑וּף וַחֲמֻשִׁ֛ים עָל֥וּ בְנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל מֵאֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרָֽיִם׃
(17) Now when Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although it was nearer; for God said, “The people may have a change of heart when they see war, and return to Egypt.” (18) So God led the people round about, by way of the wilderness at the Sea of Reeds.
Now the Israelites went up armed out of the land of Egypt.
Now the Israelites went up armed out of the land of Egypt.
Rabbi Cantor Alison Wissot, Bitachon- Trusting the Path, in The Mussar Torah Commentary
In B’shalach, the road to the sea is roundabout. The Israelites are led “not by way of the land of the Philistines, although it was nearer” (Exodus 13:17). Perhaps there is no straight path to seeing miracles, even if we once saw them before. We need to cultivate the trust of believing that we are in fact on the right path.
In B’shalach, the road to the sea is roundabout. The Israelites are led “not by way of the land of the Philistines, although it was nearer” (Exodus 13:17). Perhaps there is no straight path to seeing miracles, even if we once saw them before. We need to cultivate the trust of believing that we are in fact on the right path.
Dr. Alan Morinis
Once you recognize that the world is not meant to be nice, or comfortable, or certain, or easy, but that it is set up to be the ideal training ground for the heart, you can trust in God because the world is working just as it should be.
The suffering or difficulty in our lives almost never makes sense in the moment, and only reveals its logic in time. Have you ever looked back over a section of your life, or your whole life itself, and only been able to see the storyline in retrospect? How many people have you heard say something like "losing that job turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me" though at the time it seemed like a blow?
Once you recognize that the world is not meant to be nice, or comfortable, or certain, or easy, but that it is set up to be the ideal training ground for the heart, you can trust in God because the world is working just as it should be.
The suffering or difficulty in our lives almost never makes sense in the moment, and only reveals its logic in time. Have you ever looked back over a section of your life, or your whole life itself, and only been able to see the storyline in retrospect? How many people have you heard say something like "losing that job turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me" though at the time it seemed like a blow?
(ד) וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יְהֹוָה֙ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה הִנְנִ֨י מַמְטִ֥יר לָכֶ֛ם לֶ֖חֶם מִן־הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם וְיָצָ֨א הָעָ֤ם וְלָֽקְטוּ֙ דְּבַר־י֣וֹם בְּיוֹמ֔וֹ לְמַ֧עַן אֲנַסֶּ֛נּוּ הֲיֵלֵ֥ךְ בְּתוֹרָתִ֖י אִם־לֹֽא׃ (ה) וְהָיָה֙ בַּיּ֣וֹם הַשִּׁשִּׁ֔י וְהֵכִ֖ינוּ אֵ֣ת אֲשֶׁר־יָבִ֑יאוּ וְהָיָ֣ה מִשְׁנֶ֔ה עַ֥ל אֲשֶֽׁר־יִלְקְט֖וּ י֥וֹם ׀ יֽוֹם׃
(4) And the LORD said to Moses, “I will rain down bread for you from the sky, and the people shall go out and gather each day that day’s portion—that I may thus test them, to see whether they will follow My instructions or not. (5) But on the sixth day, when they apportion what they have brought in, it shall prove to be double the amount they gather each day.”
