Welcome to our daily Bitachon. We are winding down our Sha'ar HaBechina , Chapter 6. The Chovot HaLevavot discusses the concept of being careful of things that ruin what you've reached. In Sha'ar Yichud HaMa'aseh , Perek Heh, in the gate of being focused on your deeds, he says a powerful line. Every area of goodness has a certain negative force that could ruin it. That means whether it's an apple that will have a worm, or a good quality that will have something that could ruin it—that's just the way the world is made. And whoever realizes and understands the forces of negativity that ruin things will be careful to stay away. But if you only know the goodness, you won't be able to be careful of the problems. And he quotes one of the pious people that told a student, "You must first learn about the evil to stay away, and then you could do good," which is actually a pasuk: Sur me'ra va'asei tov (Turn away from evil and do good). And he quotes an interesting pasuk: "Niru lachem nir," plow your fields, "ve'al tizre'u el kotzim" (and do not sow among thorns). It's a pasuk in Yirmeyahu, chapter 4, pasuk 3. And what does that mean exactly? And what's the relevance to our story about being careful and staying away from negative forces? The sefer Leket Sichot Musar from Rav Yitzchak Isaac Sher on page 397 tells us that when you want to plant a field and you want things to grow well, the first thing you need to do is plow your field and uproot all of the thorns and weeds that are there, take them out, and clean it up. And then you'll start planting, and you know what's going to come out is going to come out good. He says just like the land, so too it is with a human being and his perfection. First, you have to get the land ready. You have to purify your heart, clean things out, and then we could start planting and do good things, because otherwise we'll be growing thorns. Rav Yechezkel Levenstein quotes this in many of his writings and in his Musar classes. But he also has a book that was put together of letters that he wrote to people. And in Letter 102, he's writing to a rabbi that is now in a position of teaching. And he tells him this rule: everything in this world has good and bad mixed into it. He quotes our Chovot HaLevavot and he says there's a tremendous danger when a person takes on a position of leadership. Why? Because a person feels, "Hey, I'm leading a community. Look at the beautiful sermon I gave, look at the beautiful speech I gave." And now what happens when he gets up and gives a sermon and speech? He's basically pouring his emotions out to everybody else, giving rebuke to everyone else, but he's left behind. And sometimes he'll make the mistake of saying, "Wow, if I am giving everybody Musar, that's enough, I don't need to learn my own Musar." And therefore he says, no, don't make that mistake. First, it says about Moshe Rabbeinu: Zacha (he purified himself), then Zikka et ha'rabim (he made others pure). So there you go, a rabbi has a force that can ruin him. And in Letter 109, he explains the pasuk in Yirmeyahu 9:22 that says: "Al yithallel chacham be'chachmato, gibbor bi'gvurato, ashir be'ashro" (The wise, the powerful, and the wealthy should not pride themselves in their wisdom, their power, and their wealth). Why not? Because who knows if with that wisdom, that wonderful apple doesn't come with worms? Who knows if that wonderful strawberry doesn't have worms? And so on. You have those gifts and those qualities—don't be proud of them, because they themselves can bring to some ruination. It is like saying to a person, don't be proud of all the meat you have in your freezer, because when there's a blackout, it's going to create a stench. That's the way it is. Everything can be ruined if you don't take care of it. He quotes another pasuk: Be'rov chachma rov ka'as (With much wisdom comes much anger). And he says you could put your whole life into things and they can get... It says it's possible that a bird lays an egg, and then another animal comes and destroys it. Things are fragile. And therefore, as we're ending our Sha'ar HaBechina , we are learning this important concept. And it's not just the Chovot HaLevavot ; the Mesillat Yesharim bases his sefer on a braita: Torah brings to zehirut (watchfulness). Zehirut brings you to zerizut (alacrity). From there you come to having your actions clean ( nekiyut ). From there you reach the level of perishut (abstinence), separating yourself from this world. From there you come to purity ( taharah ), to piousness ( chasidut ), to humility ( anavah ), to fear of sin ( yirat chet ), to holiness ( kedusha ), and ultimately to ruach ha'kodesh (the Divine Spirit). A ladder of greatness. And he says, "I am going to tell you step by step everything that you need to do, how to get it, and how to stay away from what's going to ruin it." That's the opening introduction of the Mesillat Yesharim . And throughout the book, he points this out. He says in Chapter 1 that we came to this world to connect to God. How? By staying away from the interferences and the things that cause us to lose that connection. And every level that he goes through, he goes through what could ruin it—again and again, for every single level I mentioned, except when he finally gets to the level of kedusha . Once you've graduated from kedusha , then you're ready for ruach ha'kodesh . That's it. Every single step of the way there's something, but once you have ruach ha'kodesh , you're good to go.

