Trust in God: From Psalm to Parable Welcome to Daily Bitachon We begin with Psalm 25:2: {Adonai, b'echa batachti, al avosha. Al yail'tzu oivai li.} ( אלהי בך בטחתי אל אבושה אל יעלצו אויבי לי .) "My God, in You I have trusted; let me not be ashamed, let not my enemies exalt over me." The Midrash of the Stranger There is a beautiful {Midrash on this verse Midrash Tehillim} The story tells of a man entering a country at its border. The country's guards seized him immediately. The man cried out, "Do not strike me, for I am a member of the King's Household!" Hearing this, the guards released him and guarded him until morning. In the morning, they brought him to the King, announcing, "We found a member of your household last night." The King asked him, "My son, do you know me?" The man replied, "No." The King questioned, "If so, how are you a member of my household?" The man admitted, "Please, I am not a member of your household, but I trusted in You. Had I not claimed to be, they would have beaten me." The King responded, "Since he trusted in Me, leave him alone." This, the Midrash suggests, is what David means when he says, "My God, in You I have trusted." And because of this trust, "Let not my enemies exalt over me." Universal Reliance The Midrash continues, based on the next verse: "Also let none who hope in You be shamed. Let those who betray without cause be shamed." David then expands, asking: "You might think only I can do this? No, rather Kol Koveicha כל קויך a ll those who hope in You." The Sefer Shomer Emunim Ma'amar Bitachon (Essay on Trust), Chapter Eight, cites this as proof that even a person who may not seem "befitting" can rely on Hashem and be saved. Furthermore, the Sefer Dugma Mi-darkhei Avi by Rabbi Aryeh Leib, son of the Chafetz Chaim brings down this very Midrash as a source for this concept—that even one who is seemingly unworthy can rely on Hashem. He showed this to his father, the Chafetz Chaim who was pleased with this Midrash as a source for the concept. The Partner with God The Sefer Shomer Emunim also shares a story from the great Apter Rebbe, the Ba'al Ohev Yisrael. There was a man who ran an inn and sold whiskey, and he became a Ba'al Mofet, capable of giving Brachot that would be fulfilled. When the Apter Rebbe heard this, he sought to understand the source of this man's power. He observed the man all day; he seemed like a simple liquor store owner. The Rebbe finally asked the man his secret. The man replied, "I have always been a Ba'al Bitachon (one possessing trust). I never worried about anything. I once lost all my money and went bankrupt. My wife pressured me to find a partner. So, I left my house, went to the outskirts of the city, and declared: 'God Almighty, I want You to be my partner. I guarantee that I will split the money half and half: half for my family and half for charity.'" "That's what I did," the man concluded. "It became extremely successful. And whenever I gave someone a blessing, it was fulfilled." The Apter Rebbe understood: "Now I see. You became a partner with God, and therefore you have the power of the partner and can give blessings." This parallels our first story: a person without a direct, known relationship with the King (like the man who didn't know him but trusted him) was saved through that reliance. You can "partner up" with the King even if you don't know him, as shown by the innkeeper. Partnering on Shabbat The truth is, we all have some level of this power. A man in desperate need of a Bracha came to a great Tzaddik one Saturday morning. The Tzaddik told him, "You should have come to me at Kiddush on Friday night. When I make Kiddush on Friday night, I have greater power for blessings than the rest of the week." "Why?" the man asked. The Tzaddik explained, "It says that whoever recites Kiddush on Friday night becomes a partner with God in creation. Therefore, if you are a partner, you have equal rights and equal power—and that is the right time to give a blessing when I am a partner." We all possess this ability. This also ties back to reliance on Hashem, because on Shabbat we perform no work; we rely entirely on Hashem, and in doing so, we can partner up with Him.