Daily Dose of Bitachon: The Secret of Movement Welcome to Daily Dose of Bitachon . We are currently in our Shaar Bechina series. The next concept we are called to contemplate is movement . Interestingly, movement ( in the internal sense as will be explained) is not something truly perceived by our physical senses alone. Rabbeinu Bachya shares a powerful insight: Without movement, nothing in the world could exist. The Spirituality of Motion One philosopher noted that most natural events result from motion. Modern science echoes what the sages understood long ago: everything is composed of atoms, neutrons, and protons, and they are in constant flux. Rabbeinu Bachya explains that if you break everything down, it is all spirituality. The Chovos HaLevavos teaches that when you grasp the spiritual nature of movement, you realize it is one of the wonders of God, born of His great compassion. Every move you make is connected to God's will. He controls the smallest and the largest, the hidden and the revealed. The only thing God left to you is your freedom of choice ; every other movement in your body is decided by Him. When you internalize this, you will: Think deeply about every move you make. Remember your constant connection to Him, as He is, so to speak, "inside" of you. Feel a sense of awe and fear of Heaven, knowing He is driving your very existence. Surrender to His judgment and desire His decrees. By living with this awareness, you find favor in His eyes and achieve a "happy ending," as the verse says: " הבוטח בה' חסד יסובבנו " — The one who relies on Hashem is surrounded by kindness. The Mover and the Moved This fundamental idea is supported across our sacred literature: The Ramban ( Drashos Toras Hashem Temimah ) and the Ba'al HaAkeidah (Gate 16) both state that nothing can move without a "Mover." The Rambam ( Yesodei HaTorah 1:5) explains that when we see the world spinning at all times, we must realize nothing spins without a "Spinner." That Mani'a (Mover) is HaKadosh Baruch Hu Himself. Rav Wolbe ( Da'as Shlomo- Yemei Ratzon ) notes that this is why we call God Chai Ha'Olamim —the Life of all Worlds ( Yishtabach prayer). He is pumping energy into everything. From the vast galaxies to the microscopic atom, there isn't a moment of stillness. Even a stone is a "miniature world" of atomic movement. He quotes Rav Yerucham Levovitz who says that without God's energy, man is like a "picture on a wall" without life. While superficial observers see the world as a self-sustaining machine, we must look deeper to see the Chai Ha'Olamim . The "Automobile" Delusion Modern technology can now take a 50-year-old wedding photo and turn it into a movie where your grandparents smile and wave. It's unbelievable, yet that is exactly what God does constantly: We are the pictures, and God is the energy creating the movie. The Kuzari (Rabbi Yehuda Halevi) wrote a beautiful piyut for Rosh Hashanah that asks: "Who prepared you? Who gave you understanding? And by whose power do you move?" The Yalkut Shimoni (Mishlei 15) contrasts this with the "fools" or heretics who claim the world is abtumtos . The Arukh explains this is Greek for a system that moves on its own without an external driver. Rabbi Eliyahu Tzion Sofer (Hanukah) notes that abtumtos is a transliteration of automatos —automatic. This "automatic" worldview—the idea that the world is an "automobile" moving on its own—stems from Aristotle. The Ramban (Vayikra 16:8) explains that Aristotle denied anything he couldn't sense, arrogantly believing that if he couldn't prove it in a laboratory, it didn't exist. This closed-system worldview misses the higher intelligence entirely. Conclusion: Making Hashem King And that's what the Chovot Halevavot starts off with. This secret of movement is something that's not tangible. And because they wrote this rule that if I don't see it it's not there, if I can't prove it in a laboratory it doesn't exist, this closed-system worldview misses the possibility of a higher intelligence, so they have a built-in system that God can't be there because I can't sense God, spirit can't be there because I can't sense spirit. They wrote their own rulebook. According to their view ,knowledge is built entirely from the bottom up; data enters through my senses and then the mind organizes them and creates ideas. This is a powerful concept and it's interesting that Rav Wolbe writes about this on Rosh Hashanah because he says that's one of the jobs on Rosh Hashanah . And the song of Rabbi Yehuda Halevi , the Kuzari is also a Rosh Hashanah song. Because when you want to make Hashem into king which we actually do, says the Midrash in Yalkut Shimoni every single day we make God into king, and it all comes from Rosh Hashanah but that's our job every day when we say Hashem ekhad to realize there's a force that's inside of me that's driving me, there's nothing else but Him and therefore I give myself over to His will and I rely on him . So it's unbelievable as we say many a time, without sha'ar habechinah you don't have sha'ar habitachon . Sorry for going overtime but this is a very deep concept that could not be squeezed.