Welcome to Daily Bitachon in our Shaar Habechina series. We are now about to start our final chapter of Shaar Habechina —the gate of contemplation of God's ways—chapter six. Chapter six opens up with the words: אך מפסידי הבחינה והדברים התלויים בה — What are the things that are going to ruin or make you lose this quality of contemplation? This is fascinating. The rabbis of old knew a fundamental rule: you can work incredibly hard to acquire something, but you can lose it just as easily. The source for this concept is actually a pasuk in the Torah that we say almost every day. We recite Kriyas Shma every single day, and in the second parasha , we end with the words: למען ירבו ימיכם וימי בניכם על האדמה אשר נשבע ה' לאבותיכם לתת להם כימי השמים על הארץ (דברים יא:כא) Now, the very next pasuk —which we don't read as part of Kriyas Shma , since the three parshiyos are compiled from different places in the Torah—says in Pasuk Chaf-Bet : כי אם שמור תשמרון את כל המצוה הזאת . You have to especially guard this mitzvah, or actually, these mitzvos that I command you. The Midrash is bothered by this. The beginning of the parasha already said vehaya shamor tishmerun —"you will listen." So if we already listened, what does the end mean by saying we must "guard"? Normally, we associate guarding with prohibitions, like Shemiras Shabbos (refraining from doing wrong). So why add this extra shamor tishmerun ? The Yalkut Shimoni explains that just as a person must be careful with their money so they don't lose it, so too a person must be careful with their Torah and their avodah (service of Hashem) so they don't lose it. You have to search for it, as the pasuk says: im tevakshena kakesef —search for religion and yiras shamayim like you would for money. Just like it is hard to acquire wealth, it is hard to acquire Torah. Now, you might think, "Well, if that's the case, silver doesn't destroy easily. You put it in a silver chest and it lasts. Isn't Torah the same way?" No. The pasuk says: לא יערכנה זהב וזכוכית —it cannot be compared to gold and expensive glass. Torah is compared to both gold and glass. Why glass? Because just as glass is easily broken, you can easily lose your divrei Torah and your hard work. It is as difficult to acquire as gold, but as easy to lose as glass. Glass breaks. I don't know if you have this problem, but stemware breaks. The silver cup I received from my wife when we got engaged over 40 years ago is still standing tall. None of the glassware we got when we married is still standing. We have spent six months—over a hundred classes, actually—on Shaar Habechina . This is class 102. You might say, "Okay, I'm good. I spent six months, a lesson a day, and I finished Shaar Habechina . I'm ready to move on." No, you cannot move on until you know what can cause you to lose it. This is a very important rule that many people don't know. How do I know they don't know it? Because the Chovos HaLevavos tells us so in Shaar Avodas Elokim (The Gate of Service of God). There, he lists nine levels of people on a scale of zero to ten. Level nine consists of people who have intentions lishma —meaning they are doing things for the absolute right reasons. Why, then, did they not reach total greatness? שלא נשמרו ממפסידי העבודות They were not careful to stay away from the things that ruin your avodat Hashem . Decay entered, and they didn't realize what was happening. They forgot to add the preservatives, and therefore the food rotted. He compares this to a pasuk in Kohelet (10:1): זבובי מות יבאיש יביע שמן רוקח יקר מחכמה מכבוד סכלות מעט "Dead flies make the perfumer's ointment smell and ferment; so too, a little folly or silliness outweighs wisdom and honor." Just as a beautiful jar of perfume can be ruined by a single fly, a little bit of silliness or carelessness can ruin your avodat Hashem . He quotes one of the pious men who told his students: "Even though you have purified yourselves from sins, I am still afraid of the greatest sin of all, the one that causes total ruination." And what is that? Gavhut and ga'avah —arrogance and haughtiness. As the pasuk in Mishlei (16:5) tells us: To'avat Hashem kol gva lev —"An abomination to God is everyone who is arrogant." If you do everything right, but arrogance enters, it can ruin it all. The Sefer Ne'ot Desha on Chumash (by the author of the Avnei Nezer ) discusses Pharaoh's dreams in Parashat Mikeitz , where the small, thin cows swallowed up the fat cows. Of course, the simple message is that the years of famine would swallow up the years of plenty. But he brings down that it also refers to the trait of arrogance. Arrogance can completely swallow up your spiritual plenty. You might have worked, learned, become a great teacher, a great orator, and authored books—wow, that is a lot of fat cows! But then the trait of arrogance comes in, and the very things that made you great can bring you down. You have to be careful of that. You need to know the great qualities, but you also need to know what can cause their ruination. And that is exactly what we are going to do, be'ezrat Hashem , this week. Thank you, and sorry for going over time.

The Wisdom of Abundance: Physical and Spiritual Necessity Welcome to our daily Bitachon Shaar Bechinah series. This is a very important lesson from the Chovot Halevavot , teaching us about the wisdom of God: whatever we need for our survival can be found in abundance, and whatever is a luxury is less available. Again, this is from the wisdom of God. If the world were haphazard, you wouldn't see this pattern. This design is one of the greatest signs of God's creation. The Hierarchy of Physical Needs Air: Air is breathable, and you cannot survive without it for even a moment. Therefore, God made it so that air is everywhere; there is no place where you cannot get it. Imagine if you had to buy air in bottles—you would constantly be running out. Water: Water is next on the list. While not as immediate as air, dehydration is still a serious issue. Therefore, water is everywhere. It covers the oceans, and while you sometimes have to pay for it—in the old days to a water carrier, or today for a bottle of Poland Spring—it is highly available. Food: You can last longer without food than you can without water. Consequently, food is available, but it is a little harder to get; you have to work harder for it. Clothing: You can survive without clothing for a quite long time. It is important, so our sources for clothing (like wool) are readily available, but it requires effort. Luxuries: When it comes to expensive jewelry, gold, silver, and luxury goods, these are commodities we don't actually need. The only reason luxury goods have any value is because humanity collectively agreed to it. Inherently, a diamond has no real value—it is not like a medicine. It's just that everyone said, "Hey, diamonds look nice." Because it has no inherent value, it is not abundant. In fact, if it were abundant, it would lose all its value because everyone would have it. God created luxury goods to be less available precisely because they are not necessary. Look at how God turns the wheels of creation! The author of the Chovot Halevavot expresses his sheer amazement at this larger picture of divine wisdom, exclaiming: ישתבח הבורא החכם החומל המרחם על עבדיו אשר עינו עליהם לטובה בכל מה שהם בו תקנתם אין אלוה מבלעדיו "Praised is the Creator, the wise, compassionate, and merciful One, Who watches over His servants for good, providing everything necessary for their well-being. There is none besides Him." He then quotes a pasuk (verse) from Yonah, where God corrects the prophet: "You, Yonah, cared about a transient plant that you didn't work for or develop, which was here today and gone tomorrow. Should I then not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city?" God is saying: I care about creation; I care about the world. As David HaMelech (King David) says: טוב ה׳ לכל ורחמיו על כל מעשיו ( "Hashem is good to all, and His mercy is upon all His works" ). The Spiritual Parallel: Emuna is Our Air The Alter (Elder) of Kelm takes this principle a step further. If this rule is true in the physical world—that whatever you need most is most available—surely it applies to the spiritual world as well. Whatever my neshama (soul) needs most must be the most accessible. For example, the mitzvah of sending away a mother bird ( Shiluch HaKen ) is obviously not as vital for daily spiritual