(יד) וַתַּ֖עַל שִׁכְבַ֣ת הַטָּ֑ל וְהִנֵּ֞ה עַל־פְּנֵ֤י הַמִּדְבָּר֙ דַּ֣ק מְחֻסְפָּ֔ס דַּ֥ק כַּכְּפֹ֖ר עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃ (טו) וַיִּרְא֣וּ בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל וַיֹּ֨אמְר֜וּ אִ֤ישׁ אֶל־אָחִיו֙ מָ֣ן ה֔וּא כִּ֛י לֹ֥א יָדְע֖וּ מַה־ה֑וּא וַיֹּ֤אמֶר מֹשֶׁה֙ אֲלֵהֶ֔ם ה֣וּא הַלֶּ֔חֶם אֲשֶׁ֨ר נָתַ֧ן יְהֹוָ֛ה לָכֶ֖ם לְאׇכְלָֽה׃ (טז) זֶ֤ה הַדָּבָר֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר צִוָּ֣ה יְהֹוָ֔ה לִקְט֣וּ מִמֶּ֔נּוּ אִ֖ישׁ לְפִ֣י אׇכְל֑וֹ עֹ֣מֶר לַגֻּלְגֹּ֗לֶת מִסְפַּר֙ נַפְשֹׁ֣תֵיכֶ֔ם אִ֛ישׁ לַאֲשֶׁ֥ר בְּאׇהֳל֖וֹ תִּקָּֽחוּ׃ (יז) וַיַּעֲשׂוּ־כֵ֖ן בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וַֽיִּלְקְט֔וּ הַמַּרְבֶּ֖ה וְהַמַּמְעִֽיט׃ (יח) וַיָּמֹ֣דּוּ בָעֹ֔מֶר וְלֹ֤א הֶעְדִּיף֙ הַמַּרְבֶּ֔ה וְהַמַּמְעִ֖יט לֹ֣א הֶחְסִ֑יר אִ֥ישׁ לְפִֽי־אׇכְל֖וֹ לָקָֽטוּ׃ (יט) וַיֹּ֥אמֶר מֹשֶׁ֖ה אֲלֵהֶ֑ם אִ֕ישׁ אַל־יוֹתֵ֥ר מִמֶּ֖נּוּ עַד־בֹּֽקֶר׃ (כ) וְלֹא־שָׁמְע֣וּ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֗ה וַיּוֹתִ֨רוּ אֲנָשִׁ֤ים מִמֶּ֙נּוּ֙ עַד־בֹּ֔קֶר וַיָּ֥רֻם תּוֹלָעִ֖ים וַיִּבְאַ֑שׁ וַיִּקְצֹ֥ף עֲלֵהֶ֖ם מֹשֶֽׁה׃ (כא) וַיִּלְקְט֤וּ אֹתוֹ֙ בַּבֹּ֣קֶר בַּבֹּ֔קֶר אִ֖ישׁ כְּפִ֣י אׇכְל֑וֹ וְחַ֥ם הַשֶּׁ֖מֶשׁ וְנָמָֽס׃
(14) When the fall of dew lifted, there, over the surface of the wilderness, lay a fine and flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground. (15) When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?”—for they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “That is the bread which the LORD has given you to eat. (16) This is what the LORD has commanded: Gather as much of it as each of you requires to eat, an omer to a person for as many of you as there are; each of you shall fetch for those in his tent.” (17) The Israelites did so, some gathering much, some little. (18) But when they measured it by the omer, he who had gathered much had no excess, and he who had gathered little had no deficiency: they had gathered as much as they needed to eat. (19) And Moses said to them, “Let no one leave any of it over until morning.” (20) But they paid no attention to Moses; some of them left of it until morning, and it became infested with maggots and stank. And Moses was angry with them. (21) So they gathered it every morning, each as much as he needed to eat; for when the sun grew hot, it would melt.
Tikkun Mitzvot Project Curriculum, Bitachon, https://images.shulcloud.com/428/uploads/PDFs/bitachon-for-participants.pdf
Why did God choose food as the object of this test? Food is symbolic of our livelihood, our parnassah. Providing for our own material well-being and that of our family has been one of the core sources of anxiety throughout human history. Will we have enough to eat? The feeling of scarcity awakened by this question is closely connected to the Yetzer Hara. An overly developed feeling of scarcity can lead to greed, violence and the worst aspects of human behavior.
The manna test was very carefully crafted. God could have just given every household the amount of Manna it needed to fulfill is daily nutritional requirements. Rather, they needed to work for their food by collecting the manna from the field. This requirement echoes the curse given to Adam in the Garden of Eden, “Cursed be the ground because of you; By toil shall you eat of it…By the sweat of your brow shall you get bread to eat…” (Genesis 3:17-19). Part of being human is that we need to work for our food. But this comes with another challenge. We feel pride in our labor and our ability to make things and support ourselves. The Torah warns us not to say, “My own power and the might of my own hand have won this wealth for me.” (Deuteronomy 8:17) The Torah is calling on us to do something quite counterintuitive and perhaps paradoxical. We need to use our capability to earn a livelihood (symbolized by collecting the manna). At the same time recognize that it was not just our own capabilities that earned us this livelihood (symbolized by the need to trust that more food will be there tomorrow) and thus, we don’t get to do whatever we want with it (symbolized by the need to not hoard the leftover manna). Tzedakah is one of the mitzvot that trains us to do this. We earn money through our effort, but need to recognize that a portion of those earnings actually belong to the needy.
Bitachon calls on us to be powerful actors in the world, and employ what is called Hishtadlut, human effort. At the same time it reminds us constantly that we are not ultimately in control.
