Accessing Your Best Self with Devorah Vale

How does Trust in God jive with making our own efforts? If the Almighty is responsible for everything and decides the outcome of all our efforts, so why do anything at all? This question of Hishtadlut and Bitachon is examined in this class as we continue to dig deeper and uncover the balance between these two seemingly opposing ideas.

Make your prayer more intentional by understanding the words and meaning behind the daily Shemona Esrei prayer. Why do we pray? Why use a siddur? Why do women not need to pray with a minyan? How to achieve more kavana in prayer. These and other questions will also be addressed in this series.

Who can we Trust? The Torah teaches us that if we put our Trust into any person, or anything other than the Almighty, we are putting our reliance on that which is Limited. It is only when we put our Trust in God that we connect to the Source of Limitlessness. How do we do this and why is this the secret to living a more tranquil life free of worry and guilt?

The Gemara (Kiddushin) teaches, "I never saw a lion who was a porter, or a fox running a store." Animals don't need to do anything to make a living. Ever since the first Man was cursed with making a living "with sweat shall you eat bread" he is tested with finding the right balance of making efforts and yet believing the results of those efforts are all in the Almighty's hands. How do we have Bitachon while making heroic efforts to survive? In this class we examine the delicate balance of bitachon (reliance on God) and hishtadlut (making our efforts)

My mother used to say, "Who I am is God's gift to me but who I become is my Gift to God! Join me as we explore the topic of Bitachon - Trust in the Almighty. The Chazon Ish tells us that many people believe themselves to have Bitachon when in fact they are just fooling themselves. How do you respond when things don't go the way you want them to? How do you react when someone insults you or doesn't do what you say? Our responses reveal where we are truly at in terms of living with trust in God.

What is the difference between Emuna (belief in God) and Bitachon (trust and reliance on God)? The Rambam compares Emuna to a tree and Bitachon to a fruit bearing tree. You can have Emuna without Bitachon but you can't have Bitachon without Emuna . Bitachon is Emuna that is practical and applied in real time and real life. Join me as we discover why this is so.