survival, otherwise it would be more accessible. Of course, all mitzvot are necessary, but that one is not a daily requirement. Mitzvot that are more vital are easily available. If I need tzitzit , I can make them easily, just like clothing. But what is the absolute spiritual necessity? What is our spiritual air? Our air is emuna (faith). As the verse says, צדיק באמונתו יחיה ( "The righteous person lives by his faith" ). We live on this air. Therefore, Hashem gives us opportunities at every single step to strengthen our emuna —whether it is by looking at creation, recognizing God's hashgacha (divine providence), or engaging with His Torah. The opportunities for emuna are endless. The Element of Choice There is only one difference between physical air and the "air" of emuna . Because God cares about us so much, He did not want to leave physical breathing up to our conscious choice; if we had to actively decide to breathe, we might forget one day and die. When it comes to emuna , however, God made it highly accessible, but it requires our attention. If you don't think about it and pay attention to it, you won't see it. We can easily ignore miracles if we choose not to contemplate them. Recognizing the Signs Consider the examples we have spoken about recently: The Survival of the Jewish People: The Jewish people exist to this day simply because Hashem made a promise to Avraham Avinu, and that promise is being fulfilled right now. Eretz Yisrael: God promised that the Land of Israel belongs to us forever. What other being could make a promise like that and sustain it, if not the Creator? Job writes in the pasuk : מבשרי אחזה אלוה ( "From my flesh I see God" , Iyov 19:26). God made it so that you can see Him right from your own body, placing the opportunity for awareness right in front of you. Because remembering Yetzias Mitzrayim (the Exodus from Egypt) is so critical, God surrounds us with it every single day through Tefillin , Tzitzit , and the Mezuzah . This shows the wonder of our caring, preparing God. Ultimately, this principle goes both ways: How do you know something is important? By how much of it exists. The fact that Yetzias Mitzrayim and emuna are emphasized so heavily throughout the Torah—and that we recite Kriyas Shema twice a day—proves just how vital they truly are. Working on our Emuna and Bitachon is our greatest necessity, and that is exactly what we are here doing.

Welcome to our daily Bitachon. We are in Sha'ar HaBechinah , talking about the tremendous wisdom behind the running of the economy. Rabbi Dov Ber Weissmandl, the famous Rosh Yeshiva of Nitra, was deeply involved in trying to save as many Jews as he could from the Holocaust. His full story is detailed in a book called The Unheeded Cry —a heartbreaking and tragic account of how he tried, yet was not as successful as he could have been. He shares a beautiful source for this very concept that the world runs on money. In Bereishit (Chapter 2, Verses 8 to 11), the Torah describes how Hashem established Gan Eden in the center of the world, detailing its many different plants, flowers, and rivers. One of these rivers is called Pishon, and the Torah describes its location by noting: אשר שם הזהב — "where the gold is located." We are in the very middle of the creation of the universe; why are we introducing the location of gold? In his sefer Torat Chemed , on the drasha for Brit Milah, Reb Michael Ber explains that one of the vital components Hashem established during the six days of creation was אשר שם הזהב —the presence of gold. He taught that after everything God created, the world simply cannot run without currency; God designed the world so that money makes all the wheels turn. What is so poignant is that Reb Michael Ber lived this exact reality. When World War II broke out in September 1939, he was safely in England. Astonishingly, he chose to volunteer to return to Nazi-allied Slovakia to stand with his people and help orchestrate rescue efforts from the inside. Through the Bratislava Working Group, he successfully arranged to pay a $50,000 bribe to an SS official, which miraculously halted deportations from Slovakia for nearly two years, from late 1942 to the autumn of 1944. As we know, these communities were among the last to be targeted, and what pained him most were those final months when so many lives were lost that might have been saved, including the vast majority of Hungarian Jewry. He had also conceptualized the "Europa Plan"—a negotiation to halt all Nazi deportations across Europe in exchange for $2 million—but tragically, due to a lack of international funding, the plan never materialized. Yet, from his story, we see that money is capable of stopping a war. Money can accomplish fascinating things. While the Chovot HaLevavot views this entire dynamic as the direct hand of God, the secular world of economics uses a different phrase. In 1776, the Scottish philosopher Adam Smith coined a term in his book The Wealth of Nations called "the invisible hand" of the economy. This theory essentially posits that uncoordinated individual actions naturally lead to an efficient and socially beneficial outcome. This system operates on a few basic forces: The first is the price signal . Price serves as the ultimate communication system of the economy. If a severe frost destroys orange groves in Florida, oranges become scarce and the price automatically goes up. No one needs to send an email to every consumer asking them to buy fewer oranges; the price signal handles it automatically. People buy less, naturally conserving the scarce supply. Then there is the profit aspect . When a product's price rises, it signals to others that there is money to be made. If everyone suddenly wants electric scooters, scooter prices spike. Seeing those high profits, new companies rush into the market to build scooters. Once multiple companies enter a market to chase those profits, they have to compete for your business. To win you over, they are forced to do two things: lower their prices and improve their quality. Thus, the self-interested pursuit of profit accidentally results in better, cheaper products for the consumer. In their description of the wonders of the invisible hand, economists do admit to certain blind spots, which they call "market failures." This happens with "public goods" like streetlights, national defense, or lighthouses. It is difficult to charge individuals directly to use them, so because there is no clear profit motive, the free market won't build them on its own. So, who creates the streetlights and traffic lights? The answer lies in the previous concept we discussed: God implanted the instinct within us to establish governments to handle these very tasks. The secular concept of the invisible hand is simply not enough, because the truth is, the hand isn't an accident. The invisible hand is actually God's hand, quietly managing all of these blind spots as well. Another problem with this secular theory is monopolies. If one company crushes all competition, the invisible hand stops working. Without competition, they can raise prices and lower quality without penalty. But again, we have government oversight to regulate this—which is another mechanism that Hashem's hidden hand built into the social framework. Hashem did a masterful job of hiding Himself within creation and nature, allowing secular thinkers to view it as a blind "hidden hand," where millions of people freely trade based on their own needs and skills, accidentally creating a complex, highly efficient society that no single human mastermind could ever plan from the top down. But that conclusion is a mistake. There is one single Mastermind planning everything from the top down, and that is Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Secular philosophy sees the system, but they feel compelled to invent alternative names for it. Instead of acknowledging that God sustains the cosmos, they call it the force of gravity. Instead of recognizing that God runs the economy, they call it the invisible hand. It is a brilliant system: individual self-interest leads to competition, which leads to efficient resource allocation, which ultimately leads to public benefit. It sounds perfect. But Hakadosh Baruch Hu is the one entirely behind it. Our job, through the lens of the Chovot HaLevavot , is to look past the labels and see these divine attributes actively at work.