Why did God choose food as the object of this test? Food is symbolic of our livelihood, our parnassah. Providing for our own material well-being and that of our family has been one of the core sources of anxiety throughout human history. Will we have enough to eat? The feeling of scarcity awakened by this question is closely connected to the Yetzer Hara. An overly developed feeling of scarcity can lead to greed, violence and the worst aspects of human behavior.
The manna test was very carefully crafted. God could have just given every household the amount of Manna it needed to fulfill is daily nutritional requirements. Rather, they needed to work for their food by collecting the manna from the field. This requirement echoes the curse given to Adam in the Garden of Eden, “Cursed be the ground because of you; By toil shall you eat of it…By the sweat of your brow shall you get bread to eat…” (Genesis 3:17-19). Part of being human is that we need to work for our food. But this comes with another challenge. We feel pride in our labor and our ability to make things and support ourselves. The Torah warns us not to say, “My own power and the might of my own hand have won this wealth for me.” (Deuteronomy 8:17) The Torah is calling on us to do something quite counterintuitive and perhaps paradoxical. We need to use our capability to earn a livelihood (symbolized by collecting the manna). At the same time recognize that it was not just our own capabilities that earned us this livelihood (symbolized by the need to trust that more food will be there tomorrow) and thus, we don’t get to do whatever we want with it (symbolized by the need to not hoard the leftover manna). Tzedakah is one of the mitzvot that trains us to do this. We earn money through our effort, but need to recognize that a portion of those earnings actually belong to the needy.
Bitachon calls on us to be powerful actors in the world, and employ what is called Hishtadlut, human effort. At the same time it reminds us constantly that we are not ultimately in control.
Rabi Yosef Yozel Hurwitz, Madregat Ha'Adam
Internalizing the attribute of bitachon [trust in God] leads to two benefits,. First, he who trusts in God is freed from all the troubles of the world. He is spared the emotional fragmentation caused by overly intense involvement in too many worldly concerns. He is also saved from wearing himself out, body and soul…Second, he has acquired the habit of trust, a path and a course in life. The direction that one has in this world is even more important than the benefits to which it leads. The advantages gained through bitachon are only indicators of its supreme value and by no means its only measure.
Internalizing the attribute of bitachon [trust in God] leads to two benefits,. First, he who trusts in God is freed from all the troubles of the world. He is spared the emotional fragmentation caused by overly intense involvement in too many worldly concerns. He is also saved from wearing himself out, body and soul…Second, he has acquired the habit of trust, a path and a course in life. The direction that one has in this world is even more important than the benefits to which it leads. The advantages gained through bitachon are only indicators of its supreme value and by no means its only measure.
Rabbi Bachya ibn Paquda in The Duties of the Heart
Cultivating trust in God can offer these advantages:
Cultivating trust in God can offer these advantages:
- Freedom from worldly cares.
- The peace of mind that comes from not having to travel on faraway roads, which is so physically ruinous and menacing.
- An easy profession that earns him a good reputation which allows him enough leisure time to reflect and fulfill his obligations to study Torah and do the other things he must do.
- Few professional cares, even when his product does not sell, when he cannot collect money owed him, or when he becomes ill.
- He is pleased with everything, even it if goes against his grain.
(ז) בָּר֣וּךְ הַגֶּ֔בֶר אֲשֶׁ֥ר יִבְטַ֖ח בַּיהֹוָ֑ה וְהָיָ֥ה יְהֹוָ֖ה מִבְטַחֽוֹ׃ (ח) וְהָיָ֞ה כְּעֵ֣ץ ׀ שָׁת֣וּל עַל־מַ֗יִם וְעַל־יוּבַל֙ יְשַׁלַּ֣ח שׇׁרָשָׁ֔יו וְלֹ֤א (ירא) [יִרְאֶה֙] כִּי־יָ֣בֹא חֹ֔ם וְהָיָ֥ה עָלֵ֖הוּ רַעֲנָ֑ן וּבִשְׁנַ֤ת בַּצֹּ֙רֶת֙ לֹ֣א יִדְאָ֔ג וְלֹ֥א יָמִ֖ישׁ מֵעֲשׂ֥וֹת פֶּֽרִי׃
(7) Blessed is he who trusts in the LORD,
Whose trust is the LORD alone. (8) He shall be like a tree planted by waters,
Sending forth its roots by a stream:
It does not sense the coming of heat,
Its leaves are ever fresh;
It has no care in a year of drought,
It does not cease to yield fruit.
