שער הביטחון - שיעור 4

Thank God. So, let us continue from where we left off yesterday. Rabbeinu Bachya continues in the introduction by bringing us verses >> that illustrate for us the whole matter of a person relying on themselves without relying on the Creator, blessed be He. >> And he said: "I returned and saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to the knowledgeable." So there is >> King Solomon

telling us in Ecclesiastes >> I understand now >> what he is teaching us, what the correct perspective is for the world >> that we see that reliance on oneself, and this view of the world— when a person receives talents and uses them, they do not always succeed.

If they rely only on themselves, then many times the person falls, whether it is in money, whether it is talents, whether it is wisdom, or any other matters. So King Solomon teaches us, saying: I saw that bread is not for the wise, nor riches for the intelligent, nor favor for the knowledgeable. That is to say, all the reliance on oneself, because "I am alone,""I am talented,""I know everything"—we see that the true source we need to rely on in order to have real strength and to succeed

in life, is the true power, which is the power of the Holy One, blessed be He, the supreme power. And he said: "Young lions have lacked and become hungry, but those who seek the Lord will not lack any good." That is to say, even those who are " young lions"—basically lions—yes, we are talking about people who are wealthy and are at a certain level, they too can reach poverty.

Yes, we have seen cases where the richest person, a billionaire, lost all their assets; these are things that come ...it is as if the Holy One, blessed be He, can in a second, what is called, turn the tables. So basically, the Holy One, blessed be He, is saying: You are currently trusting in yourself; "young lions have lacked"—yes, that wealthy person, that person of capital who trusts in themselves, can fall in a second. But what does he say? "But those who seek the Lord will not lack any good"—whoever seeks the Holy One, blessed be He, ah, whoever places their trust solely in the Holy One, blessed be He, then consequently, they do not come to a state of lack.

They live with confidence , with relaxation, with peace of mind, just as Rabbeinu Bachya explained to us earlier: that when a person lives with the mindset that "I am currently relying on the Holy One, blessed be He," leaning on Him like a servant who trusts their master, consequently, they see it in their daily life, as well as in spiritual matters...yes, there are people who live in spirituality and we see that they live by force of circumstances, what is called "I perform commandments because maybe the Holy

One , blessed be He, will come and do this and that for me, and maybe...," and they get stressed about the commandments; it is also not correct to live like that. Rabbeinu Bachya explains that all trust applies also to matters of Torah and commandments—yes, to arrive at the service of God out of ease and out of trust in the Holy One, blessed be He, and not because He will do something to me if I do not. So these verses were brought to us by Rabbeinu Bachya,

and he wants to prove that trust in the Holy One, Blessed be He, is not only a duty required of every Jew in serving God, but it is also practical, it is profitable for every person. Meaning, it is—it is a thing that pays off—if I am in a state of trust, today many people in the rat race of life are looking for some security to lean on.

Right? Whether it is economic, financial security, or all sorts of things, simply to be calm. Rabbeinu Bachya says to you, Jew, you have here something that is supposedly simple, but it is a matter of effort, yet you are invited to come and trust in the Holy One, Blessed be He. Consequently, you will have that peace of mind, and it is also profitable for you.

Because without trust in the Holy One, Blessed be He, all the negative results can reach you here in this material world. A person, you see in reality that a person who does not trust in the Holy One, Blessed be He, enough, then...nothing goes right for him here, nothing goes right for him there, and it's all "spokes in the wheels," as they say. And the Holy One, Blessed be He, actually gives him hidden providence. As we said, there is open providence, which is when a Jew trusts in the Holy One, Blessed be He, and walks with Him hand in hand, and there is the hidden providence that the Holy One, Blessed be He, directs at a Jew.

Does a Jew want to trust in himself? Then the Holy One, Blessed be He, says: "No problem, you trust in yourself, I am leaving you in your own hands, so to speak, manage on your own." But certainly, the Holy One, Blessed be He, is still watching, simply in a hidden way. And Rabbeinu Bachya continues with the last two verses: " And if he trusted in the abundance of his wealth, it is taken from him, and he remains without it." As the Scripture says: "The rich man

shall lie down, but he shall not be gathered; he opens his eyes, and he is not." Meaning, if instead of trusting in the Holy One, Blessed be He, a person knows he has a million and a half shekels in his checking account right now and says, " I'm set for now, I'll put it in investments soon, everything is fine with me." Instead of that, he trusts— Blessed be He, he trusts only in this money, in his capital, and he knows that he will manage because of

himself, because he is talented and he knows and understands investments, etc. Consequently, he will not have Heavenly assistance.

And we know the verse written in Job: " The rich man shall lie down, but he shall not be gathered; he opens his eyes , and he is not." That is to say, sometimes the richest people, yes, people with capital, with self-confidence, etc., they—you know, a man had a heart attack at 35. Not long ago I heard such a story; a person had a lot of money, he was "sitting pretty," as they say in the professional jargon, and at 35 he had a heart attack. What

was all his money worth? It went to, you know, the family perhaps , and so on, but, at age 35, such a young person...in the end, ultimately, the Holy One, Blessed be He, is the one who will manage your investment portfolio, so to speak.

So the moment a Jew comes and knows to trust in the Holy One, Blessed be He, and not in his money , the money will remain, and that is how he will know how to preserve his money. God willing, we will each take this into our own personal lives.