Welcome to Daily Bitachon. We are back in Sha'ar HaBechinah of Chovot HaLevavot , where Rabbeinu Bachya continues to discuss the wonders and signs of wisdom in creation, specifically focusing on the human psyche. His next point is the universal human agreement to an economy based on money and currency, rather than a world of simple barter. He explains that God implanted the desire to work for money within us as an act of pure compassion. Why? That hunger for money is a great gift because it serves as the ultimate catalyst that drives people to work and fulfill their needs. The true wonder is that we passionately pursue money even though currency itself does nothing directly for us; it does not satisfy our hunger, quench our thirst, or cure our physical ailments. Yet, we all desire it for what it can bring us. Another wonder within this system is the deliberate disparity—the fact that some people possess a great deal of wealth while others have very little. While people often look at this inequality with frustration and wonder why we shouldn't have a system like communism where everything is equal, Rabbeinu Bachya explains that if everyone possessed the exact same amount, nobody would work hard. Instead, we have an aspiration for wealth, and because most do not inherently possess it, we are driven by a constant yearning to acquire it. He states: זה מן המחשבה המעולה אשר בחכמה עליונה — "This is among the most sublime thoughts within the Supreme Wisdom." It is the brilliant design of an economy that drives us forward. Everything in existence is propelled by this financial engine, and the entire world moves in sync with it. Think about the simple act of walking into a restaurant, sitting down, and ordering a bowl of spaghetti with tomato sauce. What did it actually take to bring that meal to your table? It required wheat to be grown, harvested, milled, and manufactured into noodles. It required those noodles to be transported on a truck that needed gasoline, traveling on a road that had to be paved, to a store or restaurant that had to inventory it. Consider the tomatoes sourced from elsewhere, and the sheer volume of global infrastructure involved—all delivered to you for $12 or $20. On the surface, does that logistically make any sense for just $20? It only works because it makes the world go round through an intertwined need for money. A businessman might fly all the way to China to manufacture goods just to fund his own life, but he doesn't realize that he is actually serving the globe. He is supplying shoes for the world; he is working for humanity. When you truly contemplate this, it is mind-boggling how every facet of society revolves around currency. A house is built because the laborers need money to buy their coffee in the morning and their food at night. That is the sole reason they are out there working through the extreme heat and bitter cold—to receive a salary at the end of the week. Money is the ultimate carrot on a stick, the quintessential metaphor for motivation. The beauty of the carrot and the stick is that as the horse walks forward, the dangling carrot moves with him. He may never fully capture it, but the pursuit keeps him moving forward and taking care of the work. This concept is given added depth by Rabbeinu Yosef ibn Shushan—one of the early Spanish Rishonim of the 1300s—in his commentary on Pirkei Avot (Chapter 4, Mishna 1) regarding the dictum, "Who is rich? He who rejoices in his lot" ( איזהו עשיר השמח בחלקו ). He explains that all physical desires have a natural end. If a person is driven by hunger to eat, they will eventually become full, and the desire subsides. The single physical desire that has absolutely no boundary or end is the desire for money. He notes that this was designed with tremendous divine wisdom. Because there are an unlimited number of people with an infinite number of needs—ranging from food and livestock to clothing and housing—and because it is impossible for a single human being to provide everything for themselves, God implanted this drive into the human heart. One person cannot simultaneously be the farmer, the shepherd, the craftsman, and the doctor. Therefore, as the Gemara states in Masechet Pesachim (54b), God decreed על המטבע שיצא —that coinage must be introduced into the world. This legal tender allows people to seamlessly buy from one another and hire one another. Because the world's collective needs are unending, man's desire for money was created to be equally unending, ensuring the world keeps rolling and moving forward. Parenthetically, this does not mean we should be consumed by the chase. Those of us who understand this divine psychological mechanism should step back and realize exactly what is happening. This entire drive was engineered simply to keep the global machinery functioning. The man traveling to China is exhausting himself to provide shoes for people he will never meet. Once we recognize that this boundless desire is just a tool to maintain civilization, we can internalize the true meaning of איזהו עשיר השמח בחלקו . We can choose to step back from the endless pursuit, find genuine contentment in our lot, and become truly wealthy.