Whose trust is the LORD alone. (8) He shall be like a tree planted by waters,
Sending forth its roots by a stream:
It does not sense the coming of heat,
Its leaves are ever fresh;
It has no care in a year of drought,
It does not cease to yield fruit.
Dr. Alan Morinis
Effort combined with trust yields calmness -- because when you willingly accept whatever results come out of your actions, what could there possibly be to worry about? Jewish sources stress that through trust -- casting your burden on God -- you free yourself from worldly cares, bringing on the calmness and tranquility so many of us long for and that we often try to find in less-than-Godly ways.
Strong trust also makes you brave. Once you have developed the attitude that you will be just fine with whatever comes out of your actions, you will feel freer to speak out and take steps that reflect your deepest convictions, without concern for consequences. In this way bitachon helps strengthen soul-traits that are susceptible to fear. For example, people (like me, though thankfully more so in the past than today) often slip into saying things that are not true out of fear of consequences, which means that a person with strong trust is likely to find fewer challenges to being honest. And so on for any other traits that might be knocked off their proper measure by the force of fear.
Effort combined with trust yields calmness -- because when you willingly accept whatever results come out of your actions, what could there possibly be to worry about? Jewish sources stress that through trust -- casting your burden on God -- you free yourself from worldly cares, bringing on the calmness and tranquility so many of us long for and that we often try to find in less-than-Godly ways.
Strong trust also makes you brave. Once you have developed the attitude that you will be just fine with whatever comes out of your actions, you will feel freer to speak out and take steps that reflect your deepest convictions, without concern for consequences. In this way bitachon helps strengthen soul-traits that are susceptible to fear. For example, people (like me, though thankfully more so in the past than today) often slip into saying things that are not true out of fear of consequences, which means that a person with strong trust is likely to find fewer challenges to being honest. And so on for any other traits that might be knocked off their proper measure by the force of fear.
(כ) וַתִּקַּח֩ מִרְיָ֨ם הַנְּבִיאָ֜ה אֲח֧וֹת אַהֲרֹ֛ן אֶת־הַתֹּ֖ף בְּיָדָ֑הּ וַתֵּצֶ֤אןָ כׇֽל־הַנָּשִׁים֙ אַחֲרֶ֔יהָ בְּתֻפִּ֖ים וּבִמְחֹלֹֽת׃ (כא) וַתַּ֥עַן לָהֶ֖ם מִרְיָ֑ם שִׁ֤ירוּ לַֽיהֹוָה֙ כִּֽי־גָאֹ֣ה גָּאָ֔ה ס֥וּס וְרֹכְב֖וֹ רָמָ֥ה בַיָּֽם׃ {ס}
(20) Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her in dance with timbrels. (21) And Miriam chanted for them:
Sing to the LORD, for He has triumphed gloriously;
Horse and driver He has hurled into the sea.
Sing to the LORD, for He has triumphed gloriously;
Horse and driver He has hurled into the sea.
Rabbi Cantor Alison Wissot
We are placed in a world in which we never know whether we are facing a situation in which we simply need to let go and trust or a situation in which we need to actively resist the direction in which the path ahead of us seems to lead. Our choices determine how we experience our lives. We can assume that God, and Moses, would have found a way to provide food and water for the Israelites in the desert without the grumbling. The Israelites’ inability to master bitachon determined the way they experienced life, full of pain and fear despite all they had witnessed.
Miriam, on the other hand, understands this. In her own need to hold on to bitachon, Miriam takes with her a timbrel (Exodus 15:20). She does not know what the events of life will bring. She only knows that there will come a time to rejoice. Life is full of tragedies, but the events of life do not make up the path of life. The power to rejoice, to celebrate the miracles that have already happened, and to trust that we have done all we can, these things change our experience of events, even if the events themselves do not change.
We are placed in a world in which we never know whether we are facing a situation in which we simply need to let go and trust or a situation in which we need to actively resist the direction in which the path ahead of us seems to lead. Our choices determine how we experience our lives. We can assume that God, and Moses, would have found a way to provide food and water for the Israelites in the desert without the grumbling. The Israelites’ inability to master bitachon determined the way they experienced life, full of pain and fear despite all they had witnessed.
Miriam, on the other hand, understands this. In her own need to hold on to bitachon, Miriam takes with her a timbrel (Exodus 15:20). She does not know what the events of life will bring. She only knows that there will come a time to rejoice. Life is full of tragedies, but the events of life do not make up the path of life. The power to rejoice, to celebrate the miracles that have already happened, and to trust that we have done all we can, these things change our experience of events, even if the events themselves do not change.