Welcome to Daily Dose of Bitachon. We are back on a regular schedule of Shaar HaBechinah , appreciating Hashem's wisdom in creation. As of late, Rabbeinu Bahya has been discussing concepts that are not specific in nature—looking at a frog or a plant—but rather focusing on the human psyche. Now, he says it is worthwhile to contemplate the fact that people agree and their hearts unite, despite having vastly different character traits, to appoint one man over themselves and accept upon themselves to serve him. They listen to his voice, obeying what he commands them to do and not to do. At first glance, we might look at this negatively. Kings, dictators—we prefer democracy. But the Chovot HaLevavot is going to show us the immense benefits of having a leader. You could apply this to democracy as well, where having a president serves a similar, though less severe, function. Let's look at the points he is making: First of all, people have very different personalities, desires, and values, yet they all agree to unite and subjugate themselves to one human leader. This did not just happen by accident. We have to thank Hashem for putting this instinct into us to seek law and order, and for giving us the understanding that the only way to achieve it is through unified leadership. It requires being unselfish and recognizing that if we don't all unite under one person, we will have chaos. Hashem implanted these intuitions within us, which is a miracle in itself. Just like a spider intuitively knows how to spin a web, humans possess intuitive instincts necessary for our survival. We understand that we need a unifying authority because, otherwise, society won't function, so we willingly trade a degree of personal autonomy for the sake of this social system. Furthermore, ויראים אותו —we fear him; והוא שומר אותם —and he takes care of them; וחומל עליהם —and has compassion toward them; ודן בצדק ביניהם —and judges them properly; ומנהיגם על מה שיש בו תקנת כולם —and he leads them in a way that benefits the masses, so they won't fall into a system of ruination and the enemy won't be able to overcome them. Again, Hashem put this into us so that we respect and fear the leader. Sometimes that fear comes from his army, and sometimes it comes from a natural place of שום תשים עליך מלך ( "You shall surely set a king over you" )— שתהא אימתו עליך , that his awe should be upon you, which is a Torah concept. This is a fundamental human instinct: a person naturally wants to feel looked after by someone stronger than themselves. We want to be relieved of the constant burden of self-protection. We want to know that someone else is taking care of the police force and the infrastructure. While a leader might occasionally do things we dislike—and in extreme situations, like the dictatorships and horrors we watch in places like Iran or Venezuela, it is far worse—at the end of the day, people accept leadership because they gain vital stability from it. He continues: if everyone were only out for themselves and focused purely on their own defense, they could never agree to build a tower or a protective wall. Therefore, their lives would be left in a state of hefker (abandonment). Hashem programmed us to prefer order, even if it is strict, over a state of total lawlessness. We see this with children as well; children thrive on structure and order. What we observe in children reflects how human beings are hardwired from the start. He continues even further: if this leader keeps the laws of the Torah and leads with true justice, the benefit is even greater. He quotes a pasuk in Mishlei (20:28): חסד ואמת יצרו מלך וסעד בחסד כסאו — "Kindness and truth protect the king, and he sustains his throne through acts of kindness." Lastly, he quotes a Mishna in Pirkei Avot, familiar to all: הוי מתפלל בשלומה של מלכות שאלמלא מוראה איש את רעהו חיים בלעו — "Pray for the peace of the government, for if not for the fear of it, a man would swallow his fellow alive." This is a very real concept. Many Siddurim include a special prayer for the government, and people recite it to this day, even living under a president. The Pele Yoetz writes that it is a Mitzvah based on this Mishna to pray for the success of the sovereign. He notes that one should be careful to answer Amen after this blessing or Mishebeirach , thereby fulfilling the Mitzvah. Rav Chaim Volozhin explains the historical context: Who said this Mishna? It was Rabbi Hanina, the Deputy High Priest, who lived through the destruction of the Second Beis HaMikdash at the hands of the Romans, who caused us so much heartache. Yet, even then, the Tanna taught us to pray for the welfare of the government. How much more so should we appreciate it when we live under a benevolent government, recognizing the absolute necessity of an established legal system. The Midrash Shmuel adds an insight in the name of Rav Moshe Alshakar regarding the phrase "swallow his fellow alive." He notes that in the animal and aquatic kingdoms, a large fish swallows a small fish; it doesn't usually destroy a fish of its own size. Human beings, however, if left without a governing authority, would swallow their own peers alive. Furthermore, normally one chews food first, but here, they would swallow them whole. That is how desperately we need governance. Once again, we see the wisdom of creation: contemplate how deeply Hashem embedded this psychological need and understanding within humanity to appoint a leader for our own preservation.

Welcome to our daily bitachon. One of the fundamentals of bitachon is to realize that you have a loving father in heaven that you could rely on. Reshit Chochma in Shaar HaAhava, seventh chapter, said that one of the ways that we know that God loves us is because he gave us the Torah. That's one of the biggest signs of his love for us and as Shavuot is coming, we have to think about that as well. And as it says in Devarim, כי שאל נא לימים ראשונים you're going to ask from the days of old, did anything ever happen like this? השמע עם קול אלוהים did anyone ever hear of a nation that God spoke to them? And he quotes the Zohar as saying that through Matan Torah, Hashem showed תוקף אהבתו יתברך לנו his tremendous powerful love for us like a father loves his dear son. And that's what it says in Pirkei Avot, chavivin Yisrael, dear are the Jewish people, שנתן להם כלי חמדה שבו נברא עולם we received the dear utensil through which the world was created. God used the Torah to create the world, that's his machinery, and he gave that to us. And he tells us that one of the ways to remember this is in your daily prayers that the Anshei Knesset Hagedolah, the men of the Great Assembly, established in our daily prayers. ahavat olam ahavtanu, an everlasting love you loved us, Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem our God, chemla gedola viteira you had compassion on us. And what does that compassion referring to? It's referring to the fact that he gave us the Torah. Pay attention to that. That's the way we say how do I know that Hashem loves me? From the fact that he gave us the Torah. Look at the words that it says in that beracha. Avinu, our father, ba'avur shimcha hagadol because of your great name that is attached to us. בעבור אבותינו שבטחו בך because of our fathers that rely on you and read through line by line. Avinu av harachaman, our father, our merciful father, rachem aleinu have mercy on us. And now although we're in galut, nagila venismecha bishuatcha we rejoice and be happy in your salvation. What do you mean your salvation? That God's with us in this difficulty. So when we get saved, he gets saved. ובנו בחרת מכל עם ולשון he chose us from all the nations. He's a poel yeshuot, he's constantly creating salvations we don't know about it. וקרבתנו מלכנו לשמך הגדול you brought us close to your great name, that's after the whole long story of love. And what does that mean, says the Arizal? It means you brought us to Har Sinai to give us the Torah. The Torah is shmo hagadol, the Torah is God's great name. The source for birkat hatorah is כי שם השם אקרא when I announce the name of God, havu godel Lelokeinu, give him greatness. So when you're mentioning the name of God, when you learn Torah, give him greatness and bless him. Whenever we learn Torah, the Torah is God's names, whatever that means. That means this is the essence of what we know of God. A name is what you know of somebody. The Torah is God's names, that's what we know about him is the Torah and he gave us that knowledge. And he says we continue our prayers, this is every day, after we say Kriat Shema. goaleinu goel avoteinu your savior, our redeemer, the redeemer of our fathers, till the words ga'al Yisrael he says הכל מורה על אהבת הקדוש ברוך הוא לנו . This all shows how much Hashem loves us. The miracles that he made for us, taking out of Mitzrayim, hitting the firstborn, splitting the sea. If you read these words of our prayer, not out of rote he says, for sure your heart will be aroused to a tremendous love and desire for Hakadosh Baruch Hu and want to cleave to him and pray to him. And this is an important point as a famous story that they once asked Rav David Feinstein or Moshe, I'm sorry Rav Reuven Feinstein, Rav Moshe Feinstein's son should live a long life, how did you know that your father loved you? Your father was a great rabbi, posek hador, busy with everybody. How did you know that he loved you? And he said two things that I remember that stand out. Number one was whenever we had guests over Shabbat, the greatest of people that they could be, my seat was never moved, I always sat next to my father. Number two is my father would get up early in the morning to. So when I got up I could put on those warm pants and feel warm on a cold day. That's how I knew my father loved me. So that means a child has to sometimes look for little things. Of course it's obvious your father loves you, but you want to look for the little signs, the little indicators. And that's the same thing with God. How do I know my father loves me? Well, one of the main ways we know that he loves you is he gave you the Torah. And he doesn't just give you in the past but every single day we say noten haTorah, he's giving us the Torah. So if anybody here is listening to this class, what's really happening is they're hearing words of Torah that God gave them. Every day the Torah that we hear, whether we learn or hear from others, is a gift of God. So let us think of these important lessons as we get to Shavuot, and realize that this giving of the Torah is a fatherly love. We say every single day hashivenu avinu letoratecha, bring us back our father to your Torah, vekarevenu malkenu la'avodatecha, and bring us close our king to your service. We refer to God as our father and as our king. When it comes to Torah, hashivenu avinu letoratecha, the fact that we have a Torah is an expression of God's fatherly love to us. Our service to him, that indicates the slave-servant relationship, there God is a king. But God is our father when it comes to Torah, and one of the responsibilities a father has to a son is to teach him Torah, and that's what God does. So let's appreciate that love expression that we're getting this Shavuot, like a father loves a son and gives him.

Daily Bitachon: Sha'ar Habechina — Lesson 96 Welcome to our daily dose of Bitachon. We are continuing in Sha'ar Habechina . Yesterday, we spoke about contemplating the ultimate benefit God gave us: the Torah, and the open miracles He performed to strengthen our emunah in that Torah—miracles like the Splitting of the Sea and Ma'amad Har Sinai . Now, this raises a seemingly obvious challenge: we don't see those types of open miracles today. To address this, the Chovot HaLevavot makes an unbelievable statement. He writes that if a person in our times wants to see something akin to the Splitting of the Sea or Ma'amad Har Sinai , they only need to look with a "true eye" at our very existence among the nations. Look at the fact that we have survived in exile from the time of the destruction of the Temple until this very day. We are surviving amongst them—and not just surviving, but thriving. We thrive even though we fundamentally disagree with them internally and externally, and even though they are well aware of it. More than that, we are quite often more successful than those around us in our financial status, or we find ourselves in a better, more protected situation even during wartime. Look at the difference between their middle class and our middle class; we just seem to be doing better. It is a miracle—not just that we are doing well, but that we even exist at all after waves of persecution, pogroms, expulsions, inquisitions, and the Holocaust. Yet, here we are today. This is the literal fulfillment of Hashem's eternal promise to us in Leviticus : " וְאַף גַּם זֹאת בִּהְיוֹתָם בְּאֶרֶץ אֹיְבֵיהֶם לֹא מְאַסְתִּים וְלֹא גְעַלְתִּים לְכַלֹּתָם לְהָפֵר בְּרִיתִי אִתָּם " (And yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break My covenant with them). It is interesting to note that we read this pasuk every single year in Parashat Bechukotai , just two weeks before the holiday of Shavuot. We read it then so that "the year and its curses may come to an end." And the final words of comfort in those curses guarantee that, after everything is said and done, we will survive. As Ezra HaSofer later declared: we are slaves, but even in our slavery, God has not forsaken us. Similarly, in Tehillim 124, it says: "Lulai Hashem shehaya lanu yomar na Yisrael" —if not for Hashem being on our side, how could Israel ever have survived the galut ? The rest of that mizmor paints the exact same picture. The Verdict of History The Kuzari , in his second ma'amar (letter 33), notes that if any other nation were to be dispersed across the globe the way we were, their total assimilation would be guaranteed. He points out that we have seen this happen throughout history. We watched it happen to the Romans, and to Amon and Moav, which were once massive world powers. Aram was a great power; so were Peleshet, Kasdim, Madai, Paras, and Yavan. These were the empires of the world! He notes that so many others like them have simply vanished from the face of the earth—whether it's the ancient empires or the Aztecs—leaving nothing behind. Yet, here we are. The Elder of Kelm, in his sefer on emunah (page 99), writes: Who would ever believe that a nation so completely separated from all other nations could survive like this? Where do they even get their parnassa (livelihood) from as they are being bounced around from country to country? He suggests that if you were to stand there at the time of the Churban Beit HaMikdash (the Destruction of the Temple), watching the Jewish people being pulled down to Babylonia in shackles, or later dragged off to Rome, you would think there was absolutely no way this nation would ever be a nation again. You would never imagine that not only would they survive, but they would be respected, they would be close to kingdoms, and they would eventually even be accused of controlling the world! Who could have envisioned such a reality? It is nothing short of a miracle. The Hidden, Ongoing Miracle While the Chovot HaLevavot gently frames this as something "similar" to an open miracle, Rabbi Yaakov Emden goes a step further. In the introduction to his Siddur , he writes: "Chai Hashem" —I swear by the Living God—that when I look at the survival of the Jewish nation from the time of the Churban , it is in my eyes "yoter mikal hanissim vehamofetim she'asu b'Mitzrayim" —even greater than all the miracles and wonders performed in Egypt! Rav Yechezkel Levenstein, in his sefer Torah VeDa'at , analyzes the exact wording of the Chovot HaLevavot : "Veyivakesh adam bazman hazeh lirot..." (If a person seeks to see it in this time...). He points out that the author adds the words "yabit be'ein ha'emet" —one must look with the eye of truth. Why? Because this miracle is hidden. If you want to, you can try to explain our survival away with politics, economics, or sociology. It becomes an open miracle only for the person who is actively looking for the truth. Rav Chatzkel explains that this is just like the phrase we say in Hallel , "Lemakeh melachim gedolim... ki le'olam chasdo" (To Him Who smote great kings, for His kindness is everlasting). That reality is ongoing right now; it is just happening behind the scenes. Mark Twain's Witness We can beautifully conclude this idea with the famous 1899 essay, Concerning the Jews , written by Mark Twain. He captured this exact concept from a historical perspective, writing: "The Egyptian, the Babylonian, and the Persian rose, filled the planet with sound and splendor, then faded to dream-stuff and passed away; the Greek and the Roman followed, and made a vast noise, and they are gone; other peoples have sprung up and held their torch high for a time, but it burned out, and they sit in twilight now, or have vanished. The Jew saw them all, beat them all, and is now what he always was, exhibiting no decadence, no infirmities of age, no weakening of his parts, no slowing of his energies, no dulling of his alert and aggressive mind. All things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality?" These are incredibly powerful words coming from a Gentile writer—someone who possessed that very "discerning eye" the Chovot HaLevavot spoke about, recognizing the living miracle of the Jewish people.

Welcome to Daily Bitachon in our Shaar Habechina series. We are now going to share a miracle with you because Hashem's hidden miracles are the same as his open miracles, and hashgacha pratis is one of those concepts. We're doing Shaar Habechina for 94 lessons. This is lesson number 95. And coincidentally, the next topic that the Chovot HaLevavot says we're supposed to contemplate, and I say the words coincidentally obviously in jest, the greatest benefit that God gave us is the Torah. And on top of that, he gave us ways to demonstrate the validity of our traditions of the Torah. Now, what are the odds that on the week of Shavuot, when I was contemplating should I continue talking about Shaar Habechina or maybe I should switch to a more timely topic like Shavuot? And this is what showed up as our next lesson. So here we go. Hashem showed miracles. He changed nature. He showed us wonders so that we will rely and believe in him. It says, וירא ישראל את היד הגדולה at Kriat Yam Suf, he saw his great hand אשר עשה ה' במצרים and because of that miracle וייראו העם את ה ' we feared him ויאמינו בה' ובמשה עבדו . So not only do we say thank you for what God gave us, but we say thank you and recognize that he gave us miracles to strengthen that belief. Furthermore, and this refers to Matan Torah, ata horeta ladaat, you showed us to know כי ה' הוא האלהים that Hashem is the God, ein od milvado, there's no one but him. Famous ein od milvado, where we have bumper stickers and there's none but him. We can give classes on that as a separate topic, and we have. But when did God show that? When he gave us the Torah, he opened up all the heavens and he opened up to the depths of the ground, and he said there's... we saw there was nothing else but him. We saw there was nothing else but him. So God gave us that great benefit that he showed us with our senses ein od milvado. Another pasuk, מן השמים השמיעך את קולו , you heard his voice from the heavens. And he showed you his great fire, and you heard his words from the fire. So the part of Shavuot, or the main part of Shavuot, is not just that we received the Torah, because we didn't receive the whole Torah, it was the ten commandments. It's we call Maamad Har Sinai. That's the great event, that event of being given the Torah, because that not only did we get the Torah, but with the Torah came the emunah that we realized that it's true. Rav Chatzkel Levenstein in his sefer Torah veDaat talks about this Chovot HaLevavot, that without the Torah we would also not be able to have the whole Shaar Habechina. We'd not be able to recognize godliness just with our sechel and just with our intellect and contemplating creation. With the Torah and Har Sinai, everything now became emunah b'chush, we could sense everything. So that emunah that we got with the Torah and Har Sinai enabled us to see God in all creation. As it says in Devarim, פנים בפנים דבר ה' עמכם בהר , he spoke to you face to face at the mountain. And he quotes Ramban that says Maamad Har Sinai annulled all of our doubts in emunah because everything became clear. And that's why, according to Ramban, one of the ten things you have to remember every single day is Maamad Har Sinai. Rav Wolbe used to say how it's important to use our imagination to create our emunah. And he said Rav Chatzkel Levenstein was known for that. When it was the night of Az Yashir of Shvii shel Pesach, he was once seen with buckets of water on both sides walking through like he was walking through the ocean. And Rav Wolbe said he once overheard him talking about Har Sinai, imagining the thunder and the light, and he says, 'Ooh, the bombs are loud like the ones that we heard in Shanghai.' He was living through Har Sinai and making it real to him and causing him emunah. And this is an important principle that the Ramban talks about, how we have to know that a father doesn't lie to his son. And the fact that generation after generation we talk about Har Sinai, that's the biggest proof. And was Har Sinai just wasn't an event with one person standing there? It wasn't one person alone like all other religions started with one man with no witnesses. There was 600,000 people there. You can't make up a hoax with 600,000 people claiming that 600,000 people saw it. Imagine someone says that there was a UFO, unidentified flying object, that landed in Yankee Stadium when there was a full crowd during the World Series. You can't say that because there's too many people to deny it. There's thousands of people in the crowd. You can't make a claim that 600,000 people saw an event. I want to say me and my friend were at the river when we saw the Loch Ness monster. When I was a kid that was a thing that we spoke about. I don't know if anyone here knows about it. It's about somewhere in Scotland where they saw this monster head coming out of a river. And there was a picture that was taken of it and that became roots for this monster that was in this river. And it was revealed later on there was a hoax made with a toy submarine and some wood paste or whatever else it may be. Modern technology they searched this river and didn't find any possible DNA or any signs of anything like it. It was a hoax. Now if 600,000 people said that they saw this monster, that would give it a little bit more credibility. So Hakadosh Baruch Hu gave us not just the Torah, but he gave us miracles, and not just miracles, but 600,000 witnesses so that we could know that it's true. As we said, one of the fundamentals is that we believe that God spoke to Moshe Rabbeinu, that's one of the Yud Gimmel Ikarim. And he was the Navi and the greatest Navi and we saw that again at Har Sinai. So you have to thank Hashem, A for what he gave us and B for the built-in emuna that comes with it. And as we said, you're supposed to work on that every day, but especially as we come to Shavuot this is something definitely to have on our minds.

Welcome to our daily Bitachon. Today is Erev Shavuot and we will begin with something we normally don't do: a brief halachic discussion. The Halachic Discussion: Meat on Shabbat vs. Yom Tov Does one have to eat meat on Shabbat? According to both Chacham Ovadia Yosef and Chacham Ben Zion Abba Shaul, it is not halachically required. If you enjoy meat, eating it is a wonderful fulfillment of Oneg Shabbat (Shabbat pleasure). However, if you simply do not like meat and it is not your cup of tea, you can certainly have a wonderful fish meal instead. Of course, the meal must still be respectful—like a wedding. You shouldn't just put tuna fish and crackers on the table. It should be elegantly set up. Just as a wedding features high-quality salmon, you can choose to serve fine dishes other than meat at your "Shabbat Queen's" wedding feast. It all depends on your personal enjoyment. If you are a meat eater who enjoys a steak on Thursday night, don't suddenly decide to go vegan on Shabbat. But if you are someone who avoids meat all week for dietary or health reasons, Shabbat is no different. When it comes to Yom Tov (the holidays), however, the rule is reversed. On Yom Tov, eating meat and drinking wine is an obligation. The Torah states, "V'samachta bechagecha" (You shall rejoice in your festival), and Chazal teach: אין שמחה אלא בבשר ויין "There is no joy without meat and wine." The Rambam writes in Sefer HaMitzvot (Aseh 54) that rejoicing with meat and wine is a positive commandment from the Torah. To fulfill this joy, women should receive clothing or gifts that make them happy, children should be given sweets, and men are meant to have meat and wine. The Shavuot Challenge This brings us to a common challenge on Shavuot: Isn't Shavuot supposed to be a dairy holiday? The tradition to eat dairy does not mean your entire meal must be dairy, nor does it mean you can forget the mitzvah of eating meat. Ideally, one should eat meat both night and day on Yom Tov. If that is too difficult, the daytime meal is the more critical time for meat. How do you balance both dairy and meat? You must eat your dairy foods first. For example, you can have a dairy Kiddush or light meal in the morning when you return from Shul, and then eat your meat meal for lunch. Alternatively, you can eat a dairy lunch and then have a meat meal later in the afternoon before Mincha. The Spiritual Essence: Two Types of Joy Now, let's transition into our usual focus on Bitachon and the spiritual essence of the day. There are sources that suggest we do have a requirement of simcha (joy) on Shabbat. The Sifrei (Bamidbar 10:10), commenting on the verse "Uveyom Simchatchem" ("On the day of your gladness"), states that this phrase directly refers to Shabbat. The Baal HaTurim even finds a gematria (numerical hint) showing that the word Simchatchem ( שמחתכם ) has the exact same numerical value as Gam Beyom Hashabbat ( גם ביום השבת - "also on the day of Shabbat"). Furthermore, the Shibbolei HaLeket (Chapter 82) notes that we recite "Yismchu Bemalchutcha" ("They shall rejoice in Your kingship") in the Shabbat prayers based on this very concept. On the other hand, Tosafot (Moed Katan 23b) states that there is actually no formal requirement of simcha on Shabbat. The proof is that if someone, Heaven forbid, is in mourning, Shabbat counts as part of the Shiva mourning period, whereas a holiday puts mourning on hold. This is because you are not halachically obligated to actively rejoice on Shabbat; you are only forbidden from being visibly sad. So, how do we reconcile this? Is Shabbat a day of simcha or not? The Acharonim (later commentators) explain that there are two distinct types of joy: Yom Tov (External Joy): This requires outward actions of joy. You must actively do things that bring happiness, namely eating meat and drinking wine. Shabbat (Internal Joy): Shabbat is called Yom Simchatchem , meaning the day itself is inherently joyful. You do not need to perform external actions to force it; rather, the happiness resides naturally in your heart. Because Shabbat is a deeply spiritual day, its joy is internal. We say in the prayers, "V'yismechu b'cha Yisrael" —we rejoice in You . Our happiness on Shabbat is a direct connection to God. Practical Takeaway Rav Wolbe used to say that Shabbat is a day of pnimiyut —an internal world. Therefore, it requires no external performance. The joy of Shabbat is found in serenity, calm, and menuchat hanefesh (peace of mind). It is the quiet happiness of connecting deeply with Hakadosh Baruch Hu. The practical takeaway is that every single Shabbat, we should walk around feeling that this is our internal day of happiness. This week, we are blessed to experience Shabbat and Yom Tov coinciding. We have both of these beautiful concepts merging into one day—the outward celebration of the festival and the deep, serene intimacy of Shabbat. Have a Chag Sameach and a Shabbat